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Burns and Allen
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==Radio== [[File:Burns and Allen Maxwell House Coffee Time.JPG|left|thumb|240px|Burns and Allen on NBC radio's ''Maxwell House Coffee Time'' (c. 1946)]] In 1929 Burns and Allen made their debut radio performance broadcast in London on the BBC. In the United States, they failed at a 1930 NBC audition. After a solo appearance by Gracie on [[Eddie Cantor]]'s radio show, they were heard together on [[Rudy Vallée]]'s ''[[The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour]]'' and on February 15, 1932, they became regulars on ''The Guy Lombardo Show'' on CBS. When Lombardo switched to NBC, Burns and Allen took over his CBS spot with ''The Adventures of Gracie'' beginning September 19, 1934. Along the way, the duo launched the temporary running gag that made them near-irrevocable radio stars: the famous hunt for Gracie's "lost brother," which began on January 4, 1933 and eventually became a cross-network phenomenon. Gracie was also liable to turn up on other shows (especially those produced by the [[J. Walter Thompson]] advertising agency, which produced the Burns & Allen series) looking for her brother. Bad publicity after a bid by NBC to squelch the stunt—and an accidental mention by Rudy Vallée on his ''Fleischmann's Hour''—helped the stunt continue, according to radio historian John Dunning's ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'', which also mentioned that Gracie's real brother, a "publicity-shy accountant" living in San Francisco, went into hiding until the gag ran its course. Burns and Allen followed this with another stunt: "Gracie Allen for President." During the election year of 1940, Gracie represented the fictitious Surprise Party and advocated nonsense as part of her platform. The "campaign" was successful enough for Gracie to actually receive write-in votes on election day. The title of their top-rated show changed to ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'' on September 26, 1936. One successful episode, "Grandpa's 92nd Birthday," aired July 8, 1940. In 1941 they moved from comedy patter into a successful sitcom format, continuing with shows on NBC and CBS until May 17, 1950. As in the early days of radio, the sponsor's name became the show title, such as ''Maxwell House Coffee Time'' (1945–49). The show featured several regulars on radio, including Toby Reed, [[Gale Gordon]], [[Bea Benaderet]], [[Mel Blanc]], Gracie's real-life friend Mary "Bubbles" Kelly, [[Ray Noble (musician)|Ray Noble]], singers Jimmy Cash and [[Tony Martin (entertainer)|Tony Martin]] and actor/writer/director [[Elliott Lewis (radio)|Elliott Lewis]]. The Sportsmen Quartet (appearing as "The Swantet" during the years the show was sponsored by Swan Soap) supplied songs and occasionally backed up Cash. [[Meredith Willson]], [[Artie Shaw]] and announcers [[Bill Goodwin]] and [[Harry Von Zell]] were usually made a part of the evening's doings, often as additional comic foils for the duo. For a long time they continued their "flirtation act" with Burns as Allen's most persistent suitor. Their real-life marriage was not written into the show until 1941, when Burns noticed that their ratings were slowly but steadily slipping. He realized that he and Gracie "were too old for our jokes," and revised the format to include husband-and-wife characters in a situation-comedy setting. Burns' assessment was correct, and the Burns and Allen program went on to achieve new heights. Recordings of 176 episodes of the radio shows circulate on the web, CDs and DVDs—including all installments of the "Gracie for President" routine and some of the "lost brother" episodes. ===Broadcast history=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1929 | BBC, London | Debut radio performance broadcast of Burns and Allen.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2e0RDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Burns+and+Allen,+comedy%22&pg=PA124 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |pages=124–128 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-09-01}}</ref> {{Rp|124}} |- |February 15, 1932 – September 13, 1933 |''The Robert Burns Panatela Program'' | CBS, 30 minutes<br>Burns and Allen join [[Guy Lombardo]] as featured performers<br>Becomes ''The White Owl Program'' May 31, 1933<ref name="Hickerson">Hickerson, Jay, ''The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide to All Circulating Shows''. Hamden, Connecticut: Jay Hickerson, Box 4321, Hamden, CT 06514, second edition December 1992</ref>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Digital Deli 1">{{cite web |url=http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Burns-and-Allen-1.html |title=Burns and Allen |publisher=The Digital Deli |access-date=2014-11-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141130172536/http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Burns-and-Allen-1.html |archive-date=2014-11-30 }}</ref> |- |December 20, 1933 – June 13, 1934 |''The White Owl Program'' | CBS, 30 minutes<br>Burns and Allen headline their own