This Day in Jack Benny

April 27, 1947 - Leaving for Chicago with the Colmans.  Jack Benny is getting ready for his stage tour and tickets for his program for Ronald and Benita Colman. References include the controversy over Fred Allen. He had been cut off by the NBC censors for a joke last week. In the episode they mention Adagio acts, Fred Astair's dancing, Barry Fitzgerald, Tommy Manville, Norman Krasna, the Florsheim...

April 21, 1946 - Aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga Navy aircraft carrier docked in the San Francisco Bay, a week and a half before it left for Bikini where it would sink in an atom bomb test that summer. References include Fred Allen, dehydrated powder eggs, and galley slaves.

April 14, 1946 - Jack Benny's Violin Practice Interrupts Ronald Colman's Rehearsal.  References include the song "One-zy, Two-zy", gossip reporter Louella Parsons, France's debt to the United States, and lines for nylons, butter and vaccinations.

February 3, 1946  - Jack Attends Isaac Stern Concert with the Colmans and the winning poem for the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny Contest". *Note: This episode was the very first episode of the podcast. This is an updated intro.  

January 27, 1946 - Fred Allen Announces Contest Winner. Jack Benny has a nightmare about having to give away $10,000 in prises for the I Can't Stand Jack Benny contest. Phil Harris sings "One-zy, Two-zy" with his daughter. References include the sending of a radar signal to the moon, the phrase "Dutch Treat", movies "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "The Lost Weekend", plus Margret O'Brien and Bori...

January 20, 1946 - Jack Benny and the gang again spoof the musical "State Fair". References include Mayor LaGuardia, Harry Truman, Betty Grable, Gabriel Heater ("Ah, There's good news tonight."), Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

January 13, 1946 - State Fair Rehearsal - Rochester drives Jack Benny and Mary to the studio where they run into Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy (impersonator) and rehearse their version of the movie "State Fair". References include war hero Pappy Boyington, violinist Joseph Szigeti, radio's Lum and Abner, actresses Barbra Stanwyck, and Betty Grable, movies "The Lost Weekend", "The Bells of St M...

December 16, 1945 - Hello Louella. Gossip Columnist Louella parsons has a cameo. Jack benny gets a lot or mail for the "I Can's Stand Jack Benny" contest. It will be judged by Fred Allen, Peter Lorre and Goodman Ace. References include songs "Melencholy Baby", "The Sheik of Araby" and "I'm Glad I Waited For You". The two-way stretch refers to real rubber used in womens undergarments after the war....

December 9, 1945 - Jack is invited to the Colman's for dinner. This is the first episode with Ronald and Benita Colman and the second episode of the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny Because..." contest. References include the Fred Allen Show's character Senator Claghorn, the movie "The Man Who Came to Dinner", the books Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species", and H.G. Wells' "Anatomy of Frustration" an...

December 2, 1945 - Jack Benny's publicity agent comes up with the idea for a new contest. Listeners are invited to write in and finish this sentence "I can't stand Jack Benny because..." in 50 words or less.

November 25, 1945 - Jack Benny is still dealing with all the trouble his publicity agent has caused, but this is only the begining. Plus an appearance by Cass Daley of the Fitch Bandwagon. References include Dick Tracy (Itchy stuck in the tunnel), the movie "Spellbound", the song "Sweet Leilani", used car dealers The Smiling Irishman and Madman Muntz, and Boris Karlof on Fred Allen's radio show. 

May 31, 1953 - Jack Benny listens to the Indianapolis 500 race on the radio. References include jailbreaker Willie Sutton, actors Jimmy Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Humphrey Bogart and George Montomery (Fort Ti 3D), director Mervyn LeRoy (Quo Vatis), and the catchphrase from the Jackie Gleason show's The Homeymooners "One of these Days...pow! Right in the kisser."

May 17, 1953 - Jack Benny takes the plot of the movie "Flight to Mars" and the characters from the TV show "Space Patrol" to do his own science fiction play "I Flew to Mars in a Space Ship". Reference include the MC convertible, "The Girl Next Door" with Dennis Day and more!

May 3, 1953 - From San Francisco, Jack Benny's guest is Gisele McKenzie. References include the TWA airline,  the songs "The Doggie in the Window" and "Pretend", actresses Ava Gardener, Lana Turner and Marilyn Monroe.

May 4, 1934 - In this episode they talk about the Kentucky Derby and do a hillbilly feud play. They mention the songs "Carioca", "Cocktails for Two", "Shim Sham Shimmy", "Uptown Lowdown", "The Hills of Old Kentucky" and "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore". Movies "Cavelcade", "Mata Hari", and a loose reference to "To The Last Man". Plus explorer Admiral Byrd, silent film actor Fracis X Bushman, newp...

April 25, 1948 - Jack Dresses as Charley's Aunt and Don brings opera singer Dorothy Kirsten to join the Sportsmen quartet. References include the Marylin Monroe movie "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!", songs "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody", and producer George Jessel.

April 11, 1948 - Murder at the Racquet Club Part One. Jack goes to Palm Springs and meets silent film star Charles Farrell and Academy Award winner Paul Lukas. References include the movies "April Showers", "The Naked City" and "The Last of The Mohicans", and actress Greer Garson.

April 11, 1943 - Jack returns to the show after illness. Orson Welles has been filling in for the past four weeks. References include a washing machine ringer, an electric heating pad, the racehorse Whirlaway, the old song "Sweet Adeline",  W. C. Fields, Claudette Colbert, and Alice Faye (starring in "Hello, Frisco, Hello").

April 4, 1943 - Little Red Riding Hood with guest host Orson Welles filling in one last time for Jack Benny. References include radio's Lum and Abner, the poem "Trees", Burlesque's ball of fire Betty Rowland, Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", "Hamlet", and "The Merchant of Venice".

March 28, 1943 - Host Orson Welles Murder at Midnight. Orson Welles fills in for Jack a third time and does a murder mystery. References include radio comedians Fred Allen and Red Skelton, gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, the painting "Whistler's Mother", and actress Heddy Lamarr. Goodnight Doll.

March 21, 1943 - Host Orson Welles fills in for Jack Benny and takes cast to his movie.  References include the comedy team of Abbot and Costello, rain in California and the Tournament of Roses.

March 14, 1943 - Orson Welles fills in for Jack Benny and Phil Harris returns to the program after three months in the merchant marines. References include the actress Rita Hayworth, and singer John Charles Thomas.

March 7, 1943 - George Burns and Gracie Allen Sub For Jack. With Jack Benny sick Don Wilson calls of Jack Benny's personal friends George and Gracie, along with thier cast Bill Goodwin, Herman the duck (Clarence Nash), Tootsie Stagwell (Elvia Allman) and Paul Whitman and his orchestra. References include Mayor La Guardia, Walter Pidgeon, Artie Shaw and Toscanini. Listen after the program for a cli...

February 28, 1943 - Kit Carson Benny with Bob Crosby. Broadcasting from Fort Custer, Michigan Jack Benny learns Judo from the military police in training. References include the movies "Kit Carson", "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" and "the Meanest Man in the World".

February 27, 1938 - Jack Benny and his cast are joined by Andy Devine to conclude their version of the movie "Submarine D-1". References include Barbra Stanwyck and Robert Taylor, race horse Pompoon, attorney Clarence Darrow, violinist Jasha Hiefetz, and radio shows Professor Quiz, Lum and Abner, Jimmie Fidler, and Fred Allen,