Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,483
edits
The Jack Benny Program: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (defaultsort) |
No edit summary |
||
| (9 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
{{cleanup|[[Jack Benny]] redirects here. The comedian deserves his own page.}}
[[File:jackbenny.png|frame|From left to right: [[Servile Snarker|Rochester]], [[Tenor Boy|Dennis Day]], [[Ted Baxter|Phil Harris]], [[Closer to Earth|Mary Livingston]], [[Straight Man|Jack Benny]], [[Enforced Plug|Don Wilson]], and [[Mel Blanc]].]]
{{quote|"Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc..."}}
Line 10 ⟶ 11:
Comedian Jack Benny's [[Radio]] program made its debut in 1932 as ''The Canada Dry Program'' and ran until 1955 under various titles: ''The Chevrolet Program'', ''The General Tire Revue'', ''The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny'', ''The Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes Program Starring Jack Benny'', ''The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny'', and, finally, ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]''. The program was also adapted into an eponymous television show, which aired from 1950 to 1965.
Generally, ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'' was a [[Sitcom]] ''about'' the production of ''The Jack Benny Program''. Some of the action flashed back to what the cast had been up to that week, and some took place on the stage of the program, where Jack and the gang would try to put on plays and sketches, often taking the form of parodies of popular movies. Celebrity guests were not uncommon, and could be easily introduced as Jack's friends or neighbors in Hollywood. One long-term [[Running Gag]] was Jack's bitter "feud" with rival radio host Fred Allen.
Recurring characters included Jack's [[Closer to Earth]] co-star (and real-life wife) Mary Livingston; his long-suffering African-American valet Rochester; brash Southern bandleader Phil Harris; naïve boy tenor Dennis Day (and, beforehand, Kenny Baker in a similar role); and rotund announcer Don Wilson, who tended to turn the conversation or the sketch to a discussion of the sponsor's product. Jack himself, portrayed as notoriously cheap and self-aggrandizing, usually played the comic foil to the other characters: the real-life Benny is famous for noting, "I don't care who gets the laughs on my show, as long as the show is funny."
Line 17 ⟶ 18:
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Phil Harris
* [[The Alleged Car]]: Jack's Maxwell.
* [[All Jews Are Cheapskates]]:
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: The 1959 [[Looney Tunes|Merrie Melodies]] short "The Mouse That Jack Built", a short that unintentionally served, years later, as many younger viewers' initial introduction to Jack Benny.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=OOubPWGUhQo One of the supporting cast of characters]{{Dead link}} on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' is an animated (unnamed) version of [[Frank Nelson]]'s "Yessssssssssss!" character. As in Jack's show, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpQVIlWPmac&feature=related Homer and company are usually waited on by him]{{Dead link}} in various episodes.
* [[Annoying Laugh]]: Or, at any rate, a very ''distinctive'' laugh from Mary.
* [[As Himself]]: Future ''[[Barney Miller]]'' Detective Jack Soo made an
* [[Aside Glance]]: Done to perfection by Jack on the TV version.
* [[Big "Shut Up!"]]: There numerous, hilarious versions of this on ''[[The Jack Benny Show]]''. Many times, various people, often Mary Livingstone and Verna Felton (as Dennis Day's mother), would snap at Jack to shut up to keep him from making some corny joke. Sometimes, Jack would give it in response to someone either pointing out the obvious, or the flaw in a gag, or lancing his ego. Most of the time, though, it would be Jack hollering "Wait a minute!" at his quartet, the Sportsmen, in a [[Musicalis Interruptus|futile attempt to stop them]] from going crazy with their latest wacky song.
* [[Big Yes]]: The usual opening for [[Frank Nelson]].
* [[Brooklyn Rage]]: One of Mel Blanc's characters was a surly gentleman who spoke in a Brooklyn drawl, often giving Jack all sorts of grief.
* [[Brick Joke]]: ...amonga!
