New
kathy_fuller_seeley4:59 PM
jell-o, anybody
Rodrigo Araya4:59 PM
Hi, Kathy.
kathy_fuller_seeley4:59 PM
Hello Rodrigo, how is October treating you?
Rodrigo Araya4:59 PM
Well… at least I don’t have to look for a replacement singer…
kathy_fuller_seeley4:59 PM
haha well, that is something!
garth_johnson5:00 PM
Here we are again, happy as can be, all good friends in Jolly Good Company!
Rodrigo Araya5:00 PM
Trying to get Sinatra for the show must quite risky. He might be thin as a rail but charges like Caruso.
brad_strickland5:00 PM
Hi, all~
kathy_fuller_seeley5:00 PM
I have been joining Darrel Lantz on podcasts talking about Jack Benny television episodes, its been fun5:01Howdy Brad! have you seen the 1932 scripts volume 1 yet?
brad_strickland5:01 PM
Yep, I bought the hardcover. You’ll have to autograph it for me sometime!
kathy_fuller_seeley5:01 PM
and Garth, I finally found a way to send you the books I owe you, hopefully early next week you will get them5:01ooooh, what he said. Thank you, Brad!
Rodrigo Araya5:02 PM
“Boss, you mean you want to hire “Wontcha tell meee wheeeen… We will meet agaiiiin…”?
brad_strickland5:02 PM
Great book. Really interesting seeing the full Benny when the character was only a foreshadowing.
Rodrigo Araya5:02 PM
“Sunday, Monday or Alwaaaaayyyyyysssss…”
brad_strickland5:02 PM
“My Mama done told me, when I was in knee pants. . . . “
garth_johnson5:02 PM
Zounds — I’d forgotten about those — much appreciated!
kathy_fuller_seeley5:03 PM
Darrel Lantz wants our little Benny TV group to pivot next week to talk about a “Frank Sinatra Spectacular” special closed-circuit TV appearance in like 1963 or 1964 and it has a very young Johnny Carson as mc….
Rodrigo Araya5:03 PM
Now that’s a coincidence…
brad_strickland5:04 PM
Of course you’ve read Carson’s college thesis on comedy, which is anchored in Jack’s work.5:04Or heard it. He recorded it, and I think it’s online.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:04 PM
yes Brad, I LOVE that U Nebraska put it up as a podcast/recording one can listen to. I would have given the kid an A. and he sounds like Johnny Carson…5:05speaking of students, (and forgive the politics) but one of my seniors from last Fa;;
brad_strickland5:05 PM
Kelsey Grammar always reminded me of Benny–the attitude and the cadence of the jokes especially.5:05Last Fa;;?
kathy_fuller_seeley5:05 PM
Fall’s comedy studies course now makes videos making fun of Trump for the Lincoln Project5:06of course that is a little like noticing flies on vice presdential heads
brad_strickland5:06 PM
Ha! Love those. Now if Randy Rainbow can do the music for them, that’s the whole package.
Rodrigo Araya5:07 PM
Too bad podcasts are still too fresh a medium to do fiction work. That would have been quite useful these days, for the TV season has been delayed.
brad_strickland5:07 PM
Au contraire, mon frere! I work with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, and we’re gearing up now to produce a podcast series.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:07 PM
yay for you all, Brad!
Rodrigo Araya5:08 PM
Oh, really? You know, most “pods” are basically talk shows as in regular radio.
brad_strickland5:08 PM
I come here fresh from a writers’ meeting. We’re doing some darker pieces for Halloween, some Christmas pieces, and so on.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:08 PM
dark Christmas, count me in, hahaha crampus …..
brad_strickland5:09 PM
Yes, I know. My son, Jonathan, is the producer for howstuffworks.com podcasts.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:09 PM
I am so lucky not to be having to do all my teaching through zoom this fall, there is another quick education in podcasting. Brad, are you still teaching?
