Fibber McGee and Molly: "Halloween Party at Gildersleeve's House"

Halloween episodes were very common during the Golden Age of Radio. The Jack Benny Program did at least six Hallloween-themed episodes, with yet others that at least referenced the holiday. Among the shows that featured Halloween episodes was Fibber McGee and Molly. Its final Halloween episode was "Halloween Party at Gildersleeve's House," which aired on October 24, 1939.

Fibber McGee and Molly was one of the most successful sitcoms in any medium. It debuted on the NBC Blue Network on April 16, 1935 and ran as a standalone show until 1956. It ran from 1957 to 1959 as  segment on the NBC radio show Monitor. The show was created by husband and wife comedy team Jim and Marian Jordan. It centred on Fibber McGee (Jim Jordan), a habitual teller of tall tales, and his wife Molly,who was often terse with Fibber, but loved him all the same. Set in the small town of Wistful Vista, Fibber McGee and Molly had a large cast of recurring characters. Among the most popular, if not the most popular, was the McGees' neighbour Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary).  A bit self-important, Gildersleeve enjoyed taunting Fibber and the two often argued. Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve proved to so popular that he was spun off into his own series, The Great Gildersleeve, in 1941. It was quite possibly the first spinoff on radio.

The episode "Halloween at Gildersleeve's House" as Fibber McGee and Molly attending a Halloween party next door at the Gildersleeves. Horatio K. Boomer (Bill Thompson), known to be a bit shady, performs sleight-of-hand. Fibber and Molly talk briefly to the Old-Timer (Bill Thompson), who jokes about President Roosevelt doing his Christmas shopping early (a reference to President Roosevelt moving Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday in November that year to allow for a longer Christmas shopping season). Mrs. Uppington (Isabel Randolph) reads Fibber's palm. The show's announcer, Harlow Wilcox, then tells a ghost story at the party. While everyone else is going to dinner, Fibber sneaks outside to pull a Halloween prank on Gildersleeve. There he runs into the neighbourhood little girl, Sis (Marian Jordan), who has been out pulling pranks herself. She helps Fibber play the prank.

Fibber McGee and Molly had Halloween episodes prior to "Halloween Party at Gildersleeve's House." The first was "Halloween Party," which aired on October 28, 1935, and centred on a Halloween party at the McGee's house. The second was also titled "Halloween Party" and aired on October 25, 1938.  It also centred on a Halloween party held by Fibber McGee and Molly. "Halloween Party at Gildersleeve's House"would be the show's last episode focused entirely on Halloween, although there would be other episodes that referenced the holiday. Regardless, if you love Old Time Radio, "Halloween Party at Gildersleeve's House" is worth a listen.