MY FAVORITE HUSBAND ~ Season 1, Part 2 (Cooper)

January 7, 1949 – July 1, 1949

“My Favorite Husband” ~ Season one aired on CBS Radio from July 5, 1948 to July 1, 1949.  There were 51 half hour episodes.  Starting in January 1949, the characters would have their last name changed to Cugat, the character of Cory Cartwright would was phased out, Gale Gordon and Bea Benadaret became regulars as the Atterburys, and the main sponsor became Jell-O.

Regular Cast: Lucille Ball as Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Cooper, Richard Denning as George Cooper, Ruth Perrott as Katie the Maid, Gale Gordon as Rudoph Atterbury, Bea Benadaret as Iris Atterbury, and Bob LeMond, Announcer.  

Season 1 (Part Two) Guest Cast: Frank Nelson (11 episodes), Hans Conried (9 episodes),

Florence Halop (3 episodes), Jerry Hausner (2 episodes), Gerald Mohr (2 episodes), Alan Reed (2 episodes), Doris Singleton (2 episodes), Joe Kearns, Jack Edwards, Jean Vander Pyl, William Johnston, Verna Felton, GeGe Pearson, Pinto Colvig, Steve Allen, Elvia Allman, Gloria Blondell, John Heistand, John Heistand, Parley Baer, Peter Leeds, Shirley Mitchell, Wally Maher, Shirley Mitchell, Johnny McGovern, Ted DeCorsia, Milton Stark, and Mary Lansing.

To Experience the Full Episode Blogs – for both “My Favorite Husband” and “I Love Lucy” – simply click on the hyperlinked (underlined) text.

* = Episodes not available for preview or considered lost.

“Over Budget – Beans” (aka “Beans for Three Weeks”) ~ January 7, 1949 

Synopsis ~ Liz goes over her budget again by buying six cases of beans that were on special so George cuts off her allowance. Soon they’re eating nothing but beans, and the electricity and telephone have been disconnected!

”Piano & Violin Lessons” 

(aka “Professor Krausmeyer’s Talent Scouts”)

~ January 14, 1949

Synopsis ~ Liz takes up the piano to win a radio talent contest. To get even, George starts playing the violin. Who will win?

“The Marriage License Error” (aka “Marriage License”) ~ January 21, 1949

Synopsis ~ Liz and George find their marriage license and discover that instead of “George H. Cooper,” it says “George C. Hooper.” Now Liz is convinced that she and George aren’t legally married!

• Portions served as the basis for The “I Love Lucy” episode “The Marriage License” 

“The Absolute Truth” ~ January 28, 1949

Synopsis ~ Liz and George bet each other that they can each go for 24 hours without telling a lie. Even a little white one.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Tells the Truth” 

“Speech for Civic Organization” (aka “Liz Debates Alaska in Town Forum”) ~ February 4, 1949 

Synopsis ~ Liz, anxious to win the approval of an important dinner guest, simply agrees with everything he says. The guest is so impressed with her intelligence that he invites her to be a speaker at his next civic forum.

“Valentine’s Day” (aka “Valentine’s Day Mischief”) ~ February 11, 1949 

Synopsis ~ Katie, the Maid, is sweet on Mr. Dabney, the butcher, and Liz offers to help. But when Liz’s Valentine to George gets switched with her check to pay the butcher’s bill, Mr. Dabney gets the wrong idea.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Plays Cupid” 

“Secretarial School” (aka “Liz Attends Claremont Business School”) ~ February 18, 1949

Synopsis ~ George needs a new secretary, so Liz enrolls in secretarial school so she can fill the position.

“Absentmindedness” (aka “Liz’s Absent-mindedness”) ~ February 25, 1949 

Synopsis ~ Liz goes to see a doctor about her absentmindedness, and then reports her car to be stolen when she forgets that George dropped her off at the doctor! Liz takes a memory course. It works in reverse and she ends up with amnesia and George finds himself in jail.

*“Mother-In-Law” ~ March 5, 1949

Synopsis ~ George’s mother comes to visit. Liz hopes to drive her out by spreading ragweed and other allergy-inducing plants around the house, but her plan backfires when George’s mother starts dating her allergist.

• Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet, do not play the Atterburys in this program. Bea Benaderet plays George’s mother, and Gale Gordon plays George’s mother’s boyfriend.

