‘The Jack Benny Show’ and Jell-O: 50 Years Later, They’re Still Not Stale

A listener contacted KNX radio to thank the station for persuading her to try Jell-O, which she had heard advertised on “The Jack Benny Show” during the station’s Drama Hour.

Luckily, the boxes she buys aren’t as old as the commercials, which--like the Benny show--are vintage, having aired in the 1940s and 1950s. I guess there’s no danger of KNX’s “Dragnet” reruns turning anyone on to the brand advertised in its 1950s commercials--Chesterfield cigarettes.

On the road: Cal Brown noticed a sale price for a casino in Henderson, Nev., that seems almost low enough for a 99 Cents Only store (see photo).

Staying home on Friday night has its advantages: The other day I mentioned the report that there is a shortage of single women in the 30-44 range in this nation, causing some single men to seek out dating consultants.

On the other hand, judging from a label spotted by Phil Proctor (see accompanying), maybe a quiet social life is a better idea.

Tar tunes: I should have known that “Pico and Sepulveda” wouldn’t be the only song that mentioned the La Brea Tar Pits. Its exuberant lyrics, you’ll recall, cry out: “Vine may be fine, but for mine/I want to feel alive!/And settle down in my La Brea Tar Pits.”

Ruthann Yuhas, who edits the “Cat’s Meow” newsletter at the Page Museum, wondered if column readers knew of other examples.

Sure enough, Philip Greenfield of Playa del Rey recalled a Captain Beefheart composition (“The Smithsonian Institute Blues, or the Big Dig”).

All together now:

“The way it’s goin’ La Brea Tar Pits/I know you just can’t lose/The new dinosaur is walkin’/In the old one’s shoes.”

Sticks in your mind, doesn’t it?

Legal laughs: California Lawyer magazine, in its annual “Legal Follies” section, cited these characters:

* A crack addict who claimed in a lawsuit that his dealers “owed a duty of care” to their customers and should have known they were harming him.

* A nudist who sued for $50,000, claiming his feet were severely burned during a fire-walking ceremony though he had been promised it would be “a safe and spiritual experience.”

* The city of Vallejo , which began broadcasting Mozart, Puccini and Wagner at a bus stop in a crime-ridden area, hoping to “discourage crime and loitering among rowdy youths.”

miscelLAny:

Hopes were high for UCLA’s football team at the start of the season. The Bruins thought they had a chance to land in the national championship game Jan. 3 at the Rose Bowl. In fact, they went so far as to list that game on their pocket schedule, which a friend sent me (see photo). Notice that he had torn the schedule in frustration, after UCLA lost four of its last five games.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.