SEASON 1 – NBC
Created by Irving Brecher.
NOTE: This series is a spin-off from the radio series of the same name which aired on the Blue Network (later ABC) from 1944-45, and then on NBC from 1945-1951, with William Bendix in the title role. In 1948 two ‘live television test programs’ were aired, the first with Herb Vigran (April 13), the second with Buddy Gray (April 20). Bendix then starred in a film of the same title in 1949, and consequently could not star in the first season of the series because of his contract with RKO Radio Pictures, and was replaced by Jackie Gleason.
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- 001. Babs’ School Election – 1/2/1953
- Chester A. Riley (William Bendix), a wing riveter for Cunningham Aircraft Co. plant in western Los Angeles, California, finds out that his daughter Babs (Lugene Sanders) is running for president of her college Freshman class. She fears that her opponent Helene Bidwell has a leg up because her father is the Marchant’s Bank president and has given Helene $100 toward her campaign. Riley heads off to work with his friend and co-worker Jim Gillis (Tom D’Andrea), but before he even arrives, he decides to call in sick and head over to see his friend Honest Ed Feeney (Allen Jenkins), a crooked politician he knew from Brooklyn, to see if he can help. Feeney agrees to help Riley sway the vote, and so he gets two of his thugs to use fake registration cards so that they can stuff the ballots. Babs notices the same guy registering for ballots with the one of the election helpers (Beverly Wills), and thinks that he was hired by Helene’s father. The goon admits that he is actually working for Feeney to help Babs garner voters. Babs is humiliated when he says this in front of her classmates and becomes inconsolably and furious with her father. Riley’s wife Peg (Marjorie Reynolds) is also furious with him, and when Riley overhears what is in store for him when he enters the house, he decides to ask his son Chet ‘Junior’ (Wesley Morgan) to sneak food out to him outside. When Peg catches him in the act, the soup winds up on Riley’s head. Riley then gets another idea from Gillis about making campaign promises, so he heads over to the campuses and begins telling all of the young men that if they vote for Babs, she will go to the prom with them. He doesn’t give out their address and tells them to expect a call from Babs. When she never calls, they look up their address in the phone book, and soon the house is flooded with 56 young men looking for a date. Babs is mortified when she sees all of the boys in her house, and she sneaks out with her actual date George, leaving the boys to get into a riot fight in the living room. With the house destroyed, Riley and Peg head to the movies… along with the 56 boys he has to buy tickets for. Henry Kulky is Feeney’s big goon. 7/3/22
- 002. Riley’s Gift from the Boss – 1/9/1953
- Riley gets nervous when he receives a letter in the mail from his boss Cyrus P. Cunningham (Douglass Dumbrille) and thinks he is getting fired. However, the note is a congratulatory one that offers him a luncheon in the boardroom to honor his ten years of work at the plant. Because he is so excited, he accidentally takes Peg’s purse to work instead of his lunchbox. Since he has nothing to eat that afternoon, he talks Gillis into joining him in scoping out the boardroom where the luncheon will be held. While in there, Riley pretends to boss others around, like he will when he becomes a big boss. While shuffling through papers, he finds a note with his name on it, and the word “CAR”. Cunningham and his assistant Dangle (Bob Sweeney) come into the room while they are there, so Riley and Gillis hide under the table and pretend as if they are offering prayer to the company. Dumbrille never sees their faces, so they are safe. Later, Cunningham mentions to Dangle the watch that they are going to give Riley with the initials CAR on it like it said in the memo – standing for Chester A. Riley. Riley goes home and tells everyone in the family that he is getting a car, and they excitedly tell all of their friends. During the lunch, when Riley is presented with just the watch, he is beyond disappointed. He goes home to tell his family, but when he sees how disappointed they will be, he tells them that it hasn’t come from the factory yet. Riley and Gillis then go scouring junk yards to look for a car they can pretend he received from the company. After realizing what a huge job it will be, they walk home on the streets and happen upon Cunningham’s car in the street. When they also spot Riley’s family coming down the street toward them, Riley jumps in the back and hides in the car. Babs spots him, and then they all get in the car, just in time for Cunningham to return and questions what they are doing. Junior then starts the car and drives off, running over a fire hydrant which completely douses the car. Riley is apologetic to his furious boss, vowing to pay for it and working overtime if needed. He feels low and useless to his family, but the assure him they’d be lost without him. Although cut from the syndicated version, Emory Parnell is the foreman Mr. Hank Hawkins, Pat Flaherty is the watchman, and George Fenneman is credited as the voice. 7/3/22
