Editing Burns and Allen (section)

==Television==
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{{Main|The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show}}

In 1950, Burns and Allen transitioned to television with ''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show]]''. An immediate success,<ref name="NYT GA obit">"Gracie Allen Dead; Comedianne Was 58". ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 29, 1964.</ref> the half-hour situation comedy was broadcast October 12, 1950 – September 22, 1958, on [[CBS]]. The show was initially staged live in New York and presented every other week. In the fall of 1952 it became a weekly series filmed on the West Coast.<ref name="Brooks">Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''[[The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present|The Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946–Present]]''. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988 (fourth edition), {{ISBN|0-345-35610-1}}</ref>{{Rp|280–281}} With 291 episodes, the show had a long network run through 1958 and continued in syndicated reruns for years.

The sets were designed to look like the couple's real-life residence. An establishing shot of the actual house on Maple Drive in [[Beverly Hills, California]], was often used. Although extensively remodeled, that house still exists today—including the study over the garage where George would "escape" from Gracie's illogical logic. Burns lived in the house until his death in 1996, at the age of 100.

The format had George watching all the action (standing outside the [[proscenium]] arch in early live episodes; watching the show on TV in his study towards the end of the series) and breaking the [[4th wall|fourth wall]] by commenting upon it to the viewers.

During the course of the eight-year run, the TV show had remarkable consistency in its cast and crew.  The episodes were produced and directed by [[Ralph Levy]] (1950–53); [[Fred DeCordova|Frederick de Cordova]], later director of NBC's ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' (1953–56); and [[Rod Amateau]] (1956–58). The original writing staff consisted of Sid Dorfman, Harvey Helm, [[Paul Henning]] and William Burns (George's brother). The TV show was produced under the banner of McCadden Productions, a company run by George Burns which he named after the street on which his brother, William, lived. The McCadden catalog is owned by Sony Pictures Television.

[[Bea Benaderet]] carried over from the radio show, portraying neighbor Blanche Morton. Her husband Harry Morton was first portrayed by [[Hal March]] (October–December 1950), and then by [[John Brown (actor)|John Brown]] (January–June 1951), and after that, [[Fred Clark]], until 1953 when the role was assumed by [[Larry Keating]].

Also appearing in the TV series were Burns and Allen's two adopted children, [[Ronnie Burns (actor)|Ronnie]] and Sandra.<ref name="Life">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1MEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Gracie+Ends+Act+with+George%22&pg=PA87 |title=Gracie Ends Act with George |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]], September 22, 1958, pages 88–93 |date=22 September 1958 |access-date=2014-11-10}}</ref> Ronnie became a near-regular on the show, playing himself but cast as a young drama student who tended to look askance at his parents' comedy style.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} Sandra declined becoming a regular member of the cast, although she appeared in a few episodes, usually as a secretary or the voice of a telephone operator.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In March 1953, ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'' joined ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' as part of the CBS Monday night [[prime-time]] lineup. As a result, the show entered the top 30 [[television program]]s in the [[Nielsen ratings]] ranking at No. 20. For the 1954–1955 season, it ranked No. 26, and for both the 1955–56 and 1956–57 seasons it was No. 28. With ''I Love Lucy'' ending its six-year run on CBS in the spring of 1957, the [[television network]] wanted to renew the Burns and Allen series, but by this time Allen had grown tired of the grind. Nevertheless, Burns committed both of them for another year, which would be their eighth—and last—on television.<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|274}}

Allen announced her retirement on February 17, 1958, effective at the end of the current season.<ref name="Gracie Love Story">[[George Burns|Burns, George]], ''Gracie: A Love Story''. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1988. {{ISBN|0399133844}}</ref>{{Rp|275}}

Burns and Allen filmed their last show June 4, 1958.<ref name="LAT GB obit">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-10-mn-45422-story.html |title=George Burns, Comedy's Elder Statesman, Dies |date=10 March 1996 |publisher=Oliver, Myrna, [[Los Angeles Times]], March 10, 1996 |access-date=2014-11-10}}</ref>{{Rp|3}} The filming was an emotional experience, although nothing was said about it being Allen's last performance. At the wrap party, Allen took a token sip of champagne from a paper cup, hugged her friend and co-star Bea Benaderet, and said "Okay, that's it." After one last look around the set, she said, "And thank you very much, everyone."<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|279–280}}

"She deserved a rest," Burns said when Allen devoted herself to gardening and being a housewife:

<blockquote>She had been working all her life, and her lines were the toughest in the world to do. They didn't make sense, so she had to memorize every word. It took a real actress. Every spare moment—in bed, under the hair dryer—had to be spent in learning lines. Do you wonder that she's happy to be rid of it?<ref name="NYT GA obit"/></blockquote>

Burns attempted to continue the show with the same supporting cast but without Allen. ''[[The George Burns Show]]'' lasted one season (October 21, 1958 – April 14, 1959) on [[NBC]].<ref name="Brooks"/>{{Rp|281}}

Following a mild heart attack in the 1950s,<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|21}} Gracie Allen suffered a series of [[angina]] episodes over a number of years.<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|284, 307}} She had a major heart attack in 1961.<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|289, 310}} She lived a slower but comfortable retirement for another three years, often appearing in public with her husband but never performing. Gracie Allen died August 27, 1964.<ref name="NYT GA obit"/>

===Accolades===
''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show]]'' received a total of 11 Primetime Emmy Award nominations.<ref name="NYT Awards">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/tv/show/155872/George-Burns-and-Gracie-Allen-Show/awards?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A9%22} |title=George Burns and Gracie Allen Show |publisher=The New York Times (Baseline StudioSystems) |access-date=2014-11-08}}</ref><ref name="Emmy Database">{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search |title=Emmy Awards Database |publisher=The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |access-date=2014-11-08}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In 1997, the 1954 episode,  "Columbia Pictures Doing Burns and Allen Story", was ranked No. 56 on [[TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time]].<ref>"Television's Best Episodes". ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', June 23, 1997, page 06A.</ref>

===McCadden Productions===
''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'' was produced under the banner of McCadden Productions, a company run by George Burns which he named after the street on which his brother William lived. While the series was in production Burns began producing other television shows and commercials. McCadden Productions employed more than 300 people and produced series including ''[[Mister Ed]]'', ''[[The Bob Cummings Show]]'', ''[[The People's Choice (TV series)|The People's Choice]]'', ''The [[Marie Wilson (American actress)|Marie Wilson]] Show'' and ''[[Panic! (TV series)|Panic!]]''.<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|293}}

"Television was still so new that nobody really knew what kinds of shows the audience would watch," Burns wrote, "but I figured that people would like the same things on television that they liked in vaudeville, so we did shows with pretty girls and animals."<ref name="Gracie Love Story"/>{{Rp|293–294}}