“Lucy Goes to Alaska”

(LDCH S2;E3 ~ February 9, 1959)  Directed by Jerry Thorpe. Written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf.  Filming completed December 19, 1958 at Ren-Mar Studios.

Synopsis ~ The Ricardos and Merztes go to Alaska where Ricky and Fred have bought some land and Ricky is doing a TV show. When Red Skelton’s partner fails to appear, Lucy is recruited to perform with him. 

This was the third episode of the second season of hour-long “I Love Lucy” specials known in syndication as "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.”  They were part of “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse,” an anthology series that presented new teleplays.

This is the only one of the 13 “Comedy Hours” that does not feature Keith Thibodeaux as Little Ricky.  No one mentions where he is or who he might be staying with at home.

Like many other “Comedy Hours,” this episode featured a celebrity guest star (Red Skelton, playing himself), original music, and had the Ricardos and Mertzes away from home, this time in the brand new state of Alaska. 

Red Skelton was born Richard Skelton in 1913. He left school after the third grade to join a traveling medicine show and from there entered vaudeville. His first film was Having Wonderful Time in 1938, which is where he first met Lucille Ball. The pair went on to appear together in: 

• Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) 
• Thousands Cheer (1943)
• Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
• The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) 

The son of a circus clown, he always considered himself more clown than comedian. He created the character of Freddy the Freeloader, which he reprises here. He died in 1997 at the age of 84.

Rumor has it that Lucille Ball and Red Skeleton’s work ethics did not mesh on this episode. While Skeleton preferred to ad lib, Ball preferred to rehearse and stick to plan. According to Dann Cahn, Ball showed Skeleton how to do the "Freddie the Freeloader” sketch even though he had been performing the character for years! It was his most popular personality on “The Red Skelton Show.”

On January 3, 1959, Alaska was officially declared a state, although statehood had been approved by Congress on July 7, 1958, and was discussed for many years prior. It was the first non-contiguous state to be admitted to the union, closely followed by Hawaii on August 21,1959. 

Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million sight unseen (something Ricky mentions in the show’s dialogue), causing it to be known as “Seward’s Folly.” It was officially incorporated as a US territory in 1912. It is the largest of the 50 states but ranks 48th in population.

 Although the capital is Juneau, its largest city is Anchorage.This episode, however, is set in Nome. 

In 1952’s “Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio” (S1;E32) Lucy presciently (but incorrectly) answers the question “What was the last state to be admitted to the union?” by saying Alaska. In 1952, Alaska was only a territory working towards statehood. At the time, the correct answer to the question was Arizona, admitted on Valentine’s Day 1912.

Although the action is set in and around Nome, the second unit footage was filmed in Lake Arrowhead, California, about 100 miles from Hollywood outside San Bernadino. The exteriors were done with doubles and none of the regular cast left their newly-purchased Desilu (formerly RKO) Studios.

To get in on the Alaskan land boon, Fred’s friend Charlie Charles sells him 100 acres for $1,000 which he then splits with Ricky. Fred calls it their own little Fort Knox. Fort Knox is a US Army post in Kentucky, home to a large portion of the nation’s official gold reserves. In pop culture, the mention of Fort Knox has become synonymous with wealth. 

If we go by the insert shots of the aircraft, the gang travels West on a United DC-7, but then transfers at some point to a smaller Alaska Airlines plane to get to Nome. Some viewers consider this an error, but are not accounting for possible transfers not shown on screen. 

In conjunction with this episode Westinghouse published a souvenir Pocket Encyclopedia of Alaska, that included a map of the state and promoted their ‘Westinghouse Lucy-Desi Wonderama’ sales days. Westinghouse created special sales around several “Lucy-Desi” shows. Fred holds the publication in the first scene. 

Fred bemoans (probably jokingly) that Ethel caused him to miss out on buying a sand dune in 1927 that became Miami Beach!  He refers to it again later in the episode. At the start of the “Equal Rights” (ILL S3;E4) Fred tells a story about some land he bought in Miami that turned out to be a scam. This is never mentioned again, even when the gang head to Florida in season 6.

Sitcom Logic Alert!  The Ricardos and Mertzes arrive in Nome a day early but didn’t think to call ahead to the hotel to make sure they had rooms available. Naturally, they don’t – and neither does anyone else! 

The Ricardos and the Mertzes sharing one ramshackle hotel room is reminiscent of “First Stop” (ILL S4;E13) where the foursome shares a run-down cabin in Ohio on their way to California. 

William Newell (Desk Clerk) had previously appeared with Lucy in Without Love (1945) and A Woman of Distinction (1950). He was born in Millville, New Jersey in 1894.  

