shimp scrampi wrote:Though never wrote for Jack (as far as I know), just a quick word of remembrance here for Paul Henning, longtime writer for Burns and Allen, and who also was instrumental in the career of many Benny alumni, including producing Dennis Day's TV show, and giving Bea Benaderet her long-deserved lead role in the TV series "Petticoat Junction". Henning died on Friday at the age of 93, and is of course best known for creating "The Beverly Hillbillies". I see a lot of echoes of both B&A and Jack Benny in my favorite of his big three TV series, "Green Acres" (which he had the least direct involvement in, strangely).
LA Times has a better obituary than the AP one which is in most other papers:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/ ... &cset=true
I agree with the connection between B&A, Benny, and Green Acres. All three shows had a distinctly surrealistic quality about them.
[/quote]shimp scrampi wrote:I agree with the connection between B&A, Benny, and Green Acres. All three shows had a distinctly surrealistic quality about them.
Which is one of my favorite aspects of all three... "Green Acres" is a little bit like a Jack Benny (though Eddie Albert's Oliver inspires less empathy than Jack) being lost in a world that totally operates on Gracie Allen logic (Jack's world is only partially surreal!). Delightful stuff.
Incidentally, Dick Chevillat, who co-wrote almost every episode of GA with creator Jay Sommers, was a writer for Phil Harris' radio program, more Benny connections!
shimp scrampi wrote:Oh, definitely, there is plenty of surreal to go around on the Jack Benny Show, I love that Kenny Baker gag too, Rochester even brings up the missing gas man in that same skit!
The distinction I was drawing is that in Green Acres - Eddie Albert is never the surreal one - he's always the rational man in the lunatic asylum. The brilliance of Jack's character is usually he is the "normal" voice in the surreal world - but often - think the Colemans episodes - JACK is surreal in comparison to the "normal world" with his implausible cheapness extremes, money-making schemes (vending machines in the house, etc.) - I love that he was able to play both sides of the crazy fence!
Oliver starts in with some idealistic speech and patriotic-sounding music starts welling up in the background and Lisa or somebody says, "Where is that music coming from?"
shimp scrampi wrote:Oliver starts in with some idealistic speech and patriotic-sounding music starts welling up in the background and Lisa or somebody says, "Where is that music coming from?"
Oh, right. But then, Oliver could never hear the fife music! And whenever he started the speech about the dignity of the American Farmer, everyone else would expect the fifes to start. Nor could Oliver ever see the opening credits, whereas all of the other Hootervillians could - but to them, such things were minor points of interest or annoyance, Oliver would probably flip his lid if he could actually observe these things. It's all so interesting, 'who was truly the crazy one?' but kind of like trying to analyze a sunbeam.
The GA fife music thing reminds me of a Jack Benny gag that I don't ever remember hearing the payoff to. In the Halloween 1948 episode, Jack chastises one of the Beavers when he uses the expression "that's what I told me old lady". Jack says, "Butch! What kind of language is that, 'told me old lady'!" and a yodeling voice (Dennis?) comes out of the distance "Told-me-old-lady-hoooo!" It was hilarious but what the heck was that all about?
shimp scrampi wrote:Oh, definitely, there is plenty of surreal to go around on the Jack Benny Show
I have often said that the Thanksgiving 1943 show is Jack meets Salvador Dali, as he goes into a dream sequence where he becomes the turkey.
shimp scrampi wrote: In the Halloween 1948 episode, Jack chastises one of the Beavers when he uses the expression "that's what I told me old lady". Jack says, "Butch! What kind of language is that, 'told me old lady'!" and a yodeling voice (Dennis?) comes out of the distance "Told-me-old-lady-hoooo!" It was hilarious but what the heck was that all about?
bboswell wrote:shimp scrampi wrote: In the Halloween 1948 episode, Jack chastises one of the Beavers when he uses the expression "that's what I told me old lady". Jack says, "Butch! What kind of language is that, 'told me old lady'!" and a yodeling voice (Dennis?) comes out of the distance "Told-me-old-lady-hoooo!" It was hilarious but what the heck was that all about?
That was a recurring gag over several weeks (or even months.) It started with the first show of the season after Jack came back from a tour of Europe Oct 3, 1948. He talks about yodelers in Switzerland and an "echo" has followed him back! (There's your surrealism!) the first time the echo happens was when, at the railroad station back in the States, the track announcer says "Train leaving on track 5 for Kansas City and Chicago." The echo repeated "Kansas City and Chicago." and Jack said:
"Did you hear that"
Mary: "Yes, there's a train leaving for Kansas City and Chicago."
No one hears the echoes except for Jack.
Later in the show and over the next few weeks it repeats on things that sound something like "O Lee O Lay Hee Hoo"
I think eventually Jack goes to the psychologist to get the echo checked out, and the echo stays with the shrink instead of going with Jack!
Listen to the Oct 3, 1948 episode if you want to hear the origins of this great running gag!
Many ( if not most all ) comedy series have specific characters that are either mostly/completely in or out of relative "reality."
Not only is JB a part of both worlds, i think ALL of the primary characters are....maybe DD to the least extent (?), but even he is often just thinking about his contract, how funny JB is acting, his song,etc...
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