MovieChat Forums > The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950) Discussion > The last 2-3 seasons

The last 2-3 seasons

posted 8 years ago by FlushingCaps
2 replies | jump to latest

I got acquainted with this series through a scattered number of episodes airing somewhere years ago, plus some VHS tapes I bought. Thought it hilarious.

Now I have had a chance the last couple of months to frequently watch the 5-6 a.m. episodes airing on Antenna TV. These have covered the last 2-3 seasons it aired. Today they just showed the next to last episode of the series.

I wonder if other fans of this series will agree with my assessment of these seasons, in general.

Overall, there were far fewer laughs per episode than the earlier years when they had the cheesy sets that looked like those made for a high school play--the ones where the door to the Morton's was about 8 steps from Gracie and George's back door.

The on-going gags about George firing Harry Von Zell every week, Ronnie's girlfriend-of-the-week, and George happily watching everything that happened when he wasn't in the room on his TV set in the den...those things were never funny. They also kept using the "we-have-to-trick-George-into-spending-money-on-something bit, even though week after week, almost as soon as Gracie approached George about buying something for her or Ronnie--including a mink coat, a new car, taking a trip, a boat, etc.--he readily agreed to all of it. No need to trick him.

I thought Gracie's scatter brain antics written not nearly as cleverly in those last seasons. For example, she went in to book a hotel in New York City and when the agent asked when she wanted the reservation to start, she went into a long-winded answer about how it should start the day they arrive instead of before or days after they arrive.

I think the earlier seasons had her give goofy answers but in a much more logical way. I mean, the audience knew that she was confused about what the other person meant, but there was a logic about why she was confused. The type of question I cited would never have confused the old Gracie because there was nothing ambiguous about it.

I am eager to see some of the earlier shows beginning next week. Hope they are as good as the ones I did get to see years ago.

Anyone else have similar thoughts?

[–] mwmtampa 8 years ago

I guess its a matter of opinion.

I actually preferred the later seasons when Ronnie Burns and Larry Keating became regulars on the show. I really liked those two being involved in the plots. I also enjoyed the much more frequent attractive bevy of girl guest stars on the show (most posing as Ronnie's friends or girlfriends).

That said, the early seasons were good too. I love the show airing regularly on Antenna TV, one of the greatest comedies of all time!

[–] RainyNightinGA (6) 3 years ago

I feel this way about the final years of the show (Season 7-8) too. To me, the biggest issue was that Gracie was less involved in the storylines due to her health issues/wanting to retire, so most of the plots were centered around Ronnie. While I do think that Ronnie was a positive addition to the show (and enabled it to continue past Season 5), he and his friends just weren't very interesting. When the show moved back to California after the New York season there were too many repeated plots with Brian McAfee failing his classes, Bonnie Sue trying to break into movies, etc. The only new character I really liked was Mr. Jansen the plumber (played by Howard McNear).

I thought George's magic TV was funny at times (such as when he used it to mess with the Mortons), but it was relied on too much and made the plots feel too contrived/manufactured. Gracie become more Lucy-like and scheming, rather than innocently mixing things up with her illogical logic. I also noticed that Harry Morton became nastier to Blanche and lacked the tenderness that he occasionally showed in the earlier seasons.

However, these final seasons weren't all bad. Harry Von Zell stole the show with his antics and physical comedy. And Bea Benaderet was wonderful as always. It was great to see the show evolve over time as they transitioned from radio to live TV to filmed TV.