The Dennis Day Show

Listen to all posted episodes of The Dennis Day Show

Dennis Day joined the Jack Benny show in 1939, as the new tenor replacing Kenny Baker. Baker had been a successful part of the comedy routines on the show, but as it turned out, Day was a gifted comedian. Delivering his lines with a naive, earnest demeanor, he often got the best of Benny without seeming to know that he had. He was also a fine impressionist, doing imitations of Ronald Colman and Jerry Colonna, among others. Eventually, he was spun off into his own show, while continuing to appear on the Benny show. This led to even more one-upsmanship of Benny by Dennis Day, who would frequently work the fact that he was on two shows into the conversation. In The Dennis Day Show, also known as A Day in the Life of Dennis Day, he played a naive resident of a small town, dealing with his girlfriend and her hostile father. The internal logic of this show shifted whenever the plot required it, so it was clear the storylines weren't meant to be taken seriously. Day sang a couple of songs in each show, and was always entertaining.