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Tired of always setting the scene in Jack’s house, Don takes us to the home of George Burns and Gracie Allen instead. Gracie wouldn’t miss Jack’s program for the world, but for all her desire, she sure balks at turning on the radio. Will she ever catch more than snippets of jokes as she turns the radio on and off? Maybe Gracie ought to go down to the studio to play the part of leading lady for Jack?
In the studio Phil’s band plays, The Best Man. As he and Jack poke fun at each other, Dennis enters to tell about his latest adventure at the drugstore. Don brings the Sportsmen out with an operatic look at the sponsor. After Jack’s big frustrated “Wait a minute!” moment, Dennis sings, You’ll Always be the One I Love.
Rochester phones in to iron out some clothing arrangements, and discuss the horse races. George Burns shows up, and Gracie tries out her best Lauren Bacall impression in hopes of reading some lines with Jack.
Will she get her big kissing scene with Jack Benny? Will George have his own “Wait a minute!” moment?
Note: Jack says Phil’s actual name on the air after his joke about Alice. Also, it
was most common to have the guest stars on near the end of the show, probably to build anticipation, and to let the shows usual stars do their thing without as much worry over time constraints. Today we find George and Gracie getting dominance over the first half of the show, plus appearing all through it.
This was a lot of fun. The “fourth wall” takes a bit of a battering as Don Wilson takes us not to Jack’s house but to George & Gracie, who are listening to Jack’s show….! Things get progressively stranger when Gracie turns up at the studio doing her ‘femme fatale’ imitation.
Chuckled all the way through this one.
Oh yeah, for all her goofiness, Gracie was quite the man chasing vamp in her younger days. We see a little of that here.
Great show. Thanks,