“Lucy Meets the Mustache”

(LDCH S3;E3 ~ April 1, 1960) Directed by Desi Arnaz. Written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed March 2, 1960 at Desilu Studios, Hollywood. 

Synopsis ~ Ricky is depressed because he has not been getting any TV offers lately, so Lucy, Fred, and Ethel try to get him a job on Ernie Kovacs’ show.

Originally, the script was titled “The Redhead Meets the Mustache.” The script copyright date is January 18, 1960. 

This is the final episode of what was known in syndication as “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour,” part of “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.” The anthology series continued until June 1960, presenting stand-alone teleplays and reruns of “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours”:

• April 29 – “Lucy’s Summer Vacation” (S2;E5)
• June 3 – “Lucy Meets Milton Berle” (S3;E1)

This is the last time viewers will ever see the Ricardos and Mertzes. This is also the only appearance of the characters in the decade of the 1960s. 

Ironically, the series ended with its 13th episode on April Fools Day. After this episode was filmed, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz filed for divorce, ending their 20-year marriage. It is said that the two did not speak to each other during the filming of this episode, except through their characters or other actors (”Tell Miss Ball to stand two feet to the left”). There was, however, no on-air mention of this being the final episode, which was filmed without a live audience. Although dates are disputed there is a suggestion that part or all of this episode could have been filmed as early as late 1959. March 2, 1960 may have been a date later arrived at because: 

1. It was also Desi Arnaz’s 43rd birthday. 
2. It was 9 years to the day that Lucille Ball first played Lucy in the “I Love Lucy” pilot.
3. It made a better story that she filed for divorce the day after shooting finished. 

Following the “Comedy Hour” formula of having celebrity couples as guest stars, the “mustache” of the title is comedian Ernie Kovacs, who appears with his wife singer Edie Adams. Previous married guests include: 

• Fred MacMurray and June Haver in “Lucy Hunts Uranium” (1958)
• Betty Grable and Harry James in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (1958)
• Ida Lupino and Howard Duff in “Lucy’s Summer Vacation” (1959) 
• There was also the fictional husband and wife couple Danny and Kathy Williams (Danny Thomas and Marjorie Lord) in “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (1959)

There is no explanation of why the Kovacs’ are living in Westport, but since Little Ricky walks home from the Kovacs’ home, it must be nearby.

Ernie Kovacs (1919-62) was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. Coincidentally, as an infant, Lucille Ball also briefly lived in Trenton. A comedian, he was known for his uninhibited and visually experimental performance style. His television debut came in 1951, hosting his own show “It’s Time for Ernie” on NBC, although he quickly moved to CBS in 1952 for “The Ernie Kovacs Show.”

In February 1959 Kovacs had starred on “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” (the same umbrella program that presented “Lucy”) in “Symbol of Authority,” which was introduced by Desi Arnaz and also featured Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumbull). 

Kovacs was nominated for several Emmy Awards but only won posthumously, after his 1962 death in a car accident. He was nicknamed "Mister Mustache” by other television stars, which explains the title of this episode. In addition to his trademark facial hair, he was also known as a devoted cigar smoker. His second wife was actor / singer Edie Adams.

Edie Adams (1927-2008) was born Edith Elizabeth Enke in Pennsylvania, although her family settled in Tenafly, New Jersey. She earned a vocal degree from Juilliard, then graduated from the Columbia School of Drama. She made her television debut with her future husband on 1951’s “Ernie in Kovacsland.” They were married in 1954. Adams Won Broadway’s 1957 Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Musical as Daisy Mae in Li’l Abner. That same year she played the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s TV musical “Cinderella” starring Julie Andrews. Adams died of cancer at the age of 81.

Edie Adams glibly says Ricky Ricardo is famously for playing “the bongo drums” and Kovacs says that they used to call him “the Cuban Krupa.”  Gene Krupa (1909-73) was a big band and jazz drummer known for his flamboyant style and showmanship.

Little Ricky is said to go to school with Kovacs’ daughter Kippie, his second daughter by his first wife. Although Kippie does not appear in the episode, she would have been 10 years old at the time. Kippie’s older sister Bette is also mentioned. After their father’s death, the girls were the subject of a bitter custody battle between Edie Adams and their mother, Bette Wilcox. This was all depicted in the 1984 TV movie Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter starring Jeff Goldblum as Kovacs.

Fred thinks Lucy is brewing some exceptionally strong coffee, but it turns out to be a ‘joke spoon’ Little Ricky bought at the local novelty shop!  Little Ricky’s sudden fascination with practical jokes and Big Ricky’s sudden obsession with smoking cigars lead to Kovacs smoking an exploding cigar offered to him by Lucy!  

