What happens
Chester A. Riley, a long-serving aircraft worker, is jolted out of his routine when his old school friend Benny Felts unexpectedly visits his home. Benny, now a Washington government employee who has passed a civil service exam, boasts of his career and suggests Riley should try for a government job too. Riley's family is divided over his plans, and Riley resolves to sit the civil service examination himself. The Life of Riley is a radio comedy series, and this episode was first broadcast on April 13, 1951, on the Blue Network and ABC and NBC, starring William Bendix as Riley, with Paula Winslowe, Hans Conried and Alan Reed in the cast.
The Riley family home in Los Angeles, and later Washington, D.C.
Characters: Chester A. Riley, Benny Felts, Peg Riley, Junior, Babe, Gwen
Listen for: Benny Felts's visit and his boasting about his government career, and Riley's sudden decision to take the civil service exam.
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.