Editing George Burns (section)

=== ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'' ===
[[File:Burns allen 1955.JPG|thumb|George Burns and Gracie Allen, 1955.]]
On television, ''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show]]'' put faces to some of the radio characters audiences had come to love (they already knew Burns and Allen's faces from their films). A number of significant changes were seen in the show:
*A parade of actors portrayed Harry Morton: [[Hal March]], ''The Life of Riley'' alumnus [[John Brown (actor)|John Brown]], veteran film and television character actor [[Fred Clark]], and future ''[[Mister Ed]]'' co-star [[Larry Keating]].
* Burns often broke the [[fourth wall]], and chatted with the home audience, telling understated jokes and commenting wryly on what show characters were doing. In later shows, he actually turned on a television and watched what the other characters were up to when he was off camera, then returned to foil them.
* When announcer Bill Goodwin left after the first season, Burns hired announcer [[Harry Von Zell]], a veteran of the [[Fred Allen]] and [[Eddie Cantor]] radio shows. Von Zell was cast as the good-natured, easily confused Burns and Allen announcer and buddy. He also became one of the show's running gags: his involvement in Allen's harebrained ideas got him fired at least once a week by Burns.
* The first shows were simply a copy of the radio format, complete with lengthy and integrated commercials for sponsor [[Carnation (trademark)|Carnation]] Evaporated Milk by Goodwin. But what worked well on radio sometimes appeared forced and plodding on television. The show was changed into the now-standard situation comedy format, with the commercials distinct from the plot.
* Midway through the run of the show, the Burnses' two children, Sandra and [[Ronnie Burns (actor)|Ronald]], began to appear, Sandy in an occasional voiceover or brief on-air part (often as a telephone operator) and Ronnie in various small roles during seasons 4 and 5. Ronnie joined the regular cast in season 6. Typical of the blurred line between reality and fiction in the show, Ronnie played George and Gracie's on-air son, showing up in the second episode of season 6 ("Ronnie Arrives") with no explanation offered for where he had been for the past five years. Originally his character was an aspiring dramatic actor who held his parents' comedy style in befuddled contempt and deemed it unsuitable for a "serious" drama student. When the show's characters moved back to California in season 7 after spending the prior year in New York City, Ronnie's character dropped his acting aspirations and enrolled in USC, becoming an inveterate girl chaser.

Burns and Allen also took a cue from [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Desi Arnaz]]'s [[Desilu Productions]] and formed a company of their own, McCadden Corporation (named after the street on which Burns's brother lived), headquartered on the General Service Studio lot in the heart of Hollywood, and set up to film television shows and commercials. Besides their own hit show (which transitioned from a biweekly live series to a weekly filmed version in 1952), the couple's company produced such television series as ''[[The Bob Cummings Show]]'' (later syndicated and rerun as ''Love That Bob''); ''[[The People's Choice (TV series)|The People's Choice]]'', starring [[Jackie Cooper]]; ''[[Mona McCluskey]]'', starring [[Juliet Prowse]]; and ''[[Mister Ed]]'', starring [[Alan Young]] and a talented "talking" horse. Several of [[Jack Benny]]'s 1953–55 filmed episodes were also produced by McCadden for CBS.