show<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Digital Deli 1"/> |- |September 19, 1934 – September 25, 1935 |''The Adventures of Gracie'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Digital Deli 1"/> |- |October 2, 1935 – March 24, 1937 |''The Adventures of Gracie'' | CBS, 30 minutes<br>Called ''The Burns and Allen Show'' after the broadcast September 23, 1936<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Burns">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20Burns%20and%20Allen%20Show |title=The Burns and Allens Show |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2014-11-16 |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102450/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20Burns%20and%20Allen%20Show |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |April 12, 1937 – August 1, 1938 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Burns Allen">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20George%20Burns%20and%20Gracie%20Allen%20Show |title=The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2014-11-16 |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102736/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20George%20Burns%20and%20Gracie%20Allen%20Show |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |September 30, 1938 – June 23, 1939 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Haendiges">{{cite web|url=http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logb1008.htm |title=Burns and Allen Show |publisher=Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs |access-date=2014-11-16}}</ref><ref name="Goldin Chesterfield">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Chesterfield%20Time |title=Chesterfield Time |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2014-11-16 |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129101714/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Chesterfield%20Time |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |October 4, 1939 – June 26, 1940 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Honey">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20Hinds%20Honey%20and%20Almond%20Cream%20Program |title=The Hinds Honey and Almond Cream Program |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2014-11-16 |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129101839/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20Hinds%20Honey%20and%20Almond%20Cream%20Program |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |July 1, 1940 – March 24, 1941 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Burns Allen"/> |- |October 7, 1941 – June 30, 1942 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Haendiges"/><ref name="Goldin New">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20New%20Burns%20and%20Allen%20Show |title=The New Burns and Allen Show |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2014-11-16 |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102453/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=The%20New%20Burns%20and%20Allen%20Show |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |October 6, 1942 – June 29, 1943 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Burns Allen"/><ref name="Haendiges"/> |- |August 31, 1943 – June 13, 1944 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Burns"/><ref name="Goldin Burns Allen"/><ref name="Haendiges"/> |- |August 15, 1944 – June 25, 1945 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Goldin Burns Allen"/><ref name="Haendiges"/> |- |September 20, 1945 – May 30, 1946 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Haendiges"/><ref name="Goldin Maxwell">{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Maxwell%20House%20Coffee%20Time |title=Maxwell House Coffee Time |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2014-11-16 |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129101445/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Maxwell%20House%20Coffee%20Time |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |September 5, 1946 – May 29, 1947 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Haendiges"/><ref name="Goldin Maxwell"/> |- |September 4, 1947 – June 10, 1948 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Haendiges"/><ref name="Goldin Maxwell"/> |- |September 30, 1948 – June 23, 1949 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | NBC, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Haendiges"/><ref name="Goldin Maxwell"/> |- |September 21, 1949 – May 17, 1950 |''The Burns and Allen Show'' | CBS, 30 minutes<ref name="Dunning"/>{{Rp|124}}<ref name="Hickerson"/>{{Rp|58}}<ref name="Haendiges"/> |} ===Accolades=== ''The Burns and Allen Show'' was inducted into the [[National Radio Hall of Fame]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiohof.org/burns_allen.htm |title=Burns and Allen |publisher=[[National Radio Hall of Fame]] |access-date=2014-11-09 |archive-date=2014-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110061537/http://www.radiohof.org/burns_allen.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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