No Ad-libbing??

[krledu]

I have listen to quite a few shows and I have read the Jack Benny biographies. One thing, that was said about the Jack Benny Program that there nobody ad-libbed with Jack Benny. Though as I have been listening, I have picked out quite a few things I'm sure are ad-libbed. I can't be so sure with having a script to follow, but sometimes you can just tell. I understand that nothing deviating away from the script was allowed because of time limits and censorship but was that actually, solid rule? I actually like it when blunders happened because it made the cast laugh and made the show funnier. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[Gerry O.]

I have listen to quite a few shows and I have read the Jack Benny biographies. One thing, that was said about the Jack Benny Program that there nobody ad-libbed with Jack Benny. Though as I have been listening, I have picked out quite a few things I'm sure are ad-libbed. I can't be so sure with having a script to follow, but sometimes you can just tell. I understand that nothing deviating away from the script was allowed because of time limits and censorship but was that actually, solid rule? I actually like it when blunders happened because it made the cast laugh and made the show funnier. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

I've noticed that most of the ad-libbing and kidding around took place in the earlier "Jell-O" programs. By the time "The Lucky Strike Program" came along in the mid-1940's, Jack's show had been firmly established as one of the....if not THE....top network programs. As a result, the show and cast seem much more "polished" and not deviating from the script all that much, unless there was an obvious blooper.

The 1930's (and even very early 1940's) Benny episodes have a loose, free-wheeling, almost silly feel to them, but by the mid-1940's the tone seems to be, "OK gang, there's a lot of money riding on this show and we can't goof around too much"....at least that's how it seems to me.

[Mister Kitzel]

When reading Hilliard Marks' comments on producing the Jack Benny Show it was clear that he was responsible for the show running smoothly and on time. It is possible that ad-libs were discouraged because the show was rehearsed and planned to carefully fit within a time frame. The show had to end on time or it could be cut off before the ending.

[krledu]

I've noticed that most of the ad-libbing and kidding around took place in the earlier "Jell-O" programs. By the time "The Lucky Strike Program" came along in the mid-1940's, Jack's show had been firmly established as one of the....if not THE....top network programs. As a result, the show and cast seem much more "polished" and not deviating from the script all that much, unless there was an obvious blooper.

The 1930's (and even very early 1940's) Benny episodes have a loose, free-wheeling, almost silly feel to them, but by the mid-1940's the tone seems to be, "OK gang, there's a lot of money riding on this show and we can't goof around too much"....at least that's how it seems to me.

Yea, the programs that I have been listening to are the ones from the Jello years. I just started into the 1942 season. I like the shows from the Lucky Strike Program better because they are more streamlined, I guess you say. They also had some great gags from these years. But I also like the fluffs because they add unexpected humor to the program. Such as the Drear Pooson and the Grass Reak fluffs. But I wonder what if Jack got mad if people did start ad-libbing on his program?

[bboswell]

It's not unusual to hear what sounds like an ad lib from Phil in some of these later episodes. I don't remember all the details, but there was one where Phil says:

"No one would touch it with a stick." or something like that. Then Jack says: " 'With a stick' isn't in here folks, he just thew that in."

Which certainly could be a "fake" ad lib, but that's for another post which I will start soon...

[LLeff]

The on-time thing is part of it, but you also have to think about how much Jack and the writers would tune and tune and tune the lines and the buildup so there's just enough words (not too many), just the right timing, etc. As I've often said, they tuned it like a race car. If you let people start ad libbing, then they're almost always going to come up with something in the raw, rather than honed to perfection.

And there is a time when Phil ad libbed a line, and I was really struck by just how angry Jack got on air. Fortunately he was able to cover it up with the "Now cut that out!" side of his character. But as one who's studied his work so much, it sounded like Jack really was pretty upset and was likely going to give Phil what-for after the show. There was also a time that Larry Adler ad libbed a line that set Jack off similarly.

[Hank the All-Nite DJ]

I know this thread is old, but hey

Maybe it depends on the situation because I've heard plenty of exchanges that certainly seem ad-libbed and Jack appears to love it

In the 5-7-1950 episode, Mary hands the telephone to Jack and flubs her line. After the initial laugh, and a quick ad-lib from Jack, he answers the phone, "Hello, Phil" and Phil goes, "What?" like Jack was talking over the laughs. Then Jack repeats his line but bursts out in laughter and Phil goes, "'Mumbles' Livingstone's getting hard to follow, ain't she?"

Then today I listened to 1-6-1952. Dennis is supposed to have a crush on Mary and he's swooning over her. "Gee, gosh....to think that you'll soon be my wife and Babe will be my brother-in-law!" Jack goes, "That's nowheres [sic] on this page! I can't...It's better than what we had written there, I know that!"

[Jack Benny]

...1-6-1952. Dennis is supposed to have a crush on Mary and he's swooning over her. "Gee, gosh....to think that you'll soon be my wife and Babe will be my brother-in-law!" Jack goes, "That's nowheres [sic] on this page! I can't...It's better than what we had written there, I know that!"

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of as well! I just checked the script and Dennis' original line was supposed to be" And to think, those soft white hands will soon be washing my sox." I agree with Jack that Dennis added a much better line! Jack's crack up at this situation is wonderul!

[Brad from Georgia]

It also seems to depend on how the ad-lib hit Jack--if it cracked him up, the audience similarly laughed, and that generally seemed to slide by without an angry or upset reaction from Jack. I can understand how Jack, a superb editor, wouldn't want the cast to get loose with the lines, breaking the rhythms of the show.

