Television Comes To Summerfield
TV sets have arrived in Summerfield and taken over the town! Just about every person in Summerfield owns a television now—everyone except for one guy: the Water Commissioner.
The Great Gildersleeve is a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States from August 31, 1941 to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was built around Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a regular character from the radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly. The character was introduced in the October 3, 1939, episode of that series. Actor Harold Peary had played a similarly named character, Dr. Gildersleeve, on earlier episodes. The Great Gildersleeve enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1940s. Peary played the character during its transition from the parent show into the spin-off and later in four feature films released at the height of the show's popularity.
Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Updated Jul 22, 2026.
“Television Comes To Summerfield.” Great Gildersleeve. Radio broadcast, March 26, 1952.




