One of the guests at the Burns' home for Thanksgiving is a young model who shows up in a strapless dress that's more like a fetish corset with a skirt attached to it. Meow!

The incorporation of the Carnation commercial into the episode like it's a normal conversation is ham-fisted but indicative of the time period.

Gracie Allen, of course, steals the entire show.

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show is a hilarious situational sitcom that graced the televisions of American's throughout the 50s. A charming fact about the talented duo is that they were an actual couple- which helped make their performance so effective. The show first aired on October 12, 1950 until September 15, 1958 on CBS. However, the pair was not unfamiliar with the entertainment world as being previously very successful in vaudeville and on radio shows, they had much notoriety in the world of comedy and much of their fan based came over from the successful Burns and Allen radio show.

Specifically to their TV Show, the sitcom was originally staged live from Mansfield Theater in New York but eventually migrated to CBS Columbia Square in Hollywood for their 7th episode which enabled them to expand the set past their living room and increase the efficiency of filming. Plus, the episodes could then be syndicated, The rest of filming was located at General Service Studios without a live audience present but each episode would be previewed by a live audience so organic responses to the screen could be recorded. This was definitely a smart decision on Burn's part as the show would continue for 291 episodes which originally aired at 8PM on Monday evenings and then had a long run amongst reruns.
The show was extremely endearing with most scenes being filmed on a set modeled after the actual couple's home in Beverly Hills. The show also had impressive consistency with its cast and crew that included producer/director Ralph Levy followed by Frederick de Cordova and Rod Amateau. The writing staff was comprised of Sid Dorfman, Harvey Helm, Paul Henning, and William Burns. The sponsors of the show were also very loyal with Carnation Milk being the title sponsor alongside B.F. Goodrich and General Mills for Betty Crocker.

In this episode originally dated from November 22, 1951we get to see the neighbors who were also well-loved on the show. Bea Bernaderet who played Blanche Morton and her husband Harry was played by Larry Keating. The episode centers around the holiday Thanksgiving and is about guests coming over dinner and Gracie running around to prepare. The most significant principle of the show beyond it being about the couple's life and relationship is Gracie's silly personality. She often makes a muck of things by getting things confused in a quite comical fashion. We see this throughout the episode as she asks guests that come by to help peel potatoes for dinner or as a guest asks for a drink she pours some water and when he insists on a "harder drink" she pours his water from a glass to a steel mug. These situations occur quite often for Gracie and are followed by her husband speaking out to the audience with his opinions. The show was a clear success and as it filled living rooms with laughter the show won four primetime Emmys for best comedy series, Gracie won 5 best comedienne Emmys, and Bea Bernadette won 2 Emmys for best supporting actress. Clearly, the show was well loved. I have certainly joined the legions of fans to the show and plan on working my way through the rest of the series. I am very happy to have stumbled upon this gem.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Burns_and_Gracie_Allen_Show
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042111/


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The George Burns and Gracie Allen show is a sitcom that originally aired on CBS from 1950-1958 producing 291 episodes total. The show was produced by McCadden Productions and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. The primary sponsor for this show was Carnation Milk. Each episode featured both product placements for Carnation as well as integrated commercials that are performed by the actors to appear as though it is part of the program. Additional sponsors included B.F. Goodrich, General Mills, and Betty Crocker.
George Burns and Gracie Allen were a real life married couple who were also a comedy duo. While this show was an original that unlike many of its contemporaries did not directly come from a radio show, Burns and Allen performed together on many platforms including radio and stage. The show also featured Bea Benaderet as Gracie and George’s neighbor, Blanche, and her husband, Harry, played by Larry Keating.
The George Burns and Gracie Allen show was a mainstay of prime time television for most of the 1950s. It was a situational comedy, or sitcom, and depicted the ever day lives of Gracie and George. Gracie was known for her batty and ditzy personality which provided most of the shows comedy. She was constantly misunderstanding people, behaving unpredictably making witty and silly comments, and creating mischief.
This Thanksgiving episode aired in the show’s second season on November 22, 1951 at 8pm. Carnation was the featured advertiser in this episode. There was both a live commercial where Harry demonstrated the benefits of Carnation Milk and its various uses, as well as a product placement earlier, and a discussion of Gracie’s piggy bank filled with the money she saves by buying Carnation. The episode featured Gracie as she prepared to host Thanksgiving dinner for her husband, neighbor, and a couple of their friends. It opens with Gracie and George coming home from the store and they banter about having bought groceries for the neighbors and it comes to show that almost all of the groceries were for Blanche and Harry. Gracie goes in to talk to Blanche and upon exiting sees George holding the stick of butter they bought and tells him he ought to have told her he had butter then they wouldn't have needed to go to the store. This air headed, yet quick witted comedy by Gracie is what made the show such a success. During its run the show won four primetime Emmys for best comedy series, Gracie won 5 best comedienne Emmys, and Bea Bernadette won 2 Emmys for best supporting actress.
On a personal note, I greatly enjoyed this show. I thought that the writing was phenomenal and the delivery by the actors was outstanding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_and_Allen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_George_Burns_and_Gracie_Allen_Show
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042111/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1951-52_United_States_network_television_schedule

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