Based on Otter Logs dated Jan 20, 2006
Note: The start of the show varied slightly over time. Early on, after the announcement of the sponsor (the Kraft Foods Company) and the show title and star, there was a commercial. Later in the series the start-of-show commercial was dropped for a time. Also, the episode introduction went from being a simple “And now for the adventures of The Great Gildersleeve” to much more complicated introductions; in some cases, bits of dialogue were added by the actors. Most of the time the Dialogue First Lines start when the announcer is finished and the show is well and truly launched. Announcements mentioned in the notes can usually be found at the end of the show. Lisa Fittinghoff
Date Aired : 41/05/16
Episode Number : ----
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Audition Show
First Line (Harlow Wilcox): “And now for the adventures of The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Train Conductor: “Wistful Vista. Coming into Wistful Vista.”
Note: Sponsored by Johnson Wax, Fibber McGee and Molly’s sponsor.
Date Aired : 41/08/31
Episode Number : 1
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Arrives at Summerfield
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now for the adventures of The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Train Conductor: “Wistful Vista. Coming into Wistful Vista.”
Note: Same script as the Audition Show. The Kraft Cheese Company is now the show’s sponsor.
Date Aired : 41/09/07
Episode Number : 2
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: The Cake
AKA : Birdie Arrives
First Line (Jim Bannon): “Last week, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Fibber McGee’s next door neighbor, left Wistful Vista to become the legal guardian of his niece and nephew, Marjorie and Leroy Forrester, in the city of Summerfield.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Now, as a result of that play, Leroy, we have a member of our team on each base. Understand?”
Date Aired : 41/09/14
Episode Number : 3
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy’s Paper Route
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now for the adventures of The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Yes, and now I’ll check the grocery bills. Nine and nine is eighteen and eight is twenty-eight, no, twenty-six…”
Date Aired : 41/09/21
Episode Number : 4
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Marjorie’s Girl Friend Visits
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now for the adventures of The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “If you take the other end of this trunk, Birdie-“ Birdie: “I got it, Mr. Gildersleeve.”
Note: At the show’s end Jim Bannon reads a centennial resolution from the village of Gildersleeve, in the town of Portland, Connecticut, that appoints Harold Peary the honorary mayor of Gildersleeve.
Date Aired : 41/09/28
Episode Number : 5
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Hiccups
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Ted Wills: “Here we are, Mr. Gildersleeve, report of estate of Marjorie and Leroy Forrester, minors, submitted by Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, guardian.”
Date Aired : 41/10/05
Episode Number : 6
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Investigate the City Jail
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, don’t eat your luncheon so fast, Leroy.”
Date Aired : 41/10/12
Episode Number : 7
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 41/10/19
Episode Number : 8
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Pranks at School
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Come on, wake up Judge Hooker. Pay attention to your checkers.”
Date Aired : 41/10/26
Episode Number : 9
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: A Visit from Oliver
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve and his niece and nephew, Marjorie and Leroy.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “That’s very good, very good. Now the next question is for you, Uncle Mort.”
Date Aired : 41/11/02
Episode Number : 10
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Baby Sitting
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, Leroy-“ Leroy: “Yes, Uncle Mort?” Gildersleeve: “Come in here a minute, will you?”
Date Aired : 41/11/09
Episode Number : 11
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Birdie Quits
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Hello? Where is everybody?” Marjorie: “Oh?” Gildersleeve: “Oh, oh, there you are, Marjorie.”
Date Aired : 41/11/16
Episode Number : 12
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Serviceman for Thanksgiving
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, my goodness, Birdie. The ashtrays are all empty for once.”
Date Aired : 41/11/23
Episode Number : 13
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy Smokes a Cigar
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “Hey, Uncle Mort. You know that pile of stuff of yours in the attic?”
Date Aired : 41/11/30
Episode Number : 14
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: The Canary Won’t Sing
First Line (Jim Bannon): And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gee, Uncle Mort, those certainly were two swell movies.”
Date Aired : 41/12/07
Episode Number : 15
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Cousin Octavia Visits
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, as he and Marjorie and Leroy wait in the Summerfield railroad station for the arrival of that well-known authoress, lecturer and second cousin, Octavia Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: “Uncle Mort?” Gildersleeve: “Yes?” Marjorie: “Are you sure you’ll be able to recognize cousin Octavia?”
Note: The show is interrupted by news of the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Date Aired : 41/12/14
Episode Number : 16
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Selling the Iron Deer
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, laundry for month of November, twenty-four dollars and thirty-two cents.”
Note: Before the show there is news about war preparations around the world.
Date Aired : 41/12/21
Episode Number : 17
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Christmas Gift for Fibber McGee
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Let me have some more of that green paper, Leroy. Thanks.”
Date Aired : 41/12/28
Episode Number : 18
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy’s New Dog
First Line (Jim Bannon): And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: “Good morning, Uncle Mort.” Gildersleeve: “Good morning.” Marjorie: “Oh, is that one of your Christmas shirts you’re wearing?”
Date Aired : 42/01/04
Episode Number : 19
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Goes on a Diet
First Line (Jim Bannon): And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: “Here you are, Mr. Gildersleeve. I cut you an extra large portion of roast on account of you must be extra hungry.”
Date Aired : 42/01/11
Episode Number : 20
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Arrested as Car Thief
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve who has, as you know, a nephew named Leroy.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Now take it easy, Leroy. Just be calm, like me.”
Note: Gildersleeve and Leroy advertise the feature film, “Look Who’s Laughing.”
Date Aired : 42/01/18
Episode Number : 21
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: A New Bed for Marjorie
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who is about to visit a local furniture store in search of a new bed, as a surprise gift for his niece, Marjorie.”
First Line (Dialogue): [traffic sounds] Gildersleeve: “Now I like that pink canopy bed in the window, Leroy.”
Note: Peary makes a plea for contributions to the “Fight Infantile Paralysis Campaign.”
