Variety show Stan Laurel revisited his music hall days when he performed at the "Royal Variety" show. In the United States, former vaudeville performers such as the Marx Brothers, George Burns and Gracie Allen, W. C. Fields, and Jack Benny honed their skills in the Borscht Belt before moving to talkies, to radio shows, and then to television shows, including variety shows. Variety shows were among the first programs to be featured on television during the experimental mechanical television era. Variety shows hosted by Helen Haynes and Harriet Lee are recorded in contemporary newspapers in 1931 and 1932; because of technical limits
Goodnight Gracie promises to keep her secret, and the letter ultimately encourages Alex to, occasionally, break the rules, saying, "You never know what might happen." In its original American broadcast, "Goodnight Gracie" was watched by 10.01 million; slightly down by 0.02 from the previous episode. "Goodnight Gracie" received generally positive reviews. Donna Bowman of "The A.V. Club" gave an A- grade to the episode saying that it was one of the best episodes of the entire run. "It was hip to rag on Modern Family when this season started, as is natural for anything so lauded and yet so conventional. Nothing’s changed