On the occasion of my son's thirty ninth birthday earlier this week, I called and wished him a Happy Birthday, and in chatting I was reminded of television's perennial thirty nine year old - Jack Benny. I asked my son if he knew who Benny was and he replied that he didn't. Thinking about that, I found it a little sad that so many folks of the generations that grew up after the 1960's probably fall in the same boat, having missed out on some of the greatest comedians of all time. Not only Benny, but entertainers like Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, George Burns, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett and so many, many others. Contrasted with modern day comics with their televised specials on venues like HBO and Netflix, one can only shudder at the offensive language and liberal use of the 'F' word that crops up in their stand-up routines; I've turned off more than one attempting to find some humor on a slow evening.
Not so with the Golden Age entertainers like Jack Benny. Having over time recently watched approximately seventy five of his TV programs that ran from 1950 through 1965, it's amazing to see how the man could get laughs from an audience just by standing there on stage or during one of his sketches. Jack Benny was probably the best at non verbal humor in the way he mugged his way through a bit and allowed his body language to convey a funny response to whatever situation he found himself in. Some of my favorite bits occurred with good friends like Bob Hope and Red Skelton, when the humor of their sketch overwhelmed even them, and they would crack up over the silliest situations. Of course that made the audience response even greater, taking a while for the comedians to get their act under control.
The Jack Benny Program featured a number of regular recurring characters, led by the show's announcer Don Wilson, who appeared in almost all of the series' episodes, closely followed by one of my all time favorites, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson as Benny's personal valet and housekeeper. Rochester gave as good as he got trading barbs with his boss, proving that Benny wasn't afraid to let his co-stars upstage him for a gag. All of his favorite players would get in on that band wagon, including singer Dennis Day, real life wife Mary Livingstone, voice artist Mel Blanc and hilarious 'yeeesss' man, Frank Nelson. To this day, I still delight in one of my favorite bits, with Mel Blanc doing a Mexican gag with the Si/Sy/Sue routine. Mel and Jack did it a number of times throughout the series, so if you've seen it, you know what I mean, and if you haven't, well, you haven't lived till you make it up to yourself.
In the early days of Jack's show, Lucky Strike cigarettes was the prime sponsor, in fact, in some of those early shows, Benny himself referred to it as The Lucky Strike Program. In a separate review on this site, I've gone into detail about the show in which Humphrey Bogart appeared as the special guest. It was 1953, and Baby Face Bogart was brought into a police precinct for questioning about a murder by Detective Benny. During this time frame, it wasn't unusual for the show to incorporate their main sponsor directly into one of their sketches, and it's hilarious to watch Bogey bouncing his chair in rhythm while he sings the Lucky Strike jingle. Sounds corny I know, but you just have to admire how these celebrity greats got along and got together to give their fans a good time. I think that era ended when the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts came to a close some time in the Seventies. Man, those were the days.
I guess I could go on and on about what you'd consider the 'old days', but for me they were a great time to grow up in, and sadly, those old time shows are missed, even if available in compilations and cable offerings like Antenna TV. Jack Benny was one of the all time greats, and if you have a few minutes, just take a look at the cast list on this site of everyone who's ever appeared on his TV program. It''s more than a 'Who's Who' of television stardom, as just about anyone you can think of from that era appeared at least once on his show. And to think, he remained thirty nine years old throughout the entire series run.
Not so with the Golden Age entertainers like Jack Benny. Having over time recently watched approximately seventy five of his TV programs that ran from 1950 through 1965, it's amazing to see how the man could get laughs from an audience just by standing there on stage or during one of his sketches. Jack Benny was probably the best at non verbal humor in the way he mugged his way through a bit and allowed his body language to convey a funny response to whatever situation he found himself in. Some of my favorite bits occurred with good friends like Bob Hope and Red Skelton, when the humor of their sketch overwhelmed even them, and they would crack up over the silliest situations. Of course that made the audience response even greater, taking a while for the comedians to get their act under control.
The Jack Benny Program featured a number of regular recurring characters, led by the show's announcer Don Wilson, who appeared in almost all of the series' episodes, closely followed by one of my all time favorites, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson as Benny's personal valet and housekeeper. Rochester gave as good as he got trading barbs with his boss, proving that Benny wasn't afraid to let his co-stars upstage him for a gag. All of his favorite players would get in on that band wagon, including singer Dennis Day, real life wife Mary Livingstone, voice artist Mel Blanc and hilarious 'yeeesss' man, Frank Nelson. To this day, I still delight in one of my favorite bits, with Mel Blanc doing a Mexican gag with the Si/Sy/Sue routine. Mel and Jack did it a number of times throughout the series, so if you've seen it, you know what I mean, and if you haven't, well, you haven't lived till you make it up to yourself.
In the early days of Jack's show, Lucky Strike cigarettes was the prime sponsor, in fact, in some of those early shows, Benny himself referred to it as The Lucky Strike Program. In a separate review on this site, I've gone into detail about the show in which Humphrey Bogart appeared as the special guest. It was 1953, and Baby Face Bogart was brought into a police precinct for questioning about a murder by Detective Benny. During this time frame, it wasn't unusual for the show to incorporate their main sponsor directly into one of their sketches, and it's hilarious to watch Bogey bouncing his chair in rhythm while he sings the Lucky Strike jingle. Sounds corny I know, but you just have to admire how these celebrity greats got along and got together to give their fans a good time. I think that era ended when the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts came to a close some time in the Seventies. Man, those were the days.
I guess I could go on and on about what you'd consider the 'old days', but for me they were a great time to grow up in, and sadly, those old time shows are missed, even if available in compilations and cable offerings like Antenna TV. Jack Benny was one of the all time greats, and if you have a few minutes, just take a look at the cast list on this site of everyone who's ever appeared on his TV program. It''s more than a 'Who's Who' of television stardom, as just about anyone you can think of from that era appeared at least once on his show. And to think, he remained thirty nine years old throughout the entire series run.