What happens
Chester A. Riley and his family argue over what to buy as a shared Christmas gift, with Riley pushing for a television set while his wife Peg and the children favour a piano. Repeated votes and a coin toss fail to settle the matter, and Riley turns to his neighbour Jim Gillis for help in winning over the household. Gillis describes a televised wrestling match he claims to have watched at Maisie's bar, and the family's reactions reveal how divided they remain. The Life of Riley is a 1940s radio comedy, first broadcast on 1947-12-27 on the Blue Network/ABC and NBC, with William Bendix as Riley and Paula Winslowe as Peg Riley.
The Riley living room and neighbourhood, a few days before Christmas, with a visit to Maisie's bar.
Characters: Chester A. Riley, Peg Riley, Junior, Babs, Jim Gillis, Digger O'Dell
Listen for: The coin toss and the repeated votes, Gillis's over-the-top wrestling account, and Riley's demand that the family vote the way he tells them.
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.