“Lucy Wants a Career”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT.  LUCY ON TELEVISION!”

(LDCH S2;E4 ~ April 13, 1959) Directed by Jerry Thorpe. Written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf.  Produced by Bert Granet. The script was finalized on March 6, 1959. 

This is the fourth episode of the second season of the “The Lucille Ball – Desi Arnaz Show” (known in syndication as

“The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour”), part of the “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” anthology series. 

Original writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Martin served as script consultants.

This episode does not feature original songs or location shoots as many other "Comedy Hours” do, but does have a celebrity guest star: Paul Douglas, playing (essentially) himself. 

Except for a few scenes starring Milton Berle in September 1959, this was the last full episode shot entirely in front of a live studio audience.

Paul Douglas was born in Philadelphia in 1907. After attending Yale, he made his Broadway debut in 1936. A decade later he appeared on the Great White Way in the highly successful Born Yesterday with Judy Holliday, winning both the Theatre World and Clarence Derwent awards. He turned down the opportunity to recreate his role in the 1950 film version of Born Yesterday when he found his part had been severely reduced. He did, however, get to play the role in a 1956 TV film with Mary Martin standing in for Holliday. This is one of Paul Douglas’s last appearances. He died of a heart attack six months after the episode aired. 

Early in his career Douglas had worked in radio as a sportscaster and narrated documentary films so having him host a new morning news show was not within the realm of possibility.

A bored and frustrated Lucy calculates that she’s prepared 19,710 meals in her eighteen year marriage. Accounting for meals out, they agree to 19,000.  In 1952’s “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), Lucy figures out that she’s washed 219,000 dishes since being married to Ricky.

LUCY: “Being a housewife is a big bore!”

Lucy flirts with the idea of hiring a housekeeper, forgetting that the last time she took on help (a maid named Mrs. Porter) things didn’t go so smoothly.  

Ricky reads in Variety that Danny Kaye is returning to London to give another command performance for Queen Elizabeth. Lucy and Ricky gave their own command performance at the London Palladium in “Lucy Meets the Queen” (ILL S5;E15).

That episode was the last time Kaye’s name was mentioned – by the star-struck bellhop of their London hotel.

Kaye’s 1948 performance was never repeated, so it is likely Ricky is just making up the news item to distract Lucy from her housekeeping woes. Lucille Ball appeared on two Danny Kaye specials in the early 1960s and he returned the favor by appearing on “The Lucy Show” in 1964.

LUCY (mocking Ricky): “I wonder what the Quinn is cooking for Philip tonight?”

On a bet, Lucy Ricardo previously entered the business world in “Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1) where her office ended up being a candy factory. Aside from her show business aspirations, various other episodes of “I Love Lucy” had Lucy briefly employed running a diner, selling salad dressing, or a owning a dress shop.

The audience learns that Little Ricky is a Cub Scout, a fact that will be mentioned again in the next “Comedy Hour” episode, "Lucy’s Summer Vacation.” During “The Lucy Show,” Lucy Carmichael will become a Cub Scout den mother for her son Jerry and scouting will be involved in many episodes.

Little Ricky goes for a sleep-over at Bruce Ramsey’s house. This is one of the few mentions of the Ricardo’s Westport neighbors. They remain unseen throughout all of the “Comedy Hours.” The last time we saw Bruce was in “Housewarming” (ILL S6;E23). Although Keith Thibodeaux appeared in all but one of the “Comedy Hours” the storyline usually found a way of getting him out of the way before the plot cranked into overdrive!

Doris Packer (Miss Massey, Mr. Douglas’s Secretary) returns to Desilu after being seen in the audience at The Most Happy Fella during “Lucy’s Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22). She is probably best remembered as Mrs. Millicent Sohmers on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” (1956).

While waiting to be interviewed by Paul Douglas, Lucy peruses the May 1959 issue of Screen Parade, with Elizabeth Taylor on the cover. On the coffee table in front of her are copies of LIFE and LOOK Magazine from February 1959. Taylor was mentioned on two episodes of “I Love Lucy” an appeared as herself on “Here’s Lucy” in 1970. 

Girl Friday is a now-outdated term for a female assistant who does a variety of tasks. In the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe, Crusoe calls a man he cannot communicate with Friday because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the term Man Friday, used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, which later became Girl Friday. 

Lucy’s competition to become Douglas’ Girl Friday is fierce. When introducing themselves to the secretary all four actresses use their real names, although the show’s credits have more ‘creative’ descriptions for them: Leg Girl, Leg Girl #2, Low Neck, and Hairdo!

Sue Casey (Miss Leg Girl, left) was a fashion model and actress who appeared in countless films. She appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners which were released 48 years apart: An American in Paris (1951) and American Beauty (1999). Casey was also seen in a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show” featuring Danny Kaye.