Rodrigo Araya5:09 PM
The strangest part is that they could deviate from the all-talk format if they wanted. After all, Jack’s show played with the conventions of the radio programs of the early 30s.
brad_strickland5:10 PM
But we’re going for humor, dark fantasy, science fiction, and so on. It’s a tossup whether we’ll do them in-house on a dedicated website or send them out on Youtube instead. I have nothing to do woth that.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:10 PM
I am on my first (paid, full) research leave in 28 years, woo hoo
brad_strickland5:10 PM
Congratulations! The most I ever got was two days off to go to a library in a different city.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:10 PM
Brad, I hope you will share a link through the IJBFC website or something else we can access!
brad_strickland5:10 PM
But ours was a poor campus.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:11 PM
Brad, same for me for 27 years, glad to finally be at a wealthy U : )
brad_strickland5:11 PM
Sure, as soon as the production team figures out what we’re going to do. One of the first pieces may be a story that I’ve told for years–it’s true–about the night when I was in college and our cat brought a live squirrel into our apartment at 3 AM. If we do it for Halloween, I’m calling it “The Night of the Living Squirrel.”
kathy_fuller_seeley5:11 PM
I love to stare at young faculty as such a privileged place when they complain about how hard they have it : )
brad_strickland5:12 PM
You know, at our University, they’ve started charging faculty $165 a term for parking.
Rodrigo Araya5:12 PM
Say, Tom hasn’t said a word yet.
brad_strickland5:13 PM
I taught a part-time course there last fall, and I am not kidding, after the parking was taken out, I earned $37.00 for a six-week course.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:13 PM
and Garth only a few, how are you folks?
brad_strickland5:13 PM
Tom! Tom! you there?
Tom V.5:13 PM
Hi folks! Just enjoying the conversation!
Rodrigo Araya5:13 PM
Wonder if there are other people on the chat as well.
brad_strickland5:13 PM
Hi, Tom. So what’s new in your neck of the woods, or does your woods have a neck?5:14Say, where is the boss lady tonight?
garth_johnson5:14 PM
Kathy – I made the mistake of using newspapers.com to search myself and father — big mistake I found a pic of a dear deceased friend a few moments ago — other than that — I have to teach my mother to use her new smart watch’
Tom V.5:14 PM
Not a thing noteworthy in my little corner of the world!
kathy_fuller_seeley5:14 PM
anybody got any good Jack Benny-related Halloween costume or party ideas?
Rodrigo Araya5:15 PM
Maybe a polar bear…
brad_strickland5:15 PM
I’m going as Carmichael.5:15Nija’d by Rodrigo!
garth_johnson5:15 PM
I’m a goblin that knows …
Rodrigo Araya5:15 PM
What about an hotel doorman?
brad_strickland5:15 PM
If I lost fifty pounds, I could go as Fred Allen. Well, I’d also need a clothespin.5:16Well, who did you think I was–Drear Pooson?
Rodrigo Araya5:16 PM
People would think you’re Frankenstein, not the Texaco salesman.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:16 PM
congratulations, Brad, sounds worthy of an Allen’s Alley celebration
garth_johnson5:16 PM
1953-01-00_-_c15_-_historicimages_catalog_-_halloween_lure-a.jpg
brad_strickland5:17 PM
I’ve gained so much weight during the Covid pandemic I might be suitable as Don Wilson.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:17 PM
Gisele! great find, Garth!
garth_johnson5:17 PM
This will keep the kids away1936-10-20_-_fa1_-_bookster7_catalog_-_pumpkin_pickers_attention-a.jpg
Rodrigo Araya5:17 PM
Not a bad idea, Brad. Carry a box of Jell-O as well.
brad_strickland5:18 PM
Well, if it isn’t Larry, Moe, and Gruesome.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:18 PM
haha I could go as a jello mold, as I currently have far too much in the midsection that jiggles, OK I will go as Don Wilson, thank goodness there is no place to “go”
brad_strickland5:20 PM
“Folks, here’s a grand idea for a Halloween dessert that’s a real treat, and there’s no trick to making it. You’ll need orange Jell-O and a black cat…”
garth_johnson5:20 PM
Speaking of Gisele — It’s turkey time tonight1951-11-00_-_c15_-_historicimages_catalog_-_thanksgiving_wisher-a.jpg
brad_strickland5:21 PM
Ah, that takes me back. I used to write books in the Wishbone series.
