JACK BENNY’S CARNIVAL NIGHTS

March 20, 1968

Directed
by Fred De Cordova

Produced
by Irving Fein

Written
by Hal Goldman, Al Gordon, Hilliard Marks

Script
Consultant Milt Josefsberg

Jack
Benny
(Himself, Host) was
born on Valentine’s day 1894. He had a successful vaudeville
career, and an even greater career on radio with “The Jack Benny
Program” which also became a successful television show. His screen
persona was known for being a penny-pincher and playing the violin.
Benny was a Beverly Hills neighbor of Lucille Ball’s and the two
were off-screen friends. Benny appeared on “The Lucy Show” as
Harry Tuttle (a Jack Benny doppelganger) in “Lucy
and the Plumber” (TLS S3;E2),
later did a voice over cameo as himself in “Lucy
With George Burns” (TLS S5;E1),
and played himself in “Lucy
Gets Jack Benny’s Account” (TLS S6;E6).
He was seen in four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Benny and Ball
appeared on many TV variety and award shows together. He died in
1974, a few weeks after taping “An
All-Star Party for Lucille Ball.”

GUEST STARS

Lucille
Ball (Luscious
Lucille / Woman on Pier / Agnes Kubelsky) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New
York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood
as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’
movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled
“My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I
Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred
with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program
was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was
once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960
(in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so
did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu
financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The
Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a
similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life
children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined
the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death
in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With
Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled
after just 13 episodes.

Johnny
Carson (Carnival
Barker / Jackie) was
born in 1925 in Corning, Iowa. He was a talk show host and comedian,
best known for his 30 years as host of “The Tonight Show”
(1962–92) for which he received six Emmy Awards. Johnny Carson and
Lucille Ball appeared together many times on TV specials and award
shows as well as his appearing as himself on a 1969 episode of
“Here’s Lucy” and “Lucy Moves to NBC” in 1980. He died in 2005
as an icon of late night television.

Ben
Blue (Shandu
/ Tramp / Pickpocket) was born in 1901 in Canada. He appeared in
three films with Lucille Ball from 1943 to 1967. In July 1960 Jack
Benny starred him in an episode of his variety show. The comic actor
also did four films with Benny. He died in 1975.

Paul
Revere & The Raiders
featuring Mark
Lindsey
(Themselves) had appeared a month earlier on “The Smothers Brothers
Comedy Hour.”

SUPPORTING
CAST

Sid
Fields
(Emcee / Barker) is probably best remembered for his work with Abbott
and Costello. This is his only time working with Benny and Ball.

Herb
Vigran
(Cop) played
Jule, Ricky Ricardo’s music agent on two episodes of “I Love
Lucy” in addition to playing movie publicist Hal Sparks in “Lucy
is Envious” (ILL S3;23).
He was seen in the Lucy-Desi film The
Long, Long Trailer.

He was seen in 6 episodes of “The Lucy Show” as various
characters.

Larry
J. Blake (Cop)
appeared
as a Native American Medicine Man in “Lucy
the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15).
He was an ex-vaudevillian who made nine “Here’s Lucy” appearances.

Almira
Sessions
(Old Lady on Midway) was a character actress who appeared with
Lucille Ball and Bob Hope in the 1950 movie Fancy
Pants.

Benny
Rubin
(Tonto) played the bus driver in “The Tour” (ILL S4;E30). He
was briefly seen in 2 episodes of “The Lucy Show” as well as the
Desi Arnaz-produced sitcom “The Mothers-in-Law.”

Larry
Billman
(Dancer, uncredited) was Lucy’s dance partner on “Lucy and
Tennessee Ernie’s Fun Farm” (HL S1;E23).

CAMEOS

George
Burns (Martine)
was
born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City in January 1896. He married
Gracie Allen in 1926 and the two formed an act (Burns and Allen) that
toured in vaudeville. They had their own hit show “The George Burns
and Gracie Allen Show” first on radio then on CBS TV from 1950 to
1958, airing concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” In 1966 he
appeared as himself on “The Lucy Show” (S5;E1). After Allen’s
death, Burns reinvented himself as a solo act. In 1976 he won an
Oscar for playing one of The
Sunshine Boys.
He was also known for playing the title role in Oh,
God! (1978)
and its 1984 sequel Oh,
God! You Devil. Burns
and Ball appeared on many TV variety and award shows together. He
died at the age of 100.

