Customer Reviews

Jack Benny Program Volume 4: On Trial For Murder/Jack Plays Tarzan (TV show) [VHS]

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Listen... You just gotta see them ALL. These episodes are a master class on how classy humor must be done. I did enjoy this chapter, specially the Tarzan one, where Jack can be seen cutting a finger in his skit with Carol Burnett, but he keeps going on with the action, as if nothing happened to him, (this happens after a "tree rope" jumping) Buy it, and enjoy it HUNDRED of times!

This 4th volume of "The Jack Benny Program" from MCA/Universal provides these two humorous entries in Jack's long-running TV series.......

1.) "Jack On Trial For Murder", which has Perry Mason himself (Raymond Burr) coming to Jack's defense on a charge of murdering a rooster! :)

Raymond isn't exactly acting like the Perry Mason we see on his own weekly TV series here, and doesn't seem to know what to do to defend Jack of this heinous crime. As a result -- you guessed it -- comedy, and hijinks, ensue!

This episode (#152 in the series) first aired on November 5, 1961, during Season 12 of Jack's show.


2.) "Jack Plays Tarzan" (ep. #182; from November 13, 1962) has Carol Burnett guest-starring with Jack in a pretty funny "Tarzan" sketch, which features some good sight gags and Jack Benny as "King Of The Jungle". Carol was just 29 years old when she did this show.

An interesting behind-the-scenes tidbit about this episode --- While filming the Tarzan skit, Jack accidentally cut his hand (evidently pretty badly too). But, instead of stopping the cameras, Jack insisted the scene play to its conclusion, despite the nasty cut. You can see when it occurs in the sketch (after Carol throws a fake "boulder" at him), when Jack looks down at his hand, but never lets on it's cut.

Facts about this video.........

Format -- VHS.
Run Time -- Approx. 50 minutes.
Color/B&W? -- B&W.
Speed -- SP.
Closed-Captions Included? -- Yes.

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Jack, along with Mel Blanc, likeable announcer Don Wilson, and singer Dennis Day, always provided viewers with an entertaining half-hour of fun and laughs every week.

If you collect episodes from Jack Benny's television series, this 2-episode video deserves to be on the shelf too.

Maybe I'm biased, but I love Jack Benny, I think he was hilarious, as well as a genuinely nice person. Buy anything with him in it, you can't go wrong. This tape is one of 6 released by MCA, you cant get these sketches anywhere else, including the cheaper "bootleg" releases....buy all 6! I would love to see the Jack Benny show released by season, but that is unlikely......they cant even finish releasing All in the Family....