A "What If?" Question For You.....

[Gerry O.]

Is there a present-day star who never worked with Jack Benny, but you wish that they HAD?

I would have loved to have been able to see David Spade work with Jack. While I'm not a particularly big Spade fan, I think that he would have been great as a snotty, sarcastic person waiting on Jack....and Jack would have reacted BEAUTIFULLY to Spade's comments!

So is there a present-day star who YOU wish had the chance to work with Jack?

[River Phoenix]

I'd say Michael Richards, who played Cosmo Kramer on Jerry Seinfeld's supporting cast.

[Clyde]

A wonderful gag bit would be Jackson sitting at the board table with Donald Trump on an episode of "The Apprentice".

[Gerry O.]

A wonderful gag bit would be Jackson sitting at the board table with Donald Trump on an episode of "The Apprentice".

Jack on "The Apprentice"....That would be HYSTERICAL! I could just see Jack sitting there in Trump's boardroom as one of the teammates was telling Trump that JACK was to blame for the team losing the competition....Jack would sit there, staring at the teammate and then come back with a loud "WELL!".

I could also see Jack trying to kiss up to Donald Trump, the same way that he used to kiss up to CBS head William Paley and the various sponsors on his radio/TV shows!

An important point of this whole message thread is that Jack's style of comedy, mannerisms and routines could STILL work and be funny in today's entertainment scene!

[Clyde]

Another person that would be a good match for Jack is the lovely and talented Holland Taylor. (Currently seen on the CBS sitcom, "Two and a Half Men" as the man-crazed character that she plays so very well). For those not familiar with the show, Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) savors his swinging single lifestyle, but his just-divorced younger brother Alan (Jon Cryer) and Alan's 10-year-old son, Jake (Angus T. Jones, who would be another GREAT match for Jack....as a gullible modern day Beaver perhaps), move into his beach-front home. Holland Taylor plays the elder Harper, and I can just picture her bringing Jack out to meet her sons.

[shimp scrampi]

So maybe he's been around for awhile, but I think Jack and John Cleese would be an insanely funny pairing. They're both masters of aggravation, able to play both sides of that coin (tormentor and tormented) perfectly. Imagine Jack checking into Fawlty Towers, the Acme Plaza of Britain!

[David47Jens]

I'm picturing Jack and the rest of the cast, still doing the show in modern times much as it was done in the early days of the TV version. (Of course, none of the Benny gang has aged, since this is a fantasy.)

This would be one of those story-behind-the-program episodes, showing all the trials and tribulations as the cast rehearses this week's episode with their special guest... Robin Williams.

The biggest point of contention between Jack and Robin (magically resolved by the end of the episode in true sitcom fashion, of course) will be that Jack becomes more and more exasperated as rehearsals continue because he'll have to keep stressing "On my show, Robin, you don't ad-lib!"

Robin Williams, sticking to the script. Yeah, right...

[David47Jens]

I would have loved to have been able to see David Spade work with Jack. While I'm not a particularly big Spade fan, I think that he would have been great as a snotty, sarcastic person waiting on Jack....and Jack would have reacted BEAUTIFULLY to Spade's comments!

I'm not a big David Spade fan, either, but I agree that he's talented enough to pull off such a sketch. And it would be a special treat for all old-time Benny fans to see Spade's introductory turn to the camera as he does a tribute to Frank Nelson's "Yeeeeesssss?"

Great thread, btw!

[Roman]

And for the pompous condescending guest star (a la Herbert Marshall and Orson Welles), well, who better than Alan Rickman. It would have been fun to see Rickman interact with Dennis and especially Phil.

[Alan]

Rickman is one of my most favorite actors, and i agree that he would have had a great duel with Phil.

I also agree with Gerry's earlier post that JB and crew could still be a huge hit today. IMO, with relatively much less updating needed than any other OTR stars, and could fit with most many current performers, from the edgier to more innocent foil ends of the spectrum....Tho i find Trump annoying to the point where i can't stand even seeing an ad or pic, it would be fun to hear/see Phil with gloves off making a few comments on The Donald's doo.

[LLeff]

I was thinking just the other day that I'd like to see Jack match wits with Bette Midler. Probably would come off something similar to exchanges with Carol Burnett, I'd imagine.