[Ads-l] "Say good night, Gracie"

[Ben Zimmer]

Perhaps Garson or one of our other quote-meisters could help figure this
one out.

Wikipedia currently has the following unsourced section in its Gracie Allen
biography about the famous "Say good night, Gracie" exchange associated
with her and George Burns.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracie_Allen#%22Say_good_night,_Gracie%22
The legend was born of their vaudeville routine and carried over to both
radio and television. As the show wrapped up, Burns would look at Allen and
say "Say good night, Gracie", to which she would usually simply reply "Good
night." But popular legend has it that she would say, "Good night, Gracie."
According to George Burns, recordings of their radio and television shows,
and several histories of old-time radio (John Dunning's On the Air: The
Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, for example), Gracie never used the phrase.
The confusion may have been caused by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Stars Dan
Rowan and Dick Martin used a similar sign-off routine wherein Rowan would
tell Martin to "Say good night, Dick." Martin's reply was always "Good
night, Dick." It seemed like something Gracie Allen would have said.
George Burns himself said as much in an interview years later, adding that,
surprisingly enough, no one ever thought of having Allen say "Good night,
Gracie". However, the former Burns and Allen head writer, Paul Henning, did
use the "say good night" bit in at least one episode of The Beverly
Hillbillies ("The Richest Woman", aired January 5, 1966, two years before
Laugh-In premiered. JED: "Say good night, Jethro." JETHRO: "Good night,
Jethro.")
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A quick check of the newspaper databases reveals that the "Say good night,
Gracie" bit was associated with Burns & Allen before 1966. The earliest
clear-cut example I found, giving the full exchange, appeared after Allen's
death in 1964, in an unsigned editorial that ran in several papers with the
headline "Good Night, Gracie":

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55325610/say-good-night-gracie/
Marion (Ohio) Star, Aug. 29, 1964, p. 6, col. 2
How was it George used to say, "Say goodnight, Gracie"? And she would say,
"Goodnight, Gracie." And all of us repeat it now, with a lump in the
throat, "Goodnight, Gracie." We loved you, too.
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Another unsigned editorial, headlined "Say Good Night, Gracie," is similar
in form, but it doesn't explicitly say that Allen would respond to Burns's
"Say good night, Gracie" with "Good night, Gracie":

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55325638/say-good-night-gracie/
Cincinnati Enquirer, Sep. 3, 1964, p. 6, col. 1
Her humor, refreshing and wholesome, is very nearly a lost commodity these
days. George, of course, was the perfect fall guy whose only escape from
Gracie's logic was the team's signature line of "Say good night, Gracie!"
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Likewise, when Allen retired from television in 1958, a headline included
"Good night, Gracie" with no indication of the full exchange:

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https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55325587/good-night-gracie/
Indianapolis News, Feb. 22, 1958, p. 7, col. 2
Good Night, Gracie
George Finally to Get His Own Laughs
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This would all still fit with the claim on Wikipedia, that the exchange
between Burns & Allen was actually "Say good night, Gracie" / "Good night,"
and only after the fact was Allen's response remembered as "Good night,
Gracie." So, was the line misremembered that way before Allen's death in
1964? And were there other instances of the "Say good night, X" / "Good
night, X" gag predating "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Laugh-In" that could
have reinforced the idea that Allen used the same formula?

--bgz

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