episodes of Fibber McGee and Molly

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Newspaper ad for the show
"The Johnson Wax Program with Fibber McGee and Molly" (the show's full spoonsored name) is one of the rare radio programs which has achieved a kind of immortality. Well after the series petered out in the mid-1950s, people still respond to the words "Fibber McGee's Closet," even if they've never heard the original.

Jim and Marion Jordan honed their comedy timing early on, first in small-town vaudeville, and later local Chicago programs like "Smackout." Fibber McGee and Molly also had to evolve -- a listen to the very first show from 1935 reveals an almost unrecognizable set of characterizations. It took a year or two for the couple to settle in Wistful Vista, and a few more years to bring out the supporting cast (like the Great Gildersleeve) and the recurring gags (the closet didn't appear until 1940) that would make it a weekly favorite.

Listeners today will find the show a time capsule, full of corny jokes, dated references, and as many now-obscure topical moments as any wartime Looney Tunes cartoon. But there are also genuine good feelings and a true sense of happiness in the episodes. The fact that one man, Don Quinn, singlehandedly wrote most of the episodes is a real achievement.


Click on a script title below to view it:

Mar 08 1937 100th Broadcast - Telegram to the Sponsor
Apr 18 1939 Molly Wants a Budget
Jun 06 1939 McGee the Wrestler
Mar 05 1940 Fibber's Closet
Apr 02 1940 Fibber is Housesitting
Nov 05 1940 Election Day
Jan 21 1941 Fibber Tries to Learn Piano
Jan 28 1941 Fibber Gets His Hand Caught in a Bottle
Apr 04 1941 Fibber Gets Stuck in Fresh Tar
Apr 15 1941 Fibber Needs Glasses
Apr 29 1941 Man in the Street
Oct 21 1941 Fall Housecleaning
Oct 28 1941 Fibber Meets a Racketeer
Feb 10 1942 Valentine Candy
Apr 07 1942 Scrap Collection
Apr 12 1942 Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Jun 08 1943 Fibber Has a Happy Face
Jun 22 1943 Camping at Dugan's Lake
Jan 04 1944 The Big Businessman
Dec 19 1944 Fibber Snoops for Presents in Closet
Mar 06 1945 50th Wedding Anniversary
Nov 06 1945 Making Fudge
Dec 18 1945 Fibber Paints a Christmas Tree White
Jan 01 1946 Tall Story Contest
Feb 19 1946 Fibber and Doc Dine Out
May 06 1947 Good Grammar
Mar 09 1948 Broken Card Table
Jan 18 1949 Money in a Shoebox
Feb 22 1949 Washington's Birthday
Mar 01 1949 The Abandoned Jalopy
Mar 28 1950 The Flying Saucer
Apr 04 1950 The Census Enumerator
Oct 03 1950 Fibber Has a Stomach Ache
May 29 1951 Bird's Nest in the Mailbox
Oct 05 1953 Hanging Aunt Sarah's Picture
Jun 16 1957 Fibber Paints a Dead Fly
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