Favorite/Least favorite tertiary characters

[LLeff]

As for Andy Devine, his appearances on those late 1930's "Jell-O" shows always confused me....sometimes he's treated like a guest star and other times he's treated like "one of the regular gang", but he's really neither. I know that he was originally hired to take part in the "Buck Benny" sketches, but eventually he would appear in non-"Buck" sketches, and he would take part in "regular cast" functions (holiday parties, outings, etc.). Also, he wasn't on the show every week, so you really can't put him in the same "regular" league as Don, Mary, Phil and Kenny. It makes you wonder just what Andy's purpose was supposed to be on Jack's show....but I do enjoy him (especially when you hear his non-scripted, off-mike laugh at various gags).

I think Andy can be characterized in the same bucket as Shlepperman, Mr. Kitzel, and Professor LeBlanc...someone familiar to the cast who sort of stops by and makes their appearance, then leaves. Hey, Phil's later appearances (when he was only in the first half of the show) fall into that category as well, with Phil driving up or stopping by or calling, having a little dialogue with Jack, and then "Hey Jackson, I gotta go...I gotta meet Remley/meet Alice/go hunt bear/etc."

Andy was brought on for the Buck Benny skits, but I think he was just resonating well enough with the audience that they decided to keep him around as a supporting player. I personally am neither here nor there on Andy...I don't dislike him, but hearing "Hiya Buck!" doesn't bring the same smile to my face as "Hello, Stranger!"

[yesplease]

When I first started to listen to Jack's radio shows Si/Sy was the only previous exposure I'd had. I thought it was hilarious. However, when I heard more of Jack, Si/Sy is no longer a favorite because of the overexposure of it. I can still appreciate the excellant writing. Much like "who's on first" for Abbott and Costello(my kids can act that one out).

Andy Devine can be funny but he usually grates on my nerves. Mr. Billingsly drives me nuts but Jack's inability to keep the laughter out of his voice is funny.

The female southern characters that slip in out of storylines crack me up. Phil's family, sales clerks ("how'd you like to see something nice in lingerie") and I love the secretary Jack talks to about getting his free calendar ("Its my teeth, they came from Alabama")- that makes me laugh everytime I think of it!
I also find it curious that they do not use "southern English" correctly. Phil should have known better. He probably did and they probably misused the accent and phrases for added comedic effect. Y'all is never singular but Phil uses it that way. The over use of colloquisms is sooo obvious. Little wonder people think that we below the mason dixon line are goofy.
I'm not offended though, I'm amused!

Yesplease

[LLeff]

I also find it curious that they do not use "southern English" correctly. Phil should have known better. He probably did and they probably misused the accent and phrases for added comedic effect. Y'all is never singular but Phil uses it that way. The over use of colloquisms is sooo obvious. Little wonder people think that we below the mason dixon line are goofy. I'm not offended though, I'm amused!

Ah, but Phil was from INDIANA...not quite the south, unless you moved there from Michigan!

[TimL2005]

I also find it curious that they do not use "southern English" correctly. Phil should have known better. He probably did and they probably misused the accent and phrases for added comedic effect. Y'all is never singular but Phil uses it that way. The over use of colloquisms is sooo obvious. Little wonder people think that we below the mason dixon line are goofy. I'm not offended though, I'm amused!

Ah, but Phil was from INDIANA...not quite the south, unless you moved there from Michigan!

Southern Indiana borders Kentucky..which is practically the South!

[Drear Pooson]

OK, this is a little obscure but I think my favorite non-regular might be Logan Jerkfinkle. He appeared on the 4-21, 4-28, and 5-5-1940 shows from New York, first as the president of Jack Benny's fan club. But it's the 4-28-1940 show that gets me every time. I don't think I've laughed any harder than the first time I heard his lines as Don Wilson tries to do his commercial. It put the whole cast and audience into hysterics, especially Wilson.

Least favorite would probably be John L.C. Silvoney. I don't find him offensive or that annoying but his style is too dated and doesn't fit well with the rest of the show.

[Gerry O.]

Least favorite would probably be John L.C. Silvoney. I don't find him offensive or that annoying but his style is too dated and doesn't fit well with the rest of the show.

I know that we're discussing the John L.C. Silvoney character in a separate (and very interesting) thread, but Drear's comments about the character's style being "too dated" and not fitting well with the rest of the show brings up a good point.......

