"The New Tenant"

[Gerry O.]

OK, I'll probably get slugged for this, but I HAVE to ask......

Does anyone know WHY in the world Jack kept doing that "New Tenant" sketch just before New Year's year after year after year after year?

Yes, I know that it's a symbolic piece that's supposed to get you thinking, and during WWII it surely had great significance and meaning....but Jack and the gang kept it up years after the war ended. He even did it "radio style" on at least one of his television programs.

I can see doing it once, twice, maybe even three times....but what warranted performance after performance of this piece? Frankly, I find the whole thing rather dull, and it certainly doesn't improve with repeated listening.

I'd be interested in finding out how this sketch was received by the listening public at the time.....especially after the first several times they performed it!

[Clyde]

I must admit that the "New Tenant" shows are among my least-liked.

For some reason, I can't quite explain it, but the shows never seem to 'flow' like a typical Benny show. They do not hold up for repeated listening, unlike almost all other recurring themes (ie: Christmas Shopping for Don).

The overblown sentimentality, especially wartime, was understandable, but still these shows leave me with an uneasy feeling.

[Yhtapmys]

Does anyone know WHY in the world Jack kept doing that "New Tenant" sketch just before New Year's year after year after year after year?

Yes, I know that it's a symbolic piece that's supposed to get you thinking,

You've just answered your own question.

Yhtapmys

[Roman]

I don't recall Jack doing the New Tenant skit after 1945 with the exception of 1950 during the first year of the Korean War.

[Lookit]

It does seem that "topical" humor, linked to current events, holds up much worse over time than "character" humor, which was most of what Jack's show was all about.

I think that's why programs like Fred Allen's and Bob Hope's are much less enjoyable now than they were then, while Jack's has generally stayed as fresh as when it was new.

[Yhtapmys]

It does seem that "topical" humor, linked to current events, holds up much worse over time than "character" humor, which was most of what Jack's show was all about.

I think Gerry is talking about the concept and not the humour. It's a slow, serious piece and thus it stands out like a sore thumb.

I imagine Jack felt it was important and needed to be done and, as it was his show, he did it. Repeating concepts at a specific occasion every year was not unknown on his show, as we all know. And it probably works better if it's heard as it was meant to be heard — once a year when we're all into the spirit of the new year, not repeated listenings whenever and wherever.

cArtie.

[Roman]

While Jack's show never revolved around current events in the way that Fred Allen's and Bob Hope's did, there was always a fair amount of topical humor. Just about every major sporting event, from boxing to college football to the World Series, was discussed, as was the Academy Awards and other Hollywood entertainment news. Even the Benny-Allen feud at least in the beginning was a bit topical as it got a lot of news coverage at the time. What was generally missing from Jack's show was mention of political or serious news. When it did occur, such as in the New Tenant sketch or in the references to specific battles during World War II, it necessarily comes across today as dated. I don't know how listeners back in the 1940s reacted to the New Tenant sketch. Perhaps they found meaning, comfort and inspiration in this sketch. In any case, I think that was Jack's intent. My guess is that, overall, the reaction must have been generally positive because otherwise I suspect Jack would have changed the format.

[Yhtapmys]

I don't know how listeners back in the 1940s reacted to the New Tenant sketch. Perhaps they found meaning, comfort and inspiration in this sketch.

That's a great question, Roman. I've been reading some radio columns from then but haven't seen anything.

One local columnist who generally put Jack's show in his "Tonight's Highlights" section absolutely panned the opening show of the 1949-50 season. He especially hated the prolonged applause for every cast member when they made an entrance (I remember a TV columnist once said the same thing about 'Happy Days'). The only thing he liked was a Phil Harris ad-lib after butching a line.

Yhtapmys

[LLeff]

I don't know how listeners back in the 1940s reacted to the New Tenant sketch. Perhaps they found meaning, comfort and inspiration in this sketch. In any case, I think that was Jack's intent.

I can't speak a lot to what 1940s listeners felt about the New Tenant, but many here have probably heard me talk about the fact that my favorite Benny radio show is 12/30/45 (probably mostly for sentimental reasons), which ends with Jack doing a very serious speech about looking to the future. The speech strikes me as working as well today as it did then, and even more so when you think about it in the context of a world in the midst of recovering from a World War and hoping for something better.

Also, Jack did a similar speech a couple times about improving race relations. I put it up on the home page around Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Again, serious but I think it still works very well.

I enjoy the New Tenant sketches from purely a historical perspective, giving a "time capsule" of what people had experienced and were thinking about then looking back on that year. The Old Year will occasionally take a record with him, so it's also got cultural aspects as well as political and war stuff.

Basically, I think some of the serious material in the Benny show still works. Also look at Ronald Colman's "toast to the world" in December 1945, or his reading of the winner of the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny" contest. Even Jack being stood up on a date and celebrating at home with Rochester is more on the "heartwarming" than "thigh-slapping" side.

[Brad from Georgia]

I like the "New Tenant" sketches, but then I'm a sentimental kind of guy. I even got misty-eyed once as I walked the nature trail while listening to Jack's radio version of The Horn Blows at Midnight. It ends with Jack in character as the angel (not waking up from a dream) reflecting on how once the storms of war have passed the world can hope for a brighter future.

If only it had happened....

[Moose Hatrack]

Jack must have known that the 'New Tenant' was a major departure because they set it up (at least once) with Dennis being confused by the whole propostion. Dennis' confusion allowed Jack to give a strained explanation of the allegorical nature of the play. Jack's delivery of the explanation seemed to admit that allegory is kind of high brow, but we're going to do it anyway! And when they did it, they merged the allegorical characters with the radio show characters to make a kind of stupid brilliance.

[Jack Benny]

I don't know how listeners back in the 1940s reacted to the New Tenant sketch. Perhaps they found meaning, comfort and inspiration in this sketch. In any case, I think that was Jack's intent.

I can't speak a lot to what 1940s listeners felt about the New Tenant, but many here have probably heard me talk about the fact that my favorite Benny radio show is 12/30/45 (probably mostly for sentimental reasons), which ends with Jack doing a very serious speech about looking to the future. The speech strikes me as working as well today as it did then, and even more so when you think about it in the context of a world in the midst of recovering from a World War and hoping for something better.

Also, Jack did a similar speech a couple times about improving race relations. I put it up on the home page around Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Again, serious but I think it still works very well.

I enjoy the New Tenant sketches from purely a historical perspective, giving a "time capsule" of what people had experienced and were thinking about then looking back on that year. The Old Year will occasionally take a record with him, so it's also got cultural aspects as well as political and war stuff.

Basically, I think some of the serious material in the Benny show still works. Also look at Ronald Colman's "toast to the world" in December 1945, or his reading of the winner of the "I Can't Stand Jack Benny" contest. Even Jack being stood up on a date and celebrating at home with Rochester is more on the "heartwarming" than "thigh-slapping" side.

Yet again, I find myself agreeing with you completely, Laura! That is also my favorite episode of all Benny programs. Doesn't Phil Also perform "Onsey, Twosy, I love Yousy," in that same episode!? The New Tenants sketches are one of the highlights of the whole Benny run, for me. Like the serious episodes of M*A*S*H*, these episodes give give the whole of the Jack Benny Show more resonance.

[helloagain]

I also enjoyed The New Tenant segments. Dated, yes, maybe a little preachy, but so what? I like the rare occasions when the Benny cast got a little serious. It showed that they were not one dimensional comic characters, like a Bob Hope. There were moments on many shows that touched my heart as well as making me laugh; like when Dennis is leaving for the Navy. Thanking everyone, he briefly steps out of character and calls Mr. Benny 'Jack'.