Date Aired : 42/01/25
Episode Number : 22
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Matchmaker
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: “More hot cocoa, Judge Hooker?” Hooker: “No, thanks, Birdie, I’m warm enough.”
Note: Gildersleeve and Leroy discuss the importance of buying defense bonds.
Date Aired : 42/02/01
Episode Number : 23
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy Runs Away
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. Tonight we find him celebrating the first of the month in his customary fashion, paying bills, counting out Birdie’s salary and making allowances for Marjorie and Leroy.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, Marjorie, Birdie, Leroy?” Marjorie: “What is it, Uncle Throckmorton?”
Date Aired : 42/02/08
Episode Number : 24
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Auto Mechanics
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who we find covered with oil and grease having just finished fixing Birdie’s sewing machine.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, your sewing machine is all fixed now, Birdie. You should hear that Singer hum.”
Note: Peary encourages everyone to buy defense bonds.
Date Aired : 42/02/15
Episode Number : 25
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/02/22
Episode Number : 26
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Selling the Drugstore
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, as he prepares to have breakfast this morning with his niece and nephew, Marjorie and Leroy.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Ah, good morning Marjorie, my dear. Good morning Leroy.” Leroy: “Happy George Washington’s birthday, Unk.”
Note: Another end of show mention of defense bonds.
Date Aired : 42/03/01
Episode Number : 27
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Fortune Teller
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s at the Bundles for Blue Jackets bazaar preparing to do his bit by acting as the barker at the booth where the pretty girls are going to sell kisses.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, well, so this is my booth, eh? You know, Marjorie, I think it’s going to be fun selling kisses.”
Note: Gildersleeve and Hooker encourage contributions to The American Red Cross.
Date Aired : 42/03/08
Episode Number : 28
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/03/15
Episode Number : 29
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Ten Best Dressed
First Line (Jim Bannon): “Spring has come to a certain home in Summerfield.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [singing] “The moon shines bright, it’s light all night” [tapping hammer] “deep in the heart of Texas.”
Date Aired : 42/03/22
Episode Number : 30
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy’s New Neighbors
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who has just returned home after a busy day at the office to find that some new neighbors are moving into the vacant house next door.”
First Line (Dialogue): [door opens and closes] Gildersleeve: “Ah, good afternoon, Marjorie. Hello, Birdie.”
Note: Gildersleeve tells Leroy that he will be on the Rudy Vallee program on Thursday night with John Barrymore.
Date Aired : 42/03/29
Episode Number : 31
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Writes to Servicemen for Marjorie
First Line (Jim Bannon): “On one of the nicest streets in the bustling city of Summerfield lives Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a typical American uncle, stout, jolly, faced with all the problems that the average uncle is faced with.”
First Line (Dialogue): [car coming to a stop] Gildersleeve: “Well, thanks for the lift home, Judge Hooker.”
Note: Another end of show mention of defense bonds and stamps.
Date Aired : 42/04/06
Episode Number : 32
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/04/13
Episode Number : 33
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/04/20
Episode Number : 34
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy Sells Flower Seeds
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now to visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s alternately looking at his watch which says three-fifteen and to the large mysterious package which says ‘Deliver to Leroy Forrester, Esq.’”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Isn’t Leroy ever gonna get home from school, my dear?”
Date Aired : 42/04/26
Episode Number : 35
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy’s Goat Horace
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now it’s time to join that busy business man, that solid citizen and that unctuous uncle, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, who’s arrived home from the office an hour earlier than usual today because of a splitting headache.”
First Line (Dialogue): [door opens and closes] Marjorie: “Why, Uncle Mort, what are you doing home at this hour?”
Note: Gildersleeve and Marjorie encourage contributions to the Navy’s Relief Society.
Date Aired : 42/05/03
Episode Number : 36
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Ship Christening
First Line (Jim Bannon): “Ladies and gentlemen, up and down the coast of America the United States Maritime Commission is launching better than one new Liberty Ship a day.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “Hi, folks. What’s all the excitement?” Marjorie: “Leroy, we just received a telegram from San Francisco.”
Note: Broadcast from the NBC studios in San Francisco.
Date Aired : 42/05/10
Episode Number : 37
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Mystery Voice
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve who’s listening in the reception room at one of the Summerfield radio stations while his friend, Judge Hooker, is finishing his regular daily talk on, ‘The Child In The Home And What To Do About It.’”
First Line (Dialogue): Judge Hooker: “And I always say, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
Date Aired : 42/05/17
Episode Number : 38
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: College Chum Visits
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s just arrived home in great humor for the local paper contains a big write-up and picture of our hero, the latest in a series they’ve been running entitled, ‘Men Who Have Pushed Summerfield Ahead, No. 89, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve.’”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Go ahead, read on, Marjorie.”
Date Aired : 42/05/24
Episode Number : 39
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/05/31
Episode Number : 40
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Dinner for Judge Hooker
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And once again let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s not a happy man today.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Yes, and there I was, peacefully driving along when suddenly I heard a bang and then a bumpedy-bumpedy-bump.”
Date Aired : 42/06/07
Episode Number : 41
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: The Sneezes
First Line (Jim Bannon): “For the past few days our friend, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, has been the victim of a baffling attack of the sneezes and so far he hasn’t found out the cause.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “And as I was saying, Marjorie, every time I, I, I, achoo!”
Note: Peary announces that the leading NBC shows will produce a Sunday afternoon summer series, “The Victory Parade,” to be broadcast in the Jack Benny time slot.
Date Aired : 42/06/14
Episode Number : 42
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Produces a Play
First Line (Jim Bannon): “Did you ever lend an organization your living room for a meeting and then find that you weren’t invited to attend?”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Yes, it isn’t as if they’re anybody important, Birdie.”
Date Aired : 42/06/21
Episode Number : 43
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Father’s Day Chair
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s waded through his morning paper and his morning milk, and is now struggling through his morning mail.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, bill, bills, nothing but bills.”
