The Jack Benny Program Right Holders (1 Viewer)

[skees53]

Antenna TV doesn't air any public domain programming at the moment. Jack Benny was acquired through Universal late last year after RTV (which actually does air some public domain material now, but did not at the time) lost the rights to all of the Universal programming that they air. I may be mistaken (since I'm not as well versed on what goes on over at MeTV), but I'm pretty sure that MeTV MAY have acquired Jack Benny from Universal as well, once Antenna is finished with airing it... Universal made a big library deal cooperatively with both MeTV and Antenna TV which involves them acquiring some of the same series, and trading some of their Universal programs at some point down the line. And as for Burns and Allen, I know for certain that it was acquired from Sony. In fact, it was supposed to be on the lineup the day that Antenna went on the air, but Sean Compton (who oversees programming for Tribune, and has a more direct hands-on role with Antenna) said that they there was some delay with Sony preparing the episodes for them to broadcast, which is why it debuted on Antenna a few months after their launch (the person who handles the news for the website where I do reviews communicates frequently with Compton, and Compton has always been very straightforward and honest).

 

[Tory]

cool, cool, cool, thanks for the info. I had heard that from Jack Benny fan sites, particularly about the Jack Benny. I wish they would put them all on DVD and still don't understand why neither of these shows have been given a proper release.

 

[Executive]

Just so we're clear, The Jack Benny Program was done live (several of which were captured from the studio monitors via kinescope films) during the first 3 years, which really weren't seasons because from 1950 to 1955, Jack was still doing his radio show ... on which he promoted his once-a-month TV specials. Some aired once every 2 to 3 months early on.
The original CBS-TV pilot the radio cast filmed in 1949, but it never aired. I'd love to see it someday if it was even preserved.
So from 1954 through the end of the series they were shot on film entirely. Even the 1964 to 1965 NBC season, which as you'll notice
are in excellent condition and several of those episodes were syndicated decades ago. I first saw them in 1980s cable reruns --
some 106 episodes produced between 1953 and 1965. That means about 250 were never syndicated.
Jack's TV show aired twice a month for the second half of the 1950s, alternating on CBS with Robert Culp's "Trackdown" series
every other week between 1957 and 1959. Then it finally became a weekly offering.
That 25 "lost episodes" offering from Shout Factory is one disc set that I'll buy in a heartbeat! Anyone know when that's coming out?
I highly recommend the color videotaped specials Jack Benny and several former radio & TV cast members
appeared in between 1965 and 1974. That disc set was a joy to watch!

 

[Brian McP]

I highly recommend the color videotaped specials Jack Benny and several former radio & TV cast members
appeared in between 1965 and 1974. That disc set was a joy to watch!
Jeff, I come from an era where I was never a big fan of young Jack, but a huge fan of old Jack (when he was pushing 40, around 1974) -- I only know him from his specials and guest shots on other tv shows from around 1965 onwards -- I didn't know these specials were ever released on disc, but any chance they are still available?

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

Just so we're clear, The Jack Benny Program was done live (several of which were captured from the studio monitors via kinescope films) during the first 3 years, which really weren't seasons because from 1950 to 1955, Jack was still doing his radio show ... on which he promoted his once-a-month TV specials. Some aired once every 2 to 3 months early on.
The original CBS-TV pilot the radio cast filmed in 1949, but it never aired. I'd love to see it someday if it was even preserved.
So from 1954 through the end of the series they were shot on film entirely. Even the 1964 to 1965 NBC season, which as you'll notice
are in excellent condition and several of those episodes were syndicated decades ago. I first saw them in 1980s cable reruns --
some 106 episodes produced between 1953 and 1965. That means about 250 were never syndicated.
Jack's TV show aired twice a month for the second half of the 1950s, alternating on CBS with Robert Culp's "Trackdown" series
every other week between 1957 and 1959. Then it finally became a weekly offering.
That 25 "lost episodes" offering from Shout Factory is one disc set that I'll buy in a heartbeat! Anyone know when that's coming out?
I highly recommend the color videotaped specials Jack Benny and several former radio & TV cast members
appeared in between 1965 and 1974. That disc set was a joy to watch!

The Jack Benny Program on CBS alternated with "Private Secretary" starring Ann Sothern from 1953 to 1957, "Bachelor Father" starring John Forsythe from 1957 to 1959, then BF became a weekly offering on NBC. In 1959-60, Benny alternated with "The George Gobel Show", and the Benny show finally went weekly in the fall of 1960.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Just so we're clear, The Jack Benny Program was done live (several of which were captured from the studio monitors via kinescope films) during the first 3 years, which really weren't seasons because from 1950 to 1955, Jack was still doing his radio show ... on which he promoted his once-a-month TV specials. Some aired once every 2 to 3 months early on.
The original CBS-TV pilot the radio cast filmed in 1949, but it never aired. I'd love to see it someday if it was even preserved.
So from 1954 through the end of the series they were shot on film entirely. Even the 1964 to 1965 NBC season, which as you'll notice
are in excellent condition and several of those episodes were syndicated decades ago. I first saw them in 1980s cable reruns --
some 106 episodes produced between 1953 and 1965. That means about 250 were never syndicated.
Jack's TV show aired twice a month for the second half of the 1950s, alternating on CBS with Robert Culp's "Trackdown" series
every other week between 1957 and 1959. Then it finally became a weekly offering.
That 25 "lost episodes" offering from Shout Factory is one disc set that I'll buy in a heartbeat! Anyone know when that's coming out?
I highly recommend the color videotaped specials Jack Benny and several former radio & TV cast members
appeared in between 1965 and 1974. That disc set was a joy to watch!

