Gracie Allen "effortlessly" kept pace with the most famous dancer in films, as many did not know either of them could dance. 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." Popular legend has it that Allen 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
Goodnight, Irene #1 on September 2, 1950, and lasted at #1 for 13 weeks. The song was the basis for the 1950 parody called "Please Say Goodnight to the Guy, Irene" by Ziggy Talent. It also inspired the 1954 "answer" record "Wake Up, Irene" by Hank Thompson, a #1 on Billboard's country chart. Television host Jack Narz recorded his version of "Goodnight, Irene" for his album "Sing the Folk Hits With Jack Narz" in 1959. Roots musician Ry Cooder performed a version of the song on his album "Chicken Skin Music" in 1976, which was released as a single in the Netherlands