What happens
Luigi Basko, a rambunctious Italian immigrant, decides to become a big American businessman and expands his business by opening a new antique shop, abandoning his old spaghetti restaurant. His classmates at night school, his teacher Miss Spaulding, and his friend Pasquale react with surprise and mixed feelings as Luigi grows increasingly sure of himself. He writes to his mother in Italy about his plans and his early successes. Life with Luigi is a comedy series first broadcast in 1951 and starring J. Carrol Naish, with Alan Reed as Pasquale.
Chicago's Italian-American neighborhood, where Luigi runs a shop and attends night school.
Characters: Luigi Basko, Pasquale, Rosa, Miss Spaulding, Miss Aubrey, Schultz, Mr. Schultz, Mama Basko
Listen for: Luigi's boasts about becoming a big American businessman and his garbled slang, along with Pasquale's grumbling over the new arrangement.
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.