Prom Dress

Babs (Gloria Winters) hasn't been asked to the high school dance. Peg (Rosemary DeCamp) blames Riley (Jackie Gleason) for being too overprotective and running her boyfriends off. Babs is given a hard time by her snooty, holier-than-thou classmate Helene (Pattie Chapman). Riley comes home to announce that he's gotten a date for Babs- the well-off Jefferson Warwick (Western character actor Steve Clark) who drives up in a Cadillac. Helene changes the dance to formal, a reason the Rileys suspect is because Babs doesn't have a formal gown. Riley tries to call and borrow money from friends who turn him down. His neighbor Waldo (Bobby Jellison) suggests he trades his bowling ball for a like-new, second-hand formal dress from the economy swap shop. Riley brings it home to an excited Babs, but can't find a way to tell her it's second-hand. All appears lost when the truth about the dress takes an unexpected turn for the Rileys. A series of twists makes for a feel-good ending.

This is the second sweet Riley episode in a row! In this episode, Babs is upset because she doesn't had a date to her school dance, the reason being because Riley chases off any boy who tires to date her. Riley meets a nice, young man when he helps him change a tire and invites him to be Babs date.

Babs has a nasty "friend" who is rich and flaunts her looks and money around. She does everything she can to keep Babs from going to the dance with the nice guy, Mike. When the dance become formal, her father does what he has to do to make sure Babs gets to that dance.

The guy, Mike, is a sweetheart. But half-way through you wonder if he really is what he seems. I think this is one of my favorite Riley episodes.

Missing from this episode is Gillis and Junior.