Sunday, October 28, 2018

Old Time Radio: The Great Gildersleeve (1941)

The Great Gildersleeve was spun off from Fibber McGee & Molly in 1941, and spent 17 seasons on NBC Radio (1941-58), spawning a TV version in the process.

Harold Peary originated the role on Fibber McGee of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, who, by the time he was granted his own show, had mellowed out from being a pompous windbag to a bachelor with a heart of gold. In the early 50's, Peary signed with CBS, and left the show, with Willard Waterman taking his place as Gildersleeve. In fact, it'll be Waterman we'll hear in the episode to follow. Anyway, Gildersleeve had landed a job as water commissioner of his new hometown of Springfield. No, not the same one as The Simpsons, but ya never know.

In "Lost Boy on Halloween", Gildersleeve skips out initially on a party he's helped put together, but when a child is lost, Gildersleeve takes him to the party to see if the kids he'd invited can help. Supporting cast includes Walter Tetley, Arthur Q. Bryan, and Lillian Randolph.



We'll look at the TV version another time, and there's another Halloween themed episode to come from the radio show.

Rating: B.

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