- 011. Riley’s Lost Weekend – 3/13/1953
- While they are retooling his department at work, Riley gets a long weekend vacation and wants to take his family on a trip. Since he is on a limited budget, he’s not sure where he wants to go, but when he runs into his old friend Thomas “Squarehead” Malloy (Dick Wessel) from Brooklyn, who has been in Northern California for the past five years living and working at the Escadero Farm, where he has a terrific cottage where he can go fishing on the lake. He is visiting the Los Angeles area with his wife Faye, but he hasn’t been able to find a place where they can stay together. Riley offers to let him stay at their house, while they go on a trip up north to stay at their cottage. Everyone seems to like the idea, and soon the entire family is packing. Riley tells Babs that there will be lost of nice boys there, so she should take her bathing suit. Once they get packed up in the car, and find Junior in trunk, they hit the road. The directions are confusing, especially when they stop at a service station to find directions and learn that they have traveled into Nevada. They get back on the road but get lost again. This time they stop to ask a man for directions… only to realize that the man is actually a bear. They wind up finally making it to the gated community at the Escadero Farms at 1:30 in the morning. A guard (Carleton Young) lets them in and shows them to their cottage. After Riley drops the family off at the cottage, he accidentally drives it into the reservoir. The guard is quite annoyed and tells him that they’ll pull it out with the bulldozer. The next morning, Riley ventures out into the yard area where three men, Casey (Al Hill), Rocko (Gene Roth), and Switch, are trying to hammer a metal spike into the ground. Riley thinks they are playing horseshoes, but when one of the other guards (Joe Devlin) order the men to go down to the stables. Riley refers to him as a bellhop, and the guard doesn’t take kindly to it and drags Riley off to see the warden (George Eldredge), who reveals that they are actually at a prison camp, where Malloy was the groundskeeper. Riley returns to the cottage and tries to convince his family that they are leaving. Babs tells him that she was surprised when some of the men outside whistled at her in her bathing suit, while Junior tells them that one of the guys yelled at him for trying to climb the fence. The guard returns with some fresh eggs as an apology from the warden for the mix-up. When he tells Peg about the place being a prison farm, she hits the roof and insists that they leave right away. On the way home, Peg tries to yell at Riley, but she is too speechless. Arthur Q. Bryan is the service station owner. NOTE: Peter Leeds is listed in the credits as appearing in this episode but does not appear in the syndicated version. 9/1/24
- 014. Riley’s Business Venture – 4/3/1953
- Riley gets the idea to buy a hamburger stand to work on the weekends, with the hopes of eventually working it full time and quitting his job. He pays a little over $100 for it, $25 of which he borrowed from Junior’s bank. The ladies in the family are less than enthused, while Junior is excited, and advertises the place using a sandwich board. He gets the place ready and names it Chester A. Riley & Son ‘Incorporated’. He runs into some trouble getting it set up as he steps into paint and overfills the popcorn maker. Peg and Babs are his first customers when they come looking for money to go to the movies across the street. Riley insists on them paying cash for their burgers, but he has to loan it to them, and then they keep the change and use it for the movies. At the end of the day, he’s made just $2.75. Riley’s boss Mr. Hawkins stops by and reveals that Riley had called off sick that day. Riley admits that he was selling hamburgers, and his boss finds him when he refuses to come in the next day. Peg goes to see Hawkins and talks him into giving Riley another chance. Riley works on inventing his specialty the Riley Burger, which contains lettuce, onion, piccalilli, ketchup, mustard, mayo, peanut butter, and nuts. Gillis wants just a plain burger and walks off when Riley tries to force a Riley Burger on him. Peg tries to think of a way to get Riley to return to work, so she decides to run him out of business by renting a competing hamburger stand. Junor runs it and gets into a pricing war with him, driving Riley’s price down from a quarter to a penny per burger. Junior’s friends go to Riley’s sand each of them buys a dozen raw burgers, which they use to supply Junior with his burgers. Riley is bitter toward his family until a man comes and tells him that if he has kept the stand open another day without a license, he would have been fined a thousand dollars. 10/25/22
- 015. Riley Camps Out – 4/10/1953