When Ethel sits on the one bed in the room, its springs creak loudly. She calls it “Alaskan Muzak”!  Muzak is a brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments like hotels. The original patents extend back to the 1920s, but it has been a registered trademark since 1954. In the 1950s, newspapers reported that Muzak may be a subliminal form of brainwashing.  Although debunked, these rumors brought Muzak to the attention of many more Americans (like Ethel!) who previously may not had heard of it. 

Ricky and Fred discover their real estate investment is ten minutes from the heart of town – by airplane!  

FRED: “If it was two miles farther it’d be in Siberia!” 

Siberia is a vast region spanning much of northern Russia that is well known for its harsh winters and barren landscape. It has entered the pop culture lexicon as a synonym for a remote, frozen wasteland. The joke works especially well because Russia is Alaska’s closest neighbor, as Sarah Palin will attest! 

Sid Melton (Bellboy) had appeared as one of the jockeys in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (1958) and would go on to appear in “Milton Berle Hides at the Ricardos” later in 1959. A recognizable character actor, he played Charley Halper on "Make Room For Daddy” and Alf Monroe on "Green Acres.”

In Nome, Ethel gets the bed with the squeaky springs, Fred gets the sleeping bag on the floor (which he calls “an envelope”), Ricky is on a rickety cot, and Lucy is in an unwieldy hammock, which provides ample opportunity for her to do some physical comedy. 

Oops! One of the times Lucy falls off the hammock, she throws the blankets and pillows back on but in the next moment the whole hammock is made up with everything arranged properly.

Fred says that he is going to write his congressman, but didn’t know who he is. At the time this episode aired, Donald J. Irwin would’ve been the Ricardos’ and the Mertzes’ congressman for Westport, Connecticut. 

Upset with these sleeping arrangements, Fred says “Before they make Hawaii a state, they’d better make sure they’ve got enough beds to go around.” When Fred gets annoyed at Ricky he says “It’s not bad enough we have 49 states, now we have to hear from Cuba.”  Hawaii was made the 50th state on August 21, 1959, just six months after this episode first aired. Like Alaska, it was a long time coming. 

Ricky’s cot breaks forcing him to share the bed with Fred. Why Fred and Ethel didn’t share the bed in the first place probably had more to do with Vivian Vance’s disdain of William Frawley than anything else. While they shared the double bed in 1955’s “First Stop,” by 1959 Vance’s long-standing dislike of her co-star had her reading each new episode’s script dreading that she’d have to share anything more intimate than a line of dialogue with Frawley.

When Skelton’s partner can’t make it for the show, he asks Ricky if his harpist (Nancy) can do it.  Ricky says she doesn’t know anything about acting. When Lucy eagerly volunteers, Ricky naturally says no and an argument ensues.

RED: “I didn’t want to start another Spanish-American War.”

The Spanish-American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the explosion of USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba, leading to US intervention in the Cuban War of Independence.  

• Ethel mentioned the war in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (ILL S6;E9). 
• In “The Marriage License” (ILL S1;E26), Mr. Willoughby (Irving Bacon) is referring to the war when he says about Spain, “We licked ’em in ’98 and we can do it again!”  
• When “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (LDCH S1;E4), Lucy decides not to tell Ricky about her prize, but Fred warns her that if he finds out it will be the “biggest Cuban explosion since the Battleship Maine.”

Jess Kirkpatrick (Show Director, left) had played the Westport train station clerk in “Lucy Misses the Mertzes” (ILL S6;E17). The young man on the right is unidentified and uncredited.

The highlight of the episode is the nine-minute ‘Freddy the Freeloader’ pantomime between Skelton and Lucille Ball, miming a couple of hobos dining at the Ritz. The non-verbal scene (also using sound effects and background music) allows the two finest clowns on television (both redheads, but only one by birth) to do what they did best. In 1952 Skelton won an Emmy for Excellence in Comedy. In his acceptance speech he said “You’ve given this to the wrong redhead. It should go to Lucille Ball.” 

The song “Poor Everybody Else” that frames the pantomime was written especially for this episode by Arthur Hamilton, who provided occasional musical numbers for the “Comedy Hours.”

The number is reminiscent of “We’re A Couple of Swells” by Irving Berlin from Easter Parade (1948) in which Judy Garland and Fred Astaire play a couple of tramps envying the lifestyle of the elite (the ‘swells’). 

When Ricky and Fred hear that there may be oil on the property they purchased, they change their tunes about being scammed and race to prevent Lucy from selling it to Red Skelton. Striking it rich was also the driving force behind the plot of “Oil Wells” (ILL S3;E18), even though the group never left Manhattan!

