Christmas With Jack Benny

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic material, skimpy DVD
Review: The content of this DVD rates five stars - Jack Benny was a comedy genius, and the two shows included on this DVD both testify to the man's talent, and the quality of The Jack Benny Program.

This DVD contains two holiday-themed episodes of Benny's program - the first of Jack's annual Christmas shopping debacles (originally aired Dec. 15, 1957) and his first New Year's episode (Dec. 27, 1953). Both are classics - the Christmas show (portions of which were included on the 1994 CBS-TV special "Television's Christmas Classics") features a hysterical turn by Mel Blanc as the department store clerk who loses his sanity to Jack's pestering, and the New Year's show is a bittersweet half-hour.

The DVD receives only four stars from this reviewer, however, because it's so skimpy. The two shows are all you get. There's no excuse for that; over its fifteen year run, the Benny show had numerous Christmas and New Year's programs, any of which could have been included here.

Some reviewers might also deduct a star for the mediocre audio/video quality, but considering the show's age, the picture and sound seem reasonable.

All things considered, "Christmas with Jack Benny" is a wonderful but sadly brief glimpse of the great Benny program's hysterical version of holiday cheer.