S1;E3 ~ October 15, 1962
Synopsis
Jerry and Sherman’s football game is going to be canceled due to the lack of a
referee, so Lucy volunteers. She learns all the signals, but cannot help
interfering on her son’s behalf and clumsily affecting the outcome of
the game. To make up for it, she offers to take both teams to a pro
football game, but a blizzard strands them all at Lucy’s house,
watching the game on TV.
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)
Guest
Cast
Dennis
Rush
(Tony Lawrence, left) was just ten years old during this episode, but got his start
at age four playing Lon Chaney Jr. as a child in Man
of a Thousand Faces
starring James Cagney. His last screen credit was in 1966.
Although the episode’s credits give the character’s surname as ‘Lawrence’ it is never mentioned in the dialogue.
Desi
Arnaz Jr. (#63) is, of
course, the real-life son of Lucille Ball. His 1953 birth was worked
into the plot of “I Love Lucy” although Desi Jr. never played the
role of Little Ricky Ricardo. He did, however, appear on the final
half-hour episode of the series “The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue”
(ILL S6;E27) in a crowd scene. Although is appearance in “Lucy is a
Referee” goes un-credited, he plays Billy Simmons in four future
episodes of the series. He also appeared with his mother and sister
on “Here’s Lucy.”
Lucie
Arnaz (Game Spectator, white coat) is the
real-life daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. She was born in
1951 just before the premiere of “I Love Lucy.” Lucille Ball was
actually pregnant during the filming of the show’s pilot. Despite
rumors to the contrary, Lucie Arnaz never appeared on “I Love
Lucy,” and although she returns to the series to play Chris’s
friend Cynthia (a character already mentioned in the
premiere), here she remains un-credited, just like her brother. She
also appeared with her mother and brother on “Here’s Lucy.”
The
Mighty Mites of the Venice Athletic Club
(Football Teams) was a pee-wee football team from Venice Beach,
California, that took the parts of both the home and away teams in
this episode. Venice is located about 30 minutes west of Hollywood.
A dozen un-credited woman play the football players’ moms, probably
the real-life mothers of the Mighty Mites.
Roy
Rowan
(TV Football Game Announcer) was the off-camera announcer for every
episode of “I Love Lucy” as well as “The Lucy Show” and
“Here’s Lucy.” He was also the voice heard when TV or radio
programs were featured on the plot of all three shows.
Chris’s
friend Cynthia is mentioned again, interestingly in the same episode
that features Lucie Arnaz, who will play the character starting in
episode 23. It is possible, of course, that Lucie and Desi Jr. are
playing are playing Cynthia and Billy Simmons here, despite not being
named, identified, or credited.
For this episode, to go along with the football theme, the title song is played in the style of a marching band.
To
reinforce the premise of the episode, Lucy says that it is tough on
the boys growing up without fathers, but the show had still not
established that she is a widow and not a divorcee.
The
NFL
(National Football League) was established in 1920, adopting its current name in 1922. In 1966, four years after this episode was
filmed, the NFL began a merge with the AFL (American Football League) which
took four years to complete. The competition between NFL teams
culminates in the annual Super Bowl Game, held in January.
At
the start of this episode, Lucy is searching for her son’s lost Johnny
Unitas
football card. John Constantine Unitas (1933-2002) is considered one
of the greatest NFL players of all-time. He
was a quarterback who spent the majority of his career playing for
the Baltimore
Colts.
Unitas was the NFL’s most valuable player in 1957, 1959, 1964 and 1967.
From 1956 to 2012 he held the record
for most
consecutive games without a touchdown pass.
Lucy
says that Chris’s favorite pop stars are Frankie Avalon and Ricky
Nelson and that each has sold a million records. In 1967, Frankie
Avalon (above left) will make an appearance in the episode “Lucy and the Starmaker”
(S6;E4). He later played himself on “Here’s Lucy.” From
1952 to 1966, Ricky Nelson (above center) appeared on his parent’s television show “The Adventures of Ozzie
and Harriet,” an ABC sitcom that was a competitor of both “I
Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.” At first, Viv thinks that
Avalon and Nelson are football players, too, and compares them to Skinnay Ennis (above right), a popular bandleader and singer who toured the country.
He was also heard on radio and seen on the big screen. His given name was
Edgar, but when a record label misspelled his nickname ‘Skinny’ as ‘Skinnay,’ he decided to make it official. Eight months after
this episode aired, Ennis choked on a bone while dining in a
restaurant and died at the age of 55.
Lucy
reads out the sports cards of ‘Red’
Phillips, then a player for the Los
Angeles Rams, and Jimmy Brown,
of the Cleveland Browns. Phillips was actually named James and went
by ‘Jimmy’ or ‘Jim,’ but since both players share the same first name, the
writers used his nickname, ‘Red.’ Vivian laments that the players age and marital status is not given, despite the fact that age was
included on most all sports cards.
There
was spontaneous audience applause for Lucy’s frenetic dry-run of the referee signals. Throughout the episode the loud off-stage guffaw of
Lucy’s new husband, Gary Morton, can clearly be heard.
When
the two dozen stranded football players are sleeping throughout the
house, Lucy likens her home to Boys Town. Boys
Town
was
founded in December 1917 as an orphanage
for
boys. In 1938, Spencer Tracy played their founder, Father Flanagan,
in a film titled Boys
Town,
which won two Oscars and spawned the sequel Men
of Boys Town, also
starring Tracy.
With
all the beds full of boys, Lucy decides to sleep in the bathtub,
giving us our first glimpse of the Carmichael bathroom. Naturally,
we do not see the commode, just the tub where Lucy tries to bed down.
Of course, she accidentally triggers the shower and cannot seem to
turn it off before her pajamas get soaking wet. Lucy Carmichael’s
inability to control hoses and other spouts will become a repeated
gag on the series, taken to extremes in “Lucy and Viv Put in a
Shower” (S1;E18).
We
learn that Danfield has a filling station where Harry has chains put
on his tires.
Callbacks!
This episode aired 11 years to the day that “I Love Lucy” went on the air.
Sports Fans: On
“I Love Lucy” Lucy and Ethel got involved in such sports as
basketball and golf (“The Golf Game” ILL S3;E30), winter sports
like skiing and skating (“Lucy Goes To Sun Valley” (1958), and
baseball (“Lucy and Bob Hope” ILL S6;1). That episode was set in
Yankee
Stadium and featured actual
second unit location footage and scenes set in and around the
stadium. In 1963, “Lucy and Viv Play Softball” (S2;E3).
The
episode ends with the boys having a pillow fight which naturally
releases feathers into the air. This is similar to the comic ending
of “Redecorating the Mertzes’ Apartment” (ILL S3;E8), when a fan
accidentally hits the exposed stuffing of Fred’s recently gutted
armchair.
Blooper
Alerts!
While
Lucy and the team are on the football field, Lucille Ball’s canvas
director’s chair, clearly marked LUCY, is visible in the background
at the left, behind the chain link fence.
The
TV announcer says the name “Phillips,” so we know that the game is between the
the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants, who played at Yankee
Stadium. In 1962, however, the two teams did not play one other.
It
is unlikely that either of the pee-wee teams didn’t have a knowledgeable
coach that could step in as referee.
This
is the third look (in just as many episodes) for the wall over the buffet.
The lighting sconces are gone and the wall now features three small
paintings. This was probably a “wild wall” – one that easily moved out
of the way so the cameras could quickly be re-positioned for the
kitchen scenes.
The clock in the kitchen still reads 3:40. While this may be an accurate time for the scene, it is the same time the clock read in “Lucy Waits Up for Chris” (S1;E1).
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