Vaudeville was very popular from the late 1800s to the early 1900s in North America. Vaudeville shows consisted of many random acts that were put together on a common bill. Some shows were, for example, plays, clowns, jugglers, comedians, etc. Once radio was introduced, vaudeville began to become less popular as radio's popularity began to increase. Radio began with up to five programs, but as the demand for radios increased, the number of programs also increased, reaching almost 500. Radios were where families and friends gathered to listen to news, sporting events , music, entertainment, etc. One show listened to by millions was The Burns and Allen Show, starring George Burns and Gracie Allen. Allen was the one who had all the punchlines and was very silly and Burns was the straight man, serious, and he was the one who gave Allen the opportunity to say his punchlines. Burns and Allen were one of the few people who succeeded in different medians and made changes to the way entertainment was performed. Burns was born into a family of Jewish immigrants and was the ninth child of twelve. Burns' father died of a flu epidemic and so Burns began working extra jobs to be able to support the family. While working as a syrup maker, Burns met some boys, all in the same age range, and soon the boys formed a group called the Pee-Wee Quintet and sang for money on the streets. Unlike Burns, Allen was born in California into an artistic family. Allen was born with an anomaly called heterochromia, one eye was blue and the other green. Allen's first stage debut came at age 3, and at age 14 she dropped out of Catholic girls' school to join the family business; en...... half of the paper ......long of Gracie Allen Drive, which was one of Burns' last public appearances, Burns said, “It's nice to be here on the corner of Burns & Allen. At my age it's nice to be everywhere." A few months later, Burns died of cardiac arrest. Burns and Allen were one of the few performers to have success in vaudeville, film, radio and television. Both established a new format in performance; domestic situation comedy, imitated to this day by many directors. Burns and Allen have been successful in their careers and have made millions of people laugh for decades. Burns and Allen had a successful partnership, marriage and family. The Burns and Allen Show was one of the few shows of the 1920s and 1930s not to include clowns, jugglers, etc., to make the show entertaining and was a great example of a successful transition from theater to film, radio and finally to cinema. television