On the CBS 75th anniversary special, they showed a clip of "Burns and Allen" in color. Does anyone know if this was just an experimental one time deal or if a lot of episodes were filmed in color???

I've never seen it in color. I was surprised too.

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
On the CBS 75th anniversary special, they showed a clip of "Burns and Allen" in color. Does anyone know if this was just an experimental one time deal or if a lot of episodes were filmed in color???

No, there was just one episode filmed in color. It was shown as part of a special experimental "All-color" night on CBS, where every program on that night's schedule was broadcast in color for that night only. CBS was kind of behind the times when it came to broadcasting in color....NBC was doing MUCH more color broadcasting at that time.

That particular "Burns & Allen" color episode is always shown in B&W in the syndicated rerun package. (By the way, it was their opening show of the 5th season, originally broadcast on October 4, 1954).

The 75th anniversary special was kind of misleading....it made it seem like "Burns & Allen" was shown in color on a regular basis, but it wasn't....just once for that special "All-color" evening.

Here's a bit of trivia....George Burns later wrote that Gracie didn't want their show broadcast in color....because in real-life she had two different color eyes (one green and one brown), and she didn't want that to show on color film! (She was very self-conscious about it).

It was a lot of fun to see George and Gracie in color though....that color clip took ME by surprise too. I didn't know that the original color footage still existed...and in such good shape!

The clip I saw of B&A was in black and white. It happened to be the episode that aired that morning on TVLand.

Originally posted by jayman75
The clip I saw of B&A was in black and white. It happened to be the episode that aired that morning on TVLand.

The special actually had a couple of different clips of B&A, shown at different times during the special....

There was one segment saluting "CBS Comedy Legends" (Lucy, Gleason, Benny, etc.)...and THAT B&A clip was in B&W....

But earlier in the show they had a special "historical" segment, spotlighting former CBS President William S. Paley, and how Mr. Paley was very interested in broadcasting in color....and THAT segment was where the color B&A clip was shown. Perhaps you missed that earlier "Paley" segment.

I missed the first hour of the show... forgot it was on.

Burns and Allen and I Love Lucy both aired on Monday nights in 1954. Is there a missing color episode of Lucy ???

That is a subject of much controversy. There is quite a bit of speculation and research by I Love Lucy fans about whether or not there really was such an episode, but I don't think there is any definitive evidence of it. I think www.lucyfan.com has some discussion about the issue.

The first episode of I Love lucy for the fourth season was "Lucy Cries Wolf" broadcats on October 18, 1954. This October 4th airdate would have been too early for any episode of I Love Lucy to have been filmed in color.

-there were NO color episodes of "I LOVE LUCY" telecast...ever. CBS talked about the possibility of filming it in color, about 1955 or so, but that talk passed quickly. The only network that was really pushing color TV at that time was NBC...because their parent company, RCA, was trying to push sales of their color TV sets. Not until the mid-'60s did color begin to become a part of regular TV schedules.

The first episode of I Love lucy for the fourth season was "Lucy Cries Wolf" broadcats on October 18, 1954. This October 4th airdate would have been too early for any episode of I Love Lucy to have been filmed in color.

No, the October 18, 1954 broadcast of "Lucy Cries Wolf" was not the first I Love Lucy episode of the 1954-1955, it was the third. The first episode of the season was "The Business Manager," broadcast on October 4, 1954, the same night as this color broadcast of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. So if, as pilotguy says, CBS was hosting an "all color night" on October 4, 1954, then "The Business Manager" would have also been seen in color. So the real question is whether this really was an all-color night on CBS that night, and if so, what became of the color version of I Love Lucy's "The Business Manager"?

there are some clips from the color episode of B&A on you tube and in one of the comments it says that on that night CBS showedMOST of their shows in color and one of the exceptions was "I LOVE LUCY"

This comment?

In the 1954-'55 season- WITH the exception of "I LOVE LUCY"- CBS presented at least one "special" episode of their various black and white series in "compatible color"

That doesn't refer to an 'all-color night' at all. In fact, there were a lot of shows that season besides I Love Lucy that CBS denied the showing of a single color episode...or perhaps it was really vice-versa. Same result.

It's the only Burns and Allen in color.

It was shot and shown in color on CBS on experimental all-color night on October 4, 1954.

CBS showed a color clip on 75th anniversary in 2002.

from IMDB
George invites two newspaper reporters, while Gracie secretly invites two dozen strangers over to the house to view their opening night show.

from CTVA
5.01 [133] Burns and Allen: GEORGE INVITES CRITICS TO WATCH FIRST SHOW OF SEASON
Film show no. 81
04Oct1954 CBS (in color)
Synopsis 1:
George asks critics to see the season's first new show.
Synopsis 2:
George wants good relations with the press, Gracie helps out.
Synopsis 3:
George and Gracie start their fifth season by inviting some reporters over to see a telecast of their show. George, trying to establish good relations with the press, rehearses Gracie in the proper things to say. Gracie, being Gracie, helps out by bringing some strangers home to join the party.
The reporters are played by Don Curtis and Ross Elliott. [JB]

It was shot and shown in color on CBS on experimental all-color night on October 4, 1954.




NO. There was no "all-color night". It was the only program shown in color that night, at least on CBS.


It is also not really correct to describe it as "experimental" considering the fact that the NTSC color standard had been approved by the FCC nearly a year already at the time.