The Jack Benny Program
Jack Benny was a regular on his own radio program since 1932. He brought the program, with his underplayed humor, to television along with his radio regulars. Jack, who remained thirty-nine-years-old, kept his money in his basement and drove his old Maxwell car just as he had done on the radio.
- 1950-1965
- 15 seasons
- CBS
- Comedy
Jack Benny was a regular on his own radio program since 1932. He brought the program, with his underplayed humor, to television along with his radio regulars. Jack, who remained thirty-nine-years-old, kept his money in his basement and drove his old Maxwell car just as he had done on the radio.
Season 6 Episode Guide
15 Episodes 1955 - 1956
Episode 1
Jack Visits Dennis' Home
Sun, Sep 25, 1955 30 mins
Jack is in good spirits about the new season until Don and his wife, Lois, come by and harass him about fat jokes. Then, it's an infuriating visit to Dennis' home where his mother insults Jack for not making her son the star of the show.
Episode 2
Massage and Date with Gertrude
Sun, Oct 9, 1955 30 mins
Jack illustrates how he relaxes after a show, but its more like La Vie en Cracked than La Vie en Rose. His masseur ties him in knots and rubs in rancid chicken fat, because Jack pays him only $3 a session. Rather than a swank Hollywood hot-spot, cheapskate Jack takes his chic date Gertrude, the switchboard operator, to an underground French restaurant crowded with sloshed Parisian sewer workers - who make Ed Norton look debonair.
Episode 3
Peggy King & Art Linkletter
Sun, Oct 23, 1955 30 mins
Jack introduces Peggy King, the regular vocalist on "The George Gobel Show" who arouses Jack's ire when she tells him that George Gobel is "the best". In the second half of the show, Art Linkletter reprises his role as a children's interviewer from his show "House Party" and asks four youngsters about their romances. He then interviews Don Wilson, Peggy King, Rochester Van Jones and Jack Benny who pretend to be nine-year-olds. Throughout the program, Jack is harassed by an audience member who insists that he be entertained or provided with a new refrigerator.
Episode 4
Isaac Stern Show
Sun, Nov 6, 1955 30 mins
Jack figures out that he's not a great violinist; Rochester and Mary plot to fool him into believing he is a great violinist with the help of Issac Stern.
Episode 5
Jack Gives Johnny Carson Advice
Sun, Nov 20, 1955 30 mins
Jack Benny's monologue discusses how Dennis Day drives him nuts. Jack introduces new young comedian, Johnny Carson, who has everything it takes to become a great success. When Johnny offers a few constructive criticisms, Jack gets offended until Johnny reminds him that it was Jack's own idea to do that routine to get some laughs. Jack thinks somebody's after him after he noticed a mysterious figure following him as he walked home from the studio. Rocks are thrown through his window with threatening messages attached warning him to leave town. Jack calls the police, who catch a prowler outside Jack's home. It turns out to be Dennis Day, who was just upset that Jack wouldn't let him be on the show that day. Dennis Day sings "Love and Marriage" by Sammy Cahn with a special verse about Jack Benny.
Episode 6
Jack Hunts for Uranium
Sun, Dec 4, 1955 30 mins
Jack hears there's uranium for the finding in Death Valley, so he's off to buy gear for an expedition. At the camping store he duels his nemesis, the sarcastic sales clerk Frank Nelson. In the desert Jack's party confronts other prospectors, and some Mexican stereotypes a la Treasure of Sierra Madre.
Episode 7
New Years Day, 1956
Sun, Jan 1, 1956 30 mins
Essentially a filmed radio show, a few chairs and a microphone on a stage, Jack and company re-create what was a tradition on his radio show, a skit where "Old Year" packs up and moves out and "New Year" moves in.
Episode 8
Don Invites Gang to Dinner
Sun, Jan 15, 1956 30 mins
A dinner invitation gone bad causes Jack to seek legal advice with regard to firing his announcer, Don Wilson.
Episode 9
How Jack Met Rochester
Sun, Jan 29, 1956 30 mins
Jack tells the story of how he first met Rochester, while riding on a train.
Episode 10
William Holden/Frances Bergen Show
Sun, Feb 12, 1956 30 mins
Dennis Day presents Jack with a hand-crafted birthday gift and then sings "Autumn Leaves"; Don Wilson asks if his son Harlow can read a Lucky Strike commercial, then gets angry when Harlow can't remember the lines; Frances Bergen and William Holden demonstrate the proper way to do a movie kiss after Frances tells Jack he has "no sex appeal at all."
Episode 11
Rochester Falls Asleep, Misses Program
Sun, Feb 26, 1956 30 mins
With Gary Crosby as a guest, doing a duet with Mary Livingstone on his show, Jack is sure he'll have a good one, but always relies on Rochester's opinion rather than what the TV critics say, just as Mary depends on her mother's viewpoint. Unfortunately, both fell asleep and missed it.
Episode 12
Jack Dives Into Empty Swimming Pool in Palm Springs
Sun, Mar 11, 1956 30 mins
Jack and Rochester take the Maxwell to Palm springs for a holiday. After suffering smart alecky gas station attendants, they arrive at the resort, where Jack impetuously jumps in the pool before he realizes it's empty, and lands sitting in a bucket. He spends the rest of the vacation bedridden.
Episode 14
Jack Opens Beverly Hills Office
Sun, Mar 25, 1956 30 mins
Jack cuts corners to open a new office in expensive Beverly Hills; he shares it with an interior decorator and hires a shrill-voiced waitress to be his secretary. MGM head Dore Shary comes by to offer Jack a movie role. Jack objects to both the small part -- playing a man who falls out of a five story window -- and the paltry pay.
Episode 15
The Gisele MacKenzie Show
Sun, Apr 8, 1956 30 mins
Episode 16
Jack Tries to Get a Passport to Europe
Sun, Apr 22, 1956 30 mins
Jack is frustrated at the passport office.