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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Radio.TheBurnsAndAllenShow 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Radio.TheBurnsAndAllenShow, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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{{work|wppage=The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show}}
[[File:Burns allen 1955.JPG|thumb|350px|George and Gracie, in 1955]]
One of the defining series of the nascent medium of television, this [[
Burns and Allen had been a comedy team since 1922, in the waning days of vaudeville. Their act was fairly simple. George, the straight man, would ask Gracie a question. Gracie, who was one of the best practitioners of [
In the 1930s and 40s, they made several feature films and short subjects, but focused mainly on their radio series. During their sixteen years on radio, their characters evolved from a flighty dating couple (although they had married in 1926) to a solid married couple by the time the TV series was in development in 1949. The radio series had also expanded their characters' world. No longer was it just the two of them talking to each other. They began interacting with other characters. This was important because, as their characters matured, it seemed that George was the only one capable of following Gracie's train of thought. This eventually limited the impact of their routines.
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When asked in an interview what the secret of her character was, Gracie said that her character thoroughly believed that ''she'' was the smart one and that it was everybody else who was out of whack.
{{tropelist}}
* [[After Show]]: After Gracie retired from
* [[Aren't You Forgetting Someone?]]: One episode ends with [[George Burns]] calling up a guest star playing a General in the episode. The guest star drops character, saying about what an honor it is to appear on the show and goes on to say how professional everyone is, naming each person one by one ... except for George.▼
{{quote|
▲* [[After Show]]: After Gracie retired from showbusiness following a minor heart attack, George tried to go it alone (with the supporting cast intact) in ''The George Burns Show''; but it wasn't the same and only lasted one season.
▲* [[Aren't You Forgetting Someone]]: One episode ends with [[George Burns]] calling up a guest star playing a General in the episode. The guest star drops character, saying about what an honor it is to appear on the show and goes on to say how professional everyone is, naming each person one by one ... except for George.
▲{{quote| '''[[George Burns]]''': Say, in next week's show we have an opening for a Lawyer, are you working?<br />
▲'''Actor''': Why,no...no I'm not.<br />
'''[[George Burns]]''': You said it! (Hangs up, smiles to camera) }}
* [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]: Gracie does not reply "Goodnight, Gracie" to George's "Say goodnight, Gracie."
* [[Big Eater]]: Harry Morton
{{quote|
'''Blanche''': Mr Von Zell, if you came in at 4 in the morning you could make that very same statement. }}
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: And then some! George Burns did some crazy things on this show that have rarely (if ever) been replicated.
** Not only does George speak to the audience, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXIW3kjWpu0 he has a
** In the first two seasons of the series, the show looked like an odd hybrid of a radio show and a stage play. Because TV was still new and experimental -- not to mention live -- Burns and his production partners decided to broadcast the show from an actual theater where a
** In the first episode of the 1953-54 season -- in what may have been the most extreme breaking of the fourth wall in history -- Fred Clark (who played Harry Morton) left the series in part because he had demanded a higher salary. Literally! He left the series about twenty minutes into the episode. As Blanche was about to express her displeasure with a gift Harry had given her by hitting him with a vase, George stopped the action, turned to the audience and told them that Clark was leaving the series. Clark exited, replacement actor Harry Keating entered, and the action resumed.
** In the episode "
* [[Closet Shuffle]]: In the episode "Silky Thompson; Gracie Writes 'My Life with George Burns'", Gangster Silky Thompson is hidden in the closet to avoid the police. Just then Harry Morton comes in looking to hide from a man he sold a swamp to.
{{quote|
'''George''': Make a reservation next time! }}
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Three guesses, no hints
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* [[The Danza]]: Harry Von Zell (as well as the Burns family).
* [[The Ditz]]: Gracie could be the poster girl for the trope.
* [[End
* [[Game Show Appearance]]: While hypnotized into being the smartest woman alive, Gracie appears (and wins) on an [[Expy]] of ''The $64,000 Question''.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Sometimes people try to out think Gracie. Doesn't work too well.
{{quote|
'''Man #2''': (After a pause) Mrs Allen....aren't you going to ask him why he lets his dog smoke a pipe?
