(S4;E23 ~ March 28, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed on February 17, 1955 at Ren Mar Studios. Rating: 51.2/68
Synopsis ~ When Lucy is asked to write an article for Photoplay about what it’s like being married to Ricky, she uses it to blackmail him to get to perform in a TV benefit for the Heart Fund.
To type her responses to the article’s questions, Lucy uses a Hermes Baby Typewriter. No doubt the compact model was on loan from the hotel!
The Heart Fund was a favorite charity of the Arnazes in real-life, too. During June 1956, they did a tag for an episode that reminded viewers that it was heart month and to support their local heart association.
The day this episode was first aired (March 28, 1955), Reba McEntire was born in McAlester, Oklahoma. Reba appeared with Lucille Ball on the 1988 “Bob Hope Birthday Special”, one of Lucy’s last TV appearances. In her 1995 special “Reba Live!” (above) Reba imagined doing a sitcom in the style of her favorite comedian, Lucille Ball. It is titled “I Love Flucy”.
In 2005, when TV Guide decided to eliminate their small-sized edition, Reba McEntire was asked to recreate their cover of Lucy stomping grapes from “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (S5;E23). In 2014, it was rumored that McEntire was in the running for an “I Love Lucy” reboot.
PhotoPlay was a fan film magazine first issued in 1911, the same year Lucille Ball was born. Its last issue was published in 1980. Ball was frequently mentioned in the publication and appeared on their cover in 1971, 1973, 1974, and March 1975.
In the 1938 film The Affairs of Annabel, Lucille ball played an actress who was featured on the cover of Photoplay!
Ricky anxiously watches over Lucy as she writes about him for Photoplay. He pretends to read the Hollywood Reporter.
Seeing Ricky on edge, Ethel comes to the rescue.
ETHEL: “Come on, Ricky. We’ll take you down to Wil Wright’s and buy you an ice cream soda. They’ve got 24 flavors, and I’ve only tasted 20.”
Lucille Ball was a big fan of Wil Wright’s Ice Cream, which is most likely why it was mentioned by gourmand Ethel. Virtually unknown on the East Coast, Wil Wright’s was a chain of old time ice cream parlors that dotted the West Coast until going out of business in the mid-1970s. Their rich recipe and variety of flavors made them a favorite of stars like Lucy and Marilyn Monroe – sort of the Baskin-Robbins of their day.
The scenes of the benefit television show (“Coast-to-Coast” for the Heart Fund), hosted by Ricky and featuring Lucy in the bullfight number of the episode’s title, are introduced with an establishing shot of the newly-opened CBS Television City building at 7800 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Although “I Love Lucy” was one of CBS’s strongest shows, Desilu was already happily ensconced at Ren Mar Studios. Lucy, Desi, Bill and Vivian did, however, participate in “Stars in the Eye,” the CBS special celebrating the grand opening.
To show off her musical prowess, Lucy briefly belts out “Let Me Go, Lover!”, a popular song, was written by Jenny Lou Carson and Al Hill, a pseudonym used by Fred Wise, Kathleen Twomey, and Ben Weisman. It was featured on the television program Studio One on November 15, 1954, a half hour after “Ricky’s Screen Test” (S4;E7). It was originally sung by Joan Webber, whose version hit number one, but it was also covered by Theresa Brewer and Patti Paige.
“Dear Old Donegal” is a traditional Irish folk song popularized by Bing Crosby and written by Steve Graham. The sequence with Fred and Ethel performing this song on the Heart Fund show (in full Irish regalia) is often cut in syndication, along with their brief rehearsal of the song earlier in the episode.
“Humoresques” is a piano composition by Antonín Dvořák written in 1894. It is one of the most famous piano pieces ever, although the lyrics used here were written much later. It is sung in counterpoint with “Old Folks at Home” (aka “Swanee River”) a minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. Ricky decides Lucy can’t handle the complexity of the piece and decides to put her in a bull costume while he sings “Fernando the Matador,” which seems to be an original song written for the show, perhaps by Elliott Daniel.
Roy Kellogg had played the assistant director (“Roll ‘em!!!”) in “Ricky’s Screen Test” (S4;E6) and returns here as the prop man in charge of the bull costume. Kellogg would return to Desilu for seven episodes of “The Lucy Show” and two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Of those nine appearances, he played a policeman in six of them!
Ross Elliott is back as the Publicity Agent, reprising his role from “Don Juan and the Starlets” (S4;E17). This time, however, he is listed as playing himself. Although using his own name for the character, Elliott was an actor playing a publicist, not a publicist appearing as himself.
The final look for the bull costume was no doubt inspired by Ferdinand the Bull, the story of the flower-loving bull, who’d rather pick, than face the picador. The character was integral to the story of Lucille Ball’s 1940 film Dance, Girl, Dance.
When Lucy plays the feminine bull for Ricky’s matador act, she kisses Ricky on the cheek while in the costume. This might have been inspired by a story about Lucy and Desi’s pet cow, Duchess of Devonshire, that they kept at their Chatsworth ranch. The Duchess loved Desi and once came in through the bedroom window to kiss Desi on the cheek while he was in bed.
During the rehearsal, Ricky yells offstage to Marco. Marco Rizo was Ricky / Desi’s accompanist.
FLASH FORWARD! LOTS OF BULL!
When “Lucy Goes To Mexico” in a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” she gets to be the matador instead of the bull and has to fight a real bull! Naturally, a double for Lucy was used when fighting the actual bull. A double for the bull was used for scenes with the actual Lucille Ball!
Lucy’s feminine bull head prop turns up again on “The Lucy Show” in a 1967 episode titled “Viv Visits Lucy” (TLS S5;E15).
Although not mentioned by name, Wil Wright’s distinctive red striped bag was used when Lucy got some ice cream in when “LUCY PLAYS COPS AND ROBBERS”, a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
Lucille Ball pantomimed a “BULLFIGHT” ‘dance’ on the game show “Body Language” in 1984. Exercise guru Richard Simmons was her partner.
Coincidentally, the first time Ricky Ricardo appeared on film he was wearing a pajama top with a snorting bull on the back! This is from the “I Love Lucy” pilot, which wasn’t shown to the public until 1990.
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