The Jack Benny Program: The Lost Episodes

HOORAY!!!
So CBS (and/or Universal) have FINALLY released "lost" episodes of one of the greatest comedies in television history - uncut and digitally restored. This is momentous news, and long overdue. The TV version of The JACK BENNY PROGRAM aired, in one form or another, for fifteen seasons - from 1950 to 1965. A popular and critical success of its time, it's still considered classic and still regularly referred to as a "high-water mark" in 20th century American comedy. (Even the commercials, integrated into the show itself and performed by series regulars, were hilarious!) There are approx. 260 episodes, but fans have had to content themselves with the same handful of recycled public domain titles for decades.

This 3-disc set features 18 original episodes from 1956 thru 1964; a combined running time of 9 hours (not including bonus material) of genuine rarities unseen for 50 years. According to a SHOUT! Factory press release: "In addition to the recurring character lineup of Jack,...

"Lost" footage of Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Rock Hudson, others discovered
Jack Benny is arguably the greatest comedian of all time. Beginning in Vaudeville, he played violin and told jokes as a start. But he accumulated comic ticks and personality quirks, one after another, and incorporated them into his act. He nurtured his writers and his supporting cast.

He was a radio giant through the Depression, WWII and the Korean War. He balanced TV and radio appearances in the mid-50s then moved to the tube full time. His series, "he Jack Benny Program," gave way to occasional specials and an endless procession of guest appearances, along with movies and even a Warner Brothers cartoon ("The Mouse That Jack Built").

Many of his TV episodes, numbering over 200, are still being rerun on cable stations. Some are in the public domain and can be found on budget DVD sets. This new "Jack Benny Show - The
Lost Episodes" collection from Shout! Factory, is different. It's very big news of course for fans, but also because many of them figure...

The dean of American comedy returns ... and it's about time!
Mr. Benny was known for his pauses but he never made us wait as long for a laugh as we have had to wait for his TV work to be on DVD. It is long overdue for The Jack Benny Program to be released in a respectful fashion and the possibility that some of the shows in this set might have been lost forever is frightening. Big 'Thank You's' go right up front to the Shout Factory and everyone involved for making Mr. Benny's work available here.

When Jack Benny came to radio from vaudeville in 1932, he realized that to sustain a weekly program he needed to develop a style of comedy with a depth that was not existent yet. Rather than stand in front of a microphone and tell jokes endlessly, he developed a comic character (in fact a whole cast of them) that became real and lasting to generations of Americans. It was Benny, more than any other that invented the sitcom formula that has been used ever since .... and it could still be argued that no one has ever done it better...

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