“The Inferiority Complex”

What do you say we all watch the television?

(S2;E18 ~ February 2, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed September 6, 1952 at General Service Studios. It was the 46th episode filmed. Rating: 69.9/90

Synopsis ~ Lucy feels she can’t do anything right, so Ricky gets her professional help.   

This episode is partly based on Lucy’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband”
episode #116 titled “Liz’s Inferiority Complex” broadcast
February 3, 1951. 

This is the second of five episodes filmed in late summer / early fall
1952 and saved for broadcast until after Lucille Ball started her
maternity leave. All five included opening scenes that mentioned or
showed the new Ricardo baby – then flashed back to an earlier story.
These opening scenes were normally cut when the episodes were
repeated and in syndication.

The 1953 original broadcast of this episode opens with Fred coming into
the Ricardo apartment where he finds Ricky surveying a coffee-table
full of gifts for Lucy. She is still in the hospital with newborn Little Ricky – but she’s getting a little depressed. One of the other ladies in the maternity ward just delivered triplets and another had twins. “Lucy thinks she short changed me,” Ricky explains. The triplets may have belonged to the Stanleys, born the same night as Little Ricky in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16). Ricky hopes
the gifts (including fancy bed jacket that Fred models above) will cheer Lucy up. Ethel arrives, and the threesome remember an earlier occasion on which Lucy got depressed. At that point, we flashback to “The Inferiority Complex.” This was an oblique reference to post-partum depression, a condition that affects many new mothers. 

On the day this episode originally aired (2/6/53), actor Alan Curtis died. Curtis had appeared in three films with Lucille Ball: One Live Ghost (1936), Winterset (1936), and Don’t Tell The Wife (1937). 

The day this episode was filmed (9/6/52), the first Canadian television station went on the air in Montreal.  

When Ricky insults Lucy for her inability to tell a joke, Lucy indignantly replies “Well!  I’m sorry I’m not Milton Berle.”  Milton Berle was a pioneer on television, hosting “Texaco Star Theatre” from 1948 to 1956 on NBC.  He was one of “I Love Lucy’s” biggest competitors for ratings. After his show ended, he guest-starred on an episode of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (1959) and the pair repaid him by appearing on one of his specials. Berle appeared on two episodes of “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.” He died in 2002. 

Gerald Mohr played psychiatrist Henry Molin MD, who masquerades as Ricky’s old friend ‘Chuck Stewart.’  The character was named after Henry D. ‘Bud’ Molin, a film editor on the show. Mohr (who bears a resemblance to Humphrey Bogart) makes his only appearance on the series. In return, Lucy and Desi appeared on his show “Sunday Showcase” that same year. He also made an appearance on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and Phil Harris” (TLS S6;E20) first aired on February 5, 1968. In 1920 Mohr’s father was killed in a tragic accident and he was raised by his mother and maternal grandfather, who was a psychologist and associate of Dr. Sigmund Freud, the famed psychoanalyst. Mohr became a fervent student of Freud as a result of this association. He doubtless used that knowledge to play Dr. Molin – or maybe not!

A lot of the humor in the episode comes from Ricky’s inability to pronounce the word ‘psychiatrist.’  He continually pronounces it ‘fee-suh-key-uh-trist.’  He even looks it up under ‘F’ in the phone book!

Bennett Cerf’s book “Try and Stop Me” (1944), can be glimpsed behind Lucy when she is sitting on the sofa.  It was the first of a series of joke books compiled by Cerf, founder of Random House. It  sold more than a million copies in its first two years of publication. The book also shows up in Lucy’s headboard bookcase in “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (S2;E14). Cerf is mentioned by Lucy in Lucy Writes a Novel” (S3;E24): “You had your chance, Bennett Cerf!”  He was a frequent panelist on “What’s My Line?” on which Lucy guest starred four times between 1955 and 1965.

As a last resort, Ricky and the Mertzes use reverse psychology to lift Lucy’s spirits. Reverse psychology was a common plot point in the series. They later use it when “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (S6;E4) to get him to play his drums. Later that same season, the girls use it on the boys to make them think they would be better at “Building a Bar-B-Q” (S6;E24).

Although it sometimes backfires, here the ploy works – except now they are
forced to listen to Lucy’s off-key rendition of the song “Who?” written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Coincidentally, it was introduced to the world by Paul Frawley, William Frawley’s brother, in the 1925 Broadway musical Sunny. Hammerstein was frequently mentioned on “I Love Lucy” – sometimes by just his first name.  

Lucy tells a story about two guys named Pat and Mike, which also happens to be the title of a hit 1952 film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. 

Blooper Alert!  Over the final credits announcer Johnny Jacobs says “The
part of Dr. Stewart was played by Gerald Mohr” instead of “The part of Dr. Molin was played by Gerald Mohr.”