BW - EP156—007: Halloween 1944—Gracie Allen’s Make Believe Romance with Van Johnson

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers By the fall of 1944, George Burns and Gracie Allen had been married for eighteen years and on radio for twelve. Their program had been officially titled The Burns And Allen Show in the fall of 1936, and they’d spent time at both NBC and CBS. With their ratings slipping in 1942, George Burns transformed their show from vaudeville-style banter into a situation comedy. It was the jolt the couple needed. In the fall of 1944 the couple was on for Lever Brothers and Swan Soap Tuesdays at 9PM eastern time from CBS. On Halloween night, Grace Allen had a make believe romance with actor Van Johnson. NBC dominated Tuesday’s ratings in most timeslots, but running opposite of The Burns and Allen Show on NBC was The Molle Mystery Theater. Burns and Allen won their timeslot, but the show would still move to Monday evenings in January of 1945.