- After a hard day of work, Riley comes home and trips on Junior’s skates, then gets bombarded for requests to do chores around the house. The next day, Riley laments how tired he is from his home life, so Gillis suggests that instead of doing family trip for their vacations the next week, that they both go to Beaver Lake as bachelors. Riley is initially reluctant, but when Gillis accuses him of being scared of her, he comes home and demands his own vacation. Unbeknownst to him, Peg has already suggested to the kids that they let Riley take his own vacation. So when they go along with it, he is skeptical that they’re driving him out. Nevertheless, Riley and Gillis go on the trip alone, and stay in the Cozycote cabin, a run-down shack that keeps falling apart. Although they keep convincing themselves that they are having the time of their lives, it becomes apparent that they’re missing the conveniences of home, the good food, and the times with their families. After a number of incidents, including Gillis falling in the lake and losing the fishing pole, getting covered in burrs, exploding the stove, and getting covered in beans, and only catching sardine-sized fish, they both admit to each other that they want to go home, so they leave. Rile is thrilled to be home and have a home-cooked meal… until they tell him it will be sardines. 8/29/21
- 016. Riley Steps Out – 4/10/1953
- When George Savage comes over to pick up Babs for a date, Peg starts to realize how much she missing going out at night. She and Riley get into an argument because he claims he can’t afford it, while she lists all of the frivolous things he’s spent his money on lately. The next day at work, he and Gillis find a batch of faulty rivets, and Riley thinks they can score points with the big boss Mr. Cunningham (Douglass Dumbrille) by showing them the him. Once they get past the secretary Winnie (Kay Christopher), he indeed appreciative, but it quickly subsides when Bendix spills water all over his desk. As he is helping clean up, he finds two tickets to a fundraising banquet in the trash can, and Cunningham tells him he’s not using them. Riley takes the opportunity to use the tickets to take Peg out for a night on the town. After Riley gives the host (Fay Roope) the tickets, he waits for him to check them and chats with the haughty couple Cecil Spencer Kendrick III (Noel Drayton) and his wife Felicity (Eve Lynn). Peg is completely embarrassed when they are told that the tickets were never paid for. Peg tells Riley that she merely wants to be taken out, and it doesn’t have to be a high-class place where he has to cut corners to get in. Riley feels terrible, and Peg forgives him. That day at work, Gillis tells Riley that he is going to take Honeybee to the fancy Morambo restaurant, because he knows the waiter who will pay for his dinner out of his pocket, and then Gillis will pay him back weekly with interest. Riley stops at Forley’s flower shop on the way home to get Peg some flowers, and he winds up being the 1000th customer and the manager (Peter Leeds) presents him a free dinner for the entire family at Morambo’s. Peg is skeptical about the entire thing when Riley tells the family the news, but they end up having a wonderful experience. Gillis and Honeybee, however, wind up working at the club when his friend Louie the water doesn’t come through. Jerry Burns is the maitre ‘d. Bill Dalzell is the waiter. 2/26/22
- 017. Riley’s Operation – 4/17/1953
- Riley visits the company doctor when he chokes on a fish bone, only to find out that he actually needs his tonsils removed. He sullenly heads home and breaks the news to the family. Riley is scared to death of the operation and discusses it with Gillis, who suggests that he speak to Mrs. Parker (Marlo Dwyer), who had recently had her tonsils taken out. Mrs. Bennett mistakenly thinks that Riley’s wife will be having a baby, so Riley is confused by her description of the ‘tonsils’. Before leaving for the hospital, Riley reads his will to his family, confessing that he has stashed away $15 in the radio. In the hospital the nurse (Gloria Blondell) sedates him and he falls asleep, but Dr. Harvey has to delay the operation. When his family greets him in the waiting room, Riley thinks the operation is over and initially complains of the pain, but then realizes that it was painless. He freaks out again when the doctor shows up and tells him that he is now going to now operate. Once he arrives home, he sees that Gillis is being dragged from his house into an ambulance to have his tonsils removed. Riley can’t believe what a fuss he is making. 8/29/21
SEASON 2
- 028. Riley, the Animal Lover – 9/25/1953
- During ‘Be Kind to Animals Week’, Riley and Gillis happen upon a junk man (Nacho Galindo) getting frustrated with his work horse, which he claims is about to be retired and turned into dog food. Riley and Gillis can’t bear the thought of anything happening to the horse Leo (King the Wonderhorse), so they purchases the animal. They try to figure out how to break it to their wives. Peg won’t even let Junior babysit his neighbor Pinky’s dog Speedy. Riley and Gillis run afoul of a policeman (Joe Devlin) to walk all the way home. Riley leaves Leo outside when he gets home, and the goes about flattering Peg, and agreeing with her that Junior shouldn’t bring animals home that are able to get on the couch. Finally, he admits he brought home a horse, who makes his presence known by sticking his head through the window. Peg insists that he get rid of him, especially after destroying Peg’s flower bed. Marty turns to his brother-in-law Marty Dipsle (Frank Jenks), who spends a lot of time at the