S1;E5 ~ October 29, 1962
Synopsis
Lucy
solves the lawn mowing problem by buying a sheep to eat the grass.
Then winter weather makes the sheep, Clementine, have to spend the
night in the house with Lucy, Viv and the kids, and it keeps them all
awake.
Regular
Cast
Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Jimmy Garrett
(Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris
Carmichael), Charles
Lane (Mr.
Barnsdahl)
Dick
Martin
(Harry Connors) does not appear in this episode
Guest
Cast
Parley
Baer (Mr.
Evans) previously
played MGM’s Mr. Reilly in “Ricky
Needs an Agent” (ILL S4;E29) and the furniture salesman Mr. Perry
in “Lucy Gets Chummy with the Neighbors” (ILL S6;E18).
This is the first of his
five appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He also made two appearances
on “Here’s Lucy.” He is perhaps best known for his recurring
roles as Mayor Stoner on “The Andy Griffith Show” and Doc Appleby
in “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Eddie
Quillan (Mr.
Vincent, left) was born
in Philadelphia in 1907. At the age of seven he was already
performing in vaudeville with his sister and three brothers in an act
called "The Rising Generation.” He made his screen debut
in 1926 in a Mack Sennett short and went on to appear in such classic
films as Young
Mr. Lincoln
(1939), The
Grapes of Wrath
(1940), and Brigadoon
(1954).
This is the first of his two appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He
also made two appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”
Ginny
Tyler
(uncredited voice of the sheep) started
out on radio before hosting a children’s TV show in Seattle. By the
late 1950s, she had moved to Hollywood and was narrating record
albums for Disney, including “Bambi” and “Babes in
Toyland”.
After this episode, she did the voice of the sheep in Disney’s 1964
hit Mary
Poppins.
She returned to do bird voices for “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy
Gets the Bird” (S3;E12) and a 1974 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
Although she died in 2012, her voice can still be heard in the chorus
of birds outside The Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and Walt
Disney World.
Clementine the Sheep appears as herself.
Although
filming dates for “The Lucy Show” are not widely published, sources
indicate that this may have been the second episode to be filmed.
This would explain the lack of exposition about Lucy’s dead husband,
which is noticeably absent until episode four.
The
opening scene from this episode was used as the audition material for
the child actors. In all the scripts for the
first few weeks, Lucy’s daughter Chris was named Linda. It was changed because “Make Room for Daddy” (1953-1964), another CBS sitcom shot at Desilu studios, already had a daughter named Linda, played by Angela Cartwright.
In
the opening breakfast scene between Lucy and Jerry, the close-up
shots of Jerry are obviously over-dubbed into the master scene,
causing Jerry’s voice to sound noticeably different.
Lucy and a lamb were featured on the cover of this cut-out coloring book. Although Lucy sang to the sheep in the episode, she never played the guitar.
In
this episode we hear about Walter Brewer, a boy in the neighborhood
that Chris likes; Mrs. Farrington, a neighbor who wants to
rent Clementine; and that Lucy is a member of the Embroidery Club
(although she may be just joking). About the boys, we learn that
Jerry’s penmanship has improved but he is not a good speller, and
that Sherman takes piano lessons after school, but he’d rather not.
Sherman
has a teacher named Miss Clementine, who tells him that Australian
farmers use sheep to keep their grass trim, giving Lucy the idea to
buy a sheep. The sheep Lucy buys is named after the teacher,
although the actual naming of the sheep is not part of the episode.
Chris suggests they buy a power mower,
which she says will cost $100. Adjusted for inflation, this would be
more than $860 in 2020.
Lucy:
“Compared to Mr. Barnsdahl,
Scrooge was a swinger.”
Lucy
is comparing Mr. Barnsdahl to Ebenezer Scrooge, the curmudgeonly
miser who is the central figure of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella “A
Christmas Carol.”
The
episode actually employs a dozen sheep, including a black one, which
Viv analogizes to her ex-husband, Ralph.
Lifting
the sheep into the car, Lucy says “You
really are all wool and a yard wide.”
This is an old expression used to describe someone who is genuine
and honorable. The adage has its roots in the clothing trade of the
16th century.
The
scene set at the farm includes a 1949 Packard convertible.
Packard started making automobiles in 1899 and went out of business
in 1958, four years before the series premiered. On “I Love Lucy”
the Ricardo’s drove a brand new 1955
Pontiac
Star
Chief Convertible during season four because Desilu had a promotional deal with Pontiac. Future episodes indicate that Lucy doesn’t own a car, so the Packard may belong to Viv. In “Lucy and Her Electric Mattress” (S1;E12) Viv talks about her old car breaking down.
