(S3;E14 ~ January 18, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed December 3, 1953 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 59.4/78
Synopsis ~ Ricky has a week off while the Tropicana is being repainted, so he steps up to mind the baby and give Lucy a much-needed rest. But when Ricky and Fred get distracted by a football game on TV, Little Ricky wanders away and Lucy is furious. Fred finds the boy and sneaks him back into his crib, leaving everyone wondering what happened.
As the episode opens, Lucy is watching television through the kitchen shutters while eating dinner. America’s obsession with television – greatly aided by the popularity of “I Love Lucy” – was growing by leaps and bounds. Although we hear the program’s background music (provided by the Desi Arnaz Orchestra) we don’t see the television, or learn the name of the show Lucy’s obsessed with.
When the Mertzes drop by there is the obligatory jibe at Ethel’s enormous appetite. Lucy offers her some stale brownies, which when dumped on the table, actually break a plate, too stale even for Ethel!
Oops! Notice that the plate that breaks is not one of Lucy’s Fransiscan Ivy dishware. It is likely a prop plate especially made to break when hit by the brownies, which were likely made of a hard, heavy material.
Oops! Fred and Ethel mention they are married twenty-three (23) years but in “The Courtroom” (S2;E7), aired a year earlier, they are married twenty-five (25) years. And a year before that, in “The Girls Want to Go To a Nightclub” (S1;E1) they were celebrating their eighteenth (18) wedding anniversary at the fights!
The highlight of this very simple episode is Ricky telling a bedtime story to his son – “La Caperucita Roja” (“Little Red Riding Hood”) in Spanish. Desi Arnaz does a wonderful job acting out the classic fairy tale while inserting just enough English words for it to be funny to the viewers. Instead of the traditional basket of sweets, the version taught to Ricky by his Cuban mother has Little Red taking her granny a basket full of frijoles, tortillas, and vino (aka wine)!
Oops! Desi Arnaz only makes one noticeable mistake during the four minute-long story: after the ‘Hunter’ has slain the ‘Wolf’, Ricky, in Little Red’s high-pitched voice, says “Gracias, Senor Lobo” instead of “Gracias, Senor Hunter”. He quickly corrects himself.
As Ricky is telling the story, insert shots of Little Ricky listening in his crib show that his bolster is embroidered with the cartoon stick figures of Lucy and Desi from the show’s original opening credits. In the final shot, where the baby rolls over to go to sleep, the position of the cartoon figures is reversed indicating the film had been flipped in editing, likely to indicate that the baby has turned away from Ricky to go to sleep.
As soon as Ricky puts the baby in his crib, he begins to cry. It is likely that Desi Arnaz played the rest of the scene to an empty crib and that the baby was taken off set. The insert shots of the baby in the crib were likely done separately, then edited into the final cut.
To assure that the potential crying of child actors didn’t hold up the filming, this is one of the few episodes not filmed in front of a live audience. It would also allow lots of time for the filming of the important close-up reaction shots of the baby that are integral to scene. Despite this, the laughs heard on the episode are real. The filmed episode was shown to a live audience, and that laughter was recorded and added to the soundtrack.
The Mayer Twins, Michael and Joseph, were the fourth and fifth actors to play the role of Little Ricky, following the Simmons Twins and before Keith Thibodeaux. The Mayer twins grew up in Southern California around the time child labor laws were tightening. Stricter laws meant younger twins became a hot commodity, primarily for the fact that they could be switched out. The boys made $150 a day on the series. Their parents decided it was best for the twins to quit show business early. Mike eventually became a high school teacher, while Joe worked in print services. Today, they are retired and live in Gem County, Idaho.
In the second scene (the next morning), the comedy comes from Lucy trying to sleep in, while still worrying about the baby. In one tracking shot, the camera moves from the nursery, into the bedroom, through the hallway, into the living room, and to the kitchen several times – passing through the walls as it does. Except for the Tropicana set (located just behind the kitchen door) – this was the entire expanse of the “I Love Lucy” soundstage.
For breakfast Ricky makes himself a Spanish omelet with green peppers, green onions, and mushrooms. He makes Little Ricky a bowl of oatmeal.
Lucy thinks she hears the baby crying, but Ethel explains that it is just Mrs. Trumbull’s cat. The building’s no pet policy is a point of contention when “Little Ricky Gets a Dog” (S6;14), although Mrs. Trumbull earlier orders a can of All Pet for her cat in “The Business Manager” (S4;E1).
Oops! Lucy walks out of Ethel’s apartment wearing a pair of sling-back shoes. When she enters her own apartment, she is wearing ankle-strap shoes instead. Did she change footwear in the foyer?
FRED (ad libs to Little Ricky): “Who do you like in the fifth at Santa Anita?”
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack located in Arcadia, California, which was frequently visited by Lucille Ball. It was mentioned on two episodes of “Here’s Lucy”: “Lucy Competes With Carol Burnett” (HL S2;E24) and “The Bow-Wow Boutique” (HL S6;E5). While this may seem like an odd reference for a New Yorker like Fred Mertz, William Frawley was featured in The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) starring Bob Hope, which was shot on location at Santa Anita Racetrack.
Little Ricky’s toys include the famous “I Love Lucy” teddy bear that appears in many episodes and was made commercially available. Fred tries to divert the child with
Mr. Squawker, a rubber duck squeeze toy manufactured by Rempel Manufacturing of Akron, Ohio, that also turns up when “Lucy Tells the Truth” (S3;E6). Also on the coffee table is a roly poly panda toy made by Softskin. Little Ricky is teething on a rubber bunny toy.
We also get a look at Cleo, a bath toy from Disney’s Pinocchio (1940) that spit water in Ricky’s face when “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (S2;E26).
Sitcom Logic Alert! Whatever Fred is hiding under his coat, it certainly isn’t shaped like Little Ricky! In the very next scene, the child is outside of the coat, making it clear by comparison that the boxy lump in Fred’s coat was probably not Little Ricky!
“Bye-Bye, Baby!”
FRED: “Every time a kid wanders away, you go down and look in the police station and you find them there eating an ice cream cone.”
Fred is relying on a trope seen in many films and early television. An ice cream cone was thought to have the power to cheer up a distraught child.
After Fred hangs up the phone when Lucy suddenly returns for her gloves, Ricky has to kick the very long phone cord out of the way so he can pull out a chair and sit down. Desi tries to be nonchalant about it, but the cord was underfoot and had to be moved in order for the scene to continue.
As the episode ends, Fred is the only one who really knows the full story; Lucy, Ricky, and Ethel are completely mystified about how Little Ricky suddenly appeared back in his crib!
FAST FORWARD
Thematically, this episode is similar to “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (S6;E4) in which Ricky spends some quality time alone with his son, then played by Keith Thibodeaux.
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