When their Jeep gets stuck in a snowbank and they are stranded in the snow , Lucy says that her feet are freezing!

LUCY: “I don’t know how the penguins stand it!” 

Oops! Contrary to popular belief, there are no penguins in Alaska. Penguins are only found in the Southern hemisphere… 

…or on the set of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973!

Iron Eyes Cody (Eskimo pilot, left) made a career of playing Native American characters despite the fact that he was of Italian ancestry. He first worked with Lucy and Desi in 1940’s Too Many Girls and 1942’s Valley of the Sun. 

He played the Medicine Man in a 1969 episode of "Here’s Lucy” but is probably best remembered as the Indian that sheds a single tear in the "Keep America Beautiful” ads that ran from 1971 to the 1980s.

Like Cody, Charles Stevens (Eskimo #2) frequently played Native American characters on screen. Coincidentally, he followed this appearance by playing an Eskimo on the short-lived series “The Alaskans” (1960). Extra Jack Kenny also went on to play Alaskan characters in 1960 with North to Alaska and TV’s "Klondike.”

When Lucy tries to pay the Eskimos to fly them back to Nome, they refuse $100 on the grounds it is unsafe.  When Lucy offers them $200, Red reminds her that they only have $100 with them.

LUCY: (To Eskimos) “Fly now, pay later?”

Fly Now, Pay Later was the marketing slogan for many airlines during the 1950s.  Facing increased competition, they offered to only take a small down payment for fares booked, in lieu of full payment at a later date. 

RED: “What’s that blue stuff?”
ESKIMO PILOT: “Sky.”
LUCY (To Red): “You act as though you’ve never seen sky before.”
RED: “I haven’t. I live in Los Angeles.” 

This is a joke about Los Angeles smog problem, a subject that will be mentioned several times by name on “Here’s Lucy.” Smog is a type of severe air pollution. The word "smog” was coined in the early 20th century, and is a contraction (portmanteau) of the words smoke and fog to refer to smoky fog. In July 1943 Los Angeles experienced smog so sudden and severe that residents believed the Japanese were attacking them with chemical warfare!  

When the pilot gets knocked out, Red must fly the plane! 

The tiny Nome airport is decorated with posters from Alaska Airlines.

The man at the airport (who is uncredited and unidentified) must ‘talk’ Red down for a safe landing.  

The plane lands safely after crashing into a snowbank!  When Ricky tells Red that there’s oil on the property he says he’s going to be “Mr. Standard Oil of Alaska” – but Red reveals that he had to give the property to the Eskimo pilot in return for the flight!  

Standard Oil was established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler but was found to be an illegal monopoly and dissolved in 1911. The original Standard Oil Company split into Esso (phonetic spelling of SO), now Exxon; and SOcal, now Chevron.

Providing the voice of the weather announcer heard in the airport scene is Robert Osborne, an alumnus of Lucy’s Desilu Workshop who later went on to great fame as the host of TCM’s movie channel.  

Background actor Jack Kelly plays a man in the hotel lobby. Hazel Pierce, Lucille’s camera and lighting stand-in as well as frequent background actor, is also in the busy lobby. 

FAST FORWARD! RED ROVERS!  

Dell Comics 1961

In the fall of 1962, both Lucy and Red took to the airwaves to promote their new programs on CBS in “CBS Opening Night” with Red reminding viewers that Lucy’s “not the only redhead on CBS”!  

Lucy and Red both had character cameos when Jack Benny marked his 20th Anniversary on Television in 1970; he as a messenger boy, she as a maid!

In 1971, Lucy and Red both participated in “Swing Out Sweet Land” a patriotic tribute to America. Lucy voiced the Statue of Liberty and Red played a newspaper printer. 

“TV: The Fabulous ‘50s” (March 3, 1978) featured Lucille talking about sitcoms and Skelton talking about comedy. It was rebroadcast in 1980. 

On May 29, 1978 both Lucy and Red took the dais at the Kennedy Center for “Happy Birthday, Bob: A Salute to Bob Hope’s 75th Birthday.” 

In 1978, Red and Lucy played themselves on the TV special “General Electric’s All-Star Anniversary”. 

When CBS marked their 50th Anniversary in 1978 with a week-long tribute, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance were present to represent Monday nights and Red Skelton was on hand to represent Tuesdays. 

In 1979, John Ritter (a favorite of Lucille Ball’s) recreated Lucy’s hammock debacle on his show “Three’s Company.” 

In 1988, Vicki Lawrence (whose co-star Carol Burnett was another favorite of Lucille’s) also took a turn (literally) on the make-shift bed on “Mama’s Family.” 

The Hamilton Collection issued a collectible plate based on the episode in 1999.