“Charity Revue” (aka “Red Cross Benefit Revue”) ~ March 11, 1949

Synopsis ~ Mr. Atterbury asks George to work up a song and dance routine for the local Red Cross Charity Review. At the same time Liz’s women’s club recruits her to perform.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Benefit” 

*”Giveaway Program” (aka “The Johnny Odell Program”) ~ March 18, 1949

Synopsis ~ Liz never misses her favorite giveaway radio program, “Ring the Bell With Johnny O’Dell.” She’s convinced that she’s going to get called on the phone and win the grand prize.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Redecorating”

*”Old Jokes and Old Stories” ~ March 25, 1949

Synopsis ~ Liz keeps stepping on George’s punch lines during an evening with the Atterburys. George finally puts his foot down, and Liz promises from then on to obey his every command. Things are going fine until George somehow gets the mistaken idea that Liz is so upset with this news that she is planning to run off with the Atterburys’ chauffer.

“April Fool’s Day” ~ April 1, 1949 

Synopsis ~ As an April Fool’s joke, Liz plans to plant a lipstick-smeared handkerchief in George’s coat pocket.

“Gum Machine” (aka “The Principal of the Thing” aka “Demand Your Rights”) ~  April 9, 1949 

Synopsis ~ George tells Liz that she needs to stand up for her rights and stop letting people push her around. So when Liz loses a penny in a broken gum machine, she vows to get her penny back no matter what the cost.

“Horseback Riding” (aka “Liz Takes Horseback Riding Lessons”) ~ April 15, 1949

Synopsis ~ George’s female co-chair for his horseback riding club’s upcoming weekend breakfast ride has Liz so jealous that she’s determined to overcome her fear of horses and learn to ride herself.

“Time Budgeting” (aka “George and His Trained Seals”) ~ April 22, 1949 

Synopsis ~ George is so fed up with Liz’s being late for everything that he puts her on a strict schedule.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy’s Schedule”

“Vacation Time” (aka “Trailer Vacation to Goosegrease Lake”) ~ April 29, 1949 

Synopsis ~ It’s vacation time, and Liz and George have decidedly different plans. He wants to go camping with a trailer he borrowed from a friend, while she’s set on a glamorous vacation at Moosehead Lodge.

• Partly inspired the premise of the “My Favorite Husband” episode “Liz Learns To Swim” 

“Overweight” (aka “The Five-Dollar-A-Pound Diet”) ~ May 6, 1949 

Synopsis ~ After viewing some old home movies, Liz and Iris decide to go on a diet.

• Some elements later used to create the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Diet”

“Anniversary Presents” (aka “Tenth Anniversary Presents”) ~ May 13, 1949 

Synopsis ~ George and Mr. Atterbury buy presents for their wives, and Iris’s present, a mink coat, is delivered to Liz’s house by mistake.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Fur Coat”

“Getting Old” (aka “Liz Is Feeling Her Age”) ~ May 20, 1949

Synopsis ~ Scanning her old high school yearbook, Liz decides she’s old, and everything George does to try to snap her out of it just makes things worse. George tries to convince Liz that she’s as glamourous as ever. His tactics misfire so George is forced to hire a psychiatrist.

• Partly inspired the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Inferiority Complex”

“Liz in the Hospital” (aka “Liz Goes To The Hospital”) ~ May 27, 1949 

Synopsis ~ The doctor pays a house call to see what’s wrong with George, and discovers that Liz needs to have her tonsils removed!

“Hair Dyed” (aka “Liz Gets Her Hair Dyed”) ~ June 10, 1949 

Synopsis ~  After George warning Liz about the dangers of idle gossip, Liz’s chatty and absent-minded hair stylist forgets what she’s doing and mistakenly dyes Liz’s hair black. Nobody recognizes Liz, so she decides to flirt with George to test his fidelity. Gossip about Liz and George spreads all over town.

• The first part was the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Gossip” and the second half inspired “The Black Wig”

“Television” (aka “George Ruins a Neighbor’s TV” aka “The Television Suit”) ~ June 17, 1949 

Synopsis ~ Liz and George’s visit to their next-door neighbors, the Stones, turns into a disaster when George tries to repair the Stones’ new television set by himself.

• Basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Courtroom” 

“Liz Changes Her Mind” ~ June 24, 1949 & September 30, 1950 (rerun)

Synopsis ~ When Liz has trouble making up her mind, George decides she must finish everything she starts.

• Basis for “I Love Lucy” “Lucy Changes Her Mind”

“Reminiscing” ~ July 1, 1949

Synopsis ~  Liz is working on her scrapbook, and she and George reminisce about when Liz learned to drive and got her license, when Liz signed an affidavit swearing never to interrupt George’s stories again, and when the butcher thought that Liz had a crush on him.