LUCY: “Smile!  Be gay!”

When Ricky feels ‘washed up’, Lucy reminds him that “there’s no business like show business.” The adage is also the title of a song from Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun (1948). The Mertzes burst into a chorus of the song in “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (ILL S3;E11) and Lucy quotes the title again when interviewed by a journalist for a “Fan Magazine” (ILL S3;E17). Ethel Merman, who originated the song on Broadway, sang it with Lucy and Vivian on a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

Lucy says that Ricky is depressed due to a lack of job offers, not even being asked to stand from the audience on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Sullivan traditionally acknowledged celebrities in his audience during his Sunday night variety show by asking them to stand for applause. This is one of several mentions of "The Ed Sullivan Show” on “Lucy."  Throughout their careers, Lucy and Desi were on the show (originally titled “Toast of the Town”) several times. 

Coincidentally, Lucille Ball’s personal chauffeur, Frank Gorey, started working for the star in October 1959 and was on the set for this filming. Gorey died in 2019. 

With Kovacs and Lucy sporting mustaches, Ricky is the only one to remain clean shaven!  

In 1952’s “The Mustache” (ILL S1;E23) Ricky grows a ‘cookie duster’ (with help from Lucy’s eyebrow pencil), despite Lucy’s objections. She retaliates by gluing on a full beard!  

Lucy wants to open a sealed letter
Ricky has written to his Uncle Carlos in Cuba, so she tries a
inserting a knitting needle under the flap, a method she saw in an
Alfred Hitchcock movie. The scene is underscored with “Funeral
March of a Marionette” by Charles Gounod.  The music was the theme
song of Hitchcock’s anthology eponymous television program from 1955
to 1965 and has since become synonymous with the famous director.  It
was previously used to underscore the entrance of the gnomes during
“Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (ILL S6;E10). Lucy also opened
Ricky’s mail in “Drafted” (ILL S1;11) nine years earlier. Lucy
says the knitting needle has replaced the old fashioned steam method,
the one she used in 1951 to open what she thought was his draft
notice.  

Watching Lucy open the letter without breaking the seal, Ethel says “I wonder if J. Edgar Hoover knows about this?” Lucy previously mentioned, J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, in 1955′s “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5) and Lucille Ball even received a nice letter from him in return.  

The letter to Cuba reads:

“My dear
Uncle Carlos.  Forgive me for writing in English, but it has been so
long since I have written in Spanish that it is much izzyer to write
in English.  You were right, Uncle Carlos.  Anyone who goes into show
business is loco de la cabeza.  If your offer to let me run the
tobacco plantation is still open, I am ready to move back to Cuba.
Your loving nephew, Enrique.”  

This is the first time we hear about
Uncle Carlos. We met Uncle Alberto (the head of the family) in “The
Ricardos Visit Cuba” (ILL S6;E9) and also hear about uncles named
Pedro, Rafael, Jorge, and  Guillermito Menendez. Perhaps not coincidentally, in the first draft of the script for the 1956 episode set in Havana, Uncle Alberto was originally known as Uncle Carlos!

The above screen capture reflects Director Arnaz’s penchant for unusual camera angles!  

After the Kovacs’ perform, Fred takes
it as his cue to launch into a chorus of “Melancholy Baby,” which
Ethel quickly shuts down. Little Ricky plays the drums instead.

William Frawley always claimed he was the first person to perform the
song publicly in 1912. In “Lucy Goes to Sun Valley” (1958) he
performed the song in its entirety. Coincidentally, the scene also
included a drum solo by Little Ricky.  

Fred and Ethel are still claiming to
have been married 25 years, just as they did in in “The Courtroom”
(ILL S2;E7) in 1952, nearly 8 years earlier!  When Fred goes off to
bed, Ethel says “Goodnight Bing,” a jab at his impromptu
after-dinner crooning. Bing Crosby was probably one of the most
famous singing actors of the 20th century. Frawley and Crosby did
four films together between 1934 and 1944, including the classic Going My Way.   

Married life at the Kovacs home is no picnic either!  Ernie has turned their refrigerator into a humidor for his cigars!

At the country club hotel, the desk clerk tells Kovacs that Mr. Aldworth, the sponsor of his TV
show, has been delayed. The name is a reference to Jack Aldworth,
who was assistant director of this and other episodes of the “Comedy
Hour” as well as many episodes of “I Love Lucy.”  

The car Lucy drives is a 1960 Lincoln Continental Landau four-door hardtop. 

Lucille Ball posed in front of the car for this rare publicity still. Earlier, Fred mentions the make of the car when he spies Little Ricky stepping out of it after getting a ride home from Kovacs’ chauffeur Crandall. 