Date Aired : 42/06/28
Episode Number : 44
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Is in Love with Amelia Hooker
First Line (Jim Bannon): “And now let’s visit our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s been long noted for his easygoing disposition.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Oh, my goodness, Marjorie, I’m late to the office again.”
Note: Final broadcast of the season. Peary thanks their sponsor, writer, musical director, producer, and the cast, who he identifies by character. He reminds the audience that each leading NBC show will contribute a program to NBC’s eight-week summer series, “The Victory Parade.”
Date Aired : 42/08/30
Episode Number : 45
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Fishing Trip to Lake Hackmatack
First Line (Ben Alexander): “And now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who seems to have been overdoing a bit lately.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “You know, doctor, this is a lot of nonsense. I feel fine.”
Date Aired : 42/09/06
Episode Number : 46
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Golf Tournament
First Line (Frank Bingman): “And now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s brushing up on his golf game in preparation for the finals of the annual Labor Day tournament of the Summerfield Country Club.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, now, let me see. This is a very difficult shot.”
Date Aired : 42/09/13
Episode Number : 47
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/09/20
Episode Number : 48
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/09/27
Episode Number : 49
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/10/04
Episode Number : 50
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Planting a Tree
First Line (Frank Bingman): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s risen this morning with the conviction that all’s right with the world.”
First Line (Dialogue): [bird singing] Gildersleeve: “October. I tell you, Marjorie, there’s no finer month in the year.”
Note: Gildersleeve and Leroy advertise the feature film, “Here We Go Again.”
Date Aired : 42/10/11
Episode Number : 51
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: First Cold Snap
First Line (Frank Bingman): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. We find him in the land of Nod, sleeping the sleep of a man who has put his car up on blocks, bought his full quota of war bonds and saved four and a half pounds of bacon fat, while outdoors Jack Frost has been preparing a little surprise for him.”
First Line (Dialogue): [Gildersleeve snoring] Leroy: “Hey, Unk! Uncle Mort! Hey!”
Note: Peary urges the public to conserve fuel oil.
Date Aired : 42/10/18
Episode Number : 52
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Appointed Water Commissioner
First Line (Frank Bingman): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who has been carrying on a feud recently with the water department.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Yes, sir. I told him, ‘Clanahan, I’ll give you exactly 24 hours.’”
Date Aired : 42/10/25
Episode Number : 53
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy’s First Day on the Job
First Line (Frank Bingman): “And now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who stands this morning on the threshold of a new career.”
First Line (Dialogue): [Gildersleeve whistling] Marjorie: “Ready now, here he comes. And don’t forget to bow.”
Date Aired : 42/11/01
Episode Number : 54
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: A Pal to Leroy
First Line (Frank Bingman): “And now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who has just put in a full week down at the water department and comes home ready for a weekend of well-earned rest and relaxation.”
First Line (Dialogue): [door opens] Leroy: “Hello, Uncle Mort.” Gildersleeve: “Oh, hello, Leroy.”
Date Aired : 42/11/08
Episode Number : 55
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Quiet Evening at Home
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on with the show. As it must to all men, the first of the month came last week to Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve and with it, bills.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [sorting envelopes] “Bills, bills, bills, look at them.”
Note: Peary urges the public to fight inflation by reining in spending and buying war bonds.
Date Aired : 42/11/15
Episode Number : 56
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: College Chum’s Son Visits
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve. There’s a snap in the air these days and a touch of football.”
First Line (Dialogue): [door opens] Gildersleeve: “Ah, good morning, Miss Fitch.”
Note: Peary congratulates three Kraft Cheese plants located in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Freeport, Illinois; and Decatur, Indiana for receiving the Army-Navy “E” Award for outstanding service in the production of food for the fighting men.
Date Aired : 42/11/22
Episode Number : 57
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Thanksgiving Dinner
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, let’s get on to The Great Gildersleeve who’s been putting in a busy Saturday morning down at the water department trying to clear his desk of all the odds and ends that have piled up there.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Action, yes, action, that’s the keynote today, Miss Fitch.”
Date Aired : 42/11/29
Episode Number : 58
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Attend the Theatre - Date with a Star
First Line (Frank Bingman): “Well, Summerfield is aflutter. Showbills have appeared around town announcing a revival of ‘The Student Prince’ starring Vera Lavalle of the original company.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [singing] “I have a dream of you…ah…fashioned of a starlight, perfume of…ah, she was lovely, Vera Lavalle.”
Date Aired : 42/12/06
Episode Number : 59
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Toothache
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. For several days he’s been harboring a dark secret.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Ouch!” Birdie: “Mr. Gildersleeve, what’s the trouble? You got toothache?”
Note: Peary urges the public to save rubber and be patient with tire and gas rationing.
Date Aired : 42/12/13
Episode Number : 60
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 42/12/20
Episode Number : 61
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Christmas Program
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. With December almost gone, he’s been working like a beaver the past few days trying to get out the annual report of the water department.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [snoring and dreaming] Marjorie: “You simply must get at that Christmas card list, Uncle Mort.”
Note: On behalf of the cast and the Kraft Cheese Company, Peary wishes the audience a Merry Christmas.
Date Aired : 42/12/27
Episode Number : 62
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy’s Chemistry Set
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, Christmas is over, New Year’s is four days off and in that lull that comes between the two we find The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “What can I do, Unk? Huh? What can I do?”
Date Aired : 43/01/03
Episode Number : 63
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Wanting to Marry Leila
First Line (Ken Carpenter): No introduction
First Line (Dialogue): Judge Hooker: [whistling] Well, morning, Wally.” Wally: “Hello, there. Oh, hello, Judge. Didn’t recognize you in the earmuffs.”
Date Aired : 43/01/10
Episode Number : 64
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Fibber McGee and Molly Visit
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve. Saturday afternoon finds him in a flurry of preparation for the expected visit of his old friends, Fibber McGee and Molly.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, Birdie, how do we stand? Has that roast of beef turned up yet?”