This
is the first episode not to have at least one scene set in the living
room. This is likely due to the fact that studio space was needed
for the farm and bedroom sets.
This is also the first (and only time
this season) that we see Lucy’s bedroom. We saw Viv’s bedroom in
“Lucy Waits Up for Chris” (S1;E1).
The
episode includes quotes from the Mother Goose nursery rhymes “Sing
a Song of Sixpence” and “Little Bo
Peep.”
“My
Darling, Clementine” is a western
folk ballad usually
credited to Percy Montrose (1884), although it is sometimes
attributed to Barker Bradford. It was also the title of a 1946
western film directed by John Ford. Here Lucy adapts the lyrics to
“Go
to sleepy, little sheepy” and
“You’re
my lamby, I’m your mammy.”
In the scene in the sheep pen, Lucy and Viv harmonize on a verse of
the song. Later in the series, the girls will put their musical
skills to use by joining a barbershop quartet.
Searching
for Clementine among the other sheep in the pen Viv says, “Will
the real Clementine Carmichael please stand up?” This is a reference to the game
show “To Tell the Truth” (1956-1968), which always ended with the
host asking one of three contestants to stand if they were not
fibbing to a celebrity panel of questioners.
Viv
says that the falling snow isn’t “pennies from heaven.” This is
the title of a popular song and film (both from 1936) that later
inspired a 1978 BBC TV series and a 1981 feature film.
In
1962, Lucy wasn’t the only one singing to a live sheep. In the hit
film Gypsy,
Natalie Wood sang “Little Lamb,” a song by Jule Styne and Stephen
Sondheim.
A 1956 episode of “Father Knows Best” begins with son Bud not wanting to mow the lawn. He suggests buying a cow to eat the grass instead.
Callbacks!
At
the breakfast table, Lucy absent-mindedly stirs her coffee for a full
minute, an annoying trait that Lucy Ricardo was accused of by Ricky
during “In Palm Springs” (ILL S4;E26).
Lucy
and Ethel fantasize about buying mink coats with the money they make
by renting out sheep. Lucy Ricardo was always dreaming of a getting a
mink coat, and she nearly did in “The Fur Coat” (ILL S1;E9). She
nearly gets her mink in “Redecorating
the Mertzes’ Apartment” (ILL S3;E8),
but the cost of the coat ends up paying for new furniture.
The
lamb’s bleats were provided by Disney voice artist Ginny Tyler. Other
Desilu actors to have voiced characters for Disney include: Verna
Felton, who played Mrs. Porter in “Lucy Hires a Maid” (ILL
S2;E23); Lee Millar Jr., who played Chip Jackson in “Lucy and the
Dummy” (ILL S5;E3); and Eleanor Audley, who played Mrs. Spaulding
in “Lucy Wants to Move to the Country” (ILL S6;E15). Like Tyler,
Audley’s voice is still heard in the Disney theme parks as Madam
Leota, the head in the crystal ball in the Haunted Mansion. In the same way Tyler was the voice of Clementine, voice artist June Foray provided the barks for Fred the dog.
Lucy
sits on the floor and tries to convince Clementine to go to sleep
just the same way she did with Fred the dog in “Little Ricky Gets a
Dog” (ILL S6;E14) when he, too, keeps everyone awake all night.
Chris
suggest Lucy get a power mower, which was not a happy experience for
Lucy Ricardo when she borrowed one from the Ramsey’s in “Lucy
Raises Tulips” (ILL S6;E26)!
Viv:
“Who
got dinner last night? Who did the laundry last week? Who did the
marketing yesterday? Who? Who?”
Lucy:
“Apparently
some crabby blonde owl.”
The
joke is a variation on one from the very first episode of “I Love
Lucy,” “The Girls Want To Go To a Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1):
Ethel
(to Lucy, who is dialing the phone): “Who
are you calling? Who, who, who?”
Lucy:
(to Ethel): “Quiet,
you sound like an owl.”
Blooper
Alerts!
Time Check! The
kitchen clock reads 3:40 when Lucy and Viv are preparing dinner. In the next shot it says 5:30. The clock continually read 3:40 in
the first few episodes.
ADR? When the kids run off to catch the school bus, a bleary-eyed Viv mutters “Don’t fall off the bus, children.” The line is partially covered by ad-libs from the others.
Clock Watchers! Speaking
of clocks, at the start of the bedroom scene, Lucy notes that it is
2:30 but a few minutes later she tells Viv it is “after midnight.”
While not exactly a blooper, why wouldn’t Lucy just say “it’s
after 2:30”?
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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