What Made Jack Benny's Show so Special?
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One thing that Jack was the first to figure out, was that in radio, the audience really consisted of small family groups. Many comics were successful on stage because of their sight gags, but Jack realized that to be successful on radio, he would have to make his show fit the listening audience. He says, "I felt that now I understood the medium. I would play to those family groups and get them to know me and my family (the cast) as real people with real problems. Exaggerated people, yes, but fundamentally honest and true to life.
One of the most important aspects of Jack's show was his ability to get the best and brightest stars of the time to be guests on his show. Some regulars were Jimmy and Gloria Stewart, Gregory and Veronique Peck, Ronald and Benita Colman, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, and his good friends Bob Hope and George Burns and Gracie Allen.
While the guest stars were important, the regular cast of the Jack Benny show was essentially what kept it going. The concept of the "gang comedy" was first advanced the the Jack Benny Program. It consisted of an ongoing company of supporting actors with their own personalities. This group was formed into a "radio family" and were given license to aggravate Benny's character, although their chief complaint was that he had none.
Some of the most memorable members of the cast were: Mary Livingstone, Rochester, Phil Harris, Dennis Day and Don Wilson. Mary Livingstone, Benny's secretary, was a quick-witted young woman played by his wife. Rochester was Benny's black butler and chauffer who was often lazy. He was played by Eddie Anderson. Next was Phil Harris, a self-absorbed, boozing, girl-chasing band-leader who called Benny "Jackson." Dennis Day was the childish Irish tenor, naive and immature, at times he pulled off ingenious stunts that would make Jack especially mad. Don Wilson was the announcer on Jack's show. He was not concerned with his appearance and Jack put him through hell, one time even dressing him up as a ballerina.
It was ideal mixture that these and a few other characters created that was partly responsible for the success of the Jack Benny Program. Each one could needle Jack in a different way, exposing every side of his human shortcomings.
Jack was the first to acknowledge that his on-air relationships were key in maintaining audience interest. They helped create an interest in the comedian as a person or as a character in a situation. Benny would explain, "People tune in to me not because I have a great show every week. I can't and nobody can. But they get in the habit of wanting to know what I am up to."
Millie M. Crews
Copyright © 2001 by University of North Texas. All rights reserved.
Revised: 27 Aug 2001 10:55:22 -0500
Jack and His Cast
L-R: Rochester, Dennis Day, Phil Harris,
Mary Livingstone,
Jack Benny, and Mel Blanc
Jack and Rochester
Jack and Mel Blanc
Jack and Mary
Ingrid Bergman, Jack Benny and Martha Tilton
Jack playing "Love in Bloom" for the GIs