The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (sitcom)
(CBS Primetime, 1950 - 1958;
CBS Daytime reruns through the 1960s)
[aka: "Burns and Allen";
One of the classic sitcoms of early TV -- in which Gracie Allen
played a scatterbrained wife whose scrambled logic complicates
the life of her husband George and their neighbors -- the Mortons;
the role of Blanche Morton was played by Bea Benaderet; the
role of TV announcer Harry Von Zell was played by real-life
TV announcer Harry Von Zell;
The TV series was an extension of the radio show; Their radio
scripts evolved into a mixture of real life and fantasy since
the characters on the series closely resembled the real world
of George Burns and Gracie Allen; George and Gracie were
indeed married and did live in Beverly Hills, which was
also the location of the series; but Gracie played a character
which more closely resembled the scatterbrained character
in her stage act; (in real life their Beverly Hills neighbors
and friends included Lucille Ball and Jack Benny);
George Burns also established an unusual precedent for a sitcom
by "breaking the fourth wall" in which he talked directly to
the audience between acts to make humorous comments about
Gracie and plot developments, while puffing on his ever-present
cigar to punctuate his punch lines;
When Gracie retired from show business in 1958, George attempted
to do a solo show -- "The George Burns Show" without Gracie --
but it lasted only one season]
Main Theme: "The Love Nest, from
the 1920 George M. Cohen musical comedy production 'Mary'"
[This melody had been their signature tune for decades on radio;
On television it was augmented by the use of new THEMEs that
came from TV composers Mahlon Merrick and Alexander Laszlo
(See below)]
Composers: music by Louis A. Hirsch (ASCAP), and
words by Otto A. Harbach (ASCAP)
Original Publisher: Victoria Publishing Co. (ASCAP)
1999 Publisher: [now in Public Domain]
Copyright Date: Apr. 9, 1920; E 478 219.
Renewal Date: Apr. 9, 1947; R 17 159.
Recordings:
Closing Theme 2 (1950 - 1952): "Soft Shoe
Dance"
[aka: "George Burns Show Theme";
This was a kind of little "two-step" or "soft shoe"
2/4 theme which was heard over the end credits of the
TV show after George turned to Gracie and said, "Say
Goodnight, Gracie...";
Pattillo also credits Mahlon Merrick with a theme
called "George Burns Show", but there is no such piece
in the 1999 ASCAP or BMI repertoire credited to Merrick,
or in the ASCAP Index (1978)
The above title "Soft Shoe Dance" was the title of this piece
as recycled in the MUTEL Music Service library, according
to Paul Mandell, production music library expert and researcher;
This THEME was used prior to the Carnation Company sponsorship
in the 1952 - 1953 season when Alexander Laszlo's "Two-A-Day"
THEME was used; It is sometimes heard in syndicated re-runs]
Composers: Gene Le Grande (ASCAP/BMI)
[pseudonym of Mahlon Legrand Merrick]
Original Publisher: Palisades Music Pub. Co. (BMI)
1999 Publisher: Palisades Music Publishing Company (BMI),
of Tampa, FL
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
78rpm transcription in Capitol "Q" Series library:
"Theme No. 650 (Bright)"
Theme 3 (1952 - 1958): Two-a-Day..., from the
"Structural Music" library, Volumes 20 and 24
[aka: "Vaudeville Days";
Under the title "Vaudeville Days", this melody was used as
part of an earlier Laszlo music package called "Guild-Universal
Production Aids" distributed by the Armed Forces Radio Service
in the 1940s;
This 2/2 Fox Trot melody resembles the French song "Valentine",
but is actually a specifically composed set of cues in Laszlo's
"Structural Music" library for television use; It was verified
by comparing an aircheck recording with composer's scores at
the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming at
Laramie;
The melody was usually found at the end of the show; but
sometimes during the Carnation Sponsorship years, it was used
also sometimes at the beginning, in place of "The Love Nest";
Related cues:
"Two-a-Day--Introduction", Vol. 20, #490
"Two-a-Day--Theme", Vol. 20, #491
"Two-a-Day--Short-End", Vol. 20, #492
"Two-a-Day--Dome", Vol. 20, #493
"Two-a-Day Fanfares", Vol. 24, #600
"Two-a-Day Opening", Vol. 24, #601
"Two-a-Day To Show", Vol. 24, #602
"Two-a-Day Final Curtain", Vol. 24, #603
"Two-a-Day Two Bit", Vol. 24, #604
"Two-a-Day Commercial Bridge", Vol. 24, #605
"Two-a-Day End Credits", Vol. 24, #606
"Two-a-Day Short End", Vol. 24, #607
"Two-a-Day Hollywood End", Vol. 24, #608]
Composer: Alexander Laszlo (ASCAP)
Original Publisher: Guild Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
1999 Publisher: Regents of the University of California,
o/b/o Alexander Publications, Inc. (ASCAP)
[as "Structural Music" Vol. 20]:
Copyright Date: Dec. 6, 1952; EP 67 189.
