Returning To Hollywood By Train: Jack Benny (December 18, 1938)

“Returning To Hollywood By Train” is an episode of Jack Benny, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 18, 1938. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Jack Benny and his gang travel by train from New York to Hollywood, stopping over in Chicago. At the station, Jack's valet Rochester goes back for a missing brown leather bag, while Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone and Kenny Baker gather and board the westbound train. Mary wanders off to talk with a stranger and Jack scolds her, while young Junior keeps staring at a man's loud overcoat. The Jell-O program, a Jack Benny comedy broadcast on NBC and CBS Radio in December 1938, features Benny, Livingstone, Eddie Anderson and Phil Harris in the lead roles.

A train station in Chicago, then a westbound train heading toward California, and finally Los Angeles

Characters: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Rochester, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Kenny Baker, Junior

Listen for: Jack's exasperation with Rochester's mix-ups over the bags and Junior's staring at the loud overcoat

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.