Buck Benny- a few questions...

[Greg]

Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions about the Buck Benny skits that have been confusing me for a while.

According to Laura's book, the Buck Benny character appeared only 14 times in the entirety of the program, 12 of which were in a one-year period spanning Nov 1936-Nov 1937. The 13th appearance was in 1940 and the 14th and final appearance was in 1950.

Question #1
On YouTube you can find Jack's 1974 appearance [with Mel Blanc] on Johnny Carson's show. First Mel is asked to perform the Maxwell's engine, then he's asked to do the English horse whinny. Jack introduces the latter by saying "you know, we used to do weeks of westerns called Buck Benny Rides Again". I find this statement curious because, according to the dates in Laura's books, of the 12 performances mentioned above, only 5-6 of them occurred in close proximity to each other; the rest were spread out over the rest of the one-year span. So, not to be picky, but the Buck skits were a lot less numerous than people think, and they did not appear week after week.

Question #2
Jack then says, gesturing towards Mel, "and he would do the horses". Is this true? Again, according to Laura's book, Mel first appeared on the show in 1936 [before the skits started], then not again until 1939 [after the bulk of them had appeared]. Perhaps Mel voiced the horses but did not get credited in the scripts? What do you guys think?

Question #3
The movie Buck Benny Rides Again was premiered in the USA in April 1940, meaning that is was probably filmed in the latter months of 1939. As mentioned, the skit had not appeared on the show since Nov 1937, two years prior [and had not appeared in successive weeks for several months before that]. So, my question is: why did they decide to make the movie when they did? Was it just an excuse to get the cast together in a picture? Was there a dearth of other ideas? Or was there some sort of demand for the character that I'm not seeing?

Question #4
There's another clip on YouTube of Mel Blanc on Carson, probably from the early to mid 1980s. He says that the English horse whinny was first performed at Epsom Downs in England. In Laura's book, I don't see such a performance listed in the "city index" of either volume. What is Mel referring to?

I don't mean to pick on faulty memories, as I realize that these YouTube clips originate from many, many years after the show, and everyone's memory gets a little foggy. Just pure curiosity on my part.

Thanks,
Greg

[kbbl]

I'm going to let the experts comment on the details. I'm only up to 1937 on my second time around.

I'm fairly confident that Jack and Mel had stated that Mel Blanc first appeared as Carmichael.

Mel also had a distinct whinny, that I don't recall that until much later years after he had been on.

I'm guessing that if Mel ever appeared in a Buck Benny skit, it was only the later one or ones.

B.

[Yhtapmys]

First Mel is asked

Mel Blanc told stories that got embroidered over the years. He told them over and over and maybe he finally got to believing them. But I'd take most of his details with a grain of Sal Hepatica.

As for Buck Benny, the movie had been in gestation for some time. Beloin and Murrow sold the title to Paramount for a movie in January 1939. Remember that it was still a popular catchphrase at the time, even though the sketches had stopped. It'd be no different than Jerry Seinfeld shooting a movie today called "Not That There's Anything Wrong With That."

Yhtapmys

[Yhtapmys]

Speaking of Buck Benny, here's the RKO-Castle Hill Theatre in the Bronx, constructed in 1927.

[Jack Benny]

According to Laura's book, the Buck Benny character appeared only 14 times in the entirety of the program, 12 of which were in a one-year period spanning Nov 1936-Nov 1937. The 13th appearance was in 1940 and the 14th and final appearance was in 1950...

Thanks,
Greg

Yes, but unfortunately Laura is wrong. Everyone stop throwing things at me! Laura, put down that chair! Look, Buck Benny's final appearance on the Jack Benny Radio Show was in 1952 in the Bend in the River episode guest starring Jimmy Stewart!

Here is a link to the episode with me doing a very bad Jimmy Stewart impression as an introduction.

Jimmy Stewart Saturday Podcast! JACK BENNY - 1952-04-27 - Bend in the River
http://jack_benny.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2009-01-31T12_08_11-08_00

[Yhtapmys]

Yes, but unfortunately Laura is wrong. Everyone stop throwing things at me! Laura, put down that chair! Look, Buck Benny's final appearance on the Jack Benny Radio Show was in 1952 in the Bend in the River episode guest starring Jimmy Stewart!

And, having just pulled out Laura's book, she refers to Buck's appearance on that very broadcast.

The sketch was supposed to be a parody of a Jimmy Stewart movie, not part of the Buck Benny series.

Yhtapmys

[Brad from Georgia]

Too bad Jimmy Stewart talked....so....slow....that they ran out of time at the end!

[Jack Benny]

The sketch was supposed to be a parody of a Jimmy Stewart movie, not part of the Buck Benny series.

Yhtapmys

Says you! But Buck was definitely in it!

[scottp]

Re RKO-Castle photo:
Wow, you mean they already had those fashion stores for not-so-skinny girls back in 1940?
[Torrid Zone] That's a joke, son.