Date Aired : 43/01/17
Episode Number : 65
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Women’s Club Speaker
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, whom we find approaching a milestone in his career.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Come on, come on. Where’s breakfast, where’s my coffee?”
Date Aired : 43/01/24
Episode Number : 66
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Sabotage
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. After a hard day at the water department he comes trudging home, shakes the snow from his collar, stamps his feet on the doormat, opens the front door and is greeted by a warm smell that can mean only one thing.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Cabbage. Well, where there’s cabbage there may be corned beef.”
Note: Peary urges the public to contribute to the drive against infantile paralysis.
Date Aired : 43/01/31
Episode Number : 67
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Fire Engine Committee
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, now let’s see what’s happening at The Great Gildersleeve’s. It’s five o’clock in the afternoon and the great man is just arriving home.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, well, well, happy little family. You’re looking very pretty, my dear.”
Note: Peary urges the public to be patient with the processed foods point rationing system.
Date Aired : 43/02/07
Episode Number : 68
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leila’s Sister
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see what The Great Gildersleeve is up to. For a week he’s been strictly on the job at the water department, but today with everything running smoothly he’s been able to give a couple of hours at lunch to laying out future strategy for Eisenhower and MacArthur.”
First Line (Dialogue): Bessie: “Hello. You still there, Mabel?”
Note: Peary reads the announcement from Price Administrator Prentiss M. Brown that states shoes are now rationed.
Date Aired : 43/02/14
Episode Number : 69
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/02/21
Episode Number : 70
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/02/28
Episode Number : 71
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/03/07
Episode Number : 72
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Dates Again
Date Aired : 43/03/14
Episode Number : 73
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Income Tax Time
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. With the ides of March almost upon him, he’s barricaded himself in his den where we find him now, alone with his conscience and his income tax return.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “There. Wait a minute, what’s this?”
Note: Peary states that he was been requested to inform the audience of who must file an income tax report and when it is due.
Date Aired : 43/03/21
Episode Number : 74
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host: When Is Gildy Getting Married
Date Aired : 43/03/28
Episode Number : 75
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Springtime in Summerfield
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve. It’s spring in Summerfield, lovely, lovely spring.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [laughing] “It’s cold. Well, anyway, here goes.”
Date Aired : 43/04/04
Episode Number : 76
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Repairs His Car
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “First came the horse. In time the horse was eliminated and a self-propelling vehicle was developed through the efforts of men like Henry Ford, Stutz, Chandler and others.”
First Line (Dialogue): [struggling car motor] Gildersleeve: “Come on, Jenny. Come on, old girl, we’re almost there.”
Date Aired : 43/04/11
Episode Number : 77
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Auto Accident with Judge Hooker
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “In the diary of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a monumental work as yet unpublished, we find in the Spencerian hand of the great man himself, this entry.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Dear diary, today I made a vow. I’ll never speak to Judge Horace Hooker again.”
Date Aired : 43/04/18
Episode Number : 78
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Spring Hike
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now for The Great Gildersleeve. Gildersleeve has a problem and the problem is his nephew, Leroy.”
First Line (Dialogue): Hooker: “Look here, Gildersleeve, this time I caught him.” Leroy: “Ouch!”
Date Aired : 43/04/25
Episode Number : 79
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Rabbits
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, it’s Easter weekend and Saturday afternoon finds Gildersleeve out in the side lot surveying his victory garden and wondering whether to pull the weeds now or let ‘em grow a little bigger so they’ll be easier to get hold of.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell something good. What’s Birdie making there, Marjorie?”
Note: Instead of the mid-point commercial, Kay Frances gives a speech about war bonds. James L. Kraft speaks at the end of the show about Easter and the war.
Date Aired : 43/05/02
Episode Number : 80
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/05/09
Episode Number : 81
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Wedding List
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, it’s the second week in May and May is when Summerfield really comes into bloom.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Gotta be going, gotta be going. Let’s see, briefcase? I’ve got it.”
Date Aired : 43/05/16
Episode Number : 82
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Haunted House
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield where we join that illustrious citizen and industrious lover, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Leila?” Leila: “Yes, Throckmorton?” Gildersleeve: “A penny for your thoughts.”
Date Aired : 43/05/23
Episode Number : 83
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy Gets a Job
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve in Summerfield. It’s a beautiful Saturday morning in May, the kind of a Saturday morning that makes a man think twice before he starts down to the office.”
First Line (Dialogue): [doorbell rings] Gildersleeve: “Oh, who the…I think it’s the postman, Leroy.”
Date Aired : 43/05/30
Episode Number : 84
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Memorial Day Parade
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve. It’s the last day of May, just four weeks before his wedding day and Gildersleeve is a busy, busy man.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “I, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, being of sound mind and body…”
Date Aired : 43/06/06
Episode Number : 85
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Wedding Shower for Leila
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “‘Oh what is so rare as a day in June? Then if ever come perfect days…’ Well, it’s one of those rare days in June, Saturday morning to be exact, and it’s raining cats and dogs.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Rain, rain, go away.” Marjorie: “Let’s get at this room first, Birdie.”
Date Aired : 43/06/13
Episode Number : 86
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Plans Honeymoon
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who’s daily becoming more aware of the fact that in only a couple of weeks he’ll be a married man.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “No, Bessie, I want all the chairs to face my chair. I’m going to be the chairman.”
Date Aired : 43/06/20
Episode Number : 87
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/06/27
Episode Number : 88
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Wedding Day
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s hurry on to Summerfield where the whole town seems to be in a flurry of excitement and anticipation.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: [singing] “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but-“ Gildersleeve: “Birdie!”
Note: Final broadcast of the season. Peary thanks their sponsor, writers, musical director, producer and the cast, who he lists by character.
Date Aired : 43/08/29
Episode Number : 89
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: End of Vacation at Grass Lake
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now what about our old friend, Gildersleeve? Well, the last we saw of him, back in June, he was left at the altar by the widow Ransom.”
