The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

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The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Harry Von Zell (1951–58)
  • Ronnie Burns
  • Opening theme"Love Nest" (1920) by Louis A. Hirsch and Otto Harbach
    Country of originUnited States
    No. of seasons8
    No. of episodes291 (list of episodes)
    Production
    Running time24–25 minutes
    Production companyMcCadden Productions
    Original release
    NetworkCBS
    ReleaseOctober 12, 1950 (1950-10-12) –
    September 15, 1958 (1958-09-15)
    Related
    The George Burns Show

    The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, sometimes called The Burns and Allen Show, was a half-hour television

    Emmy Award
    nominations throughout its eight-year run.

    Production

    A half-hour TV series broadcast October 12, 1950 – September 22, 1958, on CBS, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show was initially staged live and broadcast every other Thursday at 8 pm ET. In fall 1952, it became a weekly series filmed on the West Coast. From March 1953 through September 1958, The Burns and Allen Show aired Mondays at 8 pm ET.[1]: 280–281 

    The show was an immediate success.

    Mansfield Theatre in New York, with the stage set as the Burns's living room. The show relocated to the CBS Columbia Square facilities in Hollywood beginning with the seventh episode.[3]
    : 20–21 

    Ever the businessman, Burns realized it would be more efficient to do the series on film; the half-hour episodes could then be syndicated. From that point on, the show was filmed at General Service Studios without a live audience present; however, each installment was screened before an audience to provide live responses prior to the episodes being broadcast. With 291 episodes, the show had a long network run through 1958 and continued in syndicated reruns for years.

    The sets were designed to look like the couple's real-life residence. An establishing shot of the actual house on Maple Drive in Beverly Hills, California, was often used. Although extensively remodeled, that house still exists today—including the study over the garage where George would "escape" from Gracie's illogical logic. Burns lived in the house until his death in 1996, at the age of 100.

    One

    Harry Von Zell
    after he turned up aiding, abetting, or otherwise not stopping the mayhem prompted by Gracie's illogical logic.

    Burns and Allen in 1953

    During the course of the eight-year run, the TV show had remarkable consistency in its cast and crew. The episodes were produced and directed by

    B.F. Goodrich (1952–55, 1956–57), and General Mills, for Betty Crocker
    (1955–56, 1957–58).

    Broadway. He introduces Larry Keating
    , who enters, and then calls over Bea Benaderet to introduce the two saying, "This is Larry Keating and he is going to be your husband now". The pair greet and chat briefly, complimenting each other on their previous work. George remarks that if they are going to be so nice to each other, no one will believe they are married. Burns then gives a cue, Blanche resumes her position, and the scene continues where it stopped as if nothing had happened. The new Harry enters and Blanche hits him in the head with a catalog for spending $200 to buy an iron deer.

    Also appearing in the TV series were Burns and Allen's two children. Ronnie, adopted in 1935, and Sandra, adopted the year before,[4][5] first appeared in the third-season episode, "Uncle Clyde Comes to Visit" (January 1, 1953), playing themselves. The teenagers are in the Burns living room, threading a 16 mm projector with that night's episode. In voiceover, George introduces them, and tells the audience that they have been away at school and that is why we have not met them before. Ronnie made a guest appearance on the episode "Gracie Gives Wedding in Payment of a Favor" (October 18, 1954), playing a character named Jim Goodwin, and was introduced to the audience at the episode's conclusion. Ronnie joined the regular cast October 10, 1955,[6] playing himself, but cast as a young drama student who tended to look askance at his parents' comedy style.[7] Their daughter, Sandra, declined becoming a regular member of the cast, although she appeared in a few episodes[8] as a classmate of Ronnie. In one episode, Ronnie's drama class puts on a vaudeville show to raise funds for the school. Gracie hosts the show while Ronnie and Sandy deliver an impersonation of their famous parents along with one of their classic routines. Since Ronnie played himself, Gracie closed the segment with a wisecrack: "The boy was produced by Burns and Allen."

    Starting in the fall of 1955, Burns and Allen often reappeared after the end of the episode, before a curtain decorated with the names and locations of the various theaters where they headlined in their vaudeville days. They would perform one of their signature "double routines", often discussing one of Gracie's fictional relatives (including "Death Valley Allen" the prospector, "Florence Allen" the nurse, "Casey Allen" the railroad man). Burns always ended the show with, "Say goodnight, Gracie", to which Allen simply replied, "Goodnight." She never said, "Goodnight, Gracie", as legend has it. Burns was once asked this question and said it would have been a funny line. Asked why he did not do it, Burns replied, "Incredibly enough, no one ever thought of it."[citation needed]

    In March 1953, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show joined

    Nielsen ratings ranking at number 20. For the 1954–1955 season, it ranked number 26, and for both the 1955–56 and 1956–57 seasons it was number 28.[citation needed
    ]

    With I Love Lucy ending its six-year run on CBS in the spring of 1957, the television network wanted to renew the Burns and Allen series, but by this time, Allen had grown tired of performing. Nevertheless, Burns committed both of them for another year, which would be their eighth—and last—on television.[9]: 274 

    Allen announced her retirement on February 17, 1958, to be effective at the end of the current season.[9]: 275 

