It’s morning in the Burns house, George reads the paper with his feet on the table. The postman delivers the mail, and talks to Gracie about his wife. The lead article in the magazine he just dropped off is about the shortge of men. Three women to each man. Afraid she might lose George, Gracie goes out of her way to be nice to him. She talks to Bill Goodwin about her fears of losing George. Jimmy Cash sings, People Will Say We’re in Love.

To make sure there’s no competition, Gracie has the matrimonial bureau send over the two other women for George to choose from. To stack the table in her favor, she wants to screen the ladies to make sure they are less desirable than her.

First, she has to get rid of George for a little while. Of course, Gracie is never in danger of losing George, but comedy ensues in her quest to have peace of mind.

A reworking of the script from 39-10-00 Rush I Hereby Resign From…, this time with Russell resigning rather than Rush. ~Some of the clubs are very, very similar and some are completely different.

This episode pales in comparison to it’s predecessor; Russell is alright but he’s certainly no Rush.

Trivia:

* Russell mentions at least four of the club leaders (teachers?) and none of them correlate with the club leaders that Rush had. They are as follows:

* Public Library Younger Boys research Club – William Hinkert

* Kelsey Street Athletic Association – Harry Hontin

* Fellowship of Part-time Ushers – Franklin Block

* Fraternity of Football Fanatics – Elton Braddum

* The family comes up with four made-up names of clubs:

* Sewage Disposal Workers Semi-Classical Silver Cornet Band

* Chicago-Naulton Luxury Club

* Wednesday Afternoon Doll Baby Group

* Young People’s Singing Society

* When the telephone rings, Russell thinks “It might be the guy who calls for Fat (Jackson.”) He must be calling a lot in the missing episodes.

* Vic uses the nicknames of “Ashtray” and “Leroy” on Russell.

* Raymond Surrells seems to be (so far) Russell’s best friend.

–Another great post by Jimbo. As found at:

Cedric’s gay, and care-free, bachelor days are soon to be over. There has been no avoiding a marriage to Winifred Redfield. Lum and Abner escort the condemned man to the front of the chapel as the final details are arranged. The organist can’t make the event. Will Abner sing? Maybe if Cedric harmonizes. But the only song they know is, They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree.

Cedric stalls. What if his old gal, Clarabella is out there? She won’t go out with him anymore, if she sees him getting married to someone else.

Lum proceeds with the ceremonies, and with no organ, the bride marches without music. Standing at the altar… the vows are begun… then the lights go out! Cedric has been kidnapped!

And all that’s left is a note from the mysterious miss ‘W’.

As Abner takes orders over the phone, Lum reviews the poem that was discussed at the Golden Era Discussion Club meeting. It has an awful deep message… if he can ever find it. The pressing matter at hand though is Cedric’s rapidly approaching wedding. He is looking worse with worry as the big day approaches.

Cedric recounts how he did his best to act crazy, to get Winifred Redfield to break off the engagement. Did it have the intended affect on Charlie Redfield? Does he think Cedric is crazy? Crazy in love with his daughter, of course. He even conned Cedric into signing a marriage license.

Caleb Wehandt is fine with his son getting married. Love notes from the mysterious mis ‘W’ have dried up. Has Cedric learned anything from this experience? Besides not to trust Lum with his love life?

The meeting of the Golden Era Discussion Club takes place in grandpap’s house, and grandpa Masters is on hand, although he mostly naps quietly in a rocking chair. In dealing with his impending, and accidental proposal, Cedric is practicing being touched in the head. How has it been coming along?

When Ulysses S Quincey arrives, the meeting is called to order. OK… OK… The minutes from the previous meeting are read.

The topic is literature, and the absent professor Sloane recommends to discuss Willia m Wordsworth. The gents take turns reading poetry. Have they read enough to have a good, hot discussion of poetry?

Grandpap approves of it. Cedric is crazy over it. Grandpa Masters gets woke up for those meaningful words of Ulysses… OK.

After inadvertently proposing to an unknown woman over the phone, Cedric is buried deeper thanks to Lum’s help. We find that Charlie Redfield is so eager to marry off his daughter, he wants justice of the peace, Lum, to perform the ceremony this Thursday.

Cedric is so worried and jumpy, he is losing sleep, and could stand to lose his new job at the defense plant.

