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))

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!

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.

I love to watch the Burns and Allen show as it is one to the unique shows that we had. Gracie and George were the perfect couple. You had to laugh as she took things so to there meaning and it worked perfect. I sometimes watch the 70's show and in a way Red and Kitty almost seem to be them in another era but still not exactly the same. I just find that their looks like Kitty's hair and Red even has a similar look like George. Back to George and Gracie now. I would love to have all their shows, especially the ones with that TV that could George could see what was going on in the show. That is something that really was to cool. I hope to see them release all their shows as I have only a few and wish that all were on DVD. One more thing I feel that if the show was aired more often and some people would show it to their children, it could bring a new light. I know this as when I show it on DVD to my kids they are older like 17 and up really start to get into it after a few shows. Hurry for Burns and Allen, and also their neighbors too.

I'm sure that Rose, the character that Betty White played in Golden Girls , was based on Gracie Allen.