What happens
George and Gracie are preparing their income taxes with their accountant, Ralph Hanley, who needs help sorting out their records. Gracie's wildly illogical bookkeeping, from odd purchases to strange ideas about money, keeps slowing the work down. Meanwhile, Gracie plans a birthday dinner for Blanche Morton and invites Harry and Bill Goodwin, and George and Gracie discuss what to give Blanche. Gracie's neighbors, Mrs. Harris and Sarah Treadwell, come up in gossip, and Bill introduces his fiancee, Mona Knox, who is mistaken for a new fan. The series is Burns and Allen, first broadcast on March 1, 1950, starring Gracie Allen, Bea Benaderet, Meredith Willson and Mel Blanc.
The Burns home, where George and Gracie prepare their income taxes with their accountant, and the surrounding neighbourhood.
Characters: George Burns, Gracie Allen, Ralph Hanley, Harry Morton, Blanche Morton, Bill Goodwin, Mona Knox, Mrs. Harris
Listen for: Gracie's literal-minded logic about money, taxes and everyday purchases, and the running joke about her mistaking Mona Knox for the announcer.
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.