Line 32:
* [[Closer to Earth]]: Mary
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Dennis Day
* [[Comic Book Time]]: sorta. The first year the radio show was on the air, Jack Benny's
* [[Continuity Nod]]
* [[Crossover]]: With ''[[The Burns and Allen Show]]''. Jack and [[George Burns]] were lifelong friends and appeared on each
* [[The Danza]]
* [[Death by Materialism]]: Parodied with the famous "Your money or your life!" skit.
Line 40:
* [[Dreadful Musician]]: Jack and his violin.
** Though, he showed on other episodes that he actually was ''quite'' the talented violinist, so more along the lines of [[Hollywood Tone Deaf]].
** [[Refuge in Audacity]]: To bring the world's greatest violinists like [[Jascha Heifetz]] and [[Isaac Stern]] on his program where he not only compares his skills with them, but also goes on to play duets for added effect, such as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seZ4KhYr-Hw this one for USO troops in
{{quote|'''Jack''' (after a round of playing with Heifetz): "Honest folks, can you tell the difference?" (Even announcer Edward Arnold is laughing in splits at this stage...)}}
* [[Driven to Suicide]]:
Line 48:
* [[Enforced Plug]]
* [[The Eponymous Show]]
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Jack and his writers were always battling with the censors. Sometimes, it was for legitimate reasons. For example, one skit originally described a beautiful woman wearing
** Phil Harris said that his character used to refer to Jack Benny as
** One time Jack called a
{{quote|'''Girl on Phone''': McGuire's Gym. We make mountains out of molehills.
'''Jack Benny''': Hello, this is Jack Benny....
'''Girl on Phone''': Oh, Mr. Benny! You'll want our male division... }}
* [[Happily Married]]: Jack with Mary Livingstone. When he died, it was revealed in his will that he had provided for a long-stemmed red rose to be delivered to her, every day, until her own death.
* [[I'm Thinking It Over]]: [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Incoming Ham]]: Two great ones. Phil Harris ("Hiya folks, your future looks bright because Harris is here and there's good news tonight! Oh, Harris, you've got your own teeth, but you're clicking all the time!") and [[Frank Nelson]] ([[Big Yes|"Yeeeeeesssss?"]])
* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: The show was infested with puns. Most of the time, [[Pungeon Master|Jack]] would use them as a part of his [[Self-
{{quote|'''Sy (Mel Blanc)''': I was arrested for reheating the coffee. They got me for double perking.}}
* [[Irony as She Is Cast]]: In real life, Jack Benny was actually a very good violinist. It takes a lot of musical talent to be able to play a musical instrument badly for comic effect and having it come out amusing rather than painful.
* [[It's a Wonderful Plot]]: The February 2, 1947 episode.{{context}}
* [[Jingle]]: "If you want better taste from your cigarette, Lucky Strikes is the brand to get!"
** "J-E-L-L-OOOOOOOOO!!!"
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: There was so much hanging of lampshades everywhere, Jack's career could have doubled as a furniture store. One example, from the detective
{{quote|'''Jack:''' I was typing out a report on Slim-Finger Sarah, when the door opened. And there were detectives Simmons and Ross. They had brought in a vicious gunman, a killer named Baby-Faced Bogart.
''<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Humphrey Bogart]] enters to long applause from the audience]''
'''Jack:''' I didn't mind the applause he got on his entrance, but I resented the fact that Crosby and Wilson joined in. }}
* [[Long Runners]]: 33 years on Radio and TV.
* [[Mama Bear]]: Verna Felton played the part of Dennis Day's mother, a tough
* [[Mel Blanc]]: Did a number of minor voice-over and live-action roles, as well as some sound effects.
** "Si."
Line 77 ⟶ 76:
{{quote|'''Mrs. Day''' You know, Dennis, lots of people think you act strange, and I may be to blame. You see, when you were a baby, I dropped you on your head.
'''Dennis''' That's okay, lots of mothers drop their babies on their heads.
