What happens
Jack Benny hosts a New Year's-themed broadcast of his show, which airs on Sunday, December 27, 1936, with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie Anderson and Kenny Baker. Jack and Don talk about their Christmas presents, and Jack is annoyed by Phil's habit of arriving late. Mary reads a letter from her mother, full of family mishaps and a repeated gag about Jell-O. Kenny Baker sings, and Phil eventually arrives, admitting his lateness and handing Jack another awkward gift. Later the program moves into a Buck Benny Western sketch, in which the sheriff is pulled into a new trail of stolen cows and a mysterious gift.
A radio studio broadcast, followed by a Western sketch set in Cactus County
Characters: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Don, Eddie Anderson, Kenny Baker, Buck Benny, Andy
Listen for: Mary reading her mother's letter and the sheriff's sketch with the stolen-cow trail
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.