garth_johnson5:22 PM
Books about salad dressing?
kathy_fuller_seeley5:22 PM
more Gisele! that is terrific! I must dig up the material my radio/TV history friend sent me from an ad agency complaining about Jack Benny leaning on them to feature Gisele in her own TV show (they did, and it was not good)
Rodrigo Araya5:22 PM
I was thinking about a “Buck Benny” Halloween costume.
brad_strickland5:23 PM
Books about the little dog with a big imagination. PBS series about a Jack Russell terrier who read books and imagined himself as one of the characters. . . he was Jim Hawkins, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Darcy in various episodes.5:23And you could base the costume on the Buck Benny movie!
garth_johnson5:23 PM
Jack going to a Tom Mixer after bobbing for apples1952-11-11_-_jb5_-_getty_50469246_nwm_-_jack_benny.jpg
kathy_fuller_seeley5:24 PM
prune olive jello.jpg
brad_strickland5:24 PM
https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1188498045l/1798454._SX318_.jpg(35 kB)https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1188498045l/1798454._SX318_.jpg
kathy_fuller_seeley5:25 PM
oh Brad, how much fun!!!! Did you get to meet the Wishbone dog?
brad_strickland5:25 PM
No, never did. There were actually five–the main actor was Soccer, but his sister was the one who jumped, and there was one who would run, and one who was good at sitting still in costumes. I did meet the actor who voiced him, though.5:26The paw print on the left ear is makeup, by the way.5:27“What’s the story, Wishbone, what’s this you’re dreaming up? Such a big imagination for such a little pup! What’s the story, Wishbone? Let’s spin another tale…”
kathy_fuller_seeley5:27 PM
of course there were five, but five times the pup-cuddling, that is great. I did some research on Rin tin tin and Strongheart the 1920s dogs. MANY people thought Rinty was the most sensitive actor of his day, from what they could read in his eyes. But their trainers were so lucky not to have to worry about sounds interrupting their dogs to get communication to do the specific stunts5:28Jack only had Prince. “quit counting on your toes”5:29The most fun thing is that I found an original reference to Prince the dog in Summer 1932 (the first scripts volume) and then Prince only shows up again in late 1950 in the Dreer Poosen episode!!!!
brad_strickland5:29 PM
Soccer’s owner said he was smart but dangerous. One Sunday morning she was in bed reading the paper, and Soccer wanted her to toss a tennis ball for him. She threw it into the hall and he chased and retrieved it. Then he got bored, took it into the bathroom, and flushed it. She said the plumbing bill came to over two thousand dollars, so it was good he had an income.5:30I remember Prince! That’s a good long life for a dog.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:30 PM
haha smart and devious dog!
garth_johnson5:30 PM
someone need a plumbers helper?1945-12-28_-_fil_-_bijoumedia_trans-183_-_the_sailor_takes_a_wife_-_eddie_anderson.jpg
brad_strickland5:31 PM
He was a diva, too. She said he refused to ride in a car unless the air-conditioner was on–even if it was freezing outside.5:31I just heard on Sirius XM “Brewster’s Millions,” staring Jack and Mary.5:31Lux Radio Theatre show.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:31 PM
he’s only then ready for his close up, Mr. DeMille…
garth_johnson5:32 PM
He had two shows … could afford the pets1946-00-00_-_dd1_-_source_catalog_-_a_day_in_the_life_of_dennis_day_-_dennis_with_dogs-3.jpg
brad_strickland5:32 PM
I think the German Shepherd is a tenor.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:33 PM
Rin Tin Tin had a radio show, but I can’t think of many radio cats……cats are not meant for radio, other than a meow or two
Rodrigo Araya5:33 PM
Did Jack have any pets?
