Talk:Jack Benny

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[edit] Dennis Day

I removed the reference Dennis Day's "double-entendres" which supposedly "coyly suggest homosexuality." I've listened to a great many of Benny's radio programs, and have seen a number of the television episodes, and I don't recall anything that could be interpreted as vaguely homosexual. Day was depicted as naive and a little dim, but there was a running gag where Day offered a wolf whistle to pretty actresses or singers who appeared as guest stars; this seems an overt indication of heterosexuality. IMDB.com reports that the real Day was married for forty years. I may be mistaken, so please correct me if anyone has examples of Day's coy suggestions of homosexuality, or evidence to the contrary. Anon, 17 Nov 2004.

Dennis Day wasn't gay if you had bothered to do the research; he was the brother-in-law of actress Ann Blyth and was married for many years.--Susan Nunes

FWIW, Jack describes Dennis in his autobiography (Sunday nights at Seven) as a heterosexual. The line stuck with me. - Ipstenu 15:49, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Interestingly, the use of the word "gay" is very frequent in the program, as it meant something different than it does now. In one exchange Phil Harris is referred to as "The Gay Illiterate", and protests, and Dennis says "There's nothing wrong with being gay". His innocence, naiveté and (supposed) dominance by his mother may have made him look effeminate, however there are many skits where he stands up to Jack, or shows great interest in women. There were many character actors in the show who were far more effiminate than Dennis, and gags were written to emphasize their delivery of lines in a lisping type of speech, such as a floorwalker who occurred many times. Pitt Cairn 8-30-06

I assume the floorwalker in question is Frank Nelson, who garnered fame through the Jack Benny program. I don't know if I would call him effeminate, though one fellow who did come off as kind of as less than masculine was the bodyguard Benny hired to ward off Fred Allen, who had a high pitched nasal voice and was obviously weaker than even Mary.--The Saxon 07:17, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

"Gay" was already in popular usage by then, although it meant more along the lines of "effeminate" than overtly "homosexual". Frank Nelson didn't lisp, that I recall. Benny himself was sometimes said to have "effiminate" mannerisms, in the way he walked, posed, etc., but he was straight as an arrow. He did bring this up from time to time for comedic effect. I recall on the Carson show, where he feigned hurt feelings and said, "I am not effeminate!" He then turned toward the studio band and asked, "Have I ever 'bothered' any of you fellows?" and got a good laugh from the band and the audience. Wahkeenah 01:31, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Films

Benny was also in some films, including "To Be or Not to Be," directed by the legendary Ernst Lubitsch. Anon, 08 Aug 2005.

[edit] Thirty-nine

It seems to me that there ought to be a mention of the decades-running joke that Mr. Benny was going to turn thirty-nine this year, but I don't know enough about it to add it. Zack

I agree with this point. In current events, there is a movement to put JB on the recently announced 39c stamp, for this very reason. By all counts, Jack Benny was 39 for about 40 years. Anon. Wednesday, December 14, 2005

I second the motion! I added in a 'running gags' section which I think could be better, but Jack really was known for a handful of things, including how crappy a violinist he was. Hopefully folks can improve on this! - Ipstenu 15:49, 22 December 2005 (UTC)


Frankly I think the begining of this should read "Jack Benny (February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974, age at death, 39), born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an..."

Oddly enough, he actually didn't get to 39 until about 1947. Beginning in the late-1930s, he would claim to be 37, then 38. Once he hit 39, he never went past it. It was very clever.--The Saxon 04:16, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. My dad has a taped interview / biography of his, and Jack himself says on there (approximately) "I was 36 for years. Then I turned 37, and then 38, and then we got to 39. We stopped at 39, because 39's a funny number, 40 isn't." --Mr z 02:14, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Page split

What does anyone think about splitting the Jack Benny Program into an article separate from Jack Benn's article? -Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 09:23, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

May not be a bad idea. Maybe it'd be better to split 'Jack Benny the man' from 'Jack Benny the character'? Even with the program page, you'd have a hella long 'Jack is cheap, etc' section. A show page AND a character page, since Jack's got so much? (notice how I'm not offereing to start it ;) ) -- Ipstenu 17:54, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
The character should definitely be broken out, as Benny's character was an cultural innovation that strongly influenced future theater/TV. See also the discussion regarding the proposed merge (obviously I am against it) brain 04:26, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Missing word?