More love notes have been left for Cedric, from the mysterious ‘W’. With Lum helping, all Cedric fears is that he’ll be engaged to more girls. As a phone call comes in to arrange the next meeting of the Golden Era Discussion Club, Lum gets an idea.

Can Cedric act crazy… like he’s touched in the head… like he doesn’t know much? It could be hard for him. He never made it past the third reader, so he hasn’t learned how to do very much. Acting on more advice from Lum, and talking to another unknown caller, Cedric may have just escalated his wedding date to Winifred Redfield.

After overcoming his shyness on the telephone, Cedric proposed to Clarabelle. However, it really wasn’t her, and now he doesn’t know who he proposed to. Can Lum and Abner figure out who Cedric’s fiancee is? It wouldn’t be Clarabelle’s mom, would it? It’s not a very wonderful world any more for Cedric.

All Cedric has to go on is a love note he found, signed with the monogram, ‘W’. Abner brainstorms. Could it be Widow Abernathy? Winfred Redfield? She’s a buck toothed, big eater, who’s dad would love to off load her onto someone else.

Lum tries to help, and get Cedric off the hook with Charlie Redfield, but the hook has been set. Has Cedric just proposed, through proxy, to more than one woman?

In the Jot Em Down store and Library, Lum is on the phone to recount the new schedule of the social club he started. With the first meeting under their belt, everything is a roaring success for the Golden Era Discussion Club. Who knew there was so much high class in town? Maybe this will ignite a fire of social groups all across the land.

The memorable discussion was so memorable… nobody can remember what was discussed. Cedric suggests it was something about Beethoven. His mind is on his new job at the defense plant, and getting a new girl friend. Or at least in taking turns with Clarabelle, and Gomer Bates. I’m not sure shift work means girlfriends too.

Lum insists its time to make his move, and encourages Cedric to propose to Clarabella. Cedric is bashful, but even mores on the phone. I feel a mix up coming on. Cedric battles his backwardness. He says all the right words. What could go wrong?

Taking a break from reading the funny papers, Fibber reads an article on positive thinking, and being happy all the time. He laughs his way through the sales pitch of the girl selling magazines at the door. Will the positive attitude work to cheer up the Old Timer? He’s having woman troubles with his girlfriend Bessie. Billy Mills plays a peppy dance tune.

Fibber has his happiness challenged when Abigail Uppington arrives at the door. Fibber spreads his cheer, and even Harlowe Wilcox is down in the dumps. The pitch for the sponsor barely picks him up.

As Molly leaves the scene, Teeny pops in, but the tiny tot isn’t having any of Fibbers sweet talk. The Kingsmen sing, MacNamara’s Band.

Tired of seeing his sick patients, Doc Gamble pops in to get a dose of Fibber’s frivolity. Will the jaded doctor get a pick me up?

Who is Hefflefinger, and why can’t Fibber place the name that has been popping up through the show? It won’t ruin his mood will it?

After a Summer vacation, George and Gracie are back, and talk about how well the troops received George’s singing as they toured the bases. . The Happy Postman had a good Summer, tells about an award he won at the beach, and delivers fan mail. How does the postman’s voice hold up to that of Frank Sinatra’s? Tootsie Sagwell arrives to tell of her brush with Frank Sinatra. The only pitch that Bill Goodwin has is for the sponsor.

The singers for the orchestra sing, Victory Polka. Meanwhile, Gracie has headed to Frank’s house to tell him he’ll be out of a job. Thanks to the wonderful vocal talents of George. He doesn’t quite understand the bad news, so Gracie has to be blunt. Frankie is modest about his singing quality, but is willing to take on a singing duel with Sugarthroat Burns.

Back home, Gracie coaches George on his sex appeal. What impact will Tootsie have on Frank when he meets her? Let the contest begin! Frank sings, She’s Funny That Way. George counters with the same song. Will he get the same reactions, the same swooning, as Frankie? Besides Gracie, Bill Goodwin reacts… if you can call pitching the sponsor in between lines reacting. Frankie holds his own and comes back with, Sunday Monday Or Always. Has Frank won? It depends on how Gracie is affected by his performance.

Note: From the enthusiastic responses of the audience throughout the show, do you think they knew that Frankie would appear at some point?

Notable moment:

Gracie: George has ten times the sex appeal as Frank Sinatra.

Tootsie: For what sex?