Thursday, May 24, 2007

Jack Benny meets Fred Allen

(Orig airdate: 01/15/1950 - 30 minutes)
The Benny-Allen "Feud"
In 1937 Benny began his famous radio "feud" with rival Fred Allen. Allen kicked the "feud" off on his own show, after a child violinist gave a performance credible enough that Allen wisecracked about "a certain alleged violinist" who should by comparison be ashamed of himself. Benny — who either listened to the Allen show or was told about the crack — answered in kind on his own show, and the two comedians (who were actually good friends in real life) were off. For a decade, the two went at it back and forth, so convincingly that fans of either show could have been forgiven for believing they had become blood enemies. But Benny and Allen often appeared on each other's show during the thick of the "feud"; a very close listening should show that, often as not, when one guested on the other's show the guest usually got the better laugh-lines. Benny later revealed that his and Allen's writers often met together to plot future takes on the mock feud. - Wikipedia

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