    "It really was her last scene, the last time she appeared on a stage", Burns wrote of the episode filmed June 4, 1958.[9]: 279 

    Burns and Allen filmed their last show on June 4, 1958.[10]: 3  The filming was an emotional experience, although nothing was said about it being Allen's last performance. At the wrap party, Allen took a token sip of champagne from a paper cup, hugged her friend and co-star Bea Benaderet, and said "Okay, that's it." After a brief last look around the set, she said, "And thank you very much, everyone."[9]: 279–280 

    "She deserved a rest," Burns said when Allen devoted herself to gardening and being a homemaker:

    She had been working all her life, and her lines were the toughest in the world to do. They didn't make sense, so she had to memorize every word. It took a real actress. Every spare moment—in bed, under the hair dryer—had to be spent in learning lines. Do you wonder that she's happy to be rid of it?[2]

    Burns attempted to continue the show with the same supporting cast but without Allen. The George Burns Show lasted one season (October 21, 1958 – April 14, 1959) on NBC.[1]: 281 

    Following a mild heart attack in the 1950s,[9]: 21  Allen suffered a series of angina episodes over a number of years.[9]: 284, 307  She had a major heart attack in 1961.[9]: 289, 310  She lived a slower but comfortable retirement for another three years, often appearing in public with her husband, but never performing. Gracie Allen died August 27, 1964,[2] as Burns was underway with his short-lived ABC sitcom, Wendy and Me, with Connie Stevens and a cast including Ron Harper, James T. Callahan, and J. Pat O'Malley. All the TV shows were produced under the banner of McCadden Productions, a company run by George Burns which he named after the street on which his brother William lived.[9]: 293  McCadden also produced the iconic TV show Mister Ed.[9]: 294  The McCadden catalog is now owned by Sony Pictures Television.

    Episodes

    SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
    First airedLast aired
    126October 12, 1950 (1950-10-12)September 13, 1951 (1951-09-13)
    226September 27, 1951 (1951-09-27)September 25, 1952 (1952-09-25)
    340October 9, 1952 (1952-10-09)August 17, 1953 (1953-08-17)
    440October 5, 1953 (1953-10-05)August 23, 1954 (1954-08-23)
    540October 4, 1954 (1954-10-04)July 4, 1955 (1955-07-04)
    640October 3, 1955 (1955-10-03)September 24, 1956 (1956-09-24)
    740October 1, 1956 (1956-10-01)July 1, 1957 (1957-07-01)
    839September 30, 1957 (1957-09-30)September 15, 1958 (1958-09-15)

    Accolades

    Burns and Allen in 1952

    The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show received the following

    Primetime Emmy Award
    nominations:

    • 1952: Best Comedy Show[11]
    • 1953: Best Situation Comedy Series[12]
    • 1954: Best Situation Comedy Series[12]
    • 1954: Bea Benaderet, Best Series Supporting Actress[12]
    • 1955: Best Situation Comedy Series[12]
    • 1955: Gracie Allen, Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series[12]
    • 1955: Bea Benaderet, Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series[12]
    • 1956: Gracie Allen, Best Actress, Continuing Performance[12]
    • 1957: Gracie Allen, Best Continuing Performance by a Comedienne in a Series[12]
    • 1958: Gracie Allen, Best Continuing Performance by a Comedienne in a Series[11]
    • 1959: Gracie Allen, Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series [13]

    In 1997, the 1954 episode, "Columbia Pictures Doing Burns and Allen Story", was ranked No. 56 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[14]

    Home media

    The kinescope recordings of the live telecasts from the 1950–1952 seasons of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show are thought to be in the public domain; they are available on "dollar DVD" collections and have rerun as part of America One's public domain sitcom rotation and on public television stations.

    A select number of episodes were released on VHS by Columbia TriStar Home Video.

    • 1992: Burns and Allen Christmas. Burbank, California: Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1992, VHS 92763,
      ISBN 978-0-8001-1532-6. Contains the episodes "Company for Christmas" (6.12) and "Christmas in Jail" (7.13).[15]

    In popular culture

    In the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the pair of humpback whales (held in captivity at the fictional Maritime Cetacean Institute located in Sausalito, California) were humorously named George and Gracie.

    References

    1. ^ . Retrieved October 29, 2022.
    2. ^ a b c "Gracie Allen Dead; Comedienne Was 58". The New York Times. August 29, 1964.
    3. . Retrieved October 29, 2022.
    4. ^ "Burns and Allen Adopt Boy". The New York Times. September 28, 1935. p. Amusements 12.
    5. ^ Gracie Ends Act with George. September 22, 1958. pp. 88–93. Retrieved 2014-11-10. {{cite book}}: |magazine= ignored (help)
    6. ^ Adams, Val (September 25, 1955). "News of Television and Radio". The New York Times.
    7. ^ "Ronnie Burns profile". IMDb. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
    8. ^ "Sandra Burns profile". IMDb. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
    9. ^ .
    10. ^ Oliver, Myrna (March 10, 1996). "George Burns, Comedy's Elder Statesman, Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
    11. ^ a b "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
    12. ^ a b c d e f g h "Emmy Awards Database". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
    13. ^ "Awards, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show". IMDb. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
    14. ^ "Television's Best Episodes". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 23, 1997. page 6A.
    15. OCLC 27031561
      .

    Further reading

    External links