Here’s a full comedy classic TV episode that is MUST Christmas viewing for the holidays, for famlies, aspiring comedians, cartoon fans, comedians, and for older folks hooked on nostalgia — but it’s value goes far BEYOND nostalgia. The great comedian Jack Benny often did a version of his Christmas shopping show on radio and on TV where he would frustrate clerks in a store with his cheapness – -and be frustrated.
This has special interest: the frustrated clerk with the message is Mel Blanc, a Benny supporting cast character who was most famous for his “man of a thousand voices” work on cartoons providing the voices for: Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Sylvester (his real voice), Barny Rubble, and many many more. Watch Blanc closely — and be ready for an amazing ending that shows how Benny was way ahead of his time. Look closely and you’ll see some other famous voices and “vintage” comedy supporting characters. Note Frank Nelson as the store manager whose “YESSSSSSS!” was also seen on some Warners cartoons.
Benny was (and is) studied by comedians who wanted to watch perfect comedy delivered in his words and his facial expressions. The most “dated” aspect of this is the song by tenor Dennis Day. His regular cast included his fat announcer Don Wilson, Mary Livingston (his wife in real life), and his personal servant “Rochester.’ Benny invented the situation comedy on radio — taking a pass on vaudeville set-up-joke bits for shows that focused on the trials and tribulations of the Jack Benny character where laughs emerged from the situations and the characters.
But bE SURE to watch it in full. If you’ve never watched Benny before (his character was named Jack Benny, a rich comedian who was vain, said he was 39, and cheap) you’re for laughs and revelation — and keep a close watch on Mel Blanc.
And make sure you watch it until the unusual ending (you’ll find it hard to believe it was filmed in 1960)..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWwR1GjTMyA
A lot of Jack Benny’s comedy comedy is available on DVD.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.