Heir to an Estate with Oil Wells

Originally aired December 27, 1937, this episode kicks off with a surprising Christmas gift: Fibber McGee receives word that he’s inherited part of his late Uncle Zeke McGee’s estate in Julepville, Kentucky. Eager to claim his legacy, Fibber heads south with Silly Watson in tow, dreaming of grand plantations, horse breeding, and genteel Southern living. But the dream quickly derails. After escaping a train fire sparked by a local feud (and serenaded by the musical tale of the Martins and the Coys), Fibber discovers the "estate" is a dilapidated shack—and the water wells are bone dry, yielding only useless black sludge. Or is it? As suspicions rise that this “black greasy stuff” might be oil, Fibber gears up to build “McGeeville”—a Southern paradise of mansions, swimming pools, and political ambition. But just as his hopes peak, the family sells off the land—for a pittance—because the oil “spoils the liquor.” With quick-witted banter, musical numbers, feuding mountain folk, and Johnson’s Wax ads aplenty, this remastered episode of Fibber McGee & Molly delivers a Southern-fried comedy of errors that’s rich in laughs, if not oil.