This Day In Jack Benny

April 18, 1954 (Re-run April 10, 1955) - A great Easter episode of the Jack Benny Program. Listen for a clip of Bob Crosby on his show "Club 15", the south pole explorer Admiral Byrd, the Statler Hotel, penny scales, and the Judy Garland / Fred Astaire film "Easter Parade".

April 9, 1939 - Jack Benny recruits his cast to play nurses in a parody of the movie Four Girls in White. They also mention Gunga Din, The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Dead End Kids.

April 4, 1948 - The Ink Spots are filling in for the Sportsmen. Jack Benny was robbed of the Oscar statue that he borrowed from Ronald Coleman in that famous "Your money or your life" episode. So Jack wants to borrow Bing Crosby's Oscar. This Day in Jack Benny with John Henderson. This is an episode of The Lucky Strike Program staring Jack Benny. Old Time Radio (OTR). The Jack Benny program, starring Jack Benny with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Rochester, Dennis Day, and yours truly Don Wilson "Your Money or your life!" ... "I'm thinking it over!"

April 2, 1939 - Rochester sold Carmichael the polar bear to a pawn shop. Kenny Baker tries some April Fool's Day gags even though it's a day late. They also talk about the news that Clark Gable and Carol Lombard got married.

March 28, 1948 - This is the most well-known episodes of the Jack Benny Program because it includes his most famous joke. And it is a very funny episode where Jack goes to visit his next door neighbor, the classy Ronald Coleman. Jack convinces Ronny to borrow his Oscar!     This Day in Jack Benny with John Henderson. This is an episode of The Lucky Strike Program staring Jack Benny. Old Time Radio (OTR). The Jack Benny program, starring Jack Benny with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Rochester, Dennis Day, and yours truly Don Wilson "Your Money or your life!" ... "I'm thinking it over!"

March 26, 1939 - Fred Allen claims Jack Benny is an imposter named Maxwell Stroud. Newspaperman Ed Sullivan comes to check the story out.  

March 21, 1948 - In this episode of the Jack Benny Program there is a subtle reference to the McCarthy era Red Scare. But most of the episode is spent talking about the 20th Academy Awards in which Ronald Coleman won the Best Actor Oscar for "A Double Life".  

March 19, 1939 - Jack Benny has the measles and is at home sick in bed. Phil takes over. It's very funny. In the preface we talk about the early days of radio.

March 15, 1936 - One of the better early episodes of Jack Benny. Broadcasting from Washington DC they talk politics and banter. Then Jack goes to a banquet at the French Embassy. Plus the comic strip "Bringing up Father", and my favorite 1936 cartoon where the gong show host is Jack Bunny "I Love to Singa".  

March 12, 1939 - Don Wilson celebrates his anniversary. Jack Benny got polar bear for his birthday and it is sick. 

March 8, 1953 - Jack and the gang parody the movie "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Plus Buck Rogers was re-released, Hank Williams has a hit song, and Marilyn Monroe's famous calendar.

March 5, 1939 - Just after "The Richest Horse Race in the World" the Santa Anita Handicap, Jack and the gang discuss the bets they placed. Then they continue their 2-part play Jesse James.

March 2, 1941 - The Jack Benny show is on location in Palm Springs. They spend some time swimming then go on a hike with an "Indian" guide to Taquitz Falls. Let's just say the true history of the Navajo people is much more dynamic than the joke characterization in this episode.

February 26, 1939 - Jack Benny and Fred Allen are at it again. But Jack still has time to put on his rough and tough cowboy voice as Jesse James. The episode takes place just after the Academy Awards when Spencer Tracy won the Best Actor Oscar for "Boys Town" which won Best Picture. 

February 20, 1944 - Special guest star Groucho Marx visits Jack at his home. Then, in a bonus segment Jack visits Groucho on his program sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.

February 19, 1939 - Jack Benny's new polar bear gets a name. It's also Oscar season for films made in 1938. Who will win for Best Actor - James Cagney, Spencer Tracy...or Jack Benny??? We also talk a bit about the stereotypical views of Chinese immigrants and Boris Karloff's portrayal of Mr.Wong in a series of movies of the time.

February 15, 1953 - Bing Crosby joins his brother Bob (now a regular member of the Jack Benny Show cast) in Palm Springs, Jack was also a guest on Bing Crosby's show that week.

February 13, 1955 - Happy Birthday Jack Benny! In this episode they let Jack's real age slip, but he still insists he's 39. They also make reference to the Good Humor man and The Jackie Gleason Show which would soon become the classic 39 episodes of The Honeymooners.

February 8, 1953 - A lively episode from Palm Springs! Mel Blanc does his now famous impression of an English Horse.

February 5, 1939 - Jack Benny does some boxing practice just in case his feud with Fred Allen comes to blows. They reference Tarzan and "Oliver Twist" and the Queen Mary, a ship which took some time at dock for repairs that year.