“Lucy Raises Chickens”

(S6;E19 ~ March 4, 1957) Directed by William Asher. Written by Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller, and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed on January 17, 1957 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 51.2/68

Synopsis ~ In order to pay for the high cost of living in the country, the Ricardos decide to raise chickens for eggs. The Mertzes move to the country to help out, but when Lucy and Ethel prematurely buy 500 baby chicks, things get out of control!

Coincidentally, the night this episode went before the cameras (January 17, 1957) CBS aired an episode of “The Bob Cummings Show” titled “Bob Gives Pamela the Bird” (S3;15), which focused on bird-watcher Pamela Livingstone’s crush on Bob. Pamela was played by Nancy Kulp, who had played the cockney maid who teaches Lucy the proper way to curtsy in “Lucy Meets The Queen” (S5;E15). In addition to being seen in the Lucy / Desi film Forever Darling (1956), Kulp would return to Desilu for a 1959 special with Milton Berle and Lucille Ball and a 1962 episode of “The Lucy Show”.  She will always be remembered, however, as Miss Jane Hathaway, the upright / uptight secretary of banker Drysdale on CBS’s “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1962-71). Curiously, Miss Jane was also a bird-watcher!  Bob Cummings would meet Lucy Ricardo when “The Ricardos Go To Japan”, the penultimate episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1959. Cummings also did two episodes of “Here’s Lucy,” once playing Bob Collins, the same character he is playing in “Bob Gives Pamela The Bird.” 

Lucy’s system of paying bills is similar to the one she used in “The Quiz Show” (S1;E5) – throwing them in the air to see which ones land face up. Here she spins them on a Lazy Susan (Ricky calls it a ‘Lousy’ Susan) and pays the ones that don’t fly off. The Desilu prop men put a lump of adhesive on the middle of the Lazy Susan and you can clearly see her firmly push one bill down so it would be the only one not fly off. The ‘winner’ is Connecticut Light and Power! The Ricardo’s bills include:

• Heating $52 
  
• Telephone $23
  
• Electric $18.75 
  
• Water $16 
  
• Groceries $88
  
• Tree Surgery $50

Lucy states that eggs cost 75 cents a dozen. The writers also include a callback to the $3,000 Lucy spent on new furniture in “Lucy Gets Chummy with the Neighbors” (S6;E18).

The baby chicks were so noisy in the studio that you can hear them peeping off-stage before they are introduced.

During the scene when Lucy and Ethel are feeding the baby chicks in the den, Lucy breaks open the side of the first box of chicks and tilts the box toward the feed spread on the newspapers. As she is lowering the box, there are a few chicks under the box that attempt to run away. You can hear Lucy ad-lib “Get out from under there.” Unfortunately, Lucy doesn’t see one chick and it is trapped underneath the box. For the rest of the scene you can see some movement from the chick wiggling beneath it.

Blooper Alert!  When Little Ricky comes in the front door, you can briefly see the hand and arm of someone ushering him in. 

The chicks were prevented from walking off the set was by a low line of wire fencing along the perimeter of the set. When the chickens are running free in the living room, you can glimpse the fencing in the lower right corner of the screen. Sadly, one of the baby chicks broke free and was accidentally crushed under the cameras.

Before the chicken plan entices them out to Connecticut, we learn that the Mertzes have visited the Ricardos every weekend since their move. While the Mertzes are in the country, Mrs. Trumbull’s sister (a character we never meet) will manage the apartment building. According to their agreement, Fred won’t receive a salary for taking care of the chickens. Instead, he will receive free room and board, as well as a share of the egg profits. The writers had always intended for the whole gang to move to Connecticut and they introduce them with an anonymous letter.  After the sender is revealed (Fred), Ethel says that Lucy and Ricky should have known something was up because Fred used an Easter Seal rather than waste postage!  

Writer Madelyn Pugh remembers:

“When Lucy and Desi lived in Chatsworth [in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles], they raised chickens. They were the oldest chickens in the world, because [Lucy] didn’t have the heart to kill them. One day, Lucy got up and did her impression of her old chickens. We remembered it and used it in this episode." 

As a child, Lucille Ball and her brother Fred were in charge of taking care of chickens and other the other animals her stepfather kept. Lucy does a variation on her chicken impression in “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (S4;E7) when pantomiming what’s for dinner: chicken and rice. 

Although a specific issue of House & Garden was not seen on camera, the plot  involved a team of reporters from the magazine visiting the Ricardo’s colonial home in Westport. When they show up at the end of the episode, they are horrified to see the gang herding hundreds of baby chicks through the living room!  

Not coincidentally, the May 1957 issue (above) of House & Gardens contained an article about Lucille Ball titled “Is Lucy Still Lovable?”  

This is Mary Jane Croft’s second of five appearances as Betty Ramsey, having first played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (S5;E26). Tyler McVey plays the man from House and Garden Magazine who takes one look at Lucy herding the chickens and says “I don’t think so!” He is making his fourth and final appearance on the series and is best remembered as the Social Director on the S.S. Constitution in “Second Honeymoon” (S5;E14). Mary Alan Hokenson played the woman from House and Garden Magazine who, taking in the chaotic scene at the Ricardo home, says “Oh, dear, no!” Hokenson played Mission Band ‘doll’ Agatha in Guys and Dolls (1955), which was previewed during the initial broadcast of “Lucy and the Dummy” (S5;E3) in 1955.

This is the first episode sponsored by Ford Motor Company, which runs a long commercial featuring Lucy and Desi in their new Skyliner retractable hard top. After season six ended, Desi convinced Ford to sponsor a series of hour long specials which eventually became known as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.”

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FAST FORWARD!

In 1999, The Republic of Senegal issues a series of stamps featuring colorized images from this episode. The stamps have since become much-desired collectibles. 

Lucille Ball does yet another variation of her chicken walk when luring the fictional Weewowk bird in a 1974 episode of “Here’s Lucy” titled “Lucy is a Bird-Sitter” (HL S6;E15).

On a 1969 episode of “Green Acres” titled “Everywhere A Chick Chick” (S4;E14), the Monroes bungle the building of the chicken coup and Oliver (Eddie Albert) and Lisa (Eva Gabor, above) must come up with a way to keep their baby chicks warm. They obviously were not “I Love Lucy” fans!

On a 2001 episode of “Gilmore Girls” titled “That Damn Donna Reed” (S1;E14), Lorelai (Lauren Graham) is bird-sitting for Stella and panics when the bird is nowhere to be found.  She invokes Lucy Ricardo and this classic episode.