What happens
The Great Gildersleeve, a pompous but well-meaning small-town man, is trying to impress Miss Gloria McKinley, a new romantic interest, when he agrees to give the Fourth of July speech at Craft Park. Judge Hooker, who was supposed to deliver the speech, is eager to leave town, and Gildersleeve's sister Marjorie and her housekeeper Bertie comment on the situation. Gildersleeve broadcasts the story's events on NBC in 1952 with Harold Peary and Lurene Tuttle in the cast, and the episode follows his efforts to keep up appearances around town. The episode is part of the series' summer run, aired July 2, 1952.
Summer in the small town of Summerfield, including the Hogan Brothers store, the Gildersleeve house, and Craft Park.
Characters: Great Gildersleeve, Judge Hooker, Gloria McKinley, Marjorie, Bertie, Leroy, Kelsey
Listen for: Listen for Gildersleeve trying to talk his way out of the speech and the mix-up over Judge Hooker's suit.
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.