Bob
Hope
(Himself) was
born Lesley Townes Hope in England in 1903. During his extensive
career in virtually all forms of media he received five honorary
Academy Awards. In 1945 Desi Arnaz was the orchestra leader on Bob
Hope’s radio show. Ball and Hope did four films together. He
appeared as himself on the season
6 opener
of
“I Love Lucy.” He did a brief cameo in a 1964 episode of “The
Lucy Show.”
When
Lucille Ball moved to NBC in 1980, Hope appeared on her welcome
special.
Like George Burns, he died at age 100.

Danny
Thomas
(Himself) was
born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz in 1912. His screen career began in
1947 but he was most famous for appearing on television in the
long-running show “Make Room for Daddy” (1953-1964), which was
shot at Desilu Studios. When the series moved from ABC to CBS in
1957, Thomas and the cast starred in a rare TV cross-over with “The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny.”
In
return, Lucy and Desi turned up on Thomas’s
show.
Fifteen years later, Lucy and Danny did yet another cross-over when
Lucy Carter of “Here’s Lucy” appeared on “Make
Room for Granddaddy.”
In
addition, Thomas also played an aging artist on a 1973 episode of
“Here’s
Lucy.”
Their final collaboration was on an episode of his short-lived sitcom
“The Practice” in 1976. Thomas
is fondly remembered for founding St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital. He is also father to actress Marlo Thomas. He died in 1999.

Dean
Martin
(Rip Van Rinkle) also
played himself (and his stunt man doppelganger Eddie Feldman) in
“Lucy
Dates Dean Martin” (TLS S4;E21)
in
1966. He was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1917.
He made his screen debut in a short playing a singer in Art Mooney’s
band, but his first big screen role was 1949’s My
Friend Irma
with
Jerry Lewis. This began a partnership that would be one of the most
successful screen pairings in cinema history. Later, he also worked
frequently members of “the Rat Pack”: Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop,
Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis Jr. His persona was that of a playboy,
usually seen with a glass of booze and a cigarette. Martin and
Lucille Ball appeared on many TV variety and award shows together as
well as the special “Lucy Gets Lucky” in 1975. He died on
Christmas Day in 1995 at age 78.

The
Smothers Brothers (Joe
Joe)
are
Tom and Dick, real-life brothers who are singers, musicians, actors,
and comedians. They starred
in several TV
variety shows and even appeared in stage musicals. Their show was
abruptly canceled by CBS in 1969 in a battle over censorship.

Don
Drysdale
(Himself) was
a professional baseball
player
and television sports
commentator.
A pitcher
for
the Los
Angeles Dodgers
for
his entire career, Drysdale was inducted into the Hall
of Fame
in
1984.
He died in 1993 at age 53.

---

This
special was taped on January 13, 1968. It is available on DVD.

This
special was one of a series of ‘themed’ Jack Benny programs such as
“Jack Benny’s 20th Anniversary Special,” “The Jack Benny Birthday Special” and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Jack Benny” – all of which featured Lucille Ball. 

NBC’s
lead in for “Carnival Nights” was “Chrysler Presents The Bob
Hope Show.” Hope’s guests were Paul Lynde, Arnold Palmer, Anne Bancroft, Jill St. John, and
singer Lou Rawls.

Nine
days earlier (March 11, 1968), “The Lucy Show” aired its final
episode. Lucille Ball was already preparing to start filming of “Here’s
Lucy” for the Fall.

The
show usually seen in this time slot (Wednesday 10pm on NBC) was “Run
For Your Life” starring Ben Gazzara. When the show returned the
following week, it was their series finale.

Script
Consultant Milt
Josefsberg was
also script supervisor for “The Lucy Show” and would go on to do
the same for “Here’s Lucy.” He wrote a book about Jack Benny in
1977 and won a 1978 Emmy Award for “All in the Family.”  

A
1962 episode of “The Lucy Show” (S1;E4) was set at a carnival,
as would be a 1971 episode of “Here’s Lucy” (S4;E6).  

In
addition to a large cast of actors, singers, dancers, and musicians,
special circus sideshow talent (sword swallower, fire eater,
contortionist) were sourced by talent coordinator
Simone Finner.

---

The
program opens with Bob Hope and Danny Thomas in workman’s clothes
erecting a carnival cloth that acts as the opening credits for the
show. They discuss Benny’s stinginess. Danny says that he is doing it
as a favor to General Sarnoff. David
Sarnoff
ruled
over a telecommunications
and
media
empire
that included both RCA and NBC, which became one of the largest
companies in the world. Named a Reserve Brigadier
General
of
the Signal
Corps
in
1945, Sarnoff was widely known as "The General.”
He died in 1971.

