The Great Gildersleeve

The Great Gildersleeve premiered on August 31, 1941. Originally the next door neighbor to Fibber and Molly McGee on Wistful Vista, Gildersleeve moved to Summerfield to take on the rearing his orphaned niece and nephew, Marjorie and Leroy Forester, and oversee his late brother-in-law's estate and household that included a simple-minded cook named Birdie. A forerunner to such later television hits as "Bachelor Father" and "Family Affair", both of which are centered on well-to-do uncles taking in their deceased siblings' children. In striking contrast Gildersleeve was a bachelor of limited personal means rearing two children of a rich relative. And this while serving as Summerfield's water commissioner and balancing time with the ladies and nights with the boys. The Great Gildersleeve may have been the first broadcast show to be centered on a single parent attempting to juggle child-rearing, work, and a social life - done with taste and genuine wit, often at the expense of Gildersleeve's slightly understated pomposity.

The episode presented here is from December 24, 1947, and deals with his attempt to find his nephew the perfect present for Christmas all the while dressed as Santa Claus. Things are going south for him when suddenly they take a turn for the better. Or do they? 

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