racetrack, for advice. Marty thinks they want to place a bet and is surprised when he sees their very real horse at the house. Marty thinks that with a a little work from Manny H. “Doc” Fishblow (Andrew Tombes). Between drinks, Marty convinces Manny to pose as a horse doctor, and then they begin collecting money from them for Leo’s training and care. When they get irritated by all of the costs, they stop at the ‘training farm’ and find “Doc” drunk and passed out. They stop by to see Leo at the farm, and Riley fantasizing about Leo winning the Derby with Junior as the jockey. When he comes back to reality, Leo pushes him into the trough. Meanwhile back home, Peg gets ready for her Bridge party with the help of their maid Marie (Willa Pearl Curtis). Riley brings Leo back home with him, and Leo enters the house and causes all of the women at the party to flee. That night Riley tells Peg that he was able to sell Leo to the Blue View Riding Club. As Riley tries to give Peg a kiss, Leo returns home and pushes himself between them. Riley says if Peg fell in love with him, he can’t blame Leo for doing the same thing. 2/27/22
- 036. Riley’s Burning Ambition – 11/20/1953
- In the past, Riley has made numerous efforts to get ahead in his career, but ultimately washing garbage cans in the war, and selling popcorn at the racetrack. In the current day, Riley reports that they are picking a replacement foreman at work while his current foreman Hank Hawkins is helping out in San Diego, and he thinks he might get it. Honeybee shows up at the Riley house wearing a new fur, confident that Gillis is going to get the promotion. The next morning, Riley tells Gillis how he plans to get the job as they travel to work. Riley skips his lunch at work so that he can straighten up his work area, and once everyone comes back, Riley goes to grab a coffee. During that time, the boss Mr. Cox (Percy Helton) stops by and thinks that Gillis has been the one straightening up and thinks that Riley’s book Six Easy Lessons to Success belongs to Gillis as well. Cox gets the impression that Riley is a slacker since he’s off getting coffee, and he offers the job as foreman to Gillis. He becomes an immediate tyrant and starts getting on Riley’s case for being late all of the time. That evening, he tries to tell his family that he didn’t get the job, but they misunderstand and think that he got the job after all. Therefore, when Honeybee comes over to gloat, Peg and the kids are under the impression that Riley got the job, causing them embarrassment ultimately. The next day at work, Riley and Muley (Herb Vigran) discuss how difficult Gillis has become, as he barks orders at them from the catwalk using a P.A. horn. When it stops working, Gillis demands that Riley try to fix it, while he goes into the office to smoke cigars. When Riley does attempt to fix-it, he winds up setting off the sprinklers, which notify the fire department. Mr. Cox is furious with Riley, but then the fire chief (Tim Ryan) tells Cox that there could have been a bad fire since a cigar was left burning in a rubbish pile on the catwalk. Cox suddenly thinks Riley is a real asset and wants to know who started it. Riley refuses to turn in Gillis, but then when Gillis comes down to the floor, he lets it slip that he was the one smoking cigars. Cox then gives Riley the job as foreman to oversee Gillis. That evening, Honeybee has to come over and eat crow, but Riley and Peg act with humility and tells them that they don’t want this to come between their friendship. Gillis then tells Riley that it turns out that Hawkins is coming back the next day to reclaim his job as foreman. 8/20/23
- 039. Riley the Worrier – 12/18/1953
- Riley expresses to Gillis how he is worried that his daughter Babs will never date a respectable high-class man with a lucrative future. Just then, Mr. Cox introduces Riley and Gillis to a college man named Leonard Johnson (Lee Rhodes), who is studying aerodynamics at USC. Riley is also interested in Babs dating Leonard because Leonard’s father owns Criss Cross Crunchies, and he hopes to get a job there. Riley asks Leonard to come over and ask her out for a date, but when he brings it up to Babs, she says she already has a date with Bruce Adams (Martin Milner) and absolutely can’t change it. However, Riley eventually wears her down and she agrees to go out with Leonard. While waiting on the porch outside to meet Leonard, Babs’ friend Audrey (Beverly Wills) stops by, lamenting that she had been stood up by her date that night. Babs gets the idea to have Audrey pose as Babs and accept the date from Leonard, so that Babs can go out with Bruce after all. The ruse works, and Leonard takes Audrey out on the date, while Babs has a great date and falls head-over-heels for Bruce. Babs is so smitten that she forgets all about Leonard’s existence and swoons around the house about Bruce, leading Riley to believe that she is in love with Leonard. The next day at work, Riley hears Leonard telling Mr. Cox what a dud Babs is, still believing that Audrey is Babs. Riley believes Babs is a poor date and doesn’t talk about anything meaningful, so he wants her to read up on current events. Bruce takes longer than expected to call Babs back, so she becomes