What happens
Jack Benny opens the new season of his Jell-O program with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day and Don Wilson. The show was broadcast on October 15, 1939, on NBC and CBS Radio. Benny jokes with his cast about Columbus, a supposed college fraternity pin, and a harsh music review. Dennis Day's overbearing mother arrives late, insists on changing his song, and interferes with the broadcast. Andy's visit, the Jell-O commercials and a preview of next week's drama Stanley and Livingston fill out the half hour, with plenty of banter about Benny's pet polar bear Carmichael and his trouble with Rochester.
A radio studio during the opening weeks of the Jell-O program's new season, with the cast preparing and broadcasting live.
Characters: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Don Wilson, Eddie Anderson, Mrs. Day, Andy
Listen for: Mrs. Day's insistence on changing Dennis's song, and Phil Harris's reaction to the music review.
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.