“California, Here We Come!”

(S4;E13 ~ January 10, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed on November 10, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios. It was the 110th episode filmed. Rating: 50.1/65

Synopsis ~ Just as the foursome are ready to leave for Hollywood, Lucy’s mother suddenly shows up and wants to go, too!

This is Kathryn Card’s first appearance as Mrs. McGillicuddy, who says that she’s never been west of Youngstown, Ohio. Card was on the show the previous season as former Tropicana customer Minnie Finch in “Fan Magazine” (S3;E17). Finch is the disheveled woman who thinks Lucy and Ethel are from The Kinsey Institute. 

Mrs. McGillicuddy wants to take her book (“The Story of Our Family”) to Dore Schary, but in “Don Juan Is Shelved” (S4;E21) she repeatedly asks “Who’s Dore Schary?” This is either a memory lapse by the scatterbrained Mrs. McGillicuddy or the “I Love Lucy” writers. 

Trivia! Although Card makes 9 appearances as Lucy’s mother (including a brief one on “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour”) we never learn her first name! In real life, Lucille Ball’s mother was named Desiree but known as Dede. 

Mrs. McGillicuddy tells Lucy that Marion Strong Van Vlack (and presumably Marion’s husband, Norman) moved “way up on the old Hunt Road.” This road (County Touring Road 33) really exists in Jamestown, New York, and it was named for Lucy’s mother’s family, the Hunts. During the series, the character was played by both Shirley Mitchell and Margie Liszt. 

On the way to Hollywood, 

• Ethel wants to see the Ozark Mountains and the Carlsbad Caverns; 
• Ricky wants to see New Orleans and the Rockies; 
• Fred wants to see Cincinnati, Niagara Falls, and 

  Salt Lake City; 

• All four want to see the Grand Canyon. 

Lucy maps the route, but says “The only thing is, we have to go through New York three times on the way to Chicago.”  If Lucy is taking these suggestions to heart in her map-making above, she doesn’t get anywhere near New Orleans but it looks like she intends on visiting her hometown of Jamestown.  Of course, their actual route varied greatly.  

Here’s a promotional map that was created many years later for video marketing purposes. We have no idea if they actually visited some of these locations.

Viewers only see their stops at:

• Skinner’s One Oak Cabins, somewhere in Ohio; 
• The courthouse of Bent Fork, Tennessee; 
• A roadside motel in Amarillo, Texas; 
• The home of Ethel’s father and the Little Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

If their later trip to Europe is any guide, however, there are stops that were not seen on screen in episodes. 

The 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible is laden down with the following items: 

• 7 various size suitcases; 
• 2 beach umbrellas; 
• A picnic basket and thermos; 
• 3 large stacks of clothing boxes tied with twine; 
• assorted hat and dress boxes; 
• 1 covered wicker laundry basket; 
• Ricky’s guitar and conga drum; 
• Ricky’s golf clubs; 
• Little Ricky’s teddy bear, crib, high chair, and stroller; 
• 1 large canvas duffel bag; 
• 3 large cardboard cartons. 

Not to mention there needed to be room for 5 adults and a baby!  Lucy likens it to a laundry wagon and Ethel says she “could have loaded it better with a pitchfork.”  

Ricky remarks that they “couldn’t even get through the Holland Tunnel” the way the car is loaded down, but the group left Manhattan via the George Washington Bridge (GWB), not the Holland Tunnel. The GWB is much closer to their fictional East 68th Street address than the Holland Tunnel, which is miles downtown. 

When Mrs. McGillicuddy suggests flying to California with Little Ricky instead, Lucy agrees “It doesn’t cost hardly anything to send the baby on the plane.” But later in “Return Home From Europe” (S5;E26) she mistakenly believes babies travel for free! Again, this is either a memory lapse by the scatterbrained (former) Miss McGillicuddy or the “I Love Lucy” writers. Elizabeth Patterson (right) plays Mrs. Trumbull and the Mayer Twins play Little Ricky. 

The George Washington Bridge (GWB) connects Washington Heights, New York, with Fort Lee, New Jersey, on Route 95 across the Hudson River. It was first opened to traffic in 1931 and carries approximately 106 million vehicles per year, making it the world’s busiest motor vehicle bridge.

After the Pontiac drives off down 68th Street, the episode employs a mix of second unit footage of a duplicate vehicle with four actor doubles driving to the on ramp and over the bridge. Footage shot during that day also is used in rear projection for the driving sequence. 

The scene where the Ricardos and Mertzes sing while crossing the bridge is the first process shot ever used on television. According to head editor Dann Cahn:

"I packed up and I met an agency in New York and I went across the George Washington Bridge and made that famous first process shot for television – which was when they went across the bridge singing ‘California Here We Come.’ They were in the Pontiac with the top down, but they were sitting on the sound stage with the audience. And behind them was the what we called a process film plate, which I shot out of the rear end of a station wagon going across the bridge, and it was projected behind them on the screen. And that was the first process photography for television.”

Oops! In the scene playing behind the foursome, you can see the Pontiac driving on the bridge behind them! This was footage shot by the director, still unsure of how it might be used. 

The song "California, Here I Come” that lends its name to the title and is performed at the end of the episode was featured in the Al Jolson Broadway musical Bombo written by Bud De Sylva and Joseph Meyer. Jolson recorded the song in 1924. At one point, Fred sings part of the chorus as a short solo in a manner that is reminiscent of the syncopated style associated with Al Jolson. A rivalry existed between William Frawley and Al Jolson which dates back to when Jolson became known for singing “My Mammy,” a song Frawley claimed to have introduced on stage in his vaudeville act.

Images of the famous scene have been featured on all sorts of collectible merchandise. The scene is often used to typify the series and is considered an iconic representation of the joys of automobile travel and America of the 1950s. It is a rare time when all four principal cast members are shown together, smiling and facing front. 

In addition to “I Love Lucy” Monopoly, there was a “California Here We Come” special edition version of Monopoly. 

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2021 Precious Moments Figurines by the Hamilton Collection / Bradford Exchange.