First Line (Dialogue): [screen door slams] Gildersleeve: “Ah, sea air. Ah, there’s nothing like it.”
Date Aired : 43/09/05
Episode Number : 90
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/09/12
Episode Number : 91
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: War Bond Drive
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, The Great Gildersleeve’s vacation, like everyone else’s, has come to an end.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: “More coffee, Unk?” Gildersleeve: “Well, since it’s not rationed any longer, my dear, I suppose, as a patriotic duty, yes.”
Note: The Kraft Cheese Company contributed this episode to the Treasury’s Third War Loan Drive. There are no commercials.
Date Aired : 43/09/19
Episode Number : 92
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leila Returning
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now what of The Great Gildersleeve?” Well, life has taken on new meaning for Gildersleeve since Miss Goodwin, Summerfield’s new school principal, started introducing him to the finer things.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Say, I know what’s better than a peanut butter sandwich.”
Date Aired : 43/09/26
Episode Number : 93
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leila Arrives Home
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see what’s happening to The Great Gildersleeve. Well, tonight our hero has taken another step forward in his public career in Summerfield.”
First Line (Dialogue): Eve Goodwin: “Well, it’s been so nice of you gentlemen to see me home.”
Date Aired : 43/10/03
Episode Number : 94
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/10/10
Episode Number : 95
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/10/17
Episode Number : 96
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/10/24
Episode Number : 97
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Low Water Pressure
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve. It’s been a long day, things were busy at the water department, but it’s over now and the commissioner homeward plods his weary way.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: [singing] “No need to tell me now what makes the world go round…” Gildersleeve: “Ah, happy little family.”
Note: Gildersleeve and Leroy discuss collecting paper for the war effort.
Date Aired : 43/10/31
Episode Number : 98
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Halloween Party
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see what goes on at the home of The Great Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve. It’s Saturday evening, the day before Halloween and his niece is giving a dance.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Oh, what are you making there, Birdie, frosting?”
Date Aired : 43/11/07
Episode Number : 99
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: The Pot Roast
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now what about our friend, The Great Gildersleeve? Well, he’s been working so hard at one thing and another, that he’s warranted himself a day off.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: “Not going to the office today, Uncle Mort?”
Note: Peary urges the public to be patient with food rationing and to be supportive of food being sent to the allies.
Date Aired : 43/11/14
Episode Number : 100
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Rejected by Eve Goodwin
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see what’s happening to The Great Gildersleeve. Well now last week, you remember, our overstuffed hero found himself exchanging tender salutes with Miss Eve Goodwin, on whom he had merely intended to pay a friendly call.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [splashing and singing] “Don’t throw bouquets at me, don’t please my folks too much…”
Date Aired : 43/11/21
Episode Number : 101
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/11/28
Episode Number : 102
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Royal Visit
First Line: (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s peep into the life of The Great Gildersleeve. Our hero has finished his breakfast on this [record skips] morning and has retreated from the jumble of ladders and paint buckets that still litter his living room onto the front porch.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: “You didn’t eat much breakfast, Uncle Mort.” Gildersleeve: “I wasn’t very hungry.”
Note: This is an AFRS rebroadcast.
Date Aired : 43/12/05
Episode Number : 103
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/12/12
Episode Number : 104
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/12/19
Episode Number : 105
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 43/12/26
Episode Number : 106
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/01/02
Episode Number : 107
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/01/09
Episode Number : 108
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy in Hospital
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve. Last week, you remember, we found him remodeling his existence pretty drastically, hoping to make up for years of a wasted life by having breakfast every morning at six-thirty.”
First Line (Dialogue): [alarm rings] Gildersleeve: “Oh! It’s dark. Cold. I’ll shut that darn thing off.”
Note: Peary states that Mr. Peavey will be back in his drug store next week (Richard LeGrand? was out with the flu for several weeks).
Date Aired : 44/01/16
Episode Number : 109
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Income Tax Returns
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s look in on The Great Gildersleeve. It’s a cold winter Saturday and he’s at home, occupying himself with some papers that look very important, while Leroy plays happily by the fire with his Christmas puppy.”
First Line (Dialogue): [puppy whining] Gildersleeve: “If you claim a credit in line fifteen, disregard lines nineteen A and B, complete schedule L-one on page four and enter result in line nineteen C.”
Date Aired : 44/01/23
Episode Number : 110
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Eve and Gildy Get Together
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s look in on The Great Gildersleeve whom we find at home and at peace in the bosom of his family.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Oh, thought I had one.” Leroy: “Cigar, Unk? I’ll get you one.”
Date Aired : 44/01/30
Episode Number : 111
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Marjorie the Actress
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now for The Great Gildersleeve. Like every other town in the country, Summerfield is in the midst of a war bond drive and wherever big things are doing, there you’ll find Gildersleeve doing things in a big way.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Birdie?” Birdie: “Yes, sir?” Gildersleeve: “How soon?”
Note: Gildersleeve and Birdie discuss the importance of buying war bonds.
Date Aired : 44/02/06
Episode Number : 112
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Sleigh Ride
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve and see what’s going on in his busy little household.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “Oh, boy, snow!” Gildersleeve: “Well, I’m off, Leroy. You feed the puppy?”
Date Aired : 44/02/13
Episode Number : 113
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/02/20
Episode Number : 114
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/02/27
Episode Number : 115
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/03/05
Episode Number : 116
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/03/12
Episode Number : 117
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host:
First Line (Announcer):
First Line (Dialogue):
Date Aired : 44/03/19
Episode Number : 118
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Wants to Run for Mayor
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. Now he’s had a political bee buzzing in his bonnet.”
First Line (Dialogue): Judge Hooker: “Now I have analyzed the situation and I’ve reached a conclusion.”
