What happens
Jack Benny and his cast present a comedy program of the Jack Benny show, opening with banter about the Rose Bowl game and Jack's supposed seat at it. Phil Harris is bothered by his hangover and by the jailing of three of his musicians, while Mary Livingston and Dennis Day sort out Dennis's sudden crush. Jack then tries to see Death of a Salesman, and Rochester reports that an old friend, Cliff Gordon, has come to town. The program then turns to a parody sketch of the radio drama Suspense, in which a bank clerk named Aristotle Fink takes home a stolen ten thousand dollar bill to show his family. The Jack Benny program aired on NBC and CBS Radio, and the sketch is played by Jack Benny with Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson and Phil Harris.
A radio studio during a live broadcast of the Jack Benny program, with comic sketches set in Pasadena, a jail, and a bank.
Characters: Jack Benny, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Rochester, Cliff Gordon, Aristotle Fink
Listen for: Jack's running jokes about the Rose Bowl and his sudden fame, and the parody of Suspense in which Aristotle Fink is arrested over the stolen bill.
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.