Great Gildersleeve, The

Broadcast History: 31 August 1941 to 21 March 1957

In 1941 Throckmorton P Gildersleeve spun off into his own radio program, becoming the first radio character to do so. He had originally appeared on Fibber McGee and Molly in 1937 and left to become the Water Commissioner of Summerfield and to raise his niece and nephew. The series had the same appeal as today’s soaps because each episode was connected. Gildersleeve’s romances were often at the centre of it all. The best of the romances is the one with Leila Ransom.