What happens
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play themselves in this 1947 episode of their comedy series, which airs on NBC and ABC. Costello wants to impress actress Marilyn Maxwell, who has asked him to give her a driving lesson. He has no car and no driver's license, so he and Abbott set out to rent one and to get a license. Their plans grow more tangled at each step, from a confusing vision test to a dealership where every payment seems to go up and down at once. The lesson itself quickly goes wrong.
Hollywood, California, in and around the city, including a car dealership, a license office, and a country road.
Characters: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marilyn Maxwell, Evan Ennis, Mrs. Wet-Wash, Skinny Ennis
Listen for: The running confusion over the words put up, put down, and drive, and the vision test where Costello is told to cover his left and right eyes.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.