The Jack Benny Program (season 8)
This is a list of episodes for the eighth season (1957–58) of the television version of The Jack Benny Program.
The Jack Benny Program | |
---|---|
Season 8 | |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Original release | September 22, 1957 – April 20, 1958 |
Season chronology | |
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
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80 | 1 | "First Show of the Season" | September 22, 1957 | |
After Jack's monologue, Dennis sings "Around the World in 80 Days." Don starts to do the commercial, but Jack tells him that he doesn't want the show to have a middle commercial this week. Instead, Mel Blanc plays music on bottles filled with alcohol, and gets progressively drunk as he tunes them. Later, Don's wife forces Jack to explain to the sponsor that cutting the commercial wasn't Don's idea. | ||||
81 | 2 | "The Airport" | October 6, 1957 | |
Special guest: Robert Culp. | ||||
82 | 3 | "Hal March Show" | October 20, 1957 | |
Special guest: Hal March. | ||||
83 | 4 | "Ginger Rogers Show" | November 3, 1957 | |
Special guest: Ginger Rogers. | ||||
84 | 5 | "John Forsythe Show" | November 17, 1957 | |
Special guests: John Forsythe and Mary Costa. | ||||
85 | 6 | "Jack's Life Story" | December 1, 1957 | |
Special guests: Van Johnson and Buddy Adler. | ||||
86 | 7 | "Christmas Shopping Show" | December 15, 1957 | |
This is the television debut of the traditional Christmas shopping show from the radio program. Jack and Rochester shop for gifts in a department store, where Jack has run-ins with floorwalker Frank Nelson and buys lingerie from a clerk who doesn't have the nerve to touch it with his bare hands. In a running gag, Jack has clerk Mel Blanc repeatedly re-wrap the wallet Jack bought for Don because he keeps wanting to change the card inside; after one re-wrap too many, Mel loads a pistol and shoots himself. | ||||
87 | 8 | "Jack Goes to the Rose Bowl" | December 29, 1957 | |
In a flashback, Jack's ex-girlfriend Zelda explains why she stopped dating the cheapskate: At Jack's suggestion, the two of them stood in line at the stadium all night and got the last two tickets to the Rose Bowl Game. Zelda went inside while Jack looked for coffee. A man offered to buy Jack's $5.50 ticket for $10; Jack sold it to him, and asked him to tell Zelda that he'd stolen the ticket from Jack. | ||||
88 | 9 | "Jack Takes a Beaver to the Dentist" | January 12, 1958 | |
Mrs. Miller, the den mother of the Beverly Hills Beavers, asks Jack to take her two sons to the dentist. When one of the boys complains about having to have a tooth pulled, Jack lectures him about the importance of dental health; he then gets into the chair himself and lets the dentist look into his mouth, to show that it's no big deal. When the dentist finds big problems in Jack's mouth, however, Jack sings a whole new tune. | ||||
89 | 10 | "Honeymooners Show" | January 26, 1958 | |
Special guest: Audrey Meadows. | ||||
90 | 11 | "Jack at the Races" | February 9, 1958 | |
Jack and Mary go to the racetrack; Dennis, who's suing Jack for calling him stupid, tags along. Dennis explains his insane system for picking which horse to bet on, but Jack is determined to make a $5 bet on Speedy Girl. At the track, Jack runs into his sponsor, Mr. Lewis, who's betting on another horse; Jack convinces him to change his bet to Speedy Girl. Jack, however, changes his mind and bets on Lewis' original choice. Lewis loses $100, and Jack is such an insufferable winner that he gets punched out — by Mary. | ||||
91 | 12 | "Violin Competition with Gisele MacKenzie" | February 23, 1958 | |
Special guest: Gisele MacKenzie. | ||||
92 | 13 | "Academy Awards" | March 9, 1958 | |
Special guests: James Stewart, Jerry Wald, and George Seaton. | ||||
93 | 14 | "Railroad Station Show" | March 23, 1958 | |
Jack, Don, and Rochester are going to go to New York to meet with the sponsor, but they can't leave until Chuck the plumber (Mel Blanc) finishes working on Jack's pipes, and Chuck keeps getting calls from his girlfriend about their impending elopement. At the train station, Jack encounters Mr. Kitzel (Artie Auerbach), the loopy PA announcer, and a clueless Information Desk clerk. He also finds that his compartment has been given away to the daughter of clerk Frank Nelson, who gives Jack a live turkey that he'd just won in a raffle. On the train, Frank's daughter and Chuck are married, and Jack plays the violin for the ceremony. | ||||
94 | 15 | "Ronnie Burns Show" | April 6, 1958 | |
Special guest: Ronnie Burns. | ||||
95 | 16 | "Hillbilly Act" | April 20, 1958 | |
Jack is angry because his writers don't have a script for the next show; saying that he's been working too hard, Jack skips rehearsals and goes to play golf. In a flashback, the agent tells Jack's secretary the ridiculous story of how he discovered Jack: "Zeke" Benny was once a fiddle-playing hick in Arkansas, with a shabby band called the Ozark Hillbillies. They perform "You Are My Sunshine", "Fascinatin' Rhythm", and "Puttin' on the Ritz." A partial remake of episode Nº 5, "Dorothy Shay." |