''Life with Luigi'' is an American radio situation comedy series which began September 21, 1948, on CBS Radio and broadcast its final episode on March 3, 1953. The action centered on Luigi Basco and his experiences as a newly arrived Italian immigrant in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Many episodes took place at the night school classes that Luigi attended with other immigrants from different countries. Another common theme involved Luigi's landlord/sponsor, Pasquale, scheming to get Luigi to marry his obese daughter. Perennial character actor and two-time Academy Award nominee J. Carrol Naish played Luigi. ''Life with Luigi'' was created by Cy Howard, who had earlier created the hit radio comedy, ''

My Friend Irma ''My Friend Irma'' is a media franchise that was spawned by a top-rated, long-running radio situation comedy created by writer-director-producer Cy Howard. The radio show was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated the films, ...

''. The working title was ''The Little Immigrant'', echoed in the sign-off of each episode, "Your lovin-a son-a, Luigi Basco, the li'l immigrant." Other characters on the show included Pasquale (

Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...

), another Italian immigrant who is always trying to trap Luigi into marrying his daughter Rosa (

Jody Gilbert Jody Gilbert (March 18, 1916 – February 3, 1979) was an American actress. Biography Gilbert was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She studied voice and acting at Columbia University, and was a graduate of Pasadena Playhouse. One of her first notabl ...

); native Chicagoan Jimmy ( Gil Stratton), Luigi's young business associate; Miss Spaulding (Mary Shipp), Luigi's night school teacher and ideal woman; and Schultz (

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), a German immigrant and fellow student in Luigi's citizenship class. Each episode used the framing device of Luigi narrating a letter to his mother back in Italy. The show was popular, successfully competing with

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's ''

The Pepsodent Show ''The Pepsodent Show'' is an American radio comedy program broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio. The program starred comedian Bob Hope and his sidekick Jerry Colonna along with Blanche Stewart and Elvia Allman as high-society crazies Brenda ...

''. For most of its run, ''Life with Luigi'' aired at 9 pm on Tuesdays. Despite an estimated 30% share of the audience in its timeslot, the show was without a sponsor until Wrigley's Gum bought it in 1950, continuing till the show ended in 1953.

TV version

A live CBS Television version aired beginning on September 22, 1952, but was short-lived. Naish, Reed, Gilbert, and Shipp all portrayed their radio characters on the television show. Originating at KNXT in Hollywood, the program was sponsored by I nstant Maxwell House Coffee. Mac Benoff produced and

Norman Tokar Norman Tokar (November 25, 1919 – April 6, 1979) was an American director, actor and occasionally writer and producer of serial television and feature films, who directed many of the early episodes of '' Leave it to Beaver'', and found his g ...

directed. Benoff and Lou Derman were the writers, and

Lud Gluskin Ludwig Elias "Lud" GluskinState of New York Certificate and Record of Birth, January 4, 1899. (December 16, 1898 – October 13, 1989) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.Donnelly, K.J. and Philip Hayward (2012''Music in Science Fiction ...

directed the music. Although it enjoyed high ratings, the show was pulled because of pressure from the Italian-American community. CBS tried to respond to advertisers' concerns by tinkering with the characters, the writing, and replacing Naish, Reed and Gilbert with

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...

Thomas Gomez Thomas Gomez (July 10, 1905 – June 18, 1971) was an American actor. Life and career Born Sabino Tomás Gómez, Jr., in New York City, Gomez began his acting career in theater in 1923, studying under actor Walter Hampden in a production of Cy ...

, and Muriel Landers respectively, but the revised show was unsuccessful and was cancelled within weeks.

References

External links

"Citizenship"
1951 ''Life with Luigi'' TV episode, at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*{{IMDb title, 0044274 1940s American radio programs American comedy radio programs American radio dramas CBS Radio programs Radio programs adapted into television shows 1952 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings American live television series CBS original programming 1950s American sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Television series based on radio series Works about immigration to the United States