upset and thinks he doesn’t like her. Since Riley thinks she is pining for Leonard, when Bruce finally does show up, Riley sends him away and tells him that she is in love with another. Babs finally tells Riley it was Bruce she really liked, and blames him for ruining her life. She tells him she doesn’t want to hear another word about Leonard and that she can’t stand him, although she’d never actually met him. Babs and Audrey go out to the malt shop and run into Leonard there. Leonard dreads seeing Audrey there but is instantly smitten with Babs, who admits that Audrey was just doing her a favor by acting as if she is Babs. Meanwhile, Riley meets their new neighbor Waldo Binnie (Sterling Halloway), who advises Riley that Leonard probably liked Babs and wanted to neck with her and she refused him. Riley vows never to interfere in the lives of his children anymore, so when Leonard shows up, Riley immediately throws him out. When Babs finds out that he threw out Leonard, she tells Riley that he is the most wonderful boy she ever met, accusing Riley of ruining her life again. Mr. Cox then shows up and yells at Riley for throwing Leonard out of the house, leaving him without a date to take to the dance. Babs then gets a phone call, and after she hangs up, she apologizes to Riley for overreacting and making a scene. She tells him that she is going out, but it is not with Leonard nor Bruce, but a new boy named Marvin, a third-string football player. Riley suggests to Mr. Cox that Leonard can take Bruce out. In the end, he sends Peg to be Leonard’s date. 12/3/23
- 041. Riley Teaches Junior to Box – 1/1/1954
- Junior is going to participate in an exhibition boxing match at the school, and Riley gets jealous that he turns to a former boxer named Malcomb “Killer” Cooper (Lou Nova), who lives down the street, to train him. Riley wants for Junior to have faith that he can teach Junior instead of going to a stranger, so he implies that he was a Golden Glove champion known as Tiger Riley. Junior is happy to have his father train him, and they begin right away, although Riley is so out of shape that he can barely keep up. When Junor starts telling the other kids how his dad is a champion boxer, the word gets back to Mrs. Morris (Lela Bliss) with the Ladies Aid, who has the idea that they might include an exhibition match between Riley and Cooper to raise money at their bazaar. Peg tries to get Riley off the hook, but Riley doesn’t want to appear chicken in front of Junior, so he accepts the match. He later goes to visit Killer Cooper and admits that he doesn’t know how to box, but requests that he might throw the match in order to impress Junior. Initially, he refuses, but then agrees to take a dive in the fourth round… after working Riley over for the first three. Riley then tells his work foreman Hawkins that he ohould bet his money on Cooper going down in the fourth. He decides to take the bet, but warns Riley that he’ll be fired if he winds up losing his money. On the night of the fight, Riley can barely climb into the ring. Cooper is particularly tough on him, causing Riley to lament that he won’t last until the fourth if he doesn’t go easier on him. By the second round, Cooper offers to go down in the third round, but Riley refuses and says that he is betting on the fourth round. Coper becomes angry that Riley is making bets, so he says the deal is off to take the fall. However, they bump heads, and neiher one is able to get up. Later, Riley recuperates in bed and assumes that he is fired. Babs tells him that they can always move to another city and start over. Then Gillis rushes in and presents him with his trophy, declaring that Riley actually won. Since Riley was the first one to wake up, he was declared the winner. Everyone also won the bet, because instead of betting on the fourth round, Gillis simply betted that Riley would last the longest. 8/31/24
- 044. Junior’s Double Date – 1/22/1954
- Riley gets on his foreman Hawkins’ bad side again when he is caught smoking at work in a highly flammable area. Meanwhile, Riley takes Junior out to buy new shoes for his first dance. Along the way, Riley asks Junior about his date, and he tells his father that he is just going with the guys. Riley tells him that he needs to properly asks a girl to go along with him. They stop at the drugstore so that Junior can use the phone and call Betty Blakely to ask her to go with him. She tells him she will have to get back with him, so Riley says to call another girl and ask her since he didn’t get a definitive answer. Junior decides to call a nerdy girl named Angela and ask her, and she quickly agrees to go with him. Betty then calls Junor back and accepts the first invitation. Riley tells Junior to stop over at Angela’s house and take back the invitation. When they arrive, Chester realizes they are at the house of his foreman Mr. Hawkins. When Hawkins comes out, he tells the Rileys how happy he is that Angela is getting to go to the dance, and that she has gone downtown with her mother to get a new dress. Riley won’t let Junior cancel the date with Angela since it appears to have gotten him on the good side of Hawkins. Riley later tells Gillis that he can’t have Junor break the date with Betty either, because