Thanksgiving Dinner with the Boss: The Life of Riley (November 25, 1949)

The Life of Riley, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“Thanksgiving Dinner with the Boss” is an episode of The Life of Riley, the old-time radio show, first broadcast November 25, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Chester A. Riley plans a Thanksgiving weekend hunting trip at Lake Mead after his wife Peggy seems eager for him to go, and he bristles at what he takes as a sign she wants him gone. Meanwhile, his old rival Sidney Monahan has turned up in Los Angeles with a new wife, Marge, and a phone mix-up leads Riley to suspect the worst. The Life of Riley aired on November 25, 1949, on the Blue Network and ABC, with William Bendix as Riley, Paula Winslowe as Peggy, Hans Conried as Sidney Monahan and Alan Reed in the cast.

The Riley household in Los Angeles, and a hunting lodge at Lake Mead, over the Thanksgiving holiday

Characters: Chester A. Riley, Peggy Riley, Sidney Monahan, Marge, Gillis, Digger O'Dell, Babs, Junior

Listen for: The telephone mix-up in which Riley overhears a kiss over the line and concludes Peggy is romancing Sidney Monahan

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.