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Jack tells Don about his birthday bash he had earlier in the week. Of course, Mary enters to fill in the more embarrassing details. Phil is late so Mary reads his lines and corny jokes. Frank Nelson poses as a radio announcer to set up a running gag for the rest of the show. Larry Stevens sings, Let it Snow.
alt=”Please pass the biscuits Paaahppee! Pat O’Daniel and his Hillbilly boys old time radio shows at OTRCAT.comPhil finally makes it and delivers his lines, but with an ad lib or two of his own. Phil claims his writer he hired is an Indian who also writes commercials, as Don demonstrates. At the invocation of Fred Allen by Phil, Jack goes on a spree to tease his comic rival. Phil plays, Sweetheart.
The cast mention Rochester being lost at sea, and go into flashback. Professor LaBlanc gives Jack a violin lesson when the news comes in about the missing Rochester.
Note: Jack Benny’s humor is mostly crazy, made up stuff. Sometimes though it’s topical, and relies on current events, news, and pop culture of the day. In the description of Rochester being lost at sea, it was no joke. Eddie Anderson really did go out fishing, and for 2 days wasn’t heard from. Similar to Jack’s portrayal at not learning of the event until after the fact, it actually did happen that way. He didn’t know about it until the news flashes began to hit the airwaves. When Jack learned of it, he had his writers toss aside the script they were working on to write in the second half of this episode. Of course, for the show, Eddie Anderson peppered his real ordeal with jokes as he told of his adventure, but the relief the cast felt at having him back was definitely 100% real.