Note: The record that this recording comes from skips badly at the start. Lisa Fittinghoff
Date Aired : 44/03/26
Episode Number : 119
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Campaign Photos
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see what the Great Gildersleeve is up to. Those that know him will find it hard to believe, but at 6 o’clock in the morning, a good hour and a half before breakfast, he is up and out of the house.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildy: I…I think we better turn back pretty soon Leroy. Leroy!!
Date Aired : 44/04/02
Episode Number : 120
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/04/09
Episode Number : 121
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Campaign Officially Starts - Easter Show
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “We take you now to Summerfield and Summerfield’s favorite son, The Great Gildersleeve. Things have been going well with Gildersleeve all week.”
First Line (Dialogue): [Marjorie laughing] Gildersleeve: “Come on, now.” Marjorie: “Uncle Mort.”
Note: James L. Kraft speaks at the end of the show about Easter and the war.
Date Aired : 44/04/16
Episode Number : 122
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host: Escorting Two Women on Easter Morning
Date Aired : 44/04/23
Episode Number : 123
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 44/04/30
Episode Number : 124
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Engaged
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. The ups and downs of his campaign for mayor, plus the complications of his passion for Miss Eve Goodwin, have reduced him to a bulky shadow.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [singing] “Love is the sweetest…” Floyd: “Well, if it ain’t Commissioner Gildersleeve.”
Date Aired : 44/05/07
Episode Number : 125
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Campaign Gets Hot
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Come with us now to Summerfield in the merry month of May.”
First Line (Dialogue): [Gildersleeve reading and responding to Eve’s letter] Goodwin: “My dear, dear Throckmorton. Will you think it silly of me, I wonder, to write to you this way, when I could pick up the phone and call you, when I shall be seeing you again tomorrow anyway?”
Date Aired : 44/05/14
Episode Number : 126
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Engaged to Eve, but Kisses Leila
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see how things are going at The Great Gildersleeve’s. Like all candidates for public office, he finds it expedient now and then to retire from the strain of campaigning and spend the day quietly in the bosom of his family, denying himself to all but photographers.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [breathing in] “Ah, just breathe that air, Marjorie. Go on, breathe some of it.”
Note: Carpenter and Gildersleeve encourage the public to eat more eggs because there is a surplus.
Date Aired : 44/05/21
Episode Number : 127
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: City Employees Picnic
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, who is still suffering the pangs of conscience for his momentary lapse into the arms of Leila Ransom a few days ago.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Let’s see, I could just pretend there’s nothing wrong at all. Pretend the whole thing is a bad dream.”
Note: Gildersleeve and Marjorie discuss the importance of taking part in the payroll savings plan to buy war bonds.
Date Aired : 44/05/28
Episode Number : 128
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Campaign Headquarters
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s follow once more the ups and downs in the career of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve. Last week he had one of his ups.”
First Line (Dialogue): [door opening] Judge Hooker: “After you, Gildy.” Gildersleeve: “No, no, after you, Judge.”
Date Aired : 44/06/04
Episode Number : 129
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Eve’s Mother Visits
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see how things are going with The Great Gildersleeve and his campaign for mayor. He’s really hit his stride this week.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve and crowd singing, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
Date Aired : 44/06/11
Episode Number : 130
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Dinner for Eve’s Mother
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield, home of The Great Gildersleeve. His campaign for mayor has been going like a house afire all week.”
First Line (Dialogue): [footsteps] Gildersleeve: “Did you see how The Indicator’s poll came out, Judge?”
Date Aired : 44/06/18
Episode Number : 131
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Eve’s Mother Stays On
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “We take you now to Summerfield. Go ahead, Summerfield!”
First Line (Dialogue): Mayor Terwilliger: “And that’s why I say to you, friends, taxes must be reduced and reduced immediately.”
Note: Before the show there is an announcement that NBC will interrupt all programs to broadcast the latest bulletins about the war. Gildersleeve and Peavey discuss the importance of buying war bonds.
Date Aired : 44/06/25
Episode Number : 132
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Election Day - Gildy Loses
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s get up-to-date on The Great Gildersleeve. It’s late Sunday night.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: [snoring and dreaming] Mother Goodwin: “Throckmorton? Throckmorton, dear?” Gildersleeve: “Go away.”
Note: Final broadcast of the season. Peary thanks their sponsor, writers, musical director, producer and the cast, who he lists by character. He announces that he and the cast will be playing camp shows and bond rallies during the summer break. He also plugs his new picture, “Gildersleeve’s Ghost.”
Date Aired : 44/09/03
Episode Number : 133
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Lonely Gildy
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve. How goes it with our hero at the end of a long, hot summer?”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Hi, Judge, where are you going?” Hooker: “Hi, Gildy. Well, is it hot enough for you?”
Note: This is a rebroadcast for the armed forces of the United Nations. A musical selection plays in place of the midpoint commercial. At show’s end, Peary expresses his pleasure at being back on the air again. The file ends with two minutes of music.
Date Aired : 44/09/10
Episode Number : 134
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Water Commissioner Is Fired - Rain Maker
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s drop in on our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, in Summerfield. The town is suffering from a long, dry heat wave, I’m sorry to say, and Gildersleeve, like the rest of the fat men, is suffering more than his share.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Hot. Leroy, could I have the newspaper, please?” Leroy: “In just a second.”
Date Aired : 44/09/17
Episode Number : 135
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: McGee’s Invention
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now how goes it with The Great Gildersleeve? Well, his old opponent the mayor of Summerfield has begun warming up his campaign for reelection and his first political move was to oust our friend from his position as water commissioner.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, huh. Uh, huh. Oh, sounds very interesting, Fibber.”
Note: Peary urges the public to continue fighting inflation by reining in spending and holding off on raising prices or asking for raises.
Date Aired : 44/09/24
Episode Number : 136
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Plastic Mouse Trap - Banker’s Son
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Let us turn now to the busy world of industry and finance.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Now let me give you the picture as I see it, Judge.”
