There will never be another Jack Benny. He was absolutely the best. My parents always watched his TV show and even when I was just a young kid I thought he was hilarious. His timing is impeccable, the jokes are truly funny, and the cast is the perfect foil for his jokes. The jokes were never dirty and the only time they were mean was when they were directed at Benny. He could make an audience laugh just by looking at them. My favorite episodes are the ones with Rochester played by the truly wonderful Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Even though Jack was the boss, Rochester always got his way and sometimes you wondered who was actually the boss. It's hard to say which episode is my favorite, because I love them all, but I do always look forward to seeing his Christmas episode, "Jack Goes Shopping". Mel Blanc is perfect as the harried clerk. I have several DVD's of his show and they are also currently being shown on Antenna TV if anyone is looking for them.

If you think that Jerry Seinfeld was the first man ever to play a comedic,alter-ego version of himself on TV...you'd be wrong of course. That slice of genius was originally served up to us by Mr. Jack Benny and cast. Not just on TV from 1950 to 1965 but on his radio show that ran for over 20 years,starting in 1932. I noticed there had not been a review here since 2013,so I thought a new perspective was needed. I know most here are happy to see that Mr. Benny's show is on ME-TV and has been restored to almost a near perfection. ME-TV is the kind of home this show deserves,a network that truly cares about classic television. This,coming after years of cable TV hogging our favorite programs to themselves. (An inconvenience to those of us who don't wish to have cable/satellite etc.) But....Along with the re-runs,I also watched a few on a low-budget DVD set that had 4 discs w/ about 11 shows each. (Some are not this program but are a newsreel,a short subject & an episode of Bing Crosby's Show. If you come across this set,be forewarned,the films are straight off VHS tape and are of poor quality.One thing's true here,the quality certainly didn't take away from the comedy. Jack,as we know,presents himself comically as a penny pincher,an egotist and a very demanding boss (to the point of almost being unreasonable.) Of course,everyone's in on the joke and Rochester,Mary,Dennis Day and Don Wilson & guests play it to the hilt. Especially pot-shots taken at Jack's expense. You think you're tuning in to a typical variety show but it's only the first step into the comedy Twilight Zone of Jack Benny's fictional world. Which for the 1950s,is something one could almost call "radical" & "unconventional". There's literally times when it seems all are trying to see how far they can push the envelope in the face of 1950s censors. The funniest 3 of all I've seen are :#1. Jack's Maxwell Is Stolen - A crazy look into the Beverly Hills Police Dept. #2. Jack & Bob Hope in a manic "In the jungle & captured by cannibals" sketch. (With the 2 breaking up on live TV,through almost every moment of it. #3. Jack can't sleep and decides to play the violin in the middle of the night,waking up most of Beverly Hills & southern California to boot.One thing that's also great is that yes,Rochester is Jack's butler but he's also his friend. While not stated out loud,it came through loud and clear to me in the 1961 New Year's Eve episode where (*Spoiler*) in the end,Rochester ends up staying home with him,so he wont be alone at midnight. Given the racial feelings at the time,it's great to see Rochester living so freely,as if there's no such thing as racism. Benny & he mix words sometimes,but it's never about his color. The only thing that's off putting, is the cigarette advertisements. Not just the separate ones but the one's that are slipped into the entertainment. This and jokes about Don Wilson's weight and a somewhat disturbing hillbilly sketch,where Jack's hill character points to a 9 year old girl and says,"This is my wife". (Commentary on the age girls from the hills,sometimes,wed then.)But...don't let the politically incorrect things ruin your enjoyment of the show. That's what the times were 50 to 60 years ago.That's my only reason for taking one point away,otherwise it would surely be ten stars all the way. What do think Jack? - "WELL!" > (END)

The Jack Benny Program was a variety show in which Jack played a lovable cheapskate version of himself in one or two comedy skits per show and he also might have a musical guest that would make a solo performance - I remember in particular Peter, Paul, and Mary appearing. In the early days of the show Jack's wife Mary would play his girlfriend, and one of the funniest shows is where Jack dreams of life if he married Mary. In that particular show Jack's daughter appeared also playing herself. Later though Mary succumbed to terrible stage fright and therefore no longer appeared on the show. Just about every star of the 50's and 60's showed up on Jack's show, and as was common during the early days of TV, the commercials were often embedded into the show itself. There was usually just a single sponsor, and in the case of the Jack Benny Program the first ten years of the show were sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes. I remember watching reruns during the 70's and thinking how ironic it was to see Humphrey Bogart plugging cigarettes during an episode in which he appears just a few years before the same product takes his life.Especially fun are the guest appearances by Mel Blanc and Bob Hope - Benny just can't resist breaking up during their routines. Then there was an episode entitled "Jam Session" in which a number of stars including Kirk Douglas, Fred MacMurray, Dan Dailey, and Dick Powell join Jack in his living room for an impromptu musical session. The group, in need of refreshment, find a number of vending machines placed throughout the room to dispense cold apples and soft drinks at a price, of course. They've obviously been to Jack's house before. There is also a running gag through the shows about the failure of Jacks's 1940's film "The Horn Blows at Midnight". I don't know if it failed in the 40's, but if you ever get a chance to catch it on TV, give it a try - it really is pretty good, just not what you're probably expecting from a Jack Benny performance. As for the controversy over Rochester, I'd say his role in TV was groundbreaking. Benny treats Rochester more as a member of the family than a servant, and several times Rochester's ingenuity and wisdom save Benny from himself. More importantly, Rochester's ingenuity saves himself from Benny's cheapskate ways more than once, and when that's not possible at least Rochester gets off a wisecrack at Benny's expense. It's not at all the painful portrayal of racial stereotypes you see in some of the films of the 1940's and before. This show is currently widely available on public domain DVD packages, but there is no restored complete release. That's a shame because if poor quality reality TV shows rate a DVD release, classic comedy like this should find a sponsor somewhere. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to see the king of comic timing at his best, a classy guy who didn't mind who got the laughs as long as people were laughing - Jack Benny.

I just finished watching an hour-long JACK BENNY SHOW from 1965 with perhaps the best guests ever assembled: Bob Hope, Elke Sommer, The Beach Boys (introducing some now very classic songs), and Walt Disney! The first skit was a parody of popular shows of that era (The Munsters, The Addams Family, Bewitched, My Mother the Car, The Fugitive, and Peyton Place), but the best skit was an Italian film style version of Mary Poppins with Elke Sommer in the title role, Bob Hope as a chauffeur, and Jack Benny as the father. There is also a great skit with Benny visiting Disney's office asking for free tickets to Disneyland for 110 guests. Lots of music from the Beach Boys and Elke Sommer (who manages to steal every scene, even up against Hope and Benny!). If you find this at an on-line auction somewhere (that's how I found it) it is well worth the investment. A classic the entire family will love.