The information here isn't correct. I have no reason to believe that the information given on the invaluable website "The Classic TV Archive" (www.ctva.biz) isn't correct (until someone tells me it isn't, which someone probably soon will )
The Jack Benny Program can be found here:
http://ctva.biz/US/Comedy/JB/JackBennyProgram.htm
As it says there, there were still plenty of live programs after 1954, in fact as many as 11 live and only 4 on film as late as the 1958-59 season.

 

[Executive]

I posted based on the approximately 114 episodes I've seen, Joe. If Jack and the gang did any shows live after 1953, it's possible
but all those I've seen were filmed including the European episodes ( Jack gets trapped in the Tower of London and accidentally falls into in a canal in Florence, Italy). So if there were live shows from the second half of the 1950s they were never made available that I know of.
As for the DVD copies of the post-series specials, not sure where my source got them from but they're complete and look great since they're from the color tape masters preserved by NBC! Some of the original commercials were included. By 1973-1974 Jack had a new sponsor with RCA and he promoted their TVs, including "Jack Benny's First Farewell Special", in which he sits next to bare-chested / jewelery-wearing Issac Hayes at a piano when Issac sang the theme to "Shaft".
Ironically his former Benny show co-star Phil Harris briefly had RCA as his sponsor on radio back in the early 1950s on the "Phil Harris / Alice Faye Show". 20 years after quttting Jack's radio show and 13 years after guest starring on Jack's TV show (haven't seen that episode), they were again reunited in the 1971 special "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Jack Benny but Were Afraid to Ask".
But the best of those specials was "Jack Benny's 20th TV Anniversary" , because it had almost the entire main casts from radio and television including a brief return by Jack's long-retired wife Mary Livingston, who still looked great in 1970.

 

[DeWilson]

I posted based on the approximately 114 episodes I've seen, Joe. If Jack and the gang did any shows live after 1953, it's possible
but all those I've seen were filmed including the European episodes ( Jack gets trapped in the Tower of London and accidentally falls into in a canal in Florence, Italy). So if there were live shows from the second half of the 1950s they were never made available that I know of. )

There are also episodes that were done on "Live" on Video Tape in the mid-late 1950's and those were most definitely not in the TV package.

 

[Executive]

There are also episodes that were done on "Live" on Video Tape in the mid-late 1950's and those were most definitely not in the TV package.

Being Jack Benny was on CBS then and not NBC during those years, it must have been on black & white videotape. That's what Jackie Gleason used starting with his failed variety series at the end of the 1950s (the one with Buddy Hackett that nobody in my generation ever saw) and his very successful American Scene Magazine from 1962 to 1966. Then color tape for the Honeymooners revival as a musical-comedy hour after that. For 23 years the Ed Sullivan Show was always done live but it was also taped beginning in 1958.

 

[DeWilson]

Being Jack Benny was on CBS then and not NBC during those years, it must have been on black & white videotape. .

Correct - CBS didn't start using color VT till 1966.

 

[Brian McP]

By 1973-1974 Jack had a new sponsor with RCA and he promoted their TVs, including "Jack Benny's First Farewell Special", in which he sits next to bare-chested / jewelery-wearing Issac Hayes at a piano when Issac sang the theme to "Shaft".
Yes Jeff, saw this as a kid and remember it well with Jack and Isaac Hayes wearing just a huge gold chain around his neck and drawing down to his chest -- with Jack saying "I just LOVE your shirt!" and Isaac doing a hilarious double take.

 

[Executive]

Correct - CBS didn't start using color VT till 1966.

Well, you were close! The Ed Sullivan Show switched from B & W tape to color tape
in 1965 with the Sept. 26 season opener with Milton Berle.
It was the week after The Beatles made their last in-studio Sullivan appearance.
Although they were filmed, several of CBS' sitcoms went color that year,
including The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and the premiere of Green Acres.

 

[DeWilson]

Well, you were close! The Ed Sullivan Show switched from B & W tape to color tape
in 1965 with the Sept. 26 season opener with Milton Berle.
It was the week after The Beatles made their last in-studio Sullivan appearance.
Although they were filmed, several of CBS' sitcoms went color that year,
including The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and the premiere of Green Acres.

That's right - Sullivan went color before Gleason did.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Executive /t/320862/the-jack-benny-program-right-holders#post_3959718
I highly recommend the color videotaped specials Jack Benny and several former radio & TV cast members
appeared in between 1965 and 1974. That disc set was a joy to watch!

Do you recall the disc title for the specials. I looked around and failed to find it.

Thanks.

 

[Executive]

Do you recall the disc title for the specials. I looked around and failed to find it. 

No, as I said I don't know where my source got his copies from. They are DVD-quality and were pressed from the master NBC tapes.

 

[John DeAngelis]

That makes sense about the up coming "The Jack Benny Program: The Lost Episodes" from Shout Factory, seeing as they've acquired a lot of Universal's catalog.

Does anybody have an idea when this set will actually be released?

 

[Scott Kriefall]

According to www.jackbenny.org, it'll be released this July.

 

[John DeAngelis]

According to www.jackbenny.org, it'll be released this July.

Thanks, Scott! I'm definitely looking forward to this set.

 

[darkrock17]

TVShowsonDVD has the date for The Jack Benny Program The Lost Episodes for July 23 http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jack-Benny-Program-The-Lost-Episodes/18178

 

[Flashgear]

I'm really looking forward to seeing a list of what's included here...I hope it's all new or mostly new to dvd...anyway, I'm glad that Shout is keeping the great man himself alive on dvd!