“The Girls Want To Go To a Nightclub”

(S1;E1 ~ October 15, 1951) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed September 15, 1951 at General Services Studio.

Rating: 38.7/56

Synopsis ~ It is the Mertz’s wedding anniversary and Ethel wants to celebrate by going to the Copacabana, while Fred wants to attend the fights. Ethel and Lucy tell Fred and Ricky that they’ll just go nightclubbing without them – with dates!  When Ricky and Fred say they will also get dates, Lucy decides that she and Ethel will disguise themselves as country bumpkins to teach them a lesson. 

The was the second episode filmed but the first to be aired. CBS and sponsor Philip Morris felt that it was more entertaining due to the antics in the hillbilly scene. The first episode filmed was “Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her” which aired fourth. The switch in broadcast order was not due to technical difficulties, as has been often reported. 

“I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS in the timeslot that had been occupied by bandleader Horace Heidt’s “Original Youth Opportunity Show” sponsored by Philip Morris. 

“I Love Lucy” faced competition from the Top Ten ranked “Lights Out” on NBC.

The lead-in show for “I Love Lucy” was “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.”  The series had finished eighth in the ratings last season, and would finish first (two notches above “I Love Lucy”) in this one. In fact, Godfrey actually advised viewers to stay tuned for the new redhead on the TV block. After Godfrey fell out of favor with TV audiences, Lucille Ball offered him a guest spot on a 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.” 

The night the episode aired, the cast and crew gathered at the home of director Marc Daniels to watch together. 

"We invited everyone to watch the show at our house at the end of Laurel Canyon in Horseshoe Canyon where we had just moved. I remember because I made dinner and had the plates in the oven to keep them warm. While we were watching the show, I forgot all about them, so when it was over we had to wait another ten or fifteen minutes for them to cool off before we could eat. When we finished, it was eleven o’clock. The only one who was laughing was Phil Ober because he hadn’t seen it. And he had this deep baritone laugh like ‘HO HO HO.’  But the rest of us just sat there emotionless staring at the set.”

The series’ live commercial featured actor John Stevenson speaking live from the Ricardo living room:

“In a moment we’ll look in on Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, but before we do may I ask a very personal question?  The question is simply this – Do you inhale?  Well, I do.  And chances are you do, too.  And because you inhale, you’re better off – much better off – smoking Philip Morris… And now, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy.”

Ironically, some Southern California viewers had trouble seeing this first episode (except for the live commercials) due to technical problems at the local CBS affiliate, KTSL.

“The laughs were there and plentiful but not quite so raucous as the audience made them out to be… The writing and plotting should be more inventive and less contrived for the sake of laughs.“ ~ Daily Variety

“The new Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz show establishes film’s secure place in video sweepstakes–when introduced into the medium under such handsome and professional auspices as applies to Lucy.  For here is a film that has all the Grade A qualities of major studio production, achieving a depth and visual values that pertain to theatre presentation, yet encompassing showmanship, for which much credit belongs to Karl Freund on the camera masterminding and Marc Daniels on the direction.” ~ Weekly Variety

Lucy’s line “Ever since we said, ‘I do’ there are so many things we don’t” was considered by producer Jess Oppenheimer to be the funniest line of the entire series. 

Lucy and Desi made their TV Guide cover debut in the October 12, 1951 (pre-national) issue. In October 1951, Lucille Ball, an established film and radio performer, was a “new” TV star. She would go on to grace the cover of the very first National Edition of TV Guide, and 38 others, more than anyone else. This cover also depicts Abbott and Costello, Danny Thomas, Bob Hope, and Desi Arnaz. Like Lucille, they were all moving their successful radio, nightclub, and film work to the small screen in the hopes of success. 

The very first image the television audience will have of Lucy and Ethel is of them doing dishes, establishing them as typical American housewives. It was important that Lucy not be thought of as a movie star or a celebrity (which she was) for the series to work.  

Ethel wears a house dress with a criss-cross collar that she will be seen many times during the first few seasons. Repeating wardrobe items gave the series a continuity and reality. 

ETHEL (drying): “You missed a spot.”
LUCY (washing): “That’s the design. Flowers against a background of… gravy.” 

Oops!  Lucy’s Franciscan Ivy dishware has no flowers on it, just a green ivy pattern. 

A year later, with the series established, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz did a photo shoot at home with her still doing dishes, while Desi watches!  

Even the “I Love Lucy” comic books dealt with the subject of ‘washing up’.  

In “Pioneer Women” (S1;E25) Lucy figures that in a decade of marriage she’s washed 219,000 dishes!  Eight years later, when “Lucy Wants A Career,” she  calculates that she’s prepared 19,710 meals in eighteen years of marriage.

In “Equal Rights” (S3;E4), Lucy and Ethel must put their dish washing skills to the test to pay their share of the bill at a restaurant. 

In this episode, we learn that Fred and Ethel have been married 18 years, although the original script it was 24 years. It will be changed to 25 years in season 2. 

ETHEL: “It’s my 18th wedding anniversary.”
LUCY: “Oh? You and Fred?”
ETHEL: “No, me and Gregory Peck.”

This makes actor Gregory Peck the first celebrity mentioned on “I Love Lucy.”  He will also be mentioned in “The Young Fans” (S1;E20) and “Hollywood at Last!” (S4;E16). Although Peck never acted opposite Lucille Ball, the pair appeared together on several award shows, tributes, and variety programs.

