What happens
Jack Benny celebrates his birthday on the Jell-O program, which is also Valentine's Day. His cast, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Kenny Baker and Don Wilson, trade jokes about ages and gifts, and Mary reads a birthday poem. Jack's servant Rochester phones to report a polar bear delivered to the house as a birthday present. The program then turns to a Valentine's play, Love Finds Annie Hardy, in which Zeke and Ma try to find a husband for their daughter Annie in the town of Off-Center, Indiana. The evening ends with a commercial for Jell-O puddings and a note on Boy Scouts' anniversary. This is the first show with Carmichael the polar bear.
The Jell-O program studio for Jack Benny's birthday show, with a Valentine's Day play set in the town of Off-Center, Indiana
Characters: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Kenny Baker, Don Wilson, Rochester, Zeke, Ma
Listen for: Rochester's phone call about the polar bear, and the Valentine's play in which Zeke and Ma try to marry off Annie
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.