Lorrine Crawford (Miss Leg Girl #2, right) had appeared with Lucille Ball in Top Hat in 1935. She continued to do small roles in musicals up until her final appearance in Camelot in 1967.

Joi Lansing (Miss Low Neck) returns to the series after playing one of the Starlets in “Desert Island” (ILL S6;E8, inset). Lansing began posing at 13 and attended MGM’s talent school at age 17. Most TV fans remember her as the wife of Lester Flatt on “The Beverly Hillbillies” from 1965 to 1968. She would later become Lucille Ball’s stand-in on "Life with Lucy.”

Larri Thomas (Miss Hairdo) was born Lida Larrimore Thomas in 1932. She appeared in several popular musical films, including Guys and Dolls (1955), The Pajama Game (1957), South Pacific (1958), The Music Man (1962), and Mary Poppins (1965). She returned to work on a 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show” starring Danny Thomas.

To thin out the pool of potential candidates, Lucy plants rumors that Douglas is a ‘wolf’ (a womanizer). Although this kind of thing wasn’t unusual at time, the advent of the “Me Too” generation makes Lucy’s accusations a bit difficult to laugh at today. Thankfully, Douglas gets wise to her scheme and reads her the riot act. 

In real life, Paul Douglas had five wives!

During most of this episode, Lucille Ball does not wear a wig, mainly because of the need to continually re-style her hair during the audition scene. 

When Lucy brags that she’s married to Ricky Ricardo, Douglas says he wouldn’t hire her if she were Xavier Cugat’s wife! Since season one of “I Love Lucy,” Cugat’s name has been used as the source of humor. A former employer of Desi Arnaz, the series takes every opportunity to exploit a made-up rivalry between the two Latin-American bandleaders.

When the sponsor (Pierre Watkin) finds out that Lucy is a housewife, he hires her on the spot, much to Douglas’ chagrin. 

Pierre Watkin (Mr. Robinson, the sponsor) had appeared in three films with with Lucille Ball between 1936 and 1947. He returns to the series after playing Mr. Dorrance, Lucy’s publisher, in “Lucy Writes a Novel” (ILL S3;E24).

Douglas estimates that the “Early Bird” show has 20 million viewers – despite the fact it hasn’t even premiered yet!  This number reflects the number of people who watched “The Academy Awards” telecast that week, but would not be realistic for a national morning show’s debut broadcast. 

Louis A. Nicoletti (TV Floor Manager) was a regular background performer and crew member for Desilu.  

The first morning news program on television was “Three To Get Ready,” a local show hosted by comedian Ernie Kovacs that aired in Philadelphia from 1950 to 1952. Kovacs would guest star on the final episode of the “Comedy Hour” in 1960. Although it was mostly entertainment-oriented, the program did feature news and weather segments. 

Its success prompted NBC to look at producing something similar on a national basis and in January 1952 the "Today Show” premiered. CBS (Lucy’s network) entered the field in 1954, but was never able to match the success of NBC. 

In a cooking segment, Lucy can’t bear to boil a lobster alive. 

When Douglas accidentally sits on the clawed crustacean, the show grinds to a temporary halt!

Lucy’s first day as a Girl Friday is so disastrous that Douglas fires her! The sponsor, however, discovers that she was a hit with audiences, so Lucy is signed to a three year contract. This is reminiscent of several episodes of “I Love Lucy” where Lucy ends up being a big hit despite making a mess of things: “The Mustache” (ILL S1;E23), “Home Movies” (ILL S3;E2), and “Lucy and the Dummy” (ILL S5;E3), all end with Lucy praised for her tomfoolery.

Lucy says that after signing her new contracts everyone went out to 21. The  upscale 21 Club opened in 1922 and is still in business today. It is a restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy located at 21 West 52nd Street (hence the name) with an exterior decorated with lawn jockeys.

Lucy and Ethel first said they were going to 21 in “Vacation from Marriage” (ILL S2;E6) then again in “Mr. and Mrs. TV Show” (ILL S4;E24).

With no one left to tell about her exciting day, Lucy talks to a sleeping Fred, whom Ethel dubs “Rip Van Mertz”. The remark is based on the character of Rip Van Winkle from Washington Irving’s 1819 story about a man who falls asleep and wakes up 20 years later.

Once Lucy is a working woman, the episode mirrors real life for the Arnazes in the 1940s. Lucy would meet Desi at the train station as she was leaving for work at a movie studio, while Desi would be headed home after working at a nightclub.

The episode includes some stock footage of the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Grand Central opened in 1913 and is the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station. 

Lucy and Ricky spend a few poignant moments catching up with each other as he arrives (headed for the Club Babalu) and she departs (headed for their Westport home). 

