S1;E10 ~ December 3, 1962
Synopsis
Viv trips over one of Jerry’s toys and suffers a minor ankle injury. Upset that Lucy thinks she’d sue over this little mishap, she decides to teach the Lucy a lesson. Exaggerating her injury and threatening to call her lawyer, Viv lounges in bed for a week, running Lucy ragged with petty demands.
Regular Cast
Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael),
Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley),
Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael)
Dick Martin (Harry Connors) does not appear in this episode.
Guest Cast
Charles Lane (Mr. Barnsdahl) makes the last of his four appearances for the character. This is the last time Lane will work with Lucille Ball, giving credence to the theory that he was fired to make way for Gale Gordon as Lucy’s banker.
In the entire series, this is the only episode that uses Viv’s full name in a title. It is also the first title of the series to include her at all. Most episode titles begin with “Lucy.” This may be Ball’s way of thanking her friend and co-star for returning to weekly television. After “I Love Lucy,” Vivian was adamant that she was no longer interested in the format. The script was dated September 24, 1962.
The bicycle Lucy worked so hard to buy Jerry’s for his birthday in “Lucy is a Kangaroo for a Day” (S1;E7) is turned upside down in the corner.
We hear about Viv’s physician, Dr. Parker, who apparently makes house calls. According to the previous episode, a doctor’s house call costs $7.50. We also hear Viv talking on the phone to her lawyer, Mr. Bender, who is in charge of her alimony. When Viv says mean things about her ex-husband, viewers (having never seen Ralph Bagley) are likely to picture Fred Mertz (William Frawley), which greatly helps the comedy.
Lucy reminds Viv how they met while serving in the WAVES. This backstory was introduced in “Lucy Becomes an Astronaut” (S1;E6). She sings a verse of “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” a song from the 1935 film Shipmates Forever written by Harry Warren, Al Dubin, and Navy Lt. William Gordon Beecher Jr.
“Shipmates, stand together
Don’t give up the ship
Fair or stormy weather
We won’t give up
We won’t give up
We won’t give up the ship!”
Caring for Viv’s every need, Lucy compares herself to Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), an English woman considered the founder of modern nursing. A season two episode will be titled “Lucy Plays Florence Nightingale” (S2;E14).
Lucy has a scene of comic business that involves her navigating the stairs with a lunch tray, a newspaper, a typewriter in a case, a knitting bag, a telephone, and a bowl of fruit – adding one item each time Viv yells down the stairs.
Sherman has left his lunchbox on the dining room table. It is a 1960 metal lunchbox by American Thermos Products Co. featuring navy submarines including the USS Seawolf, the USS George Washington, and the USS Skipjack. This is a perfect tie-in to Lucy and Viv being in the WAVES, although it may just be coincidental. In 1966, Lucy Carmichael will wreak havoc underwater in “Lucy and the Submarine” (S5;E2).
This episode involves the old TV trope of women being afraid of a mice! So far, the series has worked with a dog, sheep, and now mice. So much for the old show business axiom “Never work with children or animals!”
Another familiar TV trope is kids leaving their roller skate underfoot.
While Lucy is upstairs, Charles Lane removes his glasses anticipating the physical comedy that is to come in the next scene. This is the only time he is seen without his glasses.
The plot of this episode is similar to the Kaufman and Hart play (and subsequent film) The Man Who Came to Dinner, where a famous man is faking the extent of his injuries while making his humble hosts run circles accommodating his every whim. The play and this episode also have similar endings, with things coming full circle. Lucille Ball’s friend Mary Wickes was seen as Nurse Preen in the Broadway, TV, and film versions and will play Lucy and Viv’s friend Francis in season 2 of “The Lucy Show.”
During this episode, Vivian Vance and Candy Moore did an in-character commercial for Jell-O Pie Filling. In it, Chris remarks that Viv is supposed to stay off her feet. Jell-O was also a sponsor of Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband.”
Callbacks!
When Lucy sees the mess in the living room, she says it would make a great cover for Better Homes and Dumps, a joke about Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Lucy made a similar joke in “Men Are Messy” (ILL S1;E8) when she called her messy apartment suitable for Better Homes and Garbage. In “Redecorating the Mertzes’ Apartment” (ILL S3;E8) Lucy seriously says she got the idea for a painting party from Better Homes and Gardens.
The part of the episode where Lucy pretends to be assaulted by a prowler is similar in part to “Lucy Cries Wolf” (ILL S4;E3). Just as Viv is faking her injury here, Lucy did the same in “Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16) to get Ricky’s attention.
Once again we see Vivian Vance eating a banana! She also ate one in the series opener, “Lucy Waits up for Chris” (S1;E1) and in at least three episodes of “I Love Lucy.”
Blooper Alerts!
Sitcom Logic Alerts! When Lucy tries to trick Viv to discover if she is really bedridden or not, she stomps down the stairs, slamming the front door to make Viv think she’s gone out. She then sneaks upstairs again hoping to find Viv walking around, but Viv is on to her trick, so she is still in bed when Lucy throws open the door and shouts “Aha!” However, when Lucy left she did not close the bedroom door, so she should have known that Viv was faking when she returned and the door was shut. Instead, Lucy just pretends to be looking for the telephone book. Why was the telephone book in Viv’s room when Lucy only just brought her up the telephone? Also, it is an exceptionally long telephone cord to reach from the living room, up a flight of stairs, into Viv’s bedroom. It is also a very thick telephone book for Danfield; more the size of a phone book for a major city like New York or Los Angeles.
Floor Plan Foul-Up! This is the second time we have seen Viv’s bedroom, the first being in “Lucy Waits Up for Chris” (S1;E1). Although she has the same bed, the layout of the room is completely different.
Time Stands Still! The kitchen clock reads 8:10 throughout the episode, even when Lucy is preparing Viv’s lunch.
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