'''Mrs. Day''' Out of a
* [[The Operators Must Be Crazy]]: Gertrude Gearshift and Mabel Flapsaddle
* [[Orson Welles]]: Guest-hosted for several 1943 episodes while Benny was ill with pneumonia.
* [[Pretty in Mink]]: He went on a [[Butt Monkey|failed date]] with a girl who wore a fur wrap.
Line 85 ⟶ 84:
* [[Reveal Shot]], or the radio equivalent.
* [[The Rival]]: Fred Allen, who was fond of [[Lampshade Hanging]] the various contrived ways scripts would bring the rivalry up. And cracking Jack up in the process.
* [[Rule of Funny]]: This was the show's unspoken and spoken [[Madness Mantra]]: '''EVERYTHING''' on the show was done to get laughs. Obviously, this fact was also repeatedly lampshaded both on and off the show.
** In one episode, Don Wilson goes into a [[Dude, Where's My Respect?]] rant about how the only reason why he's such a [[Big Eater]] is to let Jack insult his girth, and then Phil Harris explains/complains how the only reason he's a womanizing drunkard is to stay in character for the show, whereupon Jack one-ups both them by complaining about how hard it is to be impossibly stingy.
** During a rehearsal, a gag situation is explained to guest star Ronald Colman, who then asks "What's my motivation?" The writers then explain, "to get the biggest friggin' laugh possible." Ronald then asks again, "But what's my motivation?" His wife, Benita Humes, explained further, "[[Meaningful Echo|To get the biggest friggin' laugh possible.]]"
Line 97 ⟶ 96:
* [[Sound to Screen Adaptation]]
* [[Straight Man]]: Jack
** To elaborate, the underlying theme to pretty much the totality of Jack's schtick was that he was literally almost ''everybody's'' straight
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Dennis Day started out as the same character as Kenny Baker, whom he replaced. Dennis Day was a good enough actor that his part was fleshed out as the years went on.
* [[Take That]]:
{{quote|'''Jack:''' Mr. Rains, when you take a joke away from Berle, it's not called "stealing," it's called "repossessing."}}
* [[Take Me Out At the Ball Game]]: A 1939 sketch featured "Murder on the Gridiron".
* [[The Tape Knew You Would Say That]]: While waiting in an airport Jack had a variation with the Flight announcer.
Line 109 ⟶ 108:
'''Announcer on Speaker''' Oh, Yes! ...camunga. }}
* [[Ted Baxter]]
* [[Tenor Boy]]: Dennis (
* [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]]: Though combined with a very well-proportioned amount of [[Self-Deprecation]].
* [[Who Writes This Crap?]]: A running gag was that Benny's writers were a gaggle of semi-literate boobs (and a convict) who only got their jobs by blackmailing Jack. Another running gag was that virtually everything Jack said was written by his writers.
* [[Why Didn't You Just Say So?]]: Used with [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarious effect]] with Dennis Day, often driving Jack to distraction.
* [[Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?]]: Mr. Schlepperman, Mr. Kitzel, but especially [[Frank Nelson]].
* [[You Look Familiar]]: All of Mel Blanc's roles, lampshaded brutally and constantly.
{{quote|'''Polly''' Monsieur Benny, my money, please! *rawk*
'''Jack''' Polly! You sounded just like Professor Le Blanc!
<nowiki>*</nowiki>[[Beat]]*
'''Jack''' Come to think of it, you look just like Professor Le Blanc, too... }}
** [[Frank Nelson]]'s many appearances (the roles vary, the character remains constant) also qualify. One episode even has Jack visiting a shrink, convinced that he's losing his mind because he keeps seeing Nelson everywhere he goes! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkXWw7W5_0w The psychiatrist is played by ... Frank Nelson].
----
''Goodnight, folks. And I'll see you soon.''
Line 128 ⟶ 127:
[[Category:The Fifties]]
[[Category:Dom Com]]
[[Category:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack Benny Program, The}}
[[Category:Radio of the 1930s]]
[[Category:Radio of the 1940s]]
[[Category:Radio of the 1950s]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1950s]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1960s]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
| |||