[as "Structural Music" Vol. 24]:
Copyright Date: Dec. 30, 1953; EP 77 259.
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
Summer Rerun Close Theme 4: "from Burns and
Allen Cues"
[aka: "Abbott and Costello Main & End";
In late March, 2003 while watching a late-night episode of
the "Burns & Allen Show" on TV-Land cable network, this
researcher watched the introduction to a "Burns & Allen"
episode in which George Burns and announcer Harry Von Zell
discussed the fact the show was on a Summer Vacation, and
introduced an earlier episode to be re-run;
Not surprisingly, the opening THEME to this episode was
Laszlo's "Two-A-Day" (aka: "Vaudeville Days") above;
The big surprise came at the end -- when the THEME over the
End Credits was the exact same melody as the THEME for the
"Abbott & Costello TV Show" -- a THEME credited to Raoul
Kraushaar, published by Gordon Music Co.; I verified it was
the familiar and unmistakable melody with the timpani accents,
but played at a slightly slower tempo than for the "Abbott
and Costello TV Show";
How could such a thing happen? Why would two such well-known
shows end up with the same THEME even for a short time?
The answer is a bit murky: both Raoul Kraushaar who had
a scoring service called "Omar Music", and David Gordon who
owned publishing and music scoring companies "Marlen Music"
and "Gordon Music" were in the business of re-cycling cues
written for B-pictures in the new medium of television; The
THEME in question was probably written by neither Kraushaar
nor Gordon, but by someone like Irving Gertz or Dave Kahn or
any number of other B-picture composers whose tracks were
bought by Kraushaar and/or Gordon from the film studio; The
THEME became part of the Gordon library, and had Kraushaar's
name on it for "Abbott and Costello" cue sheets, and had
Gordon's pseudonym ("Melvyn Lenard") on it for other uses;
Until the original composer made an issue of it with ASCAP,
such packagers would sometimes claim royalties which the
composer would probably have been entitled to getting; Although
the fact that the recorded track was purchased from the film
studio muddied the issue a bit; The original right on the
composition itself would possibly be negotiable; However, if
the composer had worked for the studio on a "work for hire"
basis, an argument could have been made that he transferred
all rights to the studio to re-sell them if they desired;
The confusion of these earlier times surrounding copyrights
is one reason the copyright law was amended in 1976, which
made it clear that even in cases of works for hire, a work
could revert to the original composer after a certain time;
So such confusion and abuses would not be so common...and in
the meantime, this gives researchers like yours truly the
opportunity to try and dig deeper and find out who really
composed it...]
Credited Composer: Melvyn Lenard Gordon (ASCAP)
[pseudonym of publisher David Marvin Gordon]
Original Publisher: Gordon Music Co., Inc. (ASCAP)
2003 Publisher: Gordon Music Co., Inc. (ASCAP)
of Canoga Park, CA
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
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