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Big hits that are rarely seen today


DRW50

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Dang, I wish I got that channel. Laughing to myself thinking about Webster's obsession with special guest star Diahann Carroll. And then there was special guest star Ben Vereen as Webster's "junkie" uncle. George didn't want him around Webster because years ago he saw him shooting up. It was insulin, the man had sugar! And of course that awesome house with the dumbwaiter and secret passages like the one inside the grandfather clock.

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Yes! We used to get Webster right after Family Ties and right before Charles in Charge in the afternoons, and I loved that little block. I remember being devastated when Webster set Mim'n'George's apartment on fire, but then I was overjoyed when they moved in with Mary from Soap and her husband. I can't remember individual episodes, but I definitely enjoyed that show. I feel like Punky Brewster should have been included in that block, but it never happened.

Speaking of, I know it wasn't very successful in its original run, but when's the last time PB had any national airings?

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I want to say that Punky was on Ion or Pax ten or so years ago. Or it may have been WGN which is where I last watched Webster. I think it was the Family Channel that ran Punky in the '90s. Fact: I do drunken George Gaynes and Susie Garrett impressions.

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Burns & Allen. You'd think '50's tv started and ended with I Love Lucy. I'd take Gracie Allen any day of the week over Lucille Ball. I'm probably the only one who would, but I don't think Gracie gets nearly enough credit as a comedienne.

Part of the problem has to do with it being more on kinescopes than film, but still.

Oh, and Mr. Ed.

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BTW, B&A was very ahead of its time in how meta the format is. Also watching the show you see where a much later sitcom like The Golden Girls got a lot of its schtick, which is probably rooted in Vaudeville/Borscht Belt comedy.

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I wish I could get either of those channels. I never even heard of ThisTv, and I don't get the digital channels on DirecTv.

I was reading a book (I think it was George's Gracie Allen biography) and it talked about how they developed a lot of innovations, but get no credit for it today. I forget exactly what they were, but George was as hands on as Desi was for ILL.

It's too bad Gracie's legacy has been diminished by time. You get a feeling she was a really lovely person. And I think I prefer B&A because you sort of feel George's love shining through, KWIM? Where Lucy is kind of tolerated in spite of her harebrained schemes, Gracie was loved for her slightly off-kilter view.

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I Love Lucy was Lucy trying and failing to fit into the regular world. Burns & Allen was - it's Gracie's world, everyone else is living in it.

The product placement, which was so attacked in the 60s as being unacceptable and corruptive, now makes the show seem very modern. And it's more effective than most production placement efforts today.

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