Showing results by narrator "Jack Benny" in All Categories

Come back to the tradition and warmth of Christmas in the Golden Age of Radio, with the great performers and shows of yesteryear. Go shopping with Jack Benny. Go to the snow covered woods with Johnny Dollar. Go to Bethlehem with Family Theater. The voices of Vincent Price, George and Gracie, Bergen and McCarthy, Abbott and Costello, Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, and more are lifted in story and song. They celebrate the yuletide with equal parts hope and hokum, silliness and sacrifice, merriment and mystery....

They've been called the most successful husband and wife comedy team in history, and you'll find no dissension in these ranks. George Burns and Gracie Allen had a chemistry and wit about them that had no parallel. In this sampling of programs from the 1940s, George and Gracie face new livelihoods (and livestock) and mad undertakings (and misunderstandings). They budget and blunder alongside Bill Goodwin, Meredith Willson, Mel Blanc, and special guest Jack Benny.

In early 1943, funnyman Jack Benny developed a serious case of pneumonia while traveling to entertain the troops. Someone would need to stand in for the sultan of Sunday night radio. But who? Orson Welles, the prestige-project prodigy, was an unlikely but inspired choice. Benny’s regular gang is on hand; Phil Harris returns from the military; and additional guests George Burns, Gracie Allen, Barbara Stanwyck, and Butterfly McQueen pop in for a visit. This is The Jack Benny Program like you’ve never heard it before.

Hilarious Hollywood spoofs were a beloved feature on many classic Jack Benny radio shows. Regular cast members and guest stars alike were recruited to send up cinema classics like Casablanca, High Noon, and Sunset Boulevard. Celebrities could count on large laughs - and, looking good next to Jack’s lovably vainglorious and miserly self - while poking fun at their most famous films. A treasure trove for both Benny-philes and film fans, this set includes 12 digitally restored and remastered episodes, performances by the likes of Bob Hope and Edward G. Robinson.

Celebrate Christmas along with radio's greatest performers, characters and programs. These timeless holiday classics include moving and mirthful comedies, wholesome dramas, and adventurous missions of mercy. May these 21 digitally restored and remastered tales of nostalgia and nativity bring you cheer and become a part of your own Christmas traditions.

Invite faith, hope, love, and laughter into your home this Christmas with classic holiday programs from the Golden Age of Radio. Ranging from the solemn to the slapstick, each of these heartwarming episodes celebrates the spirit of the season. This collection brings you yuletide tales from Jack Benny, Gunsmoke, Fibber & Molly, The Great Gildersleeve, The Whistler, and more. There are Christmas comedies, merry mysteries, wintry Westerns, and poignant dramas to lend meaning and merriment to your festivities this, and every, holiday season.

Hit the road, Jack! Take a train, a plane, or even a ship! Wherever he goes, and however he gets there, Jack Benny is always good for a laugh. Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson come along for the ride in 16 travel themed adventures in this collection. Climb aboard for coast to coast clowning, with special appearances by the infamous racetrack “tout” (Sheldon Leonard) and the reliable railway announcer (Mel Blanc). “Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-amonga!”

Follow Jack Benny and his gang around the calendar in this 16-episode collection that takes you from week to week, from season to season, from holiday to holiday, and from laugh to laugh! And you never know who might pop up to join in the fun. It might be Barbara Stanwyck, or Claude Rains, or Jack's real life daughter, Joan.

Deck the halls and prop up the antenna - because Christmas is on the air! Here come all of your radio favorites in a holly-wreathed collection of priceless holiday moments. These classic episodes are accented with humor, tinged with adventure, and well-seasoned with all the good family feelings that fill our hearts during this season of the year! From Fibber McGee & Molly to Suspense, from Red Skelton to Marshal Matt Dillon, from Mr. Benny to St. Nick himself, tune in to 10 full hours of seasonal entertainment!

Who's that bear? And what's he doing in Jack Benny's basement? It's the famous Carmichael—guarding the vault and getting laughs! Dish up the Jell-O for Mary Livingston, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson in twenty classic prewar episodes—and be sure to leave a plate for you-know-who downstairs!

It's midcentury madness as Jack Benny slides smoothly into the 1950s with great guests, hilarious running gags, and even a song or two! This classic collection features 20 episodes from Jack's final years on radio, accompanied by his constant cohorts Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Bob Crosby, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, the Sportsmen Quartet, and Don Wilson.

Ronald and Benita Colman made 20 guest appearances on The Jack Benny Program, including some of the most hilarious entries in the series. The Colmans' refined personaes played an excellent "grand opera" to the "ragtime" of Jack's mercenary enterprises. In this set, you'll hear the dashing Ronald read the winning entry of the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny" contest. You will also hear Benita receive the third longest laugh ever on the Benny radio program. It's no wonder that The Colmans' visits to Benny's radio series have become listener classics.

Let's play ball! Or hit the track! Or roam the links! Or lace on the gloves! You name the sport, Jack Benny's a fan...and maybe even a participant! Whether he's sitting in the stands or standing in the thick of the action, it all adds up to clutch classic radio comedy! Cheer on Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Kenny Baker, and Don Wilson in 16 half hour episodes filled with equal parts rah-rah-rah and ha-ha-ha!

Here comes “This Week’s Play” with Jack Benny and all the gang! Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson all play their parts in parodies of Hollywood movies, wild Westerns, murder mysteries, and more. Kick back with 16 satirical skits in this collection of classics from the 1940s and 1950s, featuring guest appearances by Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Levant, Charles Farrell, Sam Goldwyn, Frank Sinatra, and George Jessel!

Rough, rugged, and ready for anything, Jack Benny braves the howling winds atop an icy mountain peak…until he falls down and drags himself back to the ski lodge. Get ready for the comic adventures of radio's favorite comedian as you've never heard him before. He's the manliest of men, the conqueror of every wilderness, the very personification of virile vigor! Jack heads off for 16 rootin'-tootin' outdoor escapades, along with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Bob Crosby, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Kenny Baker, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson.

You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout, we're telling you why! Great Radio Christmas is coming to town! Pour yourself an egg nog, break out the ribbon candy, and tune in for a whole stocking-full of radio favorites celebrating the holiday season.

A woebegone old car, a harried department store clerk, a monosyllabic man in a sombrero, and a train announcer whose line ran somewhere between Orange County and the Twilight Zone are all memorable characters from The Jack Benny Program, and all the products of a single talented throat: Mel Blanc. "The Man of a Thousand Voices" was Carmichael the Polar Bear, who lived improbably in Jack's cellar.

Do you relish the ridiculous? Get ready for realms of absurdity only possible with radio comedy! Here's a selection of some of Jack's best sketches, parodies, and far-fetched fables - with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Don Wilson, and a few surprise guests (including Humphrey Bogart)! The play's the thing! Whether it's a lush romance, a leather-pounding Western drama, a hard-boiled detective thriller, or a tale of rip-roaring adventure, you can count on Jack Benny to turn it sideways and make it funny!

It was the decade of a World War and a Cold War. It was the decade of the Zoot Suit and FDR. But most of all, it was the decade of Jack Benny! Radio's favorite comedian truly came into his own during the 1940s.

Any comedian can be funny in the studio, but domestic comedy is usually considered the province of actors who happen to do comedy. Jack Benny straddled the two roles for most of his career - the suave, witty master of ceremonies standing on stage in front of a curtain one moment; the put-upon householder tormented by a bumptious servant, eccentric friends, and troublesome neighbors the next.