What makes a (radio) show good?

[krledu]

I was just listening to some of the programs from the end of the 1947-48 season. I think they are some of the best shows especially the one when Robert Taylor fills in for Jack. But there seems to be a little ad libbing and the shows just seem to light up. But I wanted to know what everyone else's opinion was. What makes a show good? I think its a combination of things like the excellent writing and the building of personas that make the JB show good. I also like the ad-lib lines too. But there are just some shows that just seem to work better than others.

I also wanted to throw out a question. I found a clip of Jack Benny in a movie where is auditioning to play the trumpet in a swing band. I found it on google. I think its from the 30's cause Jack still had hair (or at least a toupe). Anyone know what movie its from?

[Maxwell]

I was just listening to some of the programs from the end of the 1947-48 season. I think they are some of the best shows especially the one when Robert Taylor fills in for Jack. But there seems to be a little ad libbing and the shows just seem to light up. But I wanted to know what everyone else's opinion was. What makes a show good? I think its a combination of things like the excellent writing and the building of personas that make the JB show good. I also like the ad-lib lines too. But there are just some shows that just seem to work better than others.

I also wanted to throw out a question. I found a clip of Jack Benny in a movie where is auditioning to play the trumpet in a swing band. I found it on google. I think its from the 30's cause Jack still had hair (or at least a toupe). Anyone know what movie its from?

What makes a show good probably depends on one's sense of humor. Some jokes just come off funnier than others. A witty ad lib can only add to a good script. I just listened to a couple of PHil Harris-Alice Faye shows this afternoon, and they were just plain funny. A lot had to do with the characters of Phil, Alice, and Remley/Eliot. We know those characters and the anticipation is there.

My guess is that the clip is from "The Horn Blows at Midnight," so that means I'm probably wrong.

[Mister Kitzel]

To me the best shows are generally post WW II. Writers and directors had learned what worked best by that time. In Sunday Nights At Seven it was mentioned that Jack and his crew had to learn the difference between what made the live audience laugh and what would make a radio audience laugh. While it was a combination of everyone's efforts, I would put a lot of credit on the writers who were writing for that radio audience.

Something that changed during the 40's was the way a stand alone performer would be presented on a show. Think about Eddie Cantor or Fibber McGee. Quite often the star of the show was stationary (in a sense) while a parade of schtick comedians would come along and do a minute or two. Later the shows changed so that the star would go places and then run into the the characters. Sometimes those characters would stay for the rest of the episode. Of course there are examples of this in the 30's, but it was less common. Overall the shows moved from a vaudeville approach to a movie, or story based, approach.

[Maxwell]

To me the best shows are generally post WW II. Writers and directors had learned what worked best by that time. In Sunday Nights At Seven it was mentioned that Jack and his crew had to learn the difference between what made the live audience laugh and what would make a radio audience laugh. While it was a combination of everyone's efforts, I would put a lot of credit on the writers who were writing for that radio audience.

Something that changed during the 40's was the way a stand alone performer would be presented on a show. Think about Eddie Cantor or Fibber McGee. Quite often the star of the show was stationary (in a sense) while a parade of schtick comedians would come along and do a minute or two. Later the shows changed so that the star would go places and then run into the the characters. Sometimes those characters would stay for the rest of the episode. Of course there are examples of this in the 30's, but it was less common. Overall the shows moved from a vaudeville approach to a movie, or story based, approach.

We can see some of that with Jack's show which by the Jell-o years had evolved to a format where each member of the gang comes in to talk to Jack and does his/her bit followed by the sketch, the first part being pretty much what you're describing as '30s type vaudeville style comedy. Sometime near the end of World War II what for lack of a better term I'll call sitcom episodes (your "movie approach") began to become more frequent until they almost took over the show by the end of its run.

Oddly enough, though, Jack never abandoned the vaudeville/variety show format entirely, as we can see even in the last years of this TV series.

[Yhtapmys]

1. Believable and likeable characters.
2. Credible situations.
3. Good acting, writing and production.

I don't know if you can put a numerical order to any of these.

Yhtapmys

[Jack Benny]

All I know is that to me, pound for pound, Jack's radio show is the funniest, classiest, firmest, and fully packed show in the history of entertainment. To me it's better than anything that has ever been created for television, including Jack's own television show. The characters are written and played to perfection. The quality of the writing and cast really shine through on the episodes where Jack was missing. They are still some of the best shows of the series. Try the Bob Hope show without Bob Hope sometime.