Burns and Allen did a lot of shows in the 1950's. They had a lot of famous guests They seemed to breeze along year after year. I have only seen a handfull of high lights and episodes of it. Does anyone have any favorite moments of the show they'd like to share?
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I have many fond memories of The Burns and Allen Show watching as a very young lad. Very young. Practically a zygote.
The show ran on CBS from the fall of 1950 to the fall of 1958. It contained many imaginative and groundbreaking (and rules breaking) sit-com moments. When George would realize that something was going on, he would turn on his TV and watch Gracie on The Burns and Allen Show to get clued in on Gracies current crisis. He would also turn and talk directly to the audience breaking the fourth wall something so audacious that it has rarely been used since. At one point in the show, the part of next-door-neighbor Harry Morton was recast. On the first show for the new Harry, George spoke directly to the audience telling them that Fred Clark had asked for too much money so, starting tonight, Larry Keating will be playing Harry Morton.
But the most well remembered running joke was the few minutes at the end of the show when George and Gracie would step from behind a curtain and do a few bits of their vaudeville act. The show would end with one of the most famous catchphrases in TV history (the first half is in the subject line of the O.P.).
George: Say good night, Gracie.
Gracie: Good night, Gracie.
(This gag would be resurrected for Rowan and Martins Laugh-In each week in the late 1960s).
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Except that she just said "Good Night", not "Good Night, Gracie".
Thanks for the moments - there are times I wish I could have caught more of them. George breaking the fourth wall, I almost bet that he did that at times in his and Gracie's Vaudeville act too. Groucho Marx did that in one of their movies with his line-
"I know I'm stuck here, but you folks can go out to the lobby until this thing blows over."
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At one point in the show, the part of next-door-neighbor Harry Morton was recast. On the first show for the new Harry, George spoke directly to the audience telling them that Fred Clark had asked for too much money so, starting tonight, Larry Keating will be playing Harry Morton.
I remember that. As I recall, Blanche Morton (Bea Benaderet) was going to hit Harry over the head with a phone book. She paused, holding the book above her, while George made the announcement ... then the action resumed.
Actually, Harry was recast three times. The first actor to play the part was John Brown (whom I don't remember). Hal March stepped into the part after Brown, and before Clark. Larry Keating was my favorite. George's reaction to his (Larry Keating) sophisticated vocabulary, was another great running gag.
Gracie and Harry Von Zell used to work the commercials for Carnation Evaporated Milk into the plot. Gracie would be in the kitchen, making/baking something. Harry would walk in, and the conversation would turn to Carnation.
I think pat is correct. Gracie only said "Good night".
The running gag on Rowan & Martin was at the end of the show when Dan said to Dick, "Say good night, Dick" and everyone in the cast would say "Good night, Dick". EXCEPT when Richard Nixon made his appearance and simply said, "Good night." (He was Dick too.)
No, you're absolutely wrong. I watched that show many times and the whole gag was that Gracie was wacky and clueless but cute and charming. Of course she'd say "Good Night, Gracie" because she was sort of slow on the uptake. That was part of her whole character on that show.
shareGracie Never said Goodnight, Gracie.
She just said "Good Night".
I watched this show back in the 80s when it was aired on CBN (Now ABC Family) and Nick at Nite, and she always said "Good Night". Now of course that Antenna TV is airing it they cut the Goodbye part of the show off to air more commercials, so you don't see that part of the show anymore.
Most of the time even George Burns didn't say Gracie. He would just say "Say Goodnight".
It was Dick Martin who would say "Goodnight Dick" after Dan Rowan told him "Say Goodnight, Dick" on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6h1XMzuJjs&t=5m15s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBDJtd0DMw0&t=8m22s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVjaPcWOW94&t=5m2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDCjhLOaNZI&t=2m42s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiLpFTeXVPg&t=3m12s
(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny
Burns would always end the show with "Say goodnight, Gracie," to which Allen simply replied "Goodnight." She never said "Goodnight, Gracie," as legend has it. (This confabulation may be caused by the Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ending: "Say goodnight, Dick." "Goodnight, Dick!") Burns was once asked this question and said it would've been a funny line. Asked why he didn't do it, Burns replied, "Incredibly enough, no one ever thought of it."
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad9_1315571339
(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny