The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

Back in the days before supermarket tabloids, there was a story that most Hollywood insiders already knew. George Burns and Gracie Allen, two stage performers who had made their names in the post-vaudeville era, loved each other. For real. Keeping in mind that this wonderful show is often contrasted to I LOVE LUCY -- where the stars ended up in one of the most public divorces Hollywood has ever seen -- that fact is worth remembering. Also worth remembering is that Burns basically played himself. And in his case, playing himself meant playing of the most charming, talented, and gifted storytellers in the world. George Burns practically invented comic timing. And he was a well-liked individual. (So well liked that years later when they were casting the role of GOD, giving him the part was a no-brainer!). Also interesting is the use of the hidden camera to watch the other characters. Not only a "show inside a show," but anticipating a trend that was decades away. Marshall McLuhan was a young man when this show aired, but somehow you know he watched it. Bottom line, not merely a show, a piece of history. With commercials. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

The timeless comedy of George Burns and Gracie Allen moved to television in 1950 when Gracie brought her own unique perspective to all kinds of situations. The fourth wall was broken as George replete with cigar in hand gave a commentary to what Gracie was doing.

Gracie certainly marched to her own beat. The dialog between her and George was great, but we knew that George from years of living with her took her zany nonsequiters as they came. Not so their neighbors the Mortons who were played by Bea Benedaret and Fred Clark later replaced by Larry Keating.

But if strangers came Gracie's way they left questioning their sanity, she was so sure always. And George always amused at the people two steps behind his wife.

Gracie Allen was the funniest woman that ever walked the planet. Nobody else even close. The show came to an end because she wanted to retire. She died in 1964 and as we know George hit the century mark before being called home. George could never see himself not in show business, Gracie who had a heart condition needed the retirement.

But their legacy to comedy is unchallenged.

This show was, please don't kill me for saying this, even better than "I Love Lucy". Lucy was good, but this was better. Gracie and Blanche(Bea Benederett, voice of Betty Rubble and original choice for Ethel Mertz) would pull one crazy stunt after another. Meanwhile Bill Goodwin(later replaced by Harry Von Zell) would attract all the girls, and George would step out of the scene to narrate(A technique now used in the Disney cartoon show "The Weekenders"). Gracie's "Illogical logic", as George called it, cracks you up every time. By the way, the radio version featured music of Meredith Wilson(famous for writing "The Music Man").

This was in the grandstand of classic TV shows from the golden age of the 1950's which from some never got the chance to see one of the greatest comedy acts of all time-the great George Burns and his lovely wife Gracie Allen. The last time Burns and Allen was ever shown was during the 1980's when repeats of this lost or another word for it seldom seen series was shown regularly on cable's CBN-TV,The Christian Broadcasting Network,which shown a lot of these classic shows which nowadays are totally forgotten but remain within our memories. This was classic TV from the golden age of early television during the 1950's. George and Gracie were the perfect couple and this was one of those unique shows that had a flair for its own brand of situation comedy and from there it was magical.....especially for the audiences who kept the show in the top ten of the Nielsens since it ran for eight seasons on CBS-TV from October 12, 1950 until the final episode on September 15,1958 for 291 episodes all in classic black and white. There was one comment that was mention about this show since Burns and Allen were compared to another couple,Lucy and Desi whose own show "I Love Lucy",was on the same network,but in all aspects both shows were fighting for competition here since Lucy's sitcom only ran for seven years,even after "I Love Lucy" went off the air in the summer of 1957,Burns and Allen were still on the airwaves providing the laughs until the final episode of the series in 1958. Repeated episodes for various seasons stayed on the CBS prime-time line until January 12,1959. The show's sponsors from the remainder of it's run were The Carnation Milk Company, The General Mills Corporation and B.F. Goodrich Tires.

And they say "I Love Lucy" was better than Burns and Allen? As far as the laughs were provided,Burns and Allen really dethroned the competition and lets face it,it was a better show....Lucy was good,but Gracie was excellent. Better than that Lucy spin off called "I Married Joan?". You bet! And you'll never imagine what Gracie would say next! How can anyone in there right mind be so dumb? Gracie prove it in just about every situation her and George went through,with George shaking his head throughout the course of every episode. Lets face it,in about every episode George would have to bail Gracie and her best friend Blanche(Bea Benederet)out of a tight situation in which they did one crazy stunt after another. You also have the usual characters involved too including George's next door neighbor Harry and the others which included Bill Goodwin and later by Harry Von Zell who would attract all the pretty girls over to the Burns' house for some side-splitting results that were just hilarious to boot! Then you have the Burns' son Ronnie,who was a student at the local university who would come home every so often as well. Then somewhere within the show,George Burns would step out of the scene to narrate the events that went on within the Burns' home,and then at the end of each episode George and Gracie would step out of these scenes together and toward the beginning of the credits at the end of the show...George would say these classic lines...

GEORGE: "Say Goodnight Gracie". GRACIE: "Goodnight".

This was one television show that really broke the molds during the golden age of classic TV during the early part of the 1950's and so forth. Gracie was sheer poetry to watch and she was one of the pioneers of situation comedy and no comedienne at the time was even better,which was second to Lucille Ball in providing the laughs,and she was the best around! Its kinda sad that this series is not shown on certain cable markets anymore since through the magic of DVD and Video, audiences today who never got to see this show,or who never even heard of George Burns or Gracie Allen need to see this to experience the magic of this classic show. Which is today a neglected milestone to needs to be seen again.

This is the television show that broke all the molds. There was no comedienne at the time (or for that matter, any time) better than Gracie! No one could act that dumb! She was poetry to watch. As George used to say, he stood while Gracie talked! What a pair they were. If you can find it, rent the episode about the checkbook. I got dizzy just watching! We can only hope that Nick at Nite goes back further than the 60s for the real classics of TV!