Thomas
tells Hope that Benny has Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton doing
the station break. [He is joking. The famous couple do not appear.]

In
the darkness, the audiences hears “Everybody
Loves Somebody Sometime”
sung by Dean Martin and the lights come up on Jack Benny, not Dean
Martin, standing on the set for “The Dean Martin Show.” For his
grand entrance, Benny slides down a fire pole where a doctor, a
nurse, and two orderlies with a stretcher are waiting – just in
case.  

Holding
a stack of cards and letters (“keep ’em coming”), he mentions his
wife Mary
Livingstone.
Lucille Ball played Livingstone (mouthing to her voice) in a 1970
“Here’s Lucy” (S3;E11).

Benny
thanks Dean Martin for the loan of his set. He is referring to “The
Dean Martin Show” (1965-74) on NBC. A new episode aired the day
after “Carnival Nights” featuring Desi Arnaz Jr. and his band
Dino Desi & Billy. Over the show’s eight seasons, Lucille Ball,
Jack Benny, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Danny Thomas, and The
Smothers Brothers all appeared on the show.  

During
his monologue Benny reminds the audience that since Lucy’s new movie
Yours,
Mine and Ours,
Benny can’t afford her anymore. So they have developed a reciprocal
agreement to appear on each others shows. Indeed, “Lucy Visits Jack
Benny” is the second-aired episode of the new “Here’s Lucy”
show in October 1968.  Jack also complains about Johnny Carson’s fee
– a whopping $30,000 while he only gets a mere $325 to appear on
“The Tonight Show.”  

Benny
notes that the show’s carnival theme was inspired by the success of
Danny Thomas’ “The Wonderful World of Burlesque” (1965-67) and
“Chrysler Presents The Bob Hope Show: Shades of Vaudeville”
(February 1967).

The
opening number features singers and dancers around a carousel, being
introduced to various sideshow acts: the strong man, the fire-eater,
a contortionist, a man lying on a bed of nails, the world’s largest
and smallest men, and a sword swallower. The song also mentions a
bearded lady (later played by George Burns), a two-headed boy (later
played by The Smothers Brothers), and a red-headed shimmying female
(later played by Lucille Ball).

On
the midway, Johnny Carson plays a carnival barker who introduces us
to Luscious Lucille, the Red Headed Bombshell.

Barker:
“The girl who made Little Egypt surrender to the Israelis, Luscious
Lucille is the most fantastic dancing girl in all history. When
Lucille made her first appearance, Gypsy Rose Lee retired, Lily St.
Cyr burst her bubble, and Sally Rand grabbed her fans and flew back
to Capistrano.”

All
of these are real-life burlesque dancers (strippers). There were at
least three dancers that went by the name Little
Egypt.
Gypsy
Rose Lee
(born Rose Louise Hovick) had her memoirs made into the stage and
screen musical Gypsy.
Lily
St. Cyr
(born Willis
Marie Van Schaack)
was famous for her provocative bubble baths. Sally
Rand
(born Hattie
Helen Gould Beck) was
most
noted for her ostrich feather fan
dance.

While
that introduction rattles on, a pickpocket (Ben Blue) tries to steal
Jack’s wallet, which turns out to be wired to his ankle. When Jack
balks at the admission price of fifty cents, Johnny says it is only
ten cents due to Arthur Murray’s birthday.  

Inside
the tent, Luscious Lucille plays Helen of Troy singing “It’s
So Nice To Have A Man Around the House” by
Harold Spina and Jack Elliott. 

Next, Luscious Lucille plays Cleopatra
singing “Cleo”
to the tune of “Mame”, the title song from the Broadway musical
of the same name. In early 1968, Lucille Ball could not have known
that she would play the leading role in the 1974 film version of
Mame.
Lucy Carmichael played Cleopatra in the very first color-filmed
episode of “The Lucy Show” (S2;E1) in October 1963.  

After
the break, Tom
and Dick Smothers play
Joe-Joe the Two-Headed Man in a one-line gag: “Mom
always liked your head best!”

Sid
Fields introduces mind reader Chandu, Mystic of the Orient (Ben
Blue). 

Trying to guess the name of young lady in the audience,
Chandu gets hung up on the name Cosgrove. Cosgrove was the maiden
name of Milton Berle’s wife, Ruth. She appeared as herself on a 1967
episode of “The Lucy Show” (S6;E1).

