“Ricky Needs An Agent”

(S4;E29 ~ May 16, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by

Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed April 7, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studio. Rating: 39.2/63

Synopsis ~ When Ricky’s career stalls, Lucy pretends to be his agent – to disastrous results! 

In the early 1940s, Desi Arnaz was under contract to MGM and had a similar problem after Bataan.

Jerry Hausner originated the role of Ricky’s agent in the un-aired pilot and 14 episodes through season three, but during his last appearance in “Fan Magazine” (S3;E19) Hausner and Arnaz had a major disagreement which caused the character to be written out of the show – hence “Ricky Needs an Agent.”  

On the day this episode was filmed (April 7, 1955) Hollywood silent screen legend Theda Bara died at age 69.  

• One one of Lucille Ball’s very first television appearances in 1949, she played Theda Bara in a sketch on “The Ed Wynn Show”.
• In “Tennessee Ernie Visits” (S3;E28) Lucy disguised herself as a Theda Bara-type vamp to scare off Ernie – to no avail. 
• When the Danfield Little Theatre stages a play about Cleopatra, Lucy Carmichael says she should get the part because she saw the film twelve times. Sarcastically, Viv says “She means the one with Theda Bara.”  Viv is referring to a 1917 silent film starring Bara in the title role. 
• In a 1968 episode of “Here’s Lucy” Lucy Carter plays up to a movie producer, causing Harry to call her “Theda Bara”. 

The list of publicity stunts Ricky has done since being in Hollywood includes:

• Dedicating a new freeway
• Crowning the Queen of the Automobile Show (LUCY: “Ricky’s crowned more queens than the Archbishop of Canterbury.”)
• Opening a new supermarket
• Judging a dog show
• Tossing in the first soapy sponge at a mammoth car wash
• Judging a mambo contest by dancing with 100 college girls
• Singing at the opening of a new bowling alley

The scrapbooks of Ricky’s publicity stunts that Lucy looks through at the beginning of the episode are some of Lucille Ball’s real-life scrapbooks. They were also seen in “Sentimental Anniversary” (S3;E16).

Disguised as Miss McGillicuddy, Ricky’s agent, Lucy is determined to see Dore Schary herself, but remembers that they previously met (in “Don Juan is Shelved”), so she meets with another Metro executive named Mr. Riley instead.

The part of the plot regarding Lucy getting Ricky fired by claiming he has fabulous (although fictional) offers elsewhere is very similar to Lucy’s ploy in “Ricky Asks for a Raise” (S1;E35).

Trying to suggest possible film projects for Ricky, Lucy (and the writers) insert him into the titles of some of Hollywood’s best-known movies: 

• “Ricky, Son of Flicka” / Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945)
• “A Streetcar Named Ricardo” / A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
• “Gone With the Cuban Wind” / Gone With the Wind (1939)
• “Three Cubans in a Fountain” / Three Coins in the Fountain (1945)
• “It Happened One Noche” / It Happened One Night (1934)
• “Seven Brides for Seven Cubans” / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
• “Meet Me in St. Ricky” / Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
• “The Ricardos of Wimpole Street” / The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)
• “Andy Hardy Meets the Conga Player” / Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
• “Arsenic and Old Ricky” / Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Not all of the films were made by MGM.  Gone With the Wind and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers were both mentioned on other “I Love Lucy” episodes. 

Lucy drops the names Dick and Oscar, which she knows Mr. Reilly will recognize as Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the Broadway musical composers and producers, two of the most powerful names in show business during the 1950s. Their names and shows are mentioned throughout the series. 

When Lucy tells Ricky that she has gotten him released from his contract (“Heeeeeee’s released!”) Ricky has a temper tantrum and is the angriest we ever see him on the series. Props master Dick Henrikson made the various hotel bric-a-brac that Ricky and Lucy smash. 

Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed that the small statue starts to bend as soon as Ricky touches it, betraying that it is made of a malleable material. 

During the fit of temper the writers provide callbacks to previous episodes: 

• “This is worse than the time you loused up my screen test!” [“Ricky’s Screen Test” (S4;E6)] 
• “It’s worse than when we got arrested in Tennessee!” [“Tennessee Bound” (S4;E14)] 
• “It’s worse than when we were handcuffed together for 48 hours!” [“The Handcuffs” (S2;E4)] 
• “It’s worse than when I loused up your nightclub act!” [Take your pick!]

Oops!  Lucy says that she and Ricky were handcuffed together for 48 hours, but it was really only 24 hours.

In this episode, Ricky doesn’t have a movie to star in. But in “Lucy Visits Grauman’s” (S5;E1) the gang is celebrating Ricky having finished making a movie which means during the summer hiatus between seasons four and five, Ricky had time to make a film. Or – more likely – the writers hoped that the viewers would have forgotten this plot point by the time the new season started in the Fall of 1955.

Parley Baer (Mr. Reilly) would return to the series to play Mr. Perry, the furniture store clerk in “Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors” (S6;E18). He was also in five episodes of "The Lucy Show” and two "Here’s Lucy” shows. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles of Mayor Stoner on "The Andy Griffith Show” and Doc Appleby in "The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Helen Kleeb (Miss Klein, Mr. Reilly’s secretary) makes her only appearance on the series, but is recognizable as Mamie, one of the eccentric Baldwin Sisters on “The Waltons” (1972-1981) and a series of Waltons specials. 

Coincidentally, Kleeb also appeared with Parley Baer in the a 1962 episode of “The Andy Griffith Show,” also shot at Desilu. 

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FAST FORWARD!  ‘CALL MY AGENT’ EDITION!

Guest-star Milton Berle’s agent is played by Milton Frome in a 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

Tommy Farrell played Van Johnson’s agent / manager in “Guess Who Owe’s Lucy $23.50?” (HL S1;E11) in 1968.

Lew Parker played Joan Crawford’s agent in 1968′s “Lucy and the Lost Star” (TLS S6;E22). 

He returned to

“Here’s Lucy” in 1971 to play an agent who promotes his own talents over those of his clients.

Jesse White played an agent / con-man in a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

In 1973, when Lucy Carter and daughter Kim book a TV commercial for pickles, Uncle Harry (Gale Gordon) takes on the role of their agent. 

Guest-star Frankie Avalon’s agent is played by Robert Hogan in a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” 

Backtracking a bit, in 1954 Byron Kane played Morris Williams, ventriloquist Max Terhune’s agent in “Ricky Loses His Temper” (S3;E19). His character name is doubtless a reversal the famous talent agency William Morris.