The Great Gildersleeve - College Chum Visits (05-17-42)

The Great Gildersleeve - (1941-1957) was the arguable founding father of the spin-off program, as well as one of the first true situation comedies (as opposed to sketch programs) in broadcast history. Hooked around a character who had been a staple on the classic radio hit Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve enjoyed its greatest period in the 1940s, when Harold Peary graduated the character from the earlier show into the sitcom and in a quartet of likeable feature films at the height of the show's popularity.THIS EPISIODE:May 17, 1942. NBC network. Sponsored by: Kraft Foods. Gildersleeve's old college chum comes to visit and starts selling shares in a magnesium mine! Harold Peary, Lurene Tuttle, Lillian Randolph, Walter Tetley, William Randolph (composer, conductor), Jim Bannon, Leonard L. Levinson (writer). 29:28.