On This Day, August 23: Jack Benny and Fibber McGee
Also featured: One Man's Family.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American network and syndicated broadcasting history (1942–1958):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Fixing the Lawn Sprinkler (Prudential Insurance)" | NBC (WNBC) 1955-08-23 10:00 PM EDT |
Prudential Insurance The Prudential Insurance Co. |
Jim Jordan (Fibber), Marian Jordan (Molly), Arthur Q. Bryan | Phil Leslie (Writer), Max Hutto, Harlow Wilcox | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Small Town"] |
Fibber McGee attempts to engineer an automatic underground lawn sprinkler system in the front yard of 79 Wistful Vista, inadvertently flooding Mayor LaTrivia's passing municipal limousine. |
| "The New Neighbors on Wistful Vista (NBC Monitor Vignette)" | NBC Monitor 1958-08-23 (Weekend Service) |
Sustaining NBC Monitor Vignette |
Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee), Marian Jordan (Molly McGee) | Phil Leslie (Writer), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer) | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Short", "Vignette"] |
In a 5-minute NBC Monitor comedy vignette, Fibber McGee peers through his porch binoculars trying to deduce the occupation and social standing of the mysterious new neighbors moving into the corner house. |
| "It Pays to Be Ignorant (Tom Howard with Lulu McConnell & George Shelton)" | Syndication 1955-08-23 (Desilu Transcribed) |
Local Commercials Desilu Productions Regional |
Tom Howard, George Shelton, Harry McNaughton, Lulu McConnell | Tom Howard (Writer/Host), Harlow Wilcox | ["Comedy", "Quiz", "Satire", "Vaudeville", "Parody"] |
Master of ignorance Tom Howard tries in vain to ask the simplest trivia questions to his hopelessly addled panel of eccentrics, including George Shelton and Lulu McConnell, who constantly derail the show with lunatic digressions. |
| "Book 77, Chapter 8: Family Counsel in the Garden Room (Post's Toasties)" | NBC (WNBC) 1950-08-23 8:00 PM EDT |
General Foods Post's Toasties & Maxwell House |
J. Anthony Smythe (Father Barbour), Minetta Ellen, Michael Raffetto | Carlton E. Morse (Author), Ken Carpenter | ["Drama", "Family", "Soap Opera", "Domestic"] |
Patriarch Father Barbour gathers the Barbour family in the Sea Cliff garden room to counsel Hazel through an agonizing personal crisis, sharing timeless paternal advice on family solidarity and patience. |
| "Meta Bauer's Plea to Ross Boling (Duz Detergent)" | CBS (WCBS) 1950-08-23 1:45 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Duz Detergent & Ivory Soap |
Jone Allison (Meta Bauer), Lyle Sudrow, Charita Bauer | Irna Phillips (Creator), Walter Gorman, Bud Collyer | ["Drama", "Soap Opera", "Domestic", "Medical"] |
A distraught Meta Bauer confronts attorney Ross Boling in Springfield to make a desperate plea regarding her troubled stepson Chuckie, pleading for legal discretion to protect the fragile Bauer family peace. |
| "The Jack Benny Victory Parade: Military Base Special (Lucky Strike)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1942-08-23 7:00 PM EWT |
American Tobacco Lucky Strike & War Bonds |
Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Rochester, Dennis Day, Don Wilson | Bill Morrow & Ed Beloin, Phil Harris Orchestra | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Music", "War", "Morale"] |
Broadcasting from a wartime military training base, Jack Benny and the gang present a morale-boosting Victory Parade extravaganza featuring Dennis Day's operatic ballads, Rochester's comedic zingers, and energetic War Bond appeals. |