After one such brief encounter, Ricky says to Lucy: 

RICKY: “I’ll see you tomorrow. Same time, same station.” 

Ricky can’t help but smile at his pun on the word ‘station’, but it makes Lucy cry. Early radio and TV programs would sign off with the words “Same Time, Same Station [or Channel]” to remind viewers where and when to tune in. By the 1960′s, TV’s “Batman” was signing off their two-part episodes with the clever “Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.”

When a drowsy Fred mistakenly thinks Ethel is going to be a mother, she rips into him with a rare moment of sarcasm. This moment must have been particularly satisfying to Vivian Vance, who never had much affection for her co-star. 

Before leaving the station, Douglas is approached by a fan (Sam Hearn) who thinks he knows how to ‘fix’ his television show!  Like the other girls in the audition scene, the character is called “Kibitzer” in the credits. A kibitzer is a Yiddish word for someone who offers unwanted advice! 

Sam Hearn (Kibitzer) was also a musical comedy performer on Broadway between 1915 to 1929. He played Lucy’s childhood doctor, Doc Peterson, in “The Passports” (ILL S5;E11). 

When the sponsor refuses to let Lucy out of her contract, a frustrated Douglas says about TV: “No wonder Ed Murrow’s taken a year off!” CBS commentator and host Edward R. Murrow took a one-year sabbatical from summer 1959 to mid-1960 due to continuing conflicts and stress with the network. His landmark show “Person To Person” was satirized as “Face To Face” on “The Ricardo’s Are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7) with actor Elliott Reid as Murrow.

Lucy thinks she’s been released from her contract so takes pills to sleep. Unfortunately, the sponsor wants her back the next morning so Ricky and Douglas must rouse a groggy Lucy from bed and into the studio. The scene is reminiscent of when Lucy gets her passport under the influence of too many seasickness pills in “Staten Island Ferry” (ILL S5;E12).

There is a four minute scene that involves Douglas and Ricky trying to get a groggy Lucy into her coat and out the door!  

Lucy and Paul Douglas advertise a new breakfast cereal ironically called Wakey Flakies manufactured by the American Cereal Company.  

These prop cereal boxes were originally called Krispy Krinkles in

“Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (S1;E4). 

They will be refashioned once again into Kiddie Cookies and used many times on “The Lucy Show” (1962-68).  Although fictional products, they all have the same landscape box design. In 2008, the Beech Nut Corporation filed a trademark application for a Wakey Flakes (not Flakies) cereal that was never produced. 

Wakey Flakies also turned up on the breakfast table in the New Rochelle home of Dick and Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66), another Desilu production. 

Wakey Flakies were also sold at Drucker’s General Store in Hooterville on CBS’s “Petticoat Junction” (1963-70). This time in the industrial family size can!

In 1970 Wakey Flakies turned up in the grocery bags on “The Brady Bunch” in an episode that incredibly guest-starred….

…Desi Arnaz Jr. as himself!  

This isn’t the first time Lucy has appeared on live TV pitching a product. She previously sold Aunt Martha’s Old Fashioned Salad Dressing and Vitameatavegamin over the air.  This mirrored real life.  Lucy and Desi frequently did commercials (sometimes in character and on set) for their sponsors. The practice continued on “The Lucy Show,” although Lucille Ball was the only cast member exempt. 

This episode most closely resembles “Mr. and Mrs. TV Show” (ILL S4;E24), in which Lucy also appeared on a live morning television program – “Breakfast With Ricky and Lucy.”

At the end of the episode, Desi Arnaz appears in front of the show curtain to announce the premiere of a Desilu Playhouse production based on The Untouchables by Elliott Ness, starring Robert Stack and Keenan Wynn. This two-part episode was the pilot of what would eventually become Desilu’s bit hit series "The Untouchables” (1959). 

Desi thanks Paul Douglas and “those wonderful Mertzes”! The final commercial showed John Cameron Swayze flying a helicopter over Desilu Studios to promote the new Westinghouse transistor radios.

NO DOZE FAST FORWARD! 

In 1962, Lucy Carmichael had trouble staying awake during a classical music concert in “Lucy the Music Lover” (TLS S1;E8).  

When her daughter “Chris Goes Steady” (TLS S2;E16) Lucy stays up all night waiting for her to come home. Can she keep her eyes open long enough to prevent Chris eloping with Mr. Mooney’s son? 

In 1965′s “Lucy and the Sleeping Beauty” (TLS S4;E9) it was Lucy’s boyfriend (Clint Walker), not Lucy, who was the one who dozed off!  

In 1971′s "Lucy Helps David Frost Go Night-Night” (S4;E12), Lucy Carter can’t stay awake on a TV show, just like in “Lucy Wants A Career”!