''The Jack Carson Show'' is an American

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

comedy-variety program. It was broadcast on different seasons on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, beginning on June 2, 1943, and ending on December 20, 1956. The program was also known as ''The Sealtest Village Store'', and the ''New Jack Carson Show.'' It was carried on the CBC Dominion network in Canada, as well. Additionally, ''The Jack Carson Show'' is the title of a television program that was broadcast on NBC from October 22, 1954, until March 11, 1955.

Premise

Comedian

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

played himself in a show akin to ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

'' in the way it portrayed a comedic version of the star's home life, supplemented with music. Radio historian John Dunning described Carson's characterization on the show as "generally bumbling and dumb." A later version of the program had Carson in the role of "a very capable m.c., bantering with his supporting cast, reading an 'off-beat' item from a newspaper and recounting a humorous incident. Originating at KNX in Los Angeles, California, the program debuted as a summer replacement for Milton Berle's show. Sponsors over the years included

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

Sanka Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties. Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Heinz. History Decaffeinated coffee was developed in 1903 by a team ...

coffee, and

Sealtest Sealtest Dairy is a Good Humor-Breyers brand for dairy products. Formerly a division of National Dairy Products Corporation (precursor to Kraft Foods) of Delaware, it produced milk, cream, ice cream, and lemonade. The Sealtest brand was also late ...

Personnel

Besides Carson, regular characters on the show and the actors who portrayed them are shown in the table below. Others often heard on the program included Doris Drew,

Maxie Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 – September 9, 1968), was an actor principally on radio. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on ''The Baby Snooks Show''. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers ...

, and

Irene Ryan Irene Ryan (born Irene Noblitt, Noblett, or Noblette; October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her por ...

. Announcers were Del Sharbutt, Carlton KaDell,

Howard Petrie Howard Alexander Petrie (November 22, 1906 – March 24, 1968) was an American radio, television, and film actor. Early life Howard Petrie was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on November 22, 1906. When Howard was three years old his family ...

Hy Averback Hyman Jack Averback (October 21, 1920 – October 14, 1997) was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director. Early years Born in Minneapolis, Averback moved to California with his family when he w ...

, and Bob Stewart. Music was led by Ray Chamberlain, Charles Dante, Walter Gross,

Freddy Martin Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Early life Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...

, and

Johnny Richards Johnny Richards (born Juan Manuel Cascales, November 2, 1911 – October 7, 1968) was an American jazz arranger and composer. He was a pivotal arranger for some of the more adventurous performances by Stan Kenton's big band in the 1950s and e ...

. Singers on the show included

Olga San Juan Olga San Juan (March 16, 1927January 3, 2009) was an American actress. Born in Brooklyn, she began her brief film career with Paramount Pictures after being scouted at Copacabana. She performed in several Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and on ...

, Tony Romano,

Marion Hutton Marion Hutton (born Marion Thornburg; March 10, 1919 – January 10, 1987) was an American singer and actress. She is best remembered for her singing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1938 to 1942. She was the sister of actress and singer ...

, Anita Ellis, and the

King Sisters The King Sisters were an American big band-era vocal group consisting of six sisters: Alyce, Donna, Luise, Marilyn, Maxine, and Yvonne King. History Born and raised in Pleasant Grove, Utah, the King sisters were part of the Driggs family of e ...

. Bill Brennan, Vick Knight, Sam Fuller, and Larry Berns were producer-directors. Sol Stein, Tom Adair, Jack Douglas, Howard Harris, Leo Solomon, Dave Swift, Leonard Levinson, Lou Fulton, and Mack Benoff were writers. Knight and Richards collaborated to compose the program's theme song, "The Moment We Met".

Broadcast schedule

The table below gives information about when ''The Jack Carson Show'' was broadcast. Source: ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'' Note: The 1947-1948 version of the program was titled ''The Sealtest Village Store''.

Television

In the TV version of ''The Jack Carson Show'', Carson was host for "a program of music, songs, and comedy sketches." Sponsored by

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

automobiles, the show was broadcast on Friday nights on NBC, alternating with ''

The Red Buttons Show ''The Red Buttons Show'' premiered on the CBS television network On October 14, 1952, and ran for two years on that network, then moved to NBC for the final 1954–55 season. Red's catch phrase from the show, "Strange things are happening!" entere ...

''. Besides Carson, regular cast members included

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...

Kitty Kallen Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-World War II pop scene and the early ...

, Ray McDonald, Donald Richards,

Peggy Ryan Margaret O'Rene Ryan (August 28, 1924 – October 30, 2004) was an American dancer and actress, best known for starring in a series of movie musicals at Universal Pictures with Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean. Career Ryan joined her paren ...

Constance Towers Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1933) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and singer. She gained prominence for her appearances in several mainstream 1950s films before transitioning to theater, starring in numerous Broadway ...

, and The Asia Boys. Announcers were Bud Heistand and

Ed Peck Ed Peck (March 26, 1917 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor. He is best known as Officer Kirk in ''Happy Days'' (1975–1983). Early life Peck was born in New York City on March 26, 1917. Career Peck played a captain in the Broad ...

. The orchestra was led by

Vic Schoen Victor Schoen (March 26, 1916 – January 5, 2000) was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000. He furnished music for some of the most successful persons in show business inclu ...

and Harry Sosnik.

References

External links

Logs

Log of episodes of ''The Jack Carson Show'' from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio LogsLog of episodes of ''The Jack Carson Show'' from Old Time Radio Researchers GroupLog of episodes of ''The Jack Carson Show'' from radioGOLDINdex

Streaming

Episodes of ''The Jack Carson Show'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack Carson Show 1943 radio programme debuts 1956 radio programme endings 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs CBS Radio programs NBC radio programs American comedy radio programs