On This Day, August 31: Gildersleeve and Burns and Allen
Also featured: Challenge of the Yukon, Family Theater, Fibber McGee.
August 31 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for 5 historical broadcasts transmitting on August 31 across American network broadcasting history (1941–1954):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Characters | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Gildy Arrives in Summerfield" | NBC (WEAF) 1941-08-31 6:30 PM EDST |
Kraft Parkay margarine |
Harold Peary (Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve), Lurene Tuttle (Marjorie), Walter Tetley (Leroy), Lillian Randolph (Birdie) | Leonard L. Levinson (Writer) | ["Comedy"] |
Gildersleeve leaves the Girdle Works in Wistful Vista on the overnight sleeper for Summerfield, where his orphaned niece Marjorie and nephew Leroy wait for an uncle they have never met; after a berth mix-up on the train he means only to settle the estate, then stays to raise them. |
| "Guest Frank Sinatra" | CBS (WABC) 1943-08-31 9:00 PM EWT |
Lever Brothers Swan soap |
George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bill Goodwin (Announcer), Felix Mills (Orchestra), Mel Blanc, Clarence Nash, Frank Sinatra (Guest) | Felix Mills (Music), Bill Goodwin (Announcer) | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Music"] |
Back from an eight-week army-camp tour, Gracie goes to Sinatra's house to warn him that George has decided to become a crooner and put Frankie out of a job; they trade songs, and the Swan Ten close with the Victory Polka. |
| "The Minister's Missing Money" | ABC (WJZ) 1949-08-31 5:00 PM EDT |
Quaker Oats Puffed Wheat & Puffed Rice |
Paul Sutton (Sergeant Preston), Yukon King | Tom Dougall (Writer), George W. Trendle (Producer) | ["Adventure", "Western", "Mystery"] |
A minister coming into Dawson is murdered for the building-fund cash in his bag; a young newspaperman's son switched look-alike suitcases with him on the steamer Portland at Skagway, and Preston and King must restore the money before the killer does. |
| "The Denver Express" | Mutual (WOR) 1949-08-31 9:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Family Rosary / Holy Cross Family Theater |
Lizabeth Scott (Hostess), Regis Toomey (Major Harry Sinclair), Jean Ruth | Family Theater (Hollywood) | ["Drama", "Historical", "Adventure"] |
On the first run of the Denver Express, engine No. 17, Major Sinclair—who will not use a gun—is hemmed in by Big Jeff Johnson and the gamblers who want the railroad stopped, and has to get the train through without becoming the man he refuses to be. |
| "Fishing Boat Sinks" | NBC (WNBC) 1954-08-31 10:00 PM EDT |
Lewis-Howe Tums |
Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee), Marian Jordan (Molly), Arthur Q. Bryan (Doc Gamble), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer) | Phil Leslie & Ralph Goodman (Writers), Max Hutto (Director) | ["Comedy"] |
After their fishing boat sinks, Fibber, Molly, and Doc Gamble wake stiff on an island in Lake Winnahoppa, eighty miles from Wistful Vista, and have to get off before Fibber's Robinson Crusoe schemes make the rescue worse. |