JACK BENNY MONTH – Part 1

Originally broadcast on WNIB
Saturday, February 3, 1996

NOTE: This month we feature a sequence of related and mostly consecutive Benny programs dealing with the famous “I Can’t Stand Jack Benny Because…” contest.

JACK BENNY PROGRAM (10-21-45) Jack is planning to go to the race track, but is having trouble selecting a horse. Jack dreams about the race, betting $85,000. This program features the first appearance of Polly the Parrott (played by Mel Blanc) and the first appearance of Phil’s “daughter” (Jeanine Roos).

JACK BENNY PROGRAM (10-28-45) When Jack dreams that he bet $85,000 on a horse that won and paid $646,000, his Press Agent Steve Bradley has a great idea!

HOTPOINT HOLIDAY HOUR (12-25-49) “The Man Who Came to Dinner” starring Jack Benny with an all-star supporting cast: Charles Boyer, Gene Kelly, Dorothy McGuire, Gregory Peck, and Rosalind Russell. Henry Fonda narrates. A pompous, cantankerous, megalomaniac broadcaster is confined by a broken hip to a normal Midwestern home, which he turns into bedlam.

JACK BENNY PROGRAM (11-4-45) After being the victim of a robbery, Jack is sick in bed. The gang tries to comfort him.

JACK BENNY PROGRAM (11-11-45) Jack is still trying to recover from the shock of being robbed. Rochester tries to get boxer Joe Louis to be Jack’s bodyguard, but Joe wants to be a comedian.