With the main sponsor cigarette maker Philip Morris, it doesn’t take long for a ‘bit’ to be made out of cigarette smoking. In this case, even Fred and Ethel light up, something that rarely happened on the series. Lucy and Desi were avid smokers off-screen, while Bill Frawley and Vivian Vance were not. 

Handsome young Desi Arnaz looks exceptionally dashing in this specially lit camera shot by cinematographer ‘Papa’ Freund. These portrait shots were scattered throughout season one, but were discontinued as time consuming and expensive. 

Boxing, a typically masculine sport, was as important in making handsome performer Desi Arnaz into a down-to-earth American husband as doing dishes was in making Lucille Ball into a housewife. Throughout the series, Ricky and Fred are fight fans, with Fred even said to be a Golden Gloves winner!  Adding to the macho tropes, Fred wants to precede the fights with a visit to Charlie’s Steakhouse.

Oops! Twice within a few minutes, the camera equipment can be briefly glimpsed on the right side of the screen. 

To find ‘dates’ Lucy breaks out her 11 year-old phone directory and starts with the ‘A’s’ – George Anderson, BUtterfield 8-9970. The ‘BUtterfield’ telephone exchange was located on the upper East Side of Manhattan. A 1935 novel titled BUtterfield 8 by John O’Hara was adapted into a 1960 film that won Elizabeth Taylor an Oscar. 

As the camera zooms in on Ethel staring wide-eyed at Lucy’s little black book, a cross fade slowly transforms Ethel into Fred, who is in his apartment drinking beer from a Pilsner glass.  This is another example of Karl Freund’s skill.  

This is the first time America sees the Mertz apartment. Ricky tells Fred that he burned his address book when he was first married because Lucy told him it was part of the American marriage ritual.

Instead, he phones now-married Ginny Jones, who knows every showgirl in town.

Another cross fade takes us between Ricky on the phone at the Mertzs’ and Lucy on the phone in her apartment. She is finishing a call to a guy named Paul Wagner, who now has seven children. The only three entries left in the book are Excelsior Cleaners, Yum Yum Market, and Sam Zabaglione (”Nobody’d marry him”).  A subtle joke: Lucy has apparently listed the Excelsior Cleaners under ‘X’ instead of ‘E’.  Sam’s telephone number is PL5-2099.  While Lucy dials Sam, Ethel turns back a page and asks about Howard Thompson. Lucy says Howard is busy Monday night babysitting with his grandson!  Notice that the anniversary is on MONDAY night, a night that will become synonymous with “I Love Lucy” and all of Lucille Ball’s sitcoms for the next 45 years! Sam’s little girl answers the phone which effectively puts and end to the A to Z hunt for old boyfriends! 

Coincidentally, Lucy also gets the idea to call Ginny Jones, who she claims knows every man in town. Two classic gags are born here:

ETHEL: “Who are you calling?  Who? Who? Who?”
LUCY: “Quiet. You sound like an owl.”

and

LUCY (on telephone): “They didn’t?  They did? They did! They didn’t!” 
ETHEL: “Well did they or didn’t they?”

Ginny (a character we never see or hear about again) works at the Starlight Roof, which is located on the 19th floor of the iconic Waldorf Astoria, where Lucy will stay as the Maharincess of Franistan in “The Publicity Agent” (S1;E31) and Lucy’s school chum Cynthia Harcourt will set up digs while canvassing for funds in “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23). From the hotel’s opening in 1931 until well into the 1950s, the 6,000-square-foot Art Deco Starlight Roof was the talk of the town and reigned as the nightclub where the see-and-be-seen spent their evenings.

The girls, however, have their hearts set on the Copacabana, which opened in 1940 at 10 East 60th Street. The Copacabana had Brazilian decor and Latin-themed orchestras, although the menu featured Chinese food. The club was also known for its chorus line of Copacabana Girls, who had pink hair and elaborate sequined costumes, mink panties and brassieres, and fruited turbans, not unlike the one Lucy wears in “Be A Pal” (S1;E2). The Copa will be mentioned again in a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show.” 

In hillbilly mode, Lucy calls herself Euncie and Ethel is Ma.  Ma carries an oversized umbrella and Euncie carries a moonshine jug. 

Oops! In the above promo photo the sofa has been put up on blocks. The spike marks on the set floor are also visible. 

“Guadalajara” is the first song Ricky sings in the series, accompanying himself on guitar. It is a well-known mariachi song written by Pepe Guízar in 1937 in honor of his hometown in Mexico. It is considered the mother of all ‘ranchera musica’ and its refrain “Ay ay ay” is an expression of exasperation that Ricky Ricardo will say repeat many times throughout the series. Fred joins in on the chorus. Ethel (”Ma”) screeches out the final note. 

Interestingly, in the syndicated version, after Ricky and Fred unmask their wives, before the epilogue, the heart logo appears. This was probably a live commercial break during the original telecast. 

The closing scene, set at a boxing match, was actually filmed in the “I Love Lucy” studio audience grandstand seats. The cameras simply turned around. Male background performers were likely members of the Desi Arnaz / Ricky Ricardo Orchestra. 

FAST FORWARD

During Lucille Ball’s maternity leave, this episode was rerun with a new opening showing Ricky and Fred watching the fights on TV. Ethel changes the channel causing them to miss the end of the boxing match. Ricky says he’ll go to the fights live next time, but Fred reminds him of how much Lucy and Ethel hate it – which leads into the flashback.

Lucille Ball revisited Euncie in a 1967 episode of “The Lucy Show” featuring Tennessee Ernie Ford.