Kathryn H. Fuller-Seeley
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520295049
- eISBN:
- 9780520967946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520295049.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Radio
Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century - by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass ...
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Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century - by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass medium in the US. In 23 years of weekly radio broadcasts, by aiming all the insults at himself, Benny created Jack, the self-deprecating “Fall Guy” character. He indelibly shaped American humor as a space to enjoy the equal opportunities of easy camaraderie with his cast mates, and equal ego deflation. Benny was the master of comic timing, knowing just when to use silence to create suspense or to have a character leap into the dialogue to puncture Jack’s pretentions. Jack Benny was also a canny entrepreneur, becoming one of the pioneering “showrunners” combining producer, writer and performer into one job. His modern style of radio humor eschewed stale jokes in favor informal repartee with comic hecklers like his valet Rochester (played by Eddie Anderson) and Mary Livingstone his offstage wife. These quirky characters bouncing off each other in humorous situations created the situation comedy. In this career study, we learn how Jack Benny found ingenious ways to sell his sponsors’ products in comic commercials beloved by listeners, and how he dealt with the challenges of race relations, rigid gender ideals and an insurgent new media industry (TV). Jack Benny created classic comedy for a rapidly changing American culture, providing laughter that buoyed radio listeners from 1932’s depths of the Great Depression, through World War II to the mid-1950s.Less
Jack Benny became one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century - by being the top radio comedian, when the comics ruled radio, and radio was the most powerful and pervasive mass medium in the US. In 23 years of weekly radio broadcasts, by aiming all the insults at himself, Benny created Jack, the self-deprecating “Fall Guy” character. He indelibly shaped American humor as a space to enjoy the equal opportunities of easy camaraderie with his cast mates, and equal ego deflation. Benny was the master of comic timing, knowing just when to use silence to create suspense or to have a character leap into the dialogue to puncture Jack’s pretentions. Jack Benny was also a canny entrepreneur, becoming one of the pioneering “showrunners” combining producer, writer and performer into one job. His modern style of radio humor eschewed stale jokes in favor informal repartee with comic hecklers like his valet Rochester (played by Eddie Anderson) and Mary Livingstone his offstage wife. These quirky characters bouncing off each other in humorous situations created the situation comedy. In this career study, we learn how Jack Benny found ingenious ways to sell his sponsors’ products in comic commercials beloved by listeners, and how he dealt with the challenges of race relations, rigid gender ideals and an insurgent new media industry (TV). Jack Benny created classic comedy for a rapidly changing American culture, providing laughter that buoyed radio listeners from 1932’s depths of the Great Depression, through World War II to the mid-1950s.
Cynthia B. Meyers
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823253708
- eISBN:
- 9780823268931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823253708.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
This chapter analyzes the advertising industry debates over the use of entertainment and “showmanship” as a selling tool on radio. Early in the radio era, admen debated about the usefulness and ...
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This chapter analyzes the advertising industry debates over the use of entertainment and “showmanship” as a selling tool on radio. Early in the radio era, admen debated about the usefulness and necessity of showmanship, fearing that entertainment could undermine advertising's status as a respectable business. Humor, in particular, threatened to overthrow the rational, reason-why, product-centered strategies of the hard sell proponents. However, the soft sell proponents considered entertainment as a powerful attention-getting device. The most prominent of the soft sell agencies was Young & Rubicam (Y&R), which became a major force in radio. They promoted integrated commercials, which wove the sponsor's name or product mentions into the program text. The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny, beginning in 1934, included Y&R's best-known use of integrated commercials.Less
This chapter analyzes the advertising industry debates over the use of entertainment and “showmanship” as a selling tool on radio. Early in the radio era, admen debated about the usefulness and necessity of showmanship, fearing that entertainment could undermine advertising's status as a respectable business. Humor, in particular, threatened to overthrow the rational, reason-why, product-centered strategies of the hard sell proponents. However, the soft sell proponents considered entertainment as a powerful attention-getting device. The most prominent of the soft sell agencies was Young & Rubicam (Y&R), which became a major force in radio. They promoted integrated commercials, which wove the sponsor's name or product mentions into the program text. The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny, beginning in 1934, included Y&R's best-known use of integrated commercials.
