The 19th Academy Awards and Jack Benny

Today with the assistance of Buck Benny's world class podcast we have the full radio broadcast of the Academy Awards held on March 13th 1947 with host Jack Benny.
Held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, I believe this was the first year that clips were shown from the films nominated for Best Picture and clips for all the acting categories.
Now dont get your hopes for a laugh fest with Jack as host because he doesnt even get introduced until 1 hr 50 minutes into the show.  Now he does a great job and gets in quite a few jokes at his own expense about "The Horn Blows at Midnight" and "To Be or Not To Be", but he isnt the quick, rapid fire joke teller like Bob Hope the year before but he entertains as always.
The winner for 1946 was the classic "The Best Years of Our Lives", taking home 7 Awards out of 8 nominations.

Happy Birthday Jack Benny

Today would have been the 39th birthday of Jack Benny (wink wink).  To celebrate we have The Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny from 02/16/1947.


Jack celebrates his birthday with Ronald and Benita Coleman, who are fantastic as always and special guest Isaac Stern.

OTR Christmas

Here are several episodes that are tremendous examples from the Golden Age of Radio, thanks to Buck Benny and Bob Camardella and their wonderful podcast !!



Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show 12/23/1951



The Jack Benny Show 12/23/1951



Fibber McGee and Molly 12/16/1941 (Fibber Cuts His Own Christmas Tree)




The Jack Benny Show 12/21/1941



Gunsmoke 12/20/1952 (A Christmas Story)



Life with Luigi 12/20/1949



Duffy's Tavern (The Christmas Carol) 12/21/1945



The Martin and Lewis Show 12/12/1949



The Jack Benny Show 12/22/1946



The Bing Crosby Show (A Crosby Family Christmas) 12/20/1950



The Jello Program starring Jack Benny 12/20/1936 (An Old Fashioned Christmas)



The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show 12/15/1946

Jack Benny Christmas

One of the famous running gags for the Jack Benny Show was always Jack going Christmas shopping to buy gifts for Don, Phil, Rochester, Dennis and even Mary.   Usually the clerk was Mel Blanc who by the end was so exhausted dealing with the skin flint Jack that was ready to shoot himself.

here from the 1957 season of the TV version of Jack's show features the classic lineup with Mel as the clerk and Frank Nelson as the smartalec floor walker he made famous on the radio show.




Click here for the radio classic, the 1946 Christmas shopping episode

Harry Morgan April 15 1915-December 7 2011

Today we lost another link to television's great past with the passing of Harry Morgan.   He was 96 and left a long legacy of great roles in movies and television.   Most notably, he played Col. Sherman T Potter of the MASH 4077 from 1975-1983.   He was brilliantly cast as Col. Potter, the fatherly old soldier with a great sense of humor.  He could enforce the military's rules and still make you laugh and feel like he was doing it for your own good.

Here is an interview he did for TVLegends on Emmy.org



making an appearance on a Jack Benny special with Jack Webb as Friday and Gannon



and just a brief clip of his work on M*A*S*H*

The Jack Benny Show on Radio

Tonight, thanks to the great podcast by Buck Benny, I bring you a classic from the Golden Age of Radio.


The Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny from December 9th 1945 featuring the first appearance by Ronald and Benita Coleman.   Anytime the Colemans made an appearance it was always hilarious.


Enjoy

The Jack Benny Show on Radio

Here is a truly classic episode from the Jack Benny Show, April 18th 1943.   This featured every classic thing Jack and his cast was known for and made it all hilarious.   This episode one saw a great performance by Rochester (Eddie Anderson).

Enjoy and thanks again to Buck Benny and his wonderful podcast

The Jack Benny Show (radio)

From 1955 here is a rare rehearsal tape of the Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny.   This episode has guest Bob Hope.

The Jack Benny Program

From Jack's wonderful televison show and his guest the just as legendary Bob Hope from February 24 1957

The Jack Benny Show

Here is an episode of The Jack Benny Show and its an episode that was taken from one of his radio episodes.
I cannot tell you how much I love watching Jack and the Gang.

Jack Benny Program

From 1950, an episode of The Jack Benny Program, Jack Goes Christmas Shopping.
You just cant beat this for classic laughs. I love the whole cast and show.