Vacation Plans: Jack Benny (June 9, 1940)

“Vacation Plans” is an episode of Jack Benny, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 9, 1940. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Jack Benny plans his summer vacation to Honolulu and argues with Don Wilson about where he should stay, choosing a small auto court over the grand hotels. Mary Livingstone teases him about his old-fashioned bathing suit, and Phil Harris mangles some Hawaiian words while discussing the trip. Benny also feuds with Harris over fines, Dennis Day is pressed to bring champagne to the boat, and Benny learns that Fred Allen has been cast in his upcoming picture, which he does not want. The program is the Jell-O show from 1940, starring Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, and Eddie Anderson, and it aired on June 9, 1940.

Hollywood, California, on the Jack Benny radio program, with the cast in the studio and a trip to Honolulu under discussion

Characters: Jack Benny, Don Wilson, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Andy Devine, Buck, Mark Sandrich

Listen for: Benny's argument with Don Wilson over the hotel, and the Hawaiian language confusion from Phil Harris

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.