Showing results by narrator "Jack Benny" in All Categories

It was the decade of a World War and a Cold War. It was the decade of the Zoot Suit and FDR. But most of all, it was the decade of Jack Benny! Radio's favorite comedian truly came into his own during the 1940s.

With four new writers and plenty of brand-new gags, radio's favorite comedian entertains home front America, as well as troops at Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine camps. In fact, the whole gang is here! Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Larry Stevens, and Don Wilson are all on hand—along with plenty of unexpected guests! Here are sixteen laugh-packed episodes from the early 1940s, featuring favorites like Mel Blanc, Frank Nelson, Minerva Pious, John Brown, and Butterfly McQueen.

Here is radio situation comedy at its finest - from the cartoony fun of Fibber McGee and Molly to the well-drawn family humor of The Great Gildersleeve, from the broad gags of The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show to the subtle wit of The Couple Next Door, from the double-edged meta-comedy of The Jack Benny Program to the blue collar comedy of The Life of Riley. Spend time with Burns & Allen, Ozzie & Harriet, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Dennis Day, and all the rest of your favorites in 10 big hours of The Great Radio Sitcoms!

In the realm of unforgettable radio voices, there is one that stands head and shoulders above all others - one distinctive voice that could never be convincingly duplicated, one that brought its owner undreamed of success. It was a voice of sandpaper and gravel and rusty scrap iron, rasping over a nation's loudspeakers for more than 30 years.  

Among radio comedy's most enduring features were its running gags - and few gags ran longer, or more hilariously, than the legendary feud between two of its great masters: Jack Benny and Fred Allen. For nearly 20 years the mere mention of Benny on an Allen program was guaranteed to produce an escalating laugh - just as bringing Allen up with Benny had listener in stitches at the mere anticipation of a response. This collection brings together the classic episodes that started it all, to the showdown that was supposed to end it once and for all.

It's midcentury madness as Jack Benny slides smoothly into the 1950s with great guests, hilarious running gags, and even a song or two! This classic collection features 20 episodes from Jack's final years on radio, accompanied by his constant cohorts Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Bob Crosby, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, the Sportsmen Quartet, and Don Wilson.

Here comes “This Week’s Play” with Jack Benny and all the gang! Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson all play their parts in parodies of Hollywood movies, wild Westerns, murder mysteries, and more. Kick back with 16 satirical skits in this collection of classics from the 1940s and 1950s, featuring guest appearances by Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Levant, Charles Farrell, Sam Goldwyn, Frank Sinatra, and George Jessel!

Do you relish the ridiculous? Get ready for realms of absurdity only possible with radio comedy! Here's a selection of some of Jack's best sketches, parodies, and far-fetched fables - with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Don Wilson, and a few surprise guests (including Humphrey Bogart)! The play's the thing! Whether it's a lush romance, a leather-pounding Western drama, a hard-boiled detective thriller, or a tale of rip-roaring adventure, you can count on Jack Benny to turn it sideways and make it funny!

Who's laughing now? It's you! Why? Because you're settling back with a rib-tickling collection of great radio comedy! All of your favorites are here: Jack and Fred, Phil and Alice, Fibber and Molly, Edgar and Charlie, George and Gracie, Lum and Abner, Snooks and Daddy, and many more! Crack a smile as the kings and queens of comedy crack wise. Here are 24 digitally restored and remastered episodes of radio revelry from shows that have kept Americans in stitches for more than 50 years.

Any comedian can be funny in the studio, but domestic comedy is usually considered the province of actors who happen to do comedy. Jack Benny straddled the two roles for most of his career - the suave, witty master of ceremonies standing on stage in front of a curtain one moment; the put-upon householder tormented by a bumptious servant, eccentric friends, and troublesome neighbors the next.

Hit the road, Jack! Take a train, a plane, or even a ship! Wherever he goes, and however he gets there, Jack Benny is always good for a laugh. Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson come along for the ride in 16 travel themed adventures in this collection. Climb aboard for coast to coast clowning, with special appearances by the infamous racetrack “tout” (Sheldon Leonard) and the reliable railway announcer (Mel Blanc). “Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-amonga!”

Follow Jack Benny and his gang around the calendar in this 16-episode collection that takes you from week to week, from season to season, from holiday to holiday, and from laugh to laugh! And you never know who might pop up to join in the fun. It might be Barbara Stanwyck, or Claude Rains, or Jack's real life daughter, Joan. 

An orange glow peeks through the window on a crisp October night. Is it a jack-o'-lantern? Or, is it the radio dial? It's both! This collection of radio's happiest Halloween moments is replete with good old-fashioned haunted houses, costume parties, cemeteries, tricks and treats. Have fun with favorites like Jack Benny, Hal Peary, William Bendix, Ozzie & Harriet, Lucille Ball, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, and Boris Karloff.

Come back to the tradition and warmth of Christmas in the Golden Age of Radio, with the great performers and shows of yesteryear. Go shopping with Jack Benny. Go to the snow covered woods with Johnny Dollar. Go to Bethlehem with Family Theater. The voices of Vincent Price, George and Gracie, Bergen and McCarthy, Abbott and Costello, Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, and more are lifted in story and song. They celebrate the yuletide with equal parts hope and hokum, silliness and sacrifice, merriment and mystery....

A woebegone old car, a harried department store clerk, a monosyllabic man in a sombrero, and a train announcer whose line ran somewhere between Orange County and the Twilight Zone are all memorable characters from The Jack Benny Program, and all the products of a single talented throat: Mel Blanc. "The Man of a Thousand Voices" was Carmichael the Polar Bear, who lived improbably in Jack's cellar.

Deck the halls and prop up the antenna - because Christmas is on the air! Here come all of your radio favorites in a holly-wreathed collection of priceless holiday moments. These classic episodes are accented with humor, tinged with adventure, and well-seasoned with all the good family feelings that fill our hearts during this season of the year! From Fibber McGee & Molly to Suspense, from Red Skelton to Marshal Matt Dillon, from Mr. Benny to St. Nick himself, tune in to 10 full hours of seasonal entertainment!

They've been called the most successful husband and wife comedy team in history, and you'll find no dissension in these ranks. George Burns and Gracie Allen had a chemistry and wit about them that had no parallel. In this sampling of programs from the 1940s, George and Gracie face new livelihoods (and livestock) and mad undertakings (and misunderstandings). They budget and blunder alongside Bill Goodwin, Meredith Willson, Mel Blanc, and special guest Jack Benny.

As a comic instrumentalist, sawing away week after week at his violin, Jack Benny stood as radio's reigning off-key virtuoso, producing more laughs per measure than any other comic before or since. This seven hour set of 14 digitally remastered radio episodes finds Benny and his badly squeaking bow mangling the classics and infuriating the long-suffering Professor Andre LeBlanc (Mel Blanc). He also discovers his "talent" as a songwriter - a skill every bit as highly developed as his ability with the violin.

Ronald and Benita Colman made 20 guest appearances on The Jack Benny Program, including some of the most hilarious entries in the series. The Colmans' refined personaes played an excellent "grand opera" to the "ragtime" of Jack's mercenary enterprises. In this set, you'll hear the dashing Ronald read the winning entry of the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny" contest. You will also hear Benita receive the third longest laugh ever on the Benny radio program. It's no wonder that The Colmans' visits to Benny's radio series have become listener classics.

Celebrate Christmas along with radio's greatest performers, characters and programs. These timeless holiday classics include moving and mirthful comedies, wholesome dramas, and adventurous missions of mercy. May these 21 digitally restored and remastered tales of nostalgia and nativity bring you cheer and become a part of your own Christmas traditions.