What happens
Abbott and Costello open their new season with a broadcast that moves between banter and a running joke. Costello admits he met a navy girlfriend named Lena Gensler during basic training and promised her a movie career after a gumdrop-filled evening. When Lena arrives at the studio, Costello and Abbott scramble to explain the promise. Their attempts to arrange a screen test lead them into a series of misunderstandings involving a self-styled producer, a telegraph boy and a film-studio gate. The broadcast is built around the duo's quick exchanges and the escalating confusion around Lena. Connie Haines sings, and the episode is sponsored by Camel cigarettes. The 1945 air date and the NBC and ABC networks are noted for the series.
The studio of the Abbott and Costello radio program, and the Universal Studios lot in Hollywood
Characters: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lena Gensler, Connie Haines
Listen for: Costello's gumdrop story and his repeated claims about his influence at the studio
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.