Date Aired : 44/10/01
Episode Number : 137
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Sells His House
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. It’s three weeks since his dismissal as Summerfield’s water commissioner.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Uh, pass the syrup will you please my boy?” Leroy: “Here.”
Date Aired : 44/10/08
Episode Number : 138
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Boy’s Club
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now how goes it with The Great Gildersleeve? Well, if the sounds coming from the Gildersleeve’s kitchen are any indication, things should be going very well, indeed.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: [singing while working in the kitchen] “…an animal with dirt on his face, his shoes are a terrible disgrace. He has no manners when he eats his food. He’s fat and lazy and extremely rude.”
Note: Peary urges the public to support the National War Fund.
Date Aired : 44/10/15
Episode Number : 139
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Looks for a Job
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. After weeks of correspondence with his old friend, Fibber McGee in Wistful Vista, a model of McGee’s plastic mousetrap has arrived by special delivery.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, Birdie, there it is. The world’s first plastic mousetrap.”
Date Aired : 44/10/22
Episode Number : 140
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Important Phone Call
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve. It’s a bright, snappy Saturday morning in October, the kind of a day that’s supposed to make a man feel like working.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Leroy, I thought I told you to rake up those leaves. Didn’t I?”
Note: Peary urges the public to support the Navy by continuing in shipyard and factory jobs, writing the men, and volunteering as WAVES and nurses.
Date Aired : 44/10/29
Episode Number : 141
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Back as Water Commissioner
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “And now, what of The Great Gildersleeve? Well, he’s broken into the papers again.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: [reading the paper] “The action of Mayor Terwilliger in removing Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve from office and installing his own cousin, Dan McCarthy, as water commissioner can be attributed to nothing but politics.”
Date Aired : 44/11/05
Episode Number : 142
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Election Day - Bet
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve. Like every other town in the land, Summerfield finds itself on the eve of a national election [crowd booing, yells of “fight!” and sirens].
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Don’t make me laugh, judge, don’t make me laugh. Terwilliger may be no rose, but whoever heard of Welsh?”
Note: Peary makes a speech at the end of the show about the privilege of voting.
Date Aired : 44/11/12
Episode Number : 143
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Spanish Dancing Teacher, Miss Del Rey
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “And now to our story. Upstairs in the rear bedroom Leroy the scholar, eager for knowledge, sits at his desk poring over a problem in mathematics.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: [singing] “Clang, clang, clang went the trolley. Ding, ding, ding went the bell. Fives times eighteen is ninety…or is it?”
Date Aired : 44/11/19
Episode Number : 144
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Reception for Miss Del Rey
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Well, let’s see what The Great Gildersleeve is up to. Last week, you remember, he volunteered to help Judge Hooker press his suit with the dancing teacher, Miss Dolores Del Rey.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Judge, have a cigar.” Judge Hooker: “Don’t care if I do.”
Date Aired : 44/11/26
Episode Number : 145
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Reception Aftermath
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our old friend, Gildersleeve. Several days have passed since his attempt to introduce Judge Hooker’s lady friend, Dolores Del Rey, to Summerfield society.”
First Line (Dialogue): [door opens and closes] Gildersleeve: [clearing his throat] Floyd Munson: “Oh, hello there.”
Note: Peary urges the public to buy war bonds. He also tells the audience that next week’s show will be broadcast from the Navy pier in Chicago, in connection with the Sixth War Loan Drive.
Date Aired : 44/12/03
Episode Number : 146
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: A Date with Miss Del Rey
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “And now what about The Great Gildersleeve? Well, just this evening he received a phone call from his old friend, Judge Hooker.”
First Line (Dialogue): Judge Hooker: “Say, Gildy, I hate to impose on you, but I’m in a spot.”
Date Aired : 44/12/10
Episode Number : 147
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Breach of Promise
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now on to Summerfield and the home of The Great Gildersleeve. Things are a little upset in the Gildersleeve household this week. The bug that’s been going around town has finally laid Birdie low and she’s been ordered this morning to go back to bed and stay.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, there he is and it’s about time. What’s he doing now?”
Date Aired : 44/12/17
Episode Number : 148
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Shadowing
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now what about our old friend, Gildersleeve? Well, Gildersleeve today is a very uneasy man.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: “Mr. Gildersleeve, I wonder if you’d mind doing a little errand for me on your way home from the office.”
My copy is called “Dodging a Process Server” and I think it makes more sense than “Shadowing” Lisa Fittinghoff
Date Aired : 44/12/24
Episode Number : 149
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Twas the Night Before Christmas
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now how do we find The Great Gildersleeve at this merry Christmastide?”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “What do you think he’s planning to do, Marj? Just skip Christmas this year?”
Note: At the show’s end the audience joins the cast in singing “Joy To The World.”
Date Aired : 44/12/31
Episode Number : 150
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Big New Year’s Eve Party
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, as he winds up the year 1944.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Hey, look out, Leroy!” Leroy: “Don’t worry, Unk, I’ll never hit you.”
Note: At the show’s end Peary states that the Army badly needs nurses.
Date Aired : 45/01/07
Episode Number : 151
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Who’s Dating Who
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve. He’s already tried three times to get his old friend Judge Hooker on the telephone.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Hello, Judge? ‘Bout time you got up. Listen, get over here right away, will you?”
Note: Commercials not included in the show.
Date Aired : 45/01/14
Episode Number : 152
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Engagement for the Defense
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve who still has a breach of promise suit dangling over his head.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Lunch nearly ready, Birdie?” Birdie: “Yes, sir. I just thought I’d straighten up the living room a little.”
Date Aired : 45/01/21
Episode Number : 153
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: The Hockey Player
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve whom we find sitting quietly in his parlor reading the evening paper.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “Hey. Hey, Unk?” Gildersleeve: “I’m trying to read the paper, Leroy.”
Date Aired : 45/01/28
Episode Number : 154
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 45/02/04
Episode Number : 155
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Visit by Aunt Hattie
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Let us turn now to The Great Gildersleeve. For a week he’s had as his houseguest Aunt Hattie Forrester who has volunteered to help straighten out his nephew and niece, a matter which he’s been happy to leave entirely in her hands.”
