“Ricky’s Life Story”

(S3;E1 ~ October 5, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed May 15, 1953 at General Service Studios.  Rating: 62.6/85

Synopsis ~ Life Magazine does a story on Ricky, but Lucy’s not in it so she schemes to upstage Ricky during his big number at the club.

This episode was filmed at the end of the season 2 and supposed to air on June 15, 1953, but was pre-empted for the “Ford 50th Anniversary Show” on CBS and NBC.  The episode was then saved to be the premiere of season 3. It was the 65th episode filmed, but aired 67th.

The title is a pun on the word “Life” as the name of a popular American magazine.

Life Magazine was published weekly until 1972, as an intermittent special until 1978, and as a monthly again from 1978 to 2000. Life was a wide-ranging general interest magazine known for its photography. Founded in 1883, it was acquired by Time Magazine in 1936, forming the Time-Life Corporation. Although no longer in publication, the name is still used by Time.

In this episode, both Lucy and Ethel wear outfits that are repeated many times. Lucy’s polka-dot print and Ethel’s arrow-collar house dress.

Magazines were the internet of the 20th century. They graced coffee tables on nearly all episodes of “I Love Lucy” and were frequently involved in the plot, as in this episode.  In return for favorable and frequent coverage by magazines, Lucy and Desi would thank them by using their publications on air.

If the plot of this episode seems familiar, Lucy ended up on the cover of Look Magazine (a similar publication) in “Men Are Messy” (S1;E8).

On April 6, 1953, Lucy and Desi had been featured on the cover of Life, so they returned the favor and featured the magazine in this episode.

RICKY: “We got more pages than the two-headed alligator!”

The issue used on camera was dated May 11, 1953. The show was filmed just four days after it hit the stands. The cover featured model Gloria Barnes for an article “Denim Gets Dressy.” The issue also includes an article titled “A Look at the Future of Color Reception” that optimistically predicts that color compatible TV sets will probably be available by the end of 1954! The first time CBS TV viewers saw Lucy’s red hair on her own show was in the fall of 1965!

The back cover of the magazine on camera was altered because it originally had an advertisement for Lucky Strike, one of the main competitors of Philip Morris, the show’s main sponsor. During their sponsorship, script writers were even discouraged from using the word “lucky” in dialogue!

“Life Visits an Orchestra Leader at Home”

Oops! The prop man who made the fake Life article forgot to change the subtitle of the original he used as a template. It incongruously says that Ricky Ricardo is a “pleasing and graceful type.” 

The photo of Lucy (“That’s a fine picture of my left arm!”) may actually be of Lucille Ball because the monogram on the blouse are the initials ‘LB’ (although it could be ‘LR’ as the lower part of the ‘B’ is blocked by the baby!). It could also be another person wearing Lucy’s blouse.

The episode opens with Lucy feeding Little Ricky and asking him to take a few steps, which (with Lucy’s help) he tries to do – greeted by assorted “ooohs” and “aahs” from the studio audience. This scene was usually cut in syndication as it contributes nothing to the plot, except to introduce the ‘new’ Little Ricky.

This is the first time Little Ricky was played by the Mayer twins, Joseph and Michael, instead of the Simmons twins. The Mayer twins will continue in the role until the end of season five.

Oops! When Fred comes up to visit Ricky, he calls it LIFE’S Magazine. Then he makes himself comfortable by putting his foot up on the Ricardo sofa!  Manners, Fred!

The rest of the episode (not surprisingly) involves Lucy wanting to get into Ricky’s act.

He decides to hire her, and then over-rehearses her to the point of exhaustion so that she quits.

Louis A. Nicoletti, a long-time member of the Desilu company and frequent extra, plays the Dance Coach who reminds Ricky he still need a girl to sit in the balcony with a rose in her teeth while he sings.

When Lucy gets home she finds the Mertzes babysitting for Little Ricky. Mrs. Trumbull is off visiting her sister.  Mrs. Trumbull’s sister (a character we never meet) will also be mentioned when the Mertzes move to Connecticut in season 6. She manages the apartment house for Fred and Ethel.

Fred spills the beans about Ricky’s plan to make Lucy regret wanting to be in the show, but naturally, Lucy has a scheme to upstage Ricky at his own game.

The performance at the Tropicana begins with a close-up of Nancy the harpist, allowing her a rare moment of attention center stage.

“Lady of Spain,” a popular song written in 1931 by Tolchard Evans with lyrics by Erell Reaves (pseudonyms of Stanley J. Damerell and Robert Hargreaves). While Ricky performs, Lucy does magic tricks behind him, making him believe her applause is for his singing.

After “Lady of Spain”, Ricky launches into “The Loveliest Night of the Year.”  Although the music was first written in 1888, it was adapted for the movie The Great Caruso and sung by Mario Lanza in 1950. It became one of the most popular songs of 1951 reaching #3 on the Billboard charts.

The instrumental version of the song is often associated with magicians and with flying trapeze acts. Here Lucy does a bit of both.

She is assisted by former vaudevillian Fred, who is in the fly space above hoisting her up on wires. This shot was done in the real Desilu soundstage catwalks. Naturally, William Frawley was not actually in control of Lucille Ball’s fate during the stunt!

When Ricky discovers what she’s been up to, he plays “Babalu” on her posterior while she is suspended in mid-air!

Editing Mistake! An American flag between the double doors on the balcony  suddenly appears half-way through Ricky’s act. After the paso dobles verse of “Lady of Spain,” there is a cut in the film before Ricky starts singing “The Loveliest Night of the Year.” It is likely that the flag was used by Lucy in another stunt, but that it was cut – either for time or a technical glitch. The rest of the episode is rather aimlessly paced and if the episode was running long, the scene between Lucy and Little Ricky might have been easily shortened.

FAST FORWARD

The final sequence is very reminiscent of “Ethel’s Home Town” (S4;E15), when the gang upstage Ethel as she sings “Shortnin’ Bread” and “My Hero.”

Lucy was up on wires again when she played the Wicked Witch in “Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (S6;E10).

In “Danny Thomas’ World of Burlesque” (1965), Lucille Ball performs “The Butterfly Ballet” suspended on a wire above the stage and over the auditorium. For this act, Peter Foy, of the famous Foy Family (who did flying on Broadway for Peter Pan and other shows) were brought in to supply rigging and supervise.

Copies of this issue of LIFE must have been stored in the Desilu props closet because it showed up again, two years later, in “The Great Train Robbery” (S5;E3). Lucy claims to have just bought the magazines at the newsstand on the platform.

LIFE Magazine featured a photo of Lucy as Chaplin in the November 30, 1962 issue, a month before “Chris’s New Year’s Eve Party” (TLS S1;E14) first aired. This photo was later the cover photo of a special issue of LIFE called “Classic Faces”.