"The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1950) TV series 1950-1958

User Rating:

8.9/10   

Director:

Rodney Amateau

Writer:

Harvey Milk (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | unknown

Release Date:

12 October 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Neighbor Blanche Morton frequently joins Gracie in escapades which annoy accountant hubby Harry and...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Radio Show | Sitcom | Mother Son Relationship | Father Son Relationship | Watching Television

Awards:

Nominated for 11 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

George Burns	...	George Burns / ... (85 episodes, 1950-1958)
Gracie Allen	...	Gracie Allen (85 episodes, 1950-1958)

Also Known As:

The Burns and Allen Show

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 6625 Romaine Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

Many, if not all, episodes of this series are in the public domain. The 12 that are most common to find are, in airdate order: The Kleebob Card Game (aka Book Salesman), The Property Tax Assessor, Harry Morton's Private Secretary, Gracie's Checking Account (aka The Bank Account), The Income Tax Man, Teenage Girl Spends the Weekend, Space Patrol Kids Visit, Gracie Gives A Wedding, The Beverly Hills Uplift Society, Surprise Birthday Party, Divorce Attorney (aka The Swami), and Free Trip To Hawaii. At least four others have appeared on various public domain DVDs.

Quotes:

Gracie Allen: Well, you see one Christmas my father caught a wild turkey and he fed him corn and chestnuts. But then we didn't have the heart to kill him so we let him get away.
George Burns: Oh, I see.
Gracie Allen: But the turkey liked the food so well that he came back each year. And that way we always had...
George Burns: A turkey for Christmas dinner?
Gracie Allen: Yes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The John Cleese Interview (1998) (V)

A Neglected Milestone That Needs To Be Seen

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 nine seasons on CBS-TV from 1950 to 1959. 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 shows 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 1959.

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)outta 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 commedianne 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.