This Day in Jack Benny

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...

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.

January 30, 1944 - The Mills Brothers song "Paper Doll" was at the top of the charts. In this episode Jack Benny is promoting his upcoming movie "The Horn Blows at Midnight" by visiting the studio lot. It is a whole lot of fun. Too bad the movie would end up bombing at the box office.

January 29, 1939 - Jack Benny is in the midst of this feud with Fred Allen. In this episode the reference the Western movie series "Hopalong Cassidy" which ran through they 1930s and 1940s. They also make a few very old references. The comedy recording "Cohen on the Telephone" from 1913 (and 1916) and the real life exotic dancer and WWI spy Mata Hari .

January 25, 1948 - Jack Benny has not his real name. His real name was was Benny Kubelsky. In this is a very fun episode where the cast is on a train home after a trip. 

January 22, 1939 - They make a very early reference to television in this episode. But it's mostly about Jack Benny telling how he saved Fred Allen's life back in the days of Vaudeville. There is an obscure reference to the animal stage act "Fink's Mules".

January 19, 1936 - "JAIL-O again" Jack is in Jail for speeding. Unfortunately the audio quality is really bad. So instead... January 19, 1941 - Jack spoofs the James Cagney boxing movie "City of Conquest" plus they talk about him getting his feet in the forecourt of Grumman's Chinese Theater.

January 15, 1939 - On Jack's Screen Guild Performance with Joan Crawford he tries to prove he can make love on screen as well as any other actor. The Cast doesn't buy it. Plus a fun sitcom style opening with Jack ordering lunch at the local diner. A great episode!

January 10, 1954 - The episode celebrates Jack Benny's announcer Don Wilson with a joke biography. That day a real biography of Jack appeared in Parade Magazine. Also on news stands you could read the latest gossip on Zsa Zsa Gabor.

January 8, 1939 - This is the second time Jack and they gang performed this parody of Snow White on the air. It is a lot of fun. Listen after the episode for a clip from the Screen Guild Show starring Jack Benny from that same night.