The seventy-ninth TV show: #4 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Green Acres has shown us that old comedies aren't necessarily hokey and stale as they imagine to be, even if some of the tropes are there because they started them. Still, Green Acres was ahead of its time and so when this comedy came up, I did wonder. And while it's not as weird as Green Acres, the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show has it's moments of weirdness. First, George Burns is here often as a narrator, getting involved in plots, but rarely really being the focus. Gracie Allen gets the attention, playing her role as dimwitted wife whose leap of logic don't always make sense, but it's somewhat understandable where they come from. Her patter stands out in these episodes, creating a delightful bizarre set of situations that sets up and resolves the plot, but just works well on its own.
They came into this from their radio act, and their double act works well from the start, including the interactions with their secondary characters (Blanche always follows along amazingly). The plots follow familiar beats, but the characterization works so well that it stays a delight to watch these.