I think that the Silvoney character would have gone over much better, and probably would have had more of an impact, had he been around during the earlier "Jell-O" days of the late 1930's and early 40's. The Benny show and characters had more of a silly, cartoonish quality during the Jell-O years, and Silvoney probably would have fit in much better with the likes of Schlepperman, Andy Devine, Mr. Billingsley and the other broad characters of that era. By the time Silvoney DID start appearing on the Benny show, it was 1950 and the series and characters had become much more sophisticated, streamlined and "realistic".

Yes, Silvoney DID stick out like a sore thumb during the later "Lucky Strike" programs, but he would have fit in much better in the earlier "Jell-O" shows. Had he been around earlier, he might have become a major "visiting" character on the Benny series.

[Roman]

Logan Jerkfinkle? Was that the character that Jack hired as a bodyguard to protect him from Fred Allen's thugs? If I remember, he was very, even flamboyantly, effeminate and was always asking Jack if he should give Jack's tormentors "the old one two." He was way way over the top and, yes, very funny. I'm guessing that Ed Beloin was Logan Jerkfinkle because he specialized in these sorts of voices.

[LLeff]

Logan Jerkfinkle? Was that the character that Jack hired as a bodyguard to protect him from Fred Allen's thugs? If I remember, he was very, even flamboyantly, effeminate and was always asking Jack if he should give Jack's tormentors "the old one two." He was way way over the top and, yes, very funny. I'm guessing that Ed Beloin was Logan Jerkfinkle because he specialized in these sorts of voices.

Nope...Charles Cantor.

[Roman]

I didn't realize that Charles Cantor went back that far with Jack. Wasn't he one of the regular extras on Jack's TV show?

[Gerry O.]

I didn't realize that Charles Cantor went back that far with Jack. Wasn't he one of the regular extras on Jack's TV show?

Yes, but he also worked off and on with Jack on radio. During the late 1930's and early 40's, Charles Cantor was a member of Fred Allen's regular stock company, and when Jack would bring his show to NYC, Jack would usually use regular supporting cast members from Allen's show (Charles Cantor, John Brown, Minerva Pious, etc.) on his NYC broadcasts...it was cheaper and easier than bringing his own West Coast stock company across the country.

Charles Cantor was very versatile and talented....not only could he play "dumb and stupid" characters (he played "Clifton Finnegan" on "Duffy's Tavern"), but he was also great at playing timid "Casper Milquetoast"-type and flamboyant, effiminate characters.

During a 1938 NYC-based show where Jack and Mary went Christmas shopping in Manhattan, Cantor received huge laughs as a wildly effiminate floorwalker.....

Early in the "shopping" sketch, Jack asks the floorwalker for store directions and they end up getting into an argument, and Cantor yells, "Oh, go back to Hollywood and squeeze an orange!". A little later in the sketch, Jack needs further directions....He sees the floorwalker again and asks for directions, but the floorwalker immediately snaps back, "I'm not SPEAKING to you!" and goes off in a huff. The studio audience HOWLS, and you can tell that Jack had a tough time not breaking up after THAT one!

[Drear Pooson]

Logan Jerkfinkle? Was that the character that Jack hired as a bodyguard to protect him from Fred Allen's thugs?

Yeah, that's the same actor. He came back on the 12-15-1940 show from NY as Jack's bodyguard Killer Hogan.

Nope...Charles Cantor.

Ahh thanks. I was wondering who that was.

[yesplease]

That "Old one two" routine got old quick. I'd forgotten about Killer Hogan. His is a character that doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the cast.

Earlier I'd posted regarding Phil and the use of "southern English". I thought he should know better because of his time in Nashville.
Actually Linton, Indiana is due west of Florence, KY.

Yesplease

[WaltP]

Earlier I'd posted regarding Phil and the use of "southern English". I thought he should know better because of his time in Nashville.
Actually Linton, Indiana is due west of Florence, KY.

So he should have a Western Drawl then!

[LLeff]

Earlier I'd posted regarding Phil and the use of "southern English". I thought he should know better because of his time in Nashville.
Actually Linton, Indiana is due west of Florence, KY.

So he should have a Western Drawl then!

Actually, when they do some of the take-offs on Allen's Alley, Phil plays the Senator's part but claims he's from the West. When asked if he likes Fred Allen or Jack Benny better, he says Jack because "Waukegan is WEST of Boston!"

[Roman]

I never liked the Herman Peabody character who carpooled with Jack and others. This character was hard to understand because he talked so softly and had very little personality. I'm pretty sure the actor who did Herman Peabody was the same man who did the voice of Elmer Fudd. But for some reason Herman Peabody just sounded flat and uninteresting.