her father is Henry Blakely (John Hoyt), who owns the mortgage on his house. Riley goes to see Mr. Blakely, where his secretary Miss Prison (Almira Sessions) informs him that Riley is four months behind in his payments. Blakely tells him that since their children are dating, he will draw up a new mortgage with the first payment due in 60 days, which can be signed on Saturday… after the Friday dance. By Thursday night, Riley still hasn’t resolved the mix-up, and Junior is panicking. Peg suggests that Junor bring along his friend Butch Grogan so that they can double-date. However, when they go to see him, they find that Butch is laid up sick in bed. Friday evening rolls around and Riley has decided he had no choice but tell everyone the truth, even if it means losing his job and home. When Hawkins calls wandering where Junior is, Riley decides that he is the most anxious, so he tells Junior to take Angela. Then Mr. Blakely calls to see where Junior is, so Peg quickly tells him that Junior is dressed and ready to go. Riley then decides that Junior can take Betty, realizing he’d rather lise his job than his home. Junior reminds him that if he loses his job, he won’t be able to pay for his home. Mrs. Grogan then calls and tells Peg that Butch has whooping cough. Riley decides to call both fathers and tell them that Junior has whooping cough as well. As he starts to make the call, suddenly Riley starts coughing and can’t speak. Peg calls both fathers and tells them that Riley has whooping cough and that everyone will likely be quarantined. Junior squares everything with the two girls and makes separate dates with both of them. Riley asks him that when the next dance comes up, to take Butch Grogan. 4/20/24
- 048. Riley and the Boss’ Niece – 2/19/1954
- Riley is nervous when he gets a message from his co-worker Otto Schmidlapp (Henry Kulky) that the boss Mr. Cunningham (Douglass Dumbrille) wants to see him. His friends suspect he is getting fired, and Riley starts to believe it. When he goes into the office, he admits all of his work infractions, but the boss actually wants his daughter Babs to help his niece Theodosia (Lu Leonard), who is visiting from the East, find a date to take her to the homecoming dance. Riley tells him that it is a done deal, but when he tells Babs about it, she refuses to help her. She says she was in town the year before, and that she was so lumbering on the dance floor that she injured some of the boys. Babs is worried that if she sets Theodosia with one of the boys, she will be boycotted. Riley and Gillis try looking through the newspapers for football players and calling university fraternities in the phone book to randomly ask guys to date Theodosia… but they are turned down by everyone. When Waldo Binney (Sterling Holloway) stops by, Riley thinks he will fit the bill to be Theodosia’s date, especially since her uncle told him that she likes blonde hair. Waldo declines the invitation, but when Riley gives him a sob story about how he will lose his job, Waldo finally agrees. Riley brings Waldo over to meet Theodosia, she falls for him right away, grabs him, and begins dancing him around the room. As soon as Waldo gets a break, he has Riley pass him a football, and then he runs out the front door, mowing down Mr. Cunningham. Riley tries to talk him into coming back, but Waldo declares he’s do anything for Riley… except take Theodosia to the dance. In the end, Riley ends up escorting her. Anne Barton is Mr. Cunningham’s secretary. Leonard Carey is Mr. Cunningham’s butler. 8/20/23
SEASON 3
- 066. Junior’s Secret – 9/17/1954
- When Junior approaches his father to borrow money, Riley gives him a lecture about paying off one’s debts. The lights then go off in the house due to Riley not paying the bill. Later it is revealed that he and Egbert Gillis (Gregory Marshall) have been saving up money together to go in on buying their friend Ken’s (Michael Hall) boat, known as Jumping Judy, now that he is getting married to Jean (Norma La Roche). He doesn’t want to accept $7.50 as the downpayment, but when Jean asks him to go pick up his tuxedo and the ring for the wedding, he agrees to accept that amount if they will run the wedding errands for him. After Riley reads an article in the paper about two young kids who ran off and got married after Gillis has spotted Egbert going into the Wedding Bell Rental Shop and picking up the tuxedo, Gillis starts to worry that Egbert is getting married. Then Riley gets a call from the jeweler that the wedding band is ready, he starts to think they are both planning on getting married. Riley and Gillis are both prepared to talk to their sons, but when they hear that the wedding is ready, they both run out of the house. The men talk this over with the wives, and they all start to panic. The boys get the Jumping Judy boat and bring it home, then they start to prepare to share the news with their fathers. Riley decides to try and talk to Junior, just as Junior is preparing to tell him about the boat. Riley insists on talking first, and he uses the example of boys who got stranded in a boat, and the says how he blames the parents for not stopping them from building the boat. Junior decides to clam up about the boat. Riley then