What happens
Jack Benny is at odds with his writers when no script is ready before the Jell-O broadcast. Stalling for time, the cast fills the air with an impromptu musical number and a letter from Mary Livingston's mother, while the writers scramble for material. Benny finally improvises a murder mystery, with Captain O'Benny investigating the death of J. Malcolm Smith, a wealthy stockbroker. The Jack Benny series aired on NBC and CBS Radio, and this episode was first broadcast on January 12, 1941. Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson and Phil Harris lead the cast.
A radio studio on the day of a live Jell-O broadcast, where Jack Benny's writers have not finished the script.
Characters: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Don Wilson
Listen for: Benny scrambling to build an improvised murder mystery while the writers and cast stall for time before going on air.
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.