ETHEL: “A phone in a car!”
LUCY: “That’s what I call luxury!” 

Later in life, Lucille Ball had a car that spoke!  It would remind her driver if a “Door is ajar” in its staccato computerized tones. Lucy would wisecrack back in her croaky mezzo voice, “A door isn’t a jar, a jar is a jar!” 

Near the end of the episode, Ernie
Kovacs tells Ricky to "take a good look” at Crandall (aka
Lucy in disguise). 

“Take a Good Look” was the name of a TV quiz
show Kovacs moderated at the time. It involved a panel guessing
answers based on short skits.

After the episode’s conclusion, Desi
stepped in front of the curtain to promote “The Man in the Funny
Suit,” a behind-the-scenes drama starring Ed and Keenan Wynn that
would air two weeks later. Lucy then drags Desi off to find Betty
Furness for their very last Westinghouse commercial.

Ethel’s talent as a pianist seemed
to vary greatly throughout the series. In the first season of “I
Love Lucy,” Ethel plays with great skill in “Breaking the
Lease” (ILL S1;E18) and “The Ballet” (ILL S1;E19).  In
“Ragtime Band” (ILL S6;E21), however, Ethel confesses that
she’s not very good. In this episode, she plays like an accomplished
jazz musician, but the accompaniment is actually being supplied by an
off-stage musician. 

“That’s All” was written in 1952 by Alan Brandt and Bob Haymes.  In 1957 the song was popularized by Nat King Cole. It was later heard in the films Tootsie (1982) and The Wedding Singer (1998). The lyrics of the song are eerily appropriate:  

I can only give you love that lasts
forever,
And a promise to be near each time you call.
And the
only heart I own
For you and you alone
That’s all,
That’s
all.

I can only give you country walks in
springtime
And a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall;
And a
love whose burning light
Will warm the winter’s night
That’s
all,
That’s all.

There are those I am sure who have told
you,
They would give you the world for a toy.
All I have are
these arms to enfold you,
And a love time can never destroy.

If you’re wondering what I’m asking in
return, dear,
You’ll be glad to know that my demands are
small.
Say it’s me that you’ll adore,
For now and
evermore
That’s all,
That’s all.

LAST CAST! 

Paul Dubov (Crandall, Kovacs’ Chauffeur) had played Jerry, Ricky’s agent, in “The Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4) after the original Jerry, Jerry Hausner, left the show.  Dubov was featured in Desilu’s “The Ann Sothern Show” and the 1959 pilot for “The Untouchables.”  

Crandall is married with six children!

Dick Kallman (Bellboy) was a member of Lucille Ball’s Desilu acting workshop. He had just appeared in a “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” Christmas show called “The Desilu Revue,” which featured performances by talent currently working for the Arnazes. In 1966, Kallman replaced Tommy Steele on Broadway in Half a Sixpence. The actor was killed during a robbery in 1980.  

Norman Leavitt (Chauffeur at the Train Station) had appeared in

two previous “Comedy Hours.” He first co-starred with Lucille Ball in 1950’s A Woman of Distinction and 1953’s The Long, Long Trailer. He went on two be seen in two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  

Louis A. Nicoletti (Desk Clerk) was an integral member of the “I Love Lucy” family, appearing in more than 20 episodes and going on to assistant direct “The Lucy Show.” Nicoletti also played a hotel desk clerk in “Lucy Goes to Sun Valley” (S1;E5) and loaned his name to the hotel desk clerk in “Lucy Gets Homesick in Italy” (ILL S5;E22).  

Desi Arnaz’s stand-in and long-time “I Love Lucy” extra Bennett Green makes a final appearance as the room service waiter.  

FAST FORWARD! 

In 1968, Edie Adams appeared on an episode of “The Lucy Show” as an old flame of Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) looking to take him away from his wife. To scare her off, Lucy pretends to be “Mooney’s Other Wife” (TLS S6;E18). 

In 2005, Lucy’s driver Frank Gorey gave ‘chauffeur-driven tours’ of Jamestown as part of Lucille Ball’s Birthday Celebration.

In a interview later in her life, Edie Adams told a story that when she arrived on set, she was approached by Lucy’s hairstylist who insisted that she needed her hair done. Adams told her that she had just had it down that morning and the stylist confided that “Lucy doesn’t like it”.  Adams’ hair was then washed, set, and styled. Lucy took one look at it and realized it was too much like her own and told them to change it back.  So Adams’ hair was again washed, set, and styled.  All for a half-day shoot!  Desi apologized on behalf of his wife, explaining that Lucy was in a bad mood that day.