decides to try and find Junior’s bride-to-be, and when Babs mentions that Junior has been hanging out with a girl named Janet Foster (Judy Nugent). He brings her over to the house and questions her, but she has no idea what she is talking about. Riley then overhears Junior on the phone talking about “Judy”. Riley assumes that the bride is a girl named Judy, and then Gilis comes over and tells Riley that Egbert also is talking about his ‘future bride’ Judy as well. Since Riley worries that Junior and Egbert will be committing bigamy, Riley sends Janet off to try and convince Junior to marry her instead. He gives Junior five dollars and sends them out the door. Then Gillis, Honeybee, and Peg all return from talking to Egbert and finding out that Judy is a boat, and the whole secret between Junior and Egbert was that they were buying a boat. Riley then feels dumb that he sent Junior and Janet out to get married, and when Junior phones and tells Riley he is at the Justice of the Peace in Santa Monica, Riley faints. Junior then tells his mother that they are at the drugstore next to the Justice of the Peace, and they had spent some time at the beach riding the rollercoasters, and now need Riley to give them a ride home. Peg guarantees Riley won’t be mad at the situation, and it will probably be one of the best days of his life. Later, the boys return with their boat destroyed, which only happened because Riley was with them and crashed it into the pier. 12/3/23
- 070. The Dog Watch – 10/15/1954
- Mr. Hawkins tells Riley that the plant owner Mr. Cunningham is going on a trip and wants to take along his dog Baron Maximillian (Flame) along, so he asks Riley to bold the dog cage into his station wagon. When Riley bolts it in, he winds up puncturing the gas tank, putting the car out of commission. Now that Cunningham will need to fly to his destination, he plans to board the dog. Riley, eager to get back on the good side of Cunningham, offers to watch the dog for a month while he is gone. Riley surprises his family by bringing home the dog, and then immediately gets to work putting up a fence outside to keep the dog in. Initially, the fence he builds isn’t high enough and Baron Maximillian jumps right over it. Riley then doubles his effort and builds it even taller so that the dog cannot jump over it. Cunningham then calls and tells Riley that his trip has been cancelled, so he asks Riley to bring the dog back home. When he goes out to retrieve him, he finds that the dog has dug under the fence and gotten out. Riley then goes to the dog pound to check with Mr. Bixby (William “Bill” Phillips) to see if they have any dogs that look like Baron Maximillian. The find one, but it turns out to be a female dog named Myrtle. Fortunately, they also have her twin brother Butch, so they take that dog over to Mr. Cunningham’s place. Before they leave, Riley’s family discusses with him how much they will miss the dog, and hope that maybe if Mr. Cunningham realizes how much the dog has taken a liking to them, he will let them keep the dog. In the meantime, Baron Maximillian has found his way back home to Mr. Cunningham’s house. When Riley realizes that there are now two dogs at the house, he admits to Mr. Cunningham what had actually happened. Riley ends up taking Butch back to his own house, where he has planted an additional fence five feet below the ground’s surface to keep the dog within the backyard fence. Olaf Hytten is Mr. Cunningham’s butler Roger. 4/17/24
SEASON 4
- 110. Love Comes to Waldo Binney – 10/7/1955
- While Chester is helping Junior repair his bicycle, Waldo stops over and tells Riley that he’s met a wonderful woman named Millicent (Stanja Lowe) on a bus and the two of them have fallen for each other. Meanwhile, Waldo’s sister Mrs. Lindsay (Nancy Kulp) stops by the Riley house looking for him because she was expecting him to babysit her son Drake (Butch Bernard aka Tom Nolan) while she goes out of town. Riley agrees to look after Drake until he can find Waldo, not knowing that the kid is a holy terror. Riley hands the kid off to Peg and Babs and then goes out to work again in the garage, where he finds Waldo hiding. He had been purposely avoiding his sister because he had a date with Millicent. Riley feels bad that it may cost Waldo his date so he tries to get Peg or Babs to babysit him. When they’re both busy, Riley agrees to watch Drake instead of going bowling… but Riley’s boss insists that he be there. Waldo has Riley call Millicent to explain why he can’t show up for the date, but he only gets out that Waldo can’t find a babysitter. Without hearing any further explanation, she hangs up on him. Calvin (George O’Hanlon) and Belle Dudley (Florence Sundstrom) stop by the Rileys, and Chester and Calvin go to see Waldo, finding him tied up by Drake when they arrive. Riley tries to strong-arm Drake into letting him out of his handcuffs, but Drake simply handcuffs Riley to a lamp. Calvin is able to befriend Drake, who gets him to unlock Riley and Waldo. While Calvin keeps Drake occupied, Chester and Waldo go to visit Millicent, but when they arrive, they are greeted by a parade of children coming out of her house. Realizing that he has dodged a bullet, they sullenly return home, and on the way, they encounter Calvin in the street handcuffed to the lamp. As Chester and Waldo mope over Waldo’s lost love, Drake brings Millicent to see him. Drake has explained that he is Waldo’s nephew, and she tells him that the children were neighbor kids who she was watching. Chester tries to make plans for all of them, but Drake has to explain to him that they want to be alone to just stare at each other. Riley tries to just stare at Peg, but she tells him to go shave and put drops in his eyes. 3/5/23