garth_johnson5:33 PM
Noodls1942-00-00_-_jb4_-_sox_xx32-263_-_bennys_at_home_with_noodles_the_dog.jpg
brad_strickland5:33 PM
You mean aside from Mel Blanc?
kathy_fuller_seeley5:34 PM
Polly the Parrot on the radio show, and of course Carmichael before then, and Trudy the ostrich
Rodrigo Araya5:34 PM
Does Lenora the mare count?5:34Or the camel?
kathy_fuller_seeley5:34 PM
and there was a camel for a couple of weeks
garth_johnson5:34 PM
Polly want’s a rye crisp1945-03-27_-_mag_-_getty_50768497_nwm_-_polly_the_parrot.jpg
kathy_fuller_seeley5:35 PM
its so interesting that Benny show fans from the late 1930s really liked Carmichael and were sad when he stopped being on the show. Wasn’t that an early Mel Blanc appearance, his growl?
Rodrigo Araya5:35 PM
GRWAK! P-A-L-M S-P-R-I-N-G-S. Vacuum cleaner.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:36 PM
exactly, Rodrigo!!!! I was just about to type that out hahaha
garth_johnson5:36 PM
Just arrived on track 5 from Anaheim1944-01-09_-_jb4_-_source_catalog_-_jack_with_eddie_anderson_and_camel_in_la-alternate.jpg
5:371942 – Jack Benny with his swayback horse Lenore1942-00-00_-_jb4_-_abcdvd_3401-16_-_jack_benny_with_a_swayback_horse_lenora.jpg
brad_strickland5:37 PM
Lenore must have been a gift from Bing Crosby.
Rodrigo Araya5:37 PM
Good one, BradLast week I was wondering if Fred Allen ever wrote something about the “Ave Maria” incident (when Kenny Baker sang it in German two weeks after Pearl Harbor)…
garth_johnson5:37 PM
Has anybody seen Kenny Baker lately?1939-12-00_-_cst_-_jptm_ql124_jc_-_eddie_anderson_santa_claus_lane-1-a.jpg
kathy_fuller_seeley5:37 PM
but no cat…..unless you count the EVIL cat in the “Mouse that Jack Built” cartoon, which was somehow a part of the Benny household5:38Kenny is still in a upper bedroom in the back reaches of Jack’s house hahaha
brad_strickland5:39 PM
I remember Midnight the Cat on “Andy’s Gang.” That was on TV, though. Andy Devine hosted . . . Midnight the Cat, Froggy the Gremlin, Bomba the Jungle Boy….
kathy_fuller_seeley5:39 PM
I wonder about Fred Allen, if he ever liked Kenny Baker, or if Baker was foisted onto his show by the sponsor….
Rodrigo Araya5:40 PM
Probably the incident soured the relationship.
garth_johnson5:40 PM
Hey Ralphie what’s he doing ??? — He’s eating bushes!1940-05-00_-_jb4_-_jptm_bs035_jc_-_paramount_p2159-345_-_colossal_carmichael_no_2-a.jpg
kathy_fuller_seeley5:40 PM
the few Fred Allen shows I have heard in which Kenny was included, just sound grating to me, hahaha
brad_strickland5:41 PM
Sad to say, I was never much of a Fred Allen fan. Bits were funny, but the verbal humor often felt forced to me.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:42 PM
well folks, can you believe that at the end of October, Oct 30 will be the 70th anniversary of Jack’s first TV episode. That sounds so long ago! I used to think “oh that was just 10 years before I was born”
garth_johnson5:44 PM
I was watching Kevin Costner in “For the Love Of The Game” yesterday with my mother (a baseball fan) — could not believe its 20 years old already.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:44 PM
Sure, Brad, Fred Allen is more divisive, folks either love him or dislike him. My own PhD dissertation advisor (now this is 25 years later, when I write my Jack Benny book) admitted that, as a kid in the 1940s, he thought Fred Allen was very HIP and Jack Benny was square, so Ron would only read the pages in my book that involved Fred! doh!
