The Great Gildersleeve 46 02 17 (200) Leroy Has The Flu

# The Great Gildersleeve: Leroy Has The Flu

When Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve opens his Summerfield home on this February evening in 1942, listeners are immediately thrust into a household turned topsy-turvy by illness. Young Leroy, the apple of the Great Gildersleeve's eye, has taken to his bed with the flu, and our fastidious protagonist must navigate the treacherous waters of sickroom duty. What unfolds is a masterclass in comic mishap—the impeccable Mr. Gildersleeve attempting to administer remedies, manage household affairs, and maintain his considerable dignity while contending with a fevered boy, concerned relatives, and the various foolish advice dispensed by well-meaning neighbors. Harold Peary's distinctive voice carries us through scenes of escalating bedlam, punctuated by the knowing chuckles of an audience watching a man of meticulous habits slowly unravel in the face of simple domesticity.

The Great Gildersleeve emerged from radio's golden age as something genuinely fresh—a spin-off of *Fibber McGee and Molly* that proved successful enough to become its own phenomenon, running for sixteen seasons across multiple networks. By the early 1940s, American families had welcomed this rotund bachelor and his niece Marjorie into their living rooms weekly, finding in his bombastic personality and earnest incompetence a mirror to their own domestic struggles. Episodes like this flu-struck household showcase the show's particular genius: grounding its humor in the universal experiences of American life while maintaining an almost theatrical quality in its performances and writing.

Don't miss this delightful reminder of radio's ability to transform the mundane into the memorable. Tune in to hear how the Great Gildersleeve's elaborate schemes to nurse Leroy back to health prove far more dangerous than the affliction itself.