  
CLASSIC TV SHOWS
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Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Sid Fields
Running Time: 26 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
The Abbott and Costello Show, a half-hour television sitcom starring the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello that originally aired 1952-1954, is regarded among the most influential comedy programs in history. In 1998 Entertainment Weekly praised the series as one of the "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time." In 2007, Time magazine selected it as one of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time." The show was a vehicle to bring the duo's tried and true burlesque routines to television in a format that the team could control. There were none of the musical interludes or love stories that marred most of their feature films. Basically, if a situation or gag was funny, they filmed it without regard to plot, character or continuity. As a result, the show became a valuable record of classic burlesque scenes performed by one of the greatest comedy teams to come out of burlesque.
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Cast: Darren McGavin, Kathryn Card, Patricia Collinge, Carolyn Jones, Ruta Lee, George Macready
Running Time: 26 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
Recently discharged museum curator Lyle Endicott (Darren McGavin) uses a forged letter to gain entry to the home of elderly recluse Martha Cheney (played by Patricia Collinge, who had been prominently featured in Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 movie classic Shadow of a Doubt). A lonely invalid, Martha is kept alive only by her obsession with preventing her prized possession, a priceless vase, from falling into the hands of strangers. Conversely, Lyle wants nothing more out of life than to wrest the vase away from Martha and sell it to a museum for a hefty price. Needless to say, one of these two characters is in for a big disappointment by episode's end.
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Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bill Goodwin, Bea Benaderet, John Brown, Joesph Kearns
Running Time: 30 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
The income tax man gets frustrated trying to understand Gracie's tax deductions. George is invited to speak at the Baker's banquet.
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Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bea Benaderet, Bill Goodwin, Henry Jones, Hal March, The Skylarks
Running Time: 30 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
In the opening episode, Gracie and Blanche want to go to the movies and George and Harry want to go to the fights. George tries to trick Gracie with a made-up card game called "Kleebob". George Burns and Gracie Allen were among the few successful radio personalities to make the transition to television in the early days of the medium. The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show exuded excellence, with a unique format, interesting plots, a great cast, and virtually non-stop comedy featuring the unparalleled zany wit of Gracie.
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Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bea Benaderet, Hal March, Marilyn Clark, Ellen Handley, Bob Sweeney
Running Time: 30 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
In this live show: A visit from Mr. Sweeney, the tax accessor. Gracie finds a dent in the fender of the car. To keep George from noticing, she tries to convince George that the Burnses and Mortons should walk to a football game rather than drive.
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Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bill goodwin, Bea Benaderet, John Brown, Bill Foster, Jean Mahoney
Running Time: 30 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
Emily Vanderlip stays with the Burnses while her parents are out of town and Gracie tries to help her with her schoolwork.
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Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bea Benaderet, Harry Von Zell, Fred Clark, Florence Bates
Running Time: 30 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
Gracie and her Uplifters Society are locked out of their clubhouse because Gracie forgot to pay the rent. Gracie visits the bank to get a loan.
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Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bea Benaderet, Bill Goodwin, Hal March
Running Time: 29 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
When Harry Morton hires a new secretary, Blanch and Gracie suspect that he has hired a beautiful girl for more than her office skills.
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Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, Connie Haines, Beryl Davis, Nestor Paiva, Benny Rubin, Jim Hayward
Running Time: 59 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
The Colgate Comedy Hour was a comedy variety series that ran on NBC from September 1950 to December 1955, Sundays at 8:00 pm. For the first year the show was broadcast from New York, and the regular rotating hosts were Martin & Lewis, Eddie Cantor and Fred Allen. For the season beginning in 1951 the series was moved to the West Coast. Fred Allen was dropped and new hosts Abbott & Costello, and Donald O'Connor were added. There were many hosts who starred in only one, two or a few Colgate Comedy Hours, such as Jack Carson, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Judy Canova. In the 1954/1955 season, the series lost many of its regular hosts, as Eddie Cantor became too ill to perform and Donald O'Connor and Jimmy Durante began their own shows on NBC. The show shifted more towards presenting mini-musicals, with stars like Ethel Merman and Frank Sinatra. But after years of going head to head with Ed Sullivan, The Colgate Comedy Hour finally faded away.
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Cast: Abbott and Costello, Margaret Whiting, the Four Pipers, Nicholas Brothers
Running Time: 59 mins.
Vault: CLASSIC TV SHOWS
The comedy duo joins Margaret Whiting, the Four Pipers, and the tap-dancing Nicholas Brothers for this special holiday presentation on the famous early 1950s sketch comedy/variety show.
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