'''Gracie Allen''': Heavens, no! (The men nod and go back to what they were doing) After all, if his dog is smart enough to read the paper, why shouldn't he be allowed to smoke a pipe? }}
* [[George Jetson Job Security]]: George Burns fired his announcer Harry Von Zell so often that 'Harry, You're fired.' could almost be considered a [[Catch Phrase]].
{{quote|
'''Harry Von Zell''': Well you don't get fired 3 or 4 times a day without getting to know the man. }}
* [[Hey,
** [[Dennis the Menace (TV series)|George Wilson]] wants George to sponser the ballet.
** In one episode [[The Andy Griffith Show|Floyd the Barber]] is Gracie's Uncle Clyde, [[You Look Familiar|in another pair of episodes]] he's moonlighting as a plumber.
** [[The Patty Duke Show|Patty Lane's Dad]] is a General's Assistant.
** [[I
* [[Hypno Fool]]: In one two part episode, Gracie bumps into a Hypnotist who later hypnotizes her into being the smartest woman alive. Later, as George tries to reverse the situation, Blanche is
* [[Jury Duty]]: One episode subverts the troupe by having both Blanche and Harry happy at the prospect of her being called (Blanche looking foward to do her civic duty, and Harry looking
* [[Light Is Not Good]]: The one time in her career that Gracie froze on stage came during a dress rehearsal of the pilot episode. She happened to be looking at one of the cameras when the red [
* [[Marathon Running]]: On Dec 31 2011/Jan 1st 2012 Digital channel Antenna TV ran "Night of 2012 Laughs" a 20 hour marathon of ''[[The Burns and Allen Show]]'' alternating with ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]''.
* [[One
* [[One Steve Limit]]: Subverted with Harry Morton and Harry Von Zell.
** Of course this helps Gracie mistake someone talking about one Harry for the other Harry.
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** In one episode Blanche says she should use A1 Sauce instead of perfume behind her ears to get Harry's attention. Not likely a paid placement, but still odd that she didn't just say 'steak sauce' instead of the brand name.
** In the episode "Harry Morton's Cocktail Party", Gracie becomes a bookstore salesclerk to help sales of George's real life book ''I Love Her, That's Why!''. As with everything else this is lampshaded by George.
{{quote|
* [[Real Life Relative]]: [[George Burns]], Gracie Allen and son Ronnie.
** William Burns was one of the show's writers. In one episode after George has a Gracie-like conversation on the phone with an unnamed show writer, he hangs up and says to the audience "I'd fire him, but he's my brother."
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** George's singing ability (or lack of same).
** George more or less riding Gracie's coattails in their act and tv/radio shows.
* [[Self
{{quote|
* [[Sheldon Leonard]]: Guest starred in one episode Gangster Silky Thompson.
{{quote|
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[Seinfeld]]''. While many reviewers compare his show with ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' (a show of which both the fake and real Jerrys seem proud to say they've never watched an episode), Jerry Seinfeld has said that he and Larry David were trying for a "Burns and Allen Show feeling".
* [[Story Arc]]: The Mortons and Burns' go to [[New York]] to promote George's (real life) book ''I Love Her, That's Why.''. While there, a few of the episodes deal with Ronnie wanting to be a dramatic actor instead of a comic following in his parent's footsteps.
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* [[TV Guide]]: The episode "The Burns and Mortons Go To NY" has a subplot about George and Gracie making the cover.
* [[Uncanny Family Resemblance]]: Blanche and her Mother.
{{quote|
* [[You Look Familiar]]:
** In the episode "Gracie Gives Wedding in Payment of a Favor", Robbie Burns guest stars as a groom before appearing in his later regular role as ... Robbie Burns.
** As noted above Howard McNair (aka [[The Andy Griffith Show|Floyd the Barber]]) played Gracie's cousin in one episode and a plumber in another pair of episodes.
----
''"Say Goodnight, Gracie."
"Goodnight, Gracie."''
{{reflist}}
[[Category:National Film Registry]]
[[Category:Radio]]
[[Category:Radio of the 1930s]]
[[Category:Radio of the 1940s]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1950s]]
[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:The Fifties]]
[[Category:Dom Com]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Theatre of the 1920s]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns and Allen Show, The}}
[[Category:TV Series]]
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