What happens
Jack Benny prepares for his Lucky Strike broadcast backstage, where a nap, a hair mishap and a wardrobe scramble set the tone. Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie Anderson and Don Wilson join him in the studio as writers and hopeful performers drop by. Jack then plays Captain O'Benny, a master detective, in a mystery sketch. The first part of the program presents the sketch's premise: a wealthy widow, Mrs. H. Beacon Van Storage, reports a murder at her home, and the captain and his sergeants are called in. The Jack Benny series aired on NBC and CBS Radio, and this episode dates from October 22, 1944.
Jack Benny's dressing room and studio during a live radio broadcast, followed by a 1940s police headquarters in the mystery sketch.
Characters: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson, Phil Harris, Don Wilson, Captain O'Benny, Mrs. H. Beacon Van Storage, Herman
Listen for: Jack's backstage banter with Rochester, the sketch's opening call about the murder at 323 Beverly Drive, and the visits from the singer hopefuls.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.