However--as the seasons went on, my impression is that the spring shows have a looser, more relaxed tempo than the fall shows, for some reason. The last shows of the seasons especially seem to have a very loosey-goosey feeling, with even Jack tossing in off-the-cuff lines.

The current Jack Benny Times has a nice excerpt from a Jim McConnell interview with actor Dick Lane, who played Jack's publicity man Jim Bradley in a number of episodes. Lane recalled that Frank Nelson warned him right away not to ad-lib with Jack--and he also remembers the contrast between Jack's highly polished shows and Red Skelton's anarchic, ad-lib riddled performances in the same era.

[mackdaddyg]

I recall hearing or reading a Frank Nelson interview talking about his classic "Well who do you think I am...DREAR POOSON?!" line that was added at the last moment. The writers called him over and said to use that line, which apparently made Frank very nervous.

Of course, it worked perfectly. Jack's writers were the best.

I really wouldn't blame Jack for wanting to keep the ad-libbing under control. As mentioned before, these shows were mighty fine tuned. If I were a member of the cast, I don't know if I would have the guts to ad-lib, no matter how sure I was of the line I had swirling around in my brain.

That being said, I assume they made for some allowances for guest stars, especially those like Fred Allen who were notorious for ad-libbing, usually with pretty good results. I remember one show where Fred was taking his usual liberties, and Jack responded with "So far, that's better than what we have written here!"

[Brad from Georgia]

Bob Hope too was pretty uncontrollable in his guest appearances. Funny that Jack didn't want to work with Groucho Marx on one occasion because Groucho could not or would not control his urge to ad-lib, but about every time Hope showed up, Jack might as well have dropped his script.

Oh, and I know the publicity man was Steve Bradley, not Jim Bradley--the article mentioned that Jack called him "Jim Brady" on one occasion, and that mixed me up.

[Brad from Georgia]

I was listening to three different shows today as I walked the exercise trail--and in the sunlight I couldn't read the dates of the shows on my little MP3 player--but I think it MIGHT have been the 12/7/1952 episode.

Dennis, responding to a question from Jack, says, "You gave a lousy performance."

Jack says over the laugh, "It says 'bad' performance here. HE put in 'lousy!' He just says whatever he wants to--he doesn't work for me, I work for him." And then they get back on track. If I'm right, this is the show in which Bob Crosby says he drinks "Manischevi-vitz" wine in the skit--a fluff, not an ad-lib.

But I can't really recall--Dennis's ad-lib might have come in the 4/12/53 show, which begins with Jack mistaking a peeled potato for soap and showering with it (Eddie Carroll used part of this recording in the re-creation of a Benny broadcast he did in "Laughter in Bloom"). Dunno, because (A) it was hot as blazes, and the shows blurred together and (B) I saw Eddie's show several times and get confused because he mixed in other bits of other shows in the re-creation.

[Brad from Georgia]

More fluffs and ad-libs:

In a show from Palm Springs, Mary mentions that she was at the Racquet Club earlier. Jack says, "Oh, you were at the Racquet Cub?" and before Mary can respond, Jack ad-libs, "How do you like the kind of line they give me? 'Oh, you were at the Racquet Club?' That's the kind of line I have all through the show."

In an episode in which the skit is "Down on the Farm," inspired by the Ma and Pa Kettle movies, Don Wilson is cast as the horse, but he complains that he doesn't want to be a horse--he wants to be a canary. Later, Mel Blanc is providing the sounds of the animals on the farm--first a rooster, then a cow. Jack ad-libs, "Gee, the cow looks like the rooster." Later Don, saying "Peep, peep, peep," is suddenly overridden by a horrible squealing done by Mel. Jack says, "What's that?" Mary fluffs it: "The canary just stepped on the horse."

Jack says, "The canary just stepped on the horse? It's supposed to be a pig! She stands there and hears the sound of a pig, and she says horse! that doesn't make any sense at all. Take that line again, that canary stepped on the cow line." And Jack doesn't seem to notice that he made a fluff himself!

[helloagain]

Jack almost always ad-libbed something when another performer fluffed a line, but very seldom the other way around. I think the cast respected the fact that Jack was the boss. Phil Harris seemed to be a little more inclined to ad-lib than the rest of the cast. Mr. Kitzel genuinely breaks Jack up with his exit line on the last radio show in '55.

[Hank the All-Nite DJ]

Since the thread has slightly expanded to also include fluffs and bloopers...

I love this one from 1947-05-11 from the Chicago Theater w/ Marjorie Reynolds

Jack is discussing with guest announcer Norman Berry the reception he got when he arrived in Chicago

JACK: Norm, it brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.
NORMAN: Why, what happened?
MARY: They-th-th-th-th--they threw tear gas at him!
JACK: Welp! I know we would have missed the next show at the Chicago Theater! Such a wonderful joke, too...
MARY: (inaudible, off-mike)
JACK: Huh, you nervous? I dunno-
MARY: Yes!
JACK: What are you talking about? One little bomb, she makes a big thing out of it! You know?

It's almost too bad because the joke would've been great in the first place

The whole episode is full of funny slip-ups including Jack identifying Dennis Day as Phil Harris after he sings. Dennis tries to sneak in an ad-lib I think, but Jack cuts him off.