Too Little to Live On

Originally Aired: December 26, 1947

Suspense #277, "Too Little to Live On," presents Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard in a dramatic departure from their usual comedy roles. Dave, a struggling dentist, and his wife Myra live in grinding poverty while caring for Dave's elderly, wheelchair-bound Uncle Ed. The couple endures constant humiliation and abuse from the cantankerous old man and his vicious dog Willie, clinging to the hope of inheriting Uncle Ed's $30,000 estate. Their precarious situation grows more desperate when Uncle Ed summons his lawyer, hinting at changes to his will and taunting them about leaving his fortune to an orphanage instead. As tensions escalate in their claustrophobic household, small incidents pile up into unbearable pressure.

The morning everything comes to a head begins ordinarily enough, but each petty cruelty and humiliation pushes Dave and Myra closer to the edge. When Uncle Ed berates Myra for accidentally breaking his glasses and threatens to withhold their inheritance over Dave's attempts to defend her, the couple faces a terrible choice. Their years of patient suffering may be for nothing, and desperate circumstances drive them toward contemplating the unthinkable—a solution that would end their torment permanently.