First Line (Dialogue): [footsteps] Birdie: “Breakfast upstairs, breakfast downstairs. You’d think it was a hotel.”
Note: This recording has an unusual end. Peary can be heard off-mike saying, “Well, they haven’t written the tag, yet. Going to say a lot about Kraft in the tag, though.” Carpenter gives a broad reading of his final lines while Peary comments and whistles.
Date Aired : 45/02/11
Episode Number : 156
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 45/02/18
Episode Number : 157
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Aunt Hattie Stays On
First Line (Ken Carpenter): [Gildersleeve singing “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”] “Well, Gildersleeve appears to be in fine spirits this morning and pretty fair voice.”
First Line (Dialogue): [knock on door] Marjorie: “Uncle Mort? Uncle Mort?” Gildersleeve: “Uh, come in, my dear.”
Note: Peary urges the public to give to The Red Cross.
Date Aired : 45/02/25
Episode Number : 158
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Hattie and Hooker
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now how goes it with The Great Gildersleeve? Well, the old boy is fit to be tied.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Confound it, Leroy, the woman’s been in there an hour.”
Note: This show runs 22:58. At the show’s end Peary urges the public to write short, frequent letters to the troops and to use “V-Mail.”
There is a recording from the same date running 6:51 and titled “Audience Warmup” that begins with the announcement that NBC is interrupting its programs for a special broadcast from Guam. The special broadcast starts, then the recording switches to Peary and Tetley telling jokes to fill time until NBC returns to them.
Date Aired : 45/03/04
Episode Number : 159
Available : NO
Title/Plot/Host:
Date Aired : 45/03/11
Episode Number : 160
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Chairman of Women’s Committee
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join The Great Gildersleeve who’s been practically a new man since his sister-in-law, Aunt Hattie, left Summerfield.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Well, come on, Bessie, give me more letters to answer, more complaints to handle, more worlds to conquer.”
Note: Another appeal for The Red Cross.
Date Aired : 45/03/18
Episode Number : 161
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Laughing Coyote Ranch
First Line (Announcer): missing
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: “garbled…Mr. Gildersleeve?” Gildersleeve: “No, no thank you, Leroy.” Birdie: “Leroy? Come again?”
Note: Chopped copy running 20:17. This copy sounds edited, as though the intro is from the Harold Peary years (his name is mentioned at the start), but then the show begins and it sounds like Willard Waterman playing the role. Also, Birdie is being played by Amanda Randolph, not Lillian Randolph. Amanda took over for Lillian in 1955. The clincher for me is Doye O’Dell announcing that he has a new Era album out in record stores. The songs he performs in the show are from an album that came out in 1956, called “Doye.” Lisa Fittinghoff
Date Aired : 45/03/25
Episode Number : 162
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Old Flame Named Violet
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our old friend Gildersleeve. Spring, as it must to all places, has come at last to Summerfield and Gildersleeve is feeling its magic influence.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: “Excuse me, Mr. Gildersleeve, you busy?” Gildersleeve: “Oh, no Birdie, just enjoying the beautiful day.”
Date Aired : 45/04/01
Episode Number : 163
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Raising a Pig
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now, what of The Great Gildersleeve? Well, there’s a little ceremony they go through at Gildersleeve’s house every now and then.”
First Line (Dialogue): Birdie: “Oh, my goodness, here he comes. Miss Marjorie, honey, call your uncle quick.”
Date Aired : 45/04/08
Episode Number : 164
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leroy’s Pet Pig Tiger
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join Gildersleeve and his little family in Summerfield. [Birdie singing] Birdie’s in the laundry doing some ironing, but the rest of the family, well, they’re all outdoors and who wouldn’t be on a day like this?”
First Line (Dialogue): [hammering] Gildersleeve: “Oh! Stop watching me, Leroy.”
Date Aired : 45/04/22
Episode Number : 165
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Leila’s Party
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s see what goes on in Summerfield. Ah, yes, in the society column of The Summerfield Indicator appears this item.” Society Columnist: “Hi, ho. The post-Lenten social season is in full swing these days and everything is gay, gay.”
First Line (Dialogue): Leroy: “How about it, Unk?” Marjorie: “Yes, Uncle Mort, how about it? You’ve been putting it off and putting it off.”
Note: Peary urges the public to donate clothing to the United National Clothing Collection.
Date Aired : 45/04/29
Episode Number : 166
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: New Neighbor - Bullard
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s journey on to Summerfield and The Great Gildersleeve.”
First Line (Dialogue): Marjorie: “The year’s at the spring And day’s at the morn; Morning’s at seven; The hill-side’s dew-pearled; The lark’s on the wing; The snail’s on the thorn-“ Leroy: “And Uncle Throckmorton, where is he?”
Marjorie is quoting from Robert Browning’s “Pippa Passes.” I’ve looked at multiple sites to verify the quote, but haven’t picked one as a definitive reference. I’ve left the capitals in place to indicate the line breaks. Lisa Fittinghoff
Date Aired : 45/05/06
Episode Number : 167
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Gildy Picks a Husband for Marjorie
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now for The Great Gildersleeve. On a fine May morning he steps out on his veranda to survey his property and, incidentally, see what his new neighbor is up to across the street.”
First Line (Dialogue): Gildersleeve: “Leroy?” Leroy: “Yeah?” Gildersleeve: “Come here a minute.”
Date Aired : 45/05/13
Episode Number : 168
Available : YES
Title/Plot/Host: Meet Craig Bullard
First Line (Ken Carpenter): “Now let’s join our friend, The Great Gildersleeve, whom we meet this evening as a member of the Summerfield School Board.”
First Line (Dialogue): Eve Goodwin: “What time is it, Throckmorton?” Gildersleeve: “Time? Uh, eight-fifteen, Eve.”
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