In the section on "I'm thinking it over", the paragraph discussing another longer laugh says:

at the close of the program broadcast on December 13, 1936 and sponsored by Jell-O, guest Andy Devine says that it is "last number of the eleventh program in the new Jelly series."

Is there supposed to be a word, probably "the", at the beginning of the quote (or just before the initial quotation mark)?

(I don't really get the joke, either. The best I can guess is that it's a pun on eleven and the "ll" in jell-o) - Dharris 20:51, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

There's nothing to get! The show was famous for dwelling on flubs, and that one was just a beauty. Another session of explosive laughter occurs when Mary says "Chiss Wheeze" instead of "Swiss Cheese," again by accident, and JB ends up repeating it several times. In the early days the show was entirely live, so flubs like Devine's made it onto air. Wichitalineman

The preceding is correct, in my view. I have well over 300 of the shows, and mistakes were very common, and often generated better laughs. Another is when Mary calls a "grease rack" (for cars), "grass reek", and the ensuing laughter seems to acknowledge the potential reference to pot. The "Chiss Wheese" appears again when her sister (Babe) asks for a "Chiss Wheeze sandwich". Pitt Cairn 8-30-06

Don't forget they made an ongoing gag about how there was no such phrase as 'grass reek', up until someone said 'And the sunk sprayed the lawn! Boy did that grass reek!' ... I think I have that one on tape still. *sigh* Classic. I don't know if it was a pot reference, given the Benny's prediclictions, but it was damn funny. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 20:27, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jack Benny wasn't born in Waukegan, Illinois

According to the International Jack Benny Fan Club at http://www.jackbenny.org/ he was really born at Chicago's Mercy Hospital. I heard another account how he was born in Chicago, but the family doctor put Waukegan down as the place of birth on his birth certificate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by James C. Orvis (talk • contribs)

Good point. Checked with both my books too (Sunday Nights at Seven, and Jack Benny (written by Mary). Fixed. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 17:02, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Separate article for The Jack Benny Program

Why does every link to the Jack Benny Program lead to an article about Jack Benny? I want The Jack Benny Program to have its own article! Jim856796 05:50, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

It has its own article: The Jack Benny Program. However, I just put a merge tag on it, since it's far less informative than the stuff in this article (and wrong in important aspects, like when the show started). If someone wants to refactor the two, feel free - but currently, it would be much more useful for the reader to redirect all show links here. --Alvestrand 04:44, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
It should be merged, also for this reason: it takes the stance that it is only about Benny's television show, yet The Jack Benny Program was also the title of his radio show. Pepso 19:46, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
I vote it not be merged- Jack Benny's character was a distinct entity from Jack Benny the man. While I agree the articles are a bit sparse, this is more a temporary condition that will be remedied by future development of the article. I would even argue for splitting the radio show article from the television show... perhaps a bit premature at present, but they were definitely distinct (the TV show was more of a variety show than the radio show). brain 04:26, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Audience on tv show?

I see reruns of the 1950's tv show on cable (from about 1955)and wonder if it was filmed in front of a live audience in whole or in part, or if it was all done on film with laughtrack. The audience reactions to the opening and closing routines on stage in front of a curtain seem realistic, but the audience is never shown, and at least some bits seem to be pre-filmed. I believe the radio show had a live audience, and it seems like it would be difficult for a comedian to work with no audience feedback. Yet there were supposedly early tv shows with no audience or audience shots spliced into a show filmed with no audience, like Andy Devine's kid show. Any sources for answers one way or the other? Filmed before audience, filmed with no audience, some combination?Edison 04:04, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

I know the radio was always done with a live audience (even in the days when Mary would record her performance, they'd have a stand in 'reading' the lines). I think that the TV show was always done before a live audience, as it started with Jack giving a bit of a monologue in front of the curtain, and the shows were broadcast live, so where would they put the audience? -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 13:14, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

I doubt the shows were live, since there are frequent filmed parts, and what we see now on reruns looks like film rather than kinescope. They had one where Tennessee Ernie Ford was the guest, and the gimmick was the transmission got jumbled, so Jack and Tennessee were suddenly appearing in each others' costumes, and in each others' sets, upside dpwn, etc. It is wierd to do the opening and closing live and never show the audience. I know comedians in VERY early tv (1939-1941) sometimes had to perform with no audience due to the small studio, and they found it difficult.Edison 23:30, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

