"You're a haaaard man, McGee" was Harold Peary's inevitable retort as Gildersleeve. McGee and Gildersleeve lambasted each other throughout Marian's long absence, the Gildersleeve character coming to full prominence during that time. They snarled and bickered, borrowed tools and forgot who owned them, fought it out with hoses while watering their lawns. In August 1941 The Great Gildersleeve became the first major series to spin out of another program; Peary and Gildersleeve left Wistful Vista for the town of Summerfield, where Gildersleeve would become the water commissioner and raise his niece and nephew."