Lucy Digs Up a Date

S1;E2 ~ October 8, 1962

Synopsis

Lucy
and Viv are looking for dates to an upcoming dance when Jerry comes home from school and announces that he got a “D” from “Old Man Taylor.” When the “old man” turns out to be young and handsome, Lucy
schemes to look at his driver’s license to find out if he’s married, but forgets
to put it back in his wallet. She and Viv sneak into the YMCA where
he’s staying to secretly return it – but things don’t go as planned.

Regular Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Candy Moore
(Chris Carmichael), Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart
(Sherman Bagley)

Dick
Martin
(Harry Connors) is probably best remembered as the co-host of “Rowan
& Martin’s Laugh-In” from 1967 to 1973. He was born Thomas
Richard Martin on January 30, 1922, in Battle Creek, Michigan. As a
teenager he
lost a lung to tuberculosis and used bottled oxygen for the
rest of his life.
Martin
was a writer for the popular radio show “Duffy’s Tavern”
before teaming up with Dan Rowan in the 1950s. They played nightclubs and Las Vegasbefore Martin being cast as
Harry Conners, his ‘acting’ debut. He was married three times and died in 2008 of respiratory failure.

In
this episode it is established that Harry is an airline pilot and
that he and Lucy have been dating, although their relationship is not serious. The character is referred to in the first
act, but only enters during the episode’s final moments. This is the first of his ten appearances on the series – all in season one. He is mentioned but not seen in the series premiere “Lucy Waits Up for Chris“ (S1;E1), where we also meet his dog, Tiger.

Guest Cast

William
Windom
(Henry Taylor) was one of TV’s most recognizable character actors,
with his first credit in 1949. He won an Emmy for his series “My
World and Welcome To It” in 1970. The same year he guest-starred
on “The Lucy Show” Windom appeared opposite Gregory Peck as the
Prosecuting Attorney in To
Kill a Mockingbird.
This episode was his only screen appearance with Lucille Ball. He died in 2012 at
the age of 88.

It
is established that Mr. Taylor has recently relocated to Danfield
from San Francisco and that he is a Sagittarius.

Don
Briggs
(Eddie Collins, above center) appeared
on the 1930s radio program “Welcome Valley” and played the
title role in “Frank Merriwell,” which led to his
first film, playing the character in the 1936 Universal serial The
Adventures of Frank Merriwell.
He also starred with Lucille Ball in the 1939 film Panama
Lady.
He played the recurring character of Eddie Collins for seven
episodes. He later turned up on a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy”.
Briggs died in 1986 at the age of 75.

In
this episode it is established that Eddie Collins is a someone Viv sometimes dates, but like Harry and Lucy, they are not in a serious
relationship.

Gene O’Donnell (Charley Graham, above left) makes his only appearance on “The Lucy Show” but he was glimpsed in the 1967 film A Guide for the Married Man, in which Lucille Ball had a cameo.

Robert
Rockwell
(Tom Bennett) was best known as the dreamboat teacher Mr. Boynton on
“Our Miss Brooks” starring Eve Arden, which ran on CBS at the same time as “I
Love Lucy.” Rockwell returned for a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” He died in 2003 at the age of 82.

Vito
Scotti (Vito,
the Fencing Instructor) was
born in San Francisco, but spent much of his youth in Naples, Italy. Prior to this he

played a Tijuana shopkeeper on “Lucy Goes to Mexico,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” and had a small role in the Bob Hope /
Lucille Ball film The
Facts of Life (1960). He will return to “The
Lucy Show” for the 1966 episode “Lucy the Robot” (S4;E23). He
is probably best remembered for his recurring role as Captain Fomento
on “The Flying Nun” (1967-1969).
He died in 1996 at age 78.

James Gonzales (Stan Williams, above center) was a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer. He was seen in 23 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Robert
R. Stephenson (YMCA
Desk Clerk) was born in England in 1901. He returned to the series
to play the Parcel Post Deliveryman in “Together for Christmas”
(S1;E13).

When Viv is trying to decipher the initials “RB” in her phone directory, her guesses include former beaus Ronnie Belmont or Rudy Brown, but it turns out to be her own ex-husband, Ralph Bagley. Before this disappointing discovery, Lucy jokingly hopes “RB” stands for Richard Burton. This is the first celebrity reference on the series. Burton had just
finished up a run on Broadway in Camelot,
which opened two weeks before Wildcat starring Lucille Ball. Camelot
was
also a best-selling original cast album at the time. Burton and his wife
Elizabeth Taylor appeared on a well-publicized 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Apparently Lucy does some of her laundry in the kitchen sink! Both All and Wisk are still sold in stores today. It is possible these products were sponsors or prospective sponsors.

It is established that Danfield has a clothing store called Kleinstaff’s and a new YMCA. The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in 1844 to put Christian principles into practice by developing a healthy “body, mind, and spirit.” Toward that end, they serve as educational and community centers with gyms, classrooms, and sometimes swimming pools.

Until the late 1950s, YMCAs in the United States were built with hotel-like rooms called residences or dormitories. The rooms became a significant part of American culture, known as inexpensive and safe places for a visitor to stay in an unfamiliar city. In 1940 there were about 100,000 rooms at YMCAs, more than any hotel chain. Today YMCAs with residences have become extremely rare, although some still remain.

When looking at his driver’s license, Lucy notices that Mr. Taylor is a Sagittarius and she remarks that she is a Leo (same as Lucille Ball). In real life, William Windom was a Libra.

The premise of the episode has Lucy and Viv digging up dates to attend the Starlighter’s Charity Dance. Tickets are $10, which equates to $80 in 2017. No wonder Viv is reluctant not to attend!

This is the second episode to show Lucy outside a window.

Callbacks!

This isn’t the first time we have seen the girls in a gym. In “The Charm School” (ILL S3;E15) Miss Emerson (Natalie Schaffer) puts them through their paces in her salon’s gymansium. After Vivian Vance departs “The Lucy Show,” the Countess (Ann Sothern) and Lucy work out in “Lucy at the Fat Farm” (S3;E21) where Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) is the one making them sweat.

The fencing exercises between Lucy and coach Vito are comically similar to those of Lucy Ricardo and Madame DuMond (Mary Wickes) in “The Ballet” (ILL S1;E19).

Blooper
Alerts!

Lucy calls Jerry’s former teacher “Mrs.
Lopus,” named after Lucille Ball’s childhood friend Flo Pauline Lopus. In the previous episode, Lucy talked about a manicurist neighbor named Flo, another nod to her school chum. However, when Mr. Taylor visits Lucy, he refers to the teacher he replaced as “Mrs. Lucas.”

Apparently the set designers were not yet happy with the wall over the buffet. In the previous episode “Lucy Waits Up for Chris” (S1;E1), the wall featured a large painting and outdoor-style lanterns. In this episode, the painting is gone and the lights have become candelabra style sconces.

The biggest gaffe in the episode is the idea that Lucy could discover Mr. Taylor’s marital status by looking at his driver’s license. Although California licenses of the time did have a checkbox for marital status, New York licenses have never included this information. Like “I Love Lucy,” “The Lucy Show” was filmed in California, but was set in New York. While Mr. Taylor is established as recently having moved from California and might still have a California license, it is unlikely that Lucy would know the kind of information contained on the driver’s licenses of other states in order to look for confirmation of whether a man is single or married.

Throughout the episode, the kitchen
clock over the stove continually reads 3:40. Lucy needs to get that fixed!