Suggestion for episode to introduce teens to JB?

[ndradio]

Hello and thank you al for your knowledge and passion for JB and OTR. I have a request. Can anyone suggest an episode of the Jack Benny radio program or TV program that would serve as a good introduction for teenagers who have never heard of Jack? I teach a high school communications class and I try to cover a lot of radio history. The problem is that the kids are not used to listening to radio at all (remote-control-channel-surfing-flashy-MTV-editing instant gratification generation), so I have to find something that captivates and does not require a lot of context. Last year, the students liked the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast and Abbot & Costello "Who's on first?", but I really want them to appreciate the genius of Jack Benny. I tried the "Money or your life" episode, but it required too much context and setup (before playing the recording, I had to explain the characters, Jack's cheapness and quasi-conceit, his relationship to the Colmans, who the Colmans were, etc.). Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there a "best-of" compilation out there? TV special/retrospective? I was thinking maybe one of the Christmas shopping episodes - is there a best one? Any help/suggestions appreciated!

[shimp scrampi]

Oh, I'd definitely recommend the TV Christmas shopping episode for your purposes. Jack's character is basically explained in the course of the thing, and there's enough wackiness abound that you don't need to be familiar with the show. I'd think teens should still be familiar with Mel Blanc who is featured prominently. Plus, the "suicide" ending is still pretty dark and edgy! Just look around in bargain DVD displays, it's ubiquitous on comedy and/or Christmas compilations.

[bboswell]

One possible episode would be March 21, 1954 where Jack listens to "The mean old man" radio show. Mostly because it opens with something that describes Jack's character to a "T": It sounds like a woman renter chewing him out for being too cheap, but it turns out that he's only listening to a radio show. (Interesting "theatrer of the mind" discussion, perhaps.) However, we find out later that the "Mean Old Man" show is based on the experiences of one of Jack's renters.
One drawback, (or advantage, depending on your point of view,) is that very few of the more colorful characters show up in this episode: No racetrack tout, no Phil Harris, no Mr. Kitzel. That might be an advantage to the first-time listener. (fewer back-stories to deal with.)
It does have something the students might relate to, though. Mel Blanc makes an appearance early in the show. Another plus is that Dennis's song is very accessable to a modern ear. ("Hey, Brother, Pour the wine.")

If you want to drop names, try an episode with Harry Shearer (of "The Simpsons" fame) as a boy from the Beverly Hills Beavers club. ("Going to the Beach" comes to mind.)

or, as Shimp said, check out any Christmas shopping episode!
here's a radio Christmas episode.

[DerekVOF]

You might also try one of the episodes from the Tucker Mike podcasts (http://tucker.libsyn.com/) -- that's how I first heard Jack Benny. I heard the 1951-09-23 Episode (Captain Horatio Hornblower) and Tucker Mike did a good job introducing it.

[Roman]

Another possibility is the Snow White episode from the 1938-39 season (there are two versions of this show - the first one in the spring of 1938 is much superior). The kids should be familiar with the story and they'll probably at least have heard the "Heigh-Ho" song. This was a pretty wild parody by 1930s radio standards with a few gags that were on the adult side. Also, the show doesn't depend on explaining Jack's cheapness or Phil's drinking since those storylines hadn't really been fully developed yet by the writers. An added bonus is that they'll hear the commercials for Jello instead of Lucky Strikes which is probably a good thing for all concerned.

[ZEjackbennykid]

Try some of the television programs or try the 4 episode arch of the gang Trip to Yosemite, that ones a classic.