The JACK BENNY SHOWs of the early 1950s were done live. By 1955 or 1956 he began to alternate live and filmed shows, eventually doing only filmed shows in the 1960s. Of the 343 episodes, 104 were filmed. Pepso 01:48, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
Found several reference to his consistently using a live audience for the standup portions and for the non-filmed portions. The audience soundtrack would be augmented for bits where, for instance, the camera and soundman prevented the audience seeing the facial expression or payoff of a gag, so the home audience would not be puzzled by the lack of response. Filmed shows might be shown to an audience to obtain a laugh track. Still doesn't answer why the camera never panned around to show the audience having a good time, or why there was never interaction with the audience, even on a show when the guest was Mickey Rooney, who was supposedly tricked into being on the show free via the ruse of free tickets, then called up on stage. Added 2 New York Times references relative to these issues. Edison 21:26, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
An eight-month old question, but deserves an answer: That sort of thing wasn't typically done in those days. Ask yourself how often other classic shows that were filmed before a live audience, such as I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners showed the audience. The answer is never. That was considered to be "breaking the fourth wall". Even when Benny or Gleason addressed the audience, they didn't show the audience. That barrier was slowly broken down over time, but even now they often want to preserve the illusion that the actors are unaware of the audience. Wahkeenah 07:39, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Neutrality

This article sounds like it was written only from a fan's point of view. Describing things he has done as "brilliant" is not neutral, and if people are going to make claims like "...is often considered his best/funniest work" they better have a source. Speaking of sources, this article is really lacking them, and that "sources" section (which should be renamed references) does not do justice as it does not specify which statement it is sourcing. 199.126.137.209 02:19, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Along these same lines, this sentence from the intro paragraph has no discernible meaning: "Benny helped establish a basic palette from which comedy since has rarely deviated, no matter how extreme or experimental it has become in their wake." Gilesdudgeon 20:58, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia section

There's a statue of Jack Benny at the Epicenter, the stadium of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes minor league baseball team in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The stadium is on Jack Benny Way at the intersection of Rochester Avenue, named for the city in New York, not for Eddie Anderson's character on Jack's show. Jack is credited with making Cucamonga famous through Mel Blanc's train announcer bit on the radio and tv shows. Halfelven 02:42, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah, it all makes sense. Now I know why Drew Carey says "Rancho Cucamonga, slowly I turn, step by step". Whenever a contestant is from there(which has happened alot recently), he says this very line on The Price Is Right. Dennyg2007 (talk) 18:22, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "I'm thinking it over"

With apologies, I've trimmed the George Balzar anecdote a bit. I appreciate the attribution to my book, but I felt the lengthy quote infringed on my copyright. Though Wiklipedia encouraged me to remove it, I've left much of it in. I've added a reference to the Milt Josefsberg book--one of the best, I feel, though Balzar had some issues with it.

It might be noted that Benny is wearing a hairpiece in the 1942 photo shown here, probably a movie studio portrait; he had no problem being photographed with his thinning and greying hair while performing on radio. Jordan R. Young 08:06, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tone, reliability, and copyright

While well-written in some parts, the article suffers from an informal and unencyclopedic tone. There's also a grand total of one inline citation for the plethora of quotations that are sprinkled throughout the text. Finally, on a more trivial note, I'm surprised Benny's performance with Isaac Stern at Carnegie Hall isn't mentioned at all, considering that the text devotes some space to his violin playing. 69.202.63.165 01:51, 30 August 2007 (UTC) Also, some parts of the text are identical to http://www.whereoldtimeradiolives.com/otr_shows/jack_benny.htm. I'm not sure if this is a case of Wikipedia violating copyright or the other way around, but it should probably be looked into. 69.202.63.165 01:53, 30 August 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Death announcement

I recall that when Benny died the day after Christmas, network TV (probably CBS) broke in with a brief news bulletin during prime time. I cannot add this to the Final Years section because it is only my personal recollection, but it's the only time I can remember that people cared enough about the death of an octogenarian entertainer for network TV to go so far as to interrupt regular programming. The time of year may have had something to do with it, but it says something about the affection America still felt for the man. I can't imagine such an interruption happening on traditional network TV today for an aged entertainer, no matter how famous. Richard K. Carson (talk) 07:35, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citations & References

See Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags Nhl4hamilton (talk) 04:53, 1 February 2008 (UTC)