Rodrigo Araya5:44 PM
The reason I commented on most comedy podcasts’ monotony is that I’d really like to see… er, hear parodies of popular works.
brad_strickland5:45 PM
I’m old enough to have watched some of the TV episodes in first run when I was only knee-high to a married grasshopper. I have a vivid memory of the one in which Jack explains that he keeps looking young because they move the camera back each year, and now the studio is in Hollywood and the camera is in Pomona. And they do a close-up of Benny in this horrible mummy-like old-age makeup, and it scared the bejabbers out of me. Today I don’t have a bejabber to my name.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:45 PM
and hooray, Jack Benny’s radio show in 1932 was often credited with being the first movie parodies on the radio. I can’t wait for you all to get to read the series he does on Grand Hotel!
brad_strickland5:45 PM
That one’s a gem, Kathy!5:46If I’m thinking of the right one…
Rodrigo Araya5:47 PM
For instance, Kenny could have done a good Jughead Jones and Dennis could have imitated “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”‘s version of Bruce Lee had the Benny program been done these days.5:47I’ve been listening to a lot of late 30s episodes lately.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:48 PM
well when it comes to Grand Hotel you all have not read it yet…..they do the Baron and the Ballerina scene numerous times, but what becomes a sensation is that they have a guy in the band play the Lionel Barrymore part of Kringelein, the old bookeeper who only has weeks to live. And for the next four weeks, he bursts into scenes, shouting that he only has 3 days to live. The fact that this was at the very worst part of the Depression (Oct-Nov 1932) makes it even weirder. Can’t wait for you all to see it
brad_strickland5:50 PM
Maybe that’s what I was thinking of. I believe the very first radio parody of a movie was in 1924, when Will Rogers did a send-up of “Ben-Hur.” Of course, that was before talkies, so the parody was just ten minutes of silence. Didn’t go over real big.
Rodrigo Araya5:50 PM
On the Watch2Gether chat, I also mentioned that, had the first Lucky Strike episode been made today, they’d likely have included a reference to a certain political debate when Jack shushes Fred.
brad_strickland5:51 PM
Maybe Biden should listen to some Benny shows and get that, “Oh, SHUT UP!” bit down….
kathy_fuller_seeley5:51 PM
hahaha!!! Brad!!!! and Jack trying to shut up Fred? that’s a tough one!5:51wait a minute! wait a minute!!! that would also be a good go=to
brad_strickland5:52 PM
I’ve heard one or two Benny shows where Fred ad-libbed so much that Benny had to ask, “What page are we supposed to be on?”
Rodrigo Araya5:52 PM
There’s a man on the control room waving his finger at me…
brad_strickland5:53 PM
And “Now cut that out!” So many good lines.
garth_johnson5:53 PM
1952-11-15_-_jb5_-_getty_57648851_nwm_-_jack_benny_with_cbs_executives_william_paley_and_dr_frank_stanton.jpg
kathy_fuller_seeley5:53 PM
great point, Brad. I always love how frustrated/angry Jack gets when someone messes up his precious script. And the rest of the cast’s DELIGHT when they can catch JACK making the mistake!
my finger waving is coming from my husband wondering where our dinner is, haha5:54great photo find, Garth! Which one is Paley, the smiling one?
garth_johnson5:54 PM
Kathy tell him its in here1933-00-00_-_jb3_-_uw_catalog_-_w-1642-3_signing_fridgidair.jpg
brad_strickland5:54 PM
Ah, well. I still have to format a script for ARTC–Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, pronounced “Artsy”–before bedtime, so I think I’ll say goodnight, folks.
kathy_fuller_seeley5:54 PM
Stanton was a social scientist, which makes me think he was always uptight haha
garth_johnson5:55 PM
Yes – Paley uses Ipana
Rodrigo Araya5:55 PM
Good night
brad_strickland5:55 PM
Goodnight, all!
kathy_fuller_seeley5:55 PM
Great to have you join us, Brad, much good luck!
garth_johnson5:55 PM
I love to spend each Sunday with you ….
kathy_fuller_seeley5:56 PM
watch for packages on the front stoop, Garth, and good night all from Rexall!