The Jack Benny Program - Jack Goes Christmas Shopping

🎄 Wrapping, unwrapping, and rewrapping a bow on a comedy classic. 

🎙 Guy Hutchinson joins us as we second-, third-, and fourth-guess ourselves back to 1960 to go Christmas shopping with Jack Benny, the last televised version of a longtime radio favorite. 

🚨 Warning: In one scene, a character shoots himself offscreen. 

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💬 Topics & Tangents: 

The Television Academy Foundation on Jack Benny’s Christmas Shopping show, including a video interview with show writer George Balzer. 

The earliest “Christmas Shopping” recording I could find, from 1937. 

Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, the progression of race relations, and his racehorse. 

Finally I get to talk about Mel Blanc, the real star of this show. 

Adjusting the $1.98 and $40 wallets for inflation. 

A 2002 message board post on JackBenny.org answering whether Jack was a practicing Jew. 

A tribute to Frank “Yeees?” Nelson. 

Dennis Day and the dying practice of actors legally changing their names to their most popular characters’. 

Stupid “the customer is always right” stories. 

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📼 Commercials: 

Norelco Santa (circa 1961). 

Weird Christmas. 

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“The Jack Benny Program” and “Jack Goes Christmas Shopping” ©1960 J&M Productions, Inc. 

Find us at adventcalendar.house. 

#s5 #1960s