Fields:
“Chandu tell me, whose picture is on a one dollar bill? It’s a man
wearing a white wig.”
Chandu:
“Santa Claus.”
Fields:
“No, no. This man was born on a very famous day. On the 22nd of February about 200 years ago.”
Chandu: “Mickey
Rooney?”
Fields:
“No, he was called the father of his country.”
Chandu:
“Mickey Rooney!”
Fields: “No, Shandu, don’t you
remember? He crossed the Delaware River in a rowboat.”
Chandu:
“George Raft?”
Fields: “You’re half right.”
Chandu:
“George Half-Raft?”

Chandu:
“I know what a hippie is.”
Fields:
“What?”
Chandu: “A hippie’s a guy that dresses like
Tarzan, walks like Jane, and smells like Cheetah.”

On
the midway, a pair of cops (Herb Vigran and Larry J. Blake) are
looking for Sammy the Swindler (Benny). Sammy approaches an Old Lady
(Almira Sessions) to offer her gold stock. 

Old Lady:
“Who needs gold stock?  I’ve got Social Security and Medicare!”
Sammy:
(to us) “Now how can an honest swindler compete with the
government?”

Jokes
about Medicare were common in 1968 because the program was then
headline news. In 1965, Medicare health care benefits were added to Social Security and in
1966 a Medicare tax of 0.7% was added to pay for increased expenses.
By 1968, the tax had risen to 1.2%.

Fields
introduces Paul Revere and the Raiders (featuring Mark
Lindsay) to sing “Too Much Talk” and “Him
or Me." Coincidentally, Lucy and Benny played Mr. and Mrs. Paul Revere (the Revolutionary War hero) in a 1964 “Jack Benny Program.” 

Back
on the midway, Carson hangs out a help wanted sign at the baseball
pitching booth and tries to persuade Jack Benny (who he calls ‘rube’)
to take the job as the target, assuring him that nobody can throw a
baseball anyway. Hearing it pays $5 an hour, Benny immediately takes
the job. 

Unfortunately for him, first to “step right up” is Los
Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale!  

At
the penny arcade, a man steps up to a stereoscope titled
“Adventures of Schnookie” and the viewers are instantly
transported to the silent movie he is watching. It features a Buster
Keaton-esque Tramp on a pier (Ben Blue) when a poor woman looking to
end it all (Lucille Ball) comes by. To cheer her up, the Tramp
dances to “Tea For Two.” In return, he asks her to entertain him
with a song. Her singing (a sped-up garble on the soundtrack) is so
terrible, that the Tramp pushes her off the pier himself. 

In real
life, Ben Blue and Lucille Ball worked together in the film Easy
to Wed (1946) directed by Buster Keaton. In 1965, Ball and Keaton
performed a silent sketch (also set on a bench) on the TV special “A
Salute To Stan Laurel.”  

In
a one-line cameo, George Burns plays Martine the Bearded Lady.
He says that Mary [Livingstone, Jack’s wife] was supposed to do it, but he is Jack’s best friend. He corrects himself: was his
best friend.  

The
next sketch starts with establishing footage of a trailer
driving through the desert. On the side it says “Kubelsky’s
Carnival – Best in the West.” Benjamin Kubelsky was Jack
Benny’s birth name. Inside the trailer Agnes (Lucy) and Jack are just
waking up in Corn Creek, New Mexico. 

The trailer is
also occupied by all the sideshow performers including their grown
son Jackie (Johnny Carson) who aspires to be a TV comedian. In 1954
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made the film The Long, Long Trailer. In the film, Herb Vigran (who plays a Cop here) played the man who sold them the trailer.

Jack:
“Hey, do you have enough food for lunch?”
Agnes: “Yeah,
we got low-cal drinks for the thin man, potatoes hi-cal for the fat
man, bones for the dog-faced boy, rusty nails for the sword
swallower, alphabet soup for the tattooed man, a glass of milk with a
couple of straws in it for the two-headed man, and shortnin’ bread for
the midget.”

In
the final segment the singers and dancers return from the opening as
the carnival moves on to the next location. In a sort of a curtain
call, the guest stars are all introduced riding on the carousel: Ben
Blue, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Johnny Carson, Lucille Ball (in
her Cleopatra costume), and host Jack Benny.  

Blooper Reel

Title Trouble!  Although
the show is titled “Jack Benny’s Carnival Nights” the end
credits read “The Jack Benny Hour.”

Oops!  In
the trailer sketch, Jack reverses his line, "Because a carnival
that works together lives together.”

Spelling Bee!  In Dean Martin’s cameo he is billed in the circus sign as
‘Rip Van Rinkle’ and underneath his ‘bed’ as ‘Rip Van Rinkel’.