SEASON 5
- 171. A Young Man’s Fancy – 3/8/1957
- Junior has started dating a girl visiting from named Dallas named Joan Shea (Jacklynn O’Donnell), whose father Henry Shea is the vice-president of Cunningham Aircraft and in charge of the Dallas division. Junior wants to keep it from his father so that he doesn’t blow it for him. Riley becomes concerned about Junior’s new girlfriend when he is secretive about her identity. When Junior leaves to go pick her up, Riley and Gillis follow him to a shop where Junior stops to pick up flowers for her. The salesgirl (Jackie Blanchard) tells him that she forgot to saver him the orchid he asked her to, then asks for a ride to her house, which is near the main store. When he agrees to help her out, Riley thinks that she is his date, despite being older than him. Riley tries to come up with a scheme to charm the girl away from Riley, but then Gillis reminds him that Peg won’t like it. Instead, he offers her $100 to stay away from Junior and she agrees. However, her much older boyfriend is also named Junior (Michael Ross), so she breaks it off with him. Joan and Junior continue to see each other, and Junor invites her over for dinner. Word gets around at the plant that Riley’s son is dating Henry Shea’s daughter, so Hawkins starts acting overly nice to Riley, who only learns the identity of the girl Junior is dating from Hawkins. Riley still thinks the girl at the flower shop is Joan Shea, so he goes to her and apologizes for paying her off and invites her over for dinner. Junior shows up with Jane, and Riley thinks she must be Junior’s rebound girl after he and Jane broke up. He and Gillis come up with a plan to make the new girl leave, by having Gillis call several times pretending he is different girls in order to drive her off. When the flower shop girl shows up, it is the last straw for Joan who then storms off. Once Riley realizes that on one is who he thinks they are, he gets Joan back to explain everything to her. Riley manages to do so while shifting most of the blame to Gillis. 10/26/22
- 172. Babs’s Dream House – 3/15/1957
- Babs and Tom (Martin Milner) decide to buy a lot in the area and build a house on it, with the help of the famous retired architect Clarence Nesbitt White (Taylor Holmes), who is doing the work for next-to-nothing just to help out the kids. Babs tells this to her mother in confidence because she doesn’t want her father to know about it and then upset Mr. White. Eventually the word spreads through the family and to the Gillises upstairs who can hear through a hole in their floor. When Riley realizes they are keeping something from him, he forces them to tell him the secret, but they tell him that they’re planning his surprise birthday party… for eight months from now. Riley finally finds out the truth of the matter when Otto Schmidlap opens his mouth at work. Riley is furious and has his feelings hurt when he realizes how many people had known about it when he didn’t. He especially is furious when Tommy the paperboy knows about it. Peg feels horrible and advises Babs that she and Tom should come over with the blueprints and bring the architect so that Riley doesn’t feel so left out. They reluctantly do just that, and although Riley is warned not to say anything negative, he does make a comment about them eventually moving out of the hosue. This sets off Mr. White who storms out of the house and refuses to design it. Looking for a way to get back in White’s good graces, Riley tries calling him but White hangs up in his ear. He then sends Otto over to see Mr. White and tell him that he just inherited 100 million dollars and that he wants Mr. White’s services to build a skyscraper. He tells him that it was Chester Riley who recommended him, which impresses Mr. White. He not only agrees to help Babs and Tom again, but he agrees to build the skyscraper for Otto when he mentions that he’d like to have it modeled after the Egyptian pyramids. Riley and Gillis then bust in on them to tell Otto that he has ‘lost’ his fortune. Riley then talks to White about the model of the house and Mr. White points out how it could be easily added on to. Riley believes this is not only for kids, but for Peg and himself to move in as well. He winds up adding other rooms in the house for him like a den and a workshop, and then he has Whtie come over to surprise the kids. They are mortified when they realize that Riley thinks he is moving in. When Riley hears that it will cost him an additional $25 thousand for his additions, and then gets read the riot act by Peg for the suggestion of them moving in, Riley helps find a way to trim off the new additions… by using a pair of scissors. 3/6/23
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