Lucy and Viv are Volunteer Firemen

S1;E16
~ January 14, 1963

Although a colorized photo from this episode was featured on Gold Key’s “The Lucy Show” comics in September 1963, the story inside was not the same as the episode.

Synopsis

Lucy’s
letter-writing campaign to get Danfield a fire department leads to her
becoming the captain of an all-woman volunteer brigade. Lucy and Viv
practice, making sure they are ready for their first call to duty.
When the alarm finally rings, the women accidentally set the
firehouse ablaze.

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

Patrick
McVey (Captain
Metcalf) makes his only appearance on “The Lucy Show.” He was a
busy background player in Hollywood (mostly in westerns) doing nearly
30 films between 1941 and 1942 alone.

McVey uses a slight Irish brogue for his character.

Carole
Cook
(Thelma Green) makes the first of her four appearances playing Thelma
Green, although she will also play Mrs. Valance in three episodes,
and a variety of other characters in eleven others. Lucille Ball
took Cook as a protégé during the Desilu Playhouse years. Although
she was born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name
Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook also
went on to appear in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

We
hear that Thelma has a husband named Ernie.

Ruth
Crews
(Dorothy) makes the first of two appearances on the series. She will
next be seen in “Lucy Is a Soda Jerk” (S1;E23).

Crews has a few lines at the end of the episode that were obscured by the
chaos and sound like they were over-dubbed. The actor is never
called by her character name, but is one of the few firefighters to speak distinct dialogue.

Bess
Flowers (Volunteer
Firefighter, uncredited) was
dubbed ‘Queen of the Extras’ in Hollywood and is credited with
more than 700 film and TV appearances from 1923 to 1964. She was seen
in the audience of Over
the Teacups
in “Ethel’s
Birthday” (ILL S4;E8)
and
The
Most Happy Fella during
“Lucy’s
Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22).
This is the second of her five uncredited appearances on “The Lucy
Show.” Not surprisingly, Flowers was a founding member of SEG, the
Screen Extras Guild (now part of SAG) in 1945.

Hazel
Pierce
(Volunteer Firefighter, uncredited) was
Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in throughout “I Love
Lucy.” She also made frequent appearances on the show, although
only once did she speak, when she won the television auctioned off by
Ladies Overseas Aid in “Ricky’s
European Booking” (ILL S5;E10)
and
she shouted “I
won!”.
This is the third of her 21 uncredited on-camera appearances on “The
Lucy Show.” In the opening of season two, “Lucy Plays Cleopatra”
(S2;E1), she received screen credit as Mary Lou. She was also an
uncredited extra in the film Forever
Darling (1956).
Pierce died in 1984 at the age of 90.

This episode was filmed on November 29, 1962 but was aired out of filming order. The storyline about Lucy and Viv becoming volunteer firefighters on an all-female brigade continues into season two. The title came about before women in the fire department were known as firefighters.

A rare still of Lucy and Viv rehearsing this episode.

Commercials during the original broadcast advertised Jell-O desserts, Log Cabin maple syrup, and Swan dish soap.

There was also a promotional spot for “The Danny Thomas Show” which aired immediately after “The Lucy Show” on CBS and was produced by Desilu. Their guest cast included “Lucy” actors Frank Nelson, Sid Melton, and Milton Frome. It was directed by Coby Ruskin, who would later direct many episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

“The Danny Thomas Show” was followed by “The Andy Griffith Show,” which that evening featured Richard Keith (Little Ricky) as Johnny Paul Jason. At 10pm was “The New Loretta Young Show” featured “Lucy” character actor Norman Leavitt, who also had appeared in that evening’s “Andy Griffith Show!”

As the episode opens, Lucy is typing a letter to Senator John R. Dodds to complain about the lack of a fire
department in Danfield. In real life, John Dodds was the name of Vivian Vance’s
second (and at the time, current) husband.

Dear
Senator Dodds;

I
feel it is my duty to point out an alarming situation which exists
here in Danfield. Because of re-zoning in the county our fire
department has been transferred to Ridgebury many, many miles away.
As a result, in case of a fire, defenseless women and little children
will be left helpless to face a flaming inferno. Until this outrageous
condition is rectified, the least you can do for Danfield is to
create a volunteer fire department.

Yours very truly,

Lucille Carmichael

PS:
I plan to vote for you in the next election. That is, if the polling
place hasn’t burned down.

At
the end of “Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna” (S1;E9) two firemen come
to Lucy and Viv’s rescue when they are trapped on the roof. Thanks
to information in this episode, we know that they must have been from
the Ridgebury Fire Department.

Viv
mentions The Danfield Tribune. Lucy and Viv were seen on the front
page in “Lucy Becomes an Astronaut” (S1;E6). Lucy will later take a job at the paper in “Lucy Becomes a Reporter” (S1;E17).

Talking about the potential for a fire, Lucy
says she doesn’t want to be known as one of the “Last of the Red Hot
Mamas.” This was the sobriquet of Sophie Tucker (1887-1966), a
singer,
comedian, actress, and radio personality known for her stentorian
delivery of comical and risqué songs. In 1977, Lucille Ball played
Tucker (above photo) on a Bob Hope TV special.

When
Captain Metcalf says that someone’s been writing letters to the
newspapers, Viv points to Lucy and says “meet the press.” “Meet
the Press” is a Sunday morning news panel show that began on NBC TV
in 1947 and (as of this writing) is still on the air. It is said to
be the longest running TV show in history.

Metcalf claims Lucy has written to everyone except the President. Viv replies “Give her time.” I didn’t take very long. Lucy Carmichael will actually write to the President – and then meet him – in “Lucy Visits the White House” (S1;E25). At the time, the White House was occupied by John F. Kennedy.

Captain
Metcalf appoints Jerry and Sherman Junior Firemen. This is a
real-life program for youth run by most American and British fire
departments to encourage home safety in fire prevention.

Lucy shows Captain Metcalf her son’s precious bronzed baby shoe. Nearly two years later it turns up again in Lucy’s over-stuffed purse in “Lucy the Coin Collector” (S3;E13).

When Metcalf is training the women at the old firehouse, there is a Smoky Bear Forest Fire Prevention poster behind him. This particular design was first issued in 1953.

Captain
Metcalf claims that the reason the Danfield volunteer fire brigade will
consist of all females is because so many men commute to New York,
further reinforcing that fictional Danfield is a bedroom community of
Manhattan. The town’s name is purposely similar to real-life Danbury, Connecticut, and here the writers use the second part of the name with Ridgebury, which is a real-life suburb of Danbury. There is also a Ridgebury, New York, but it is located 65 miles from New York City above northern New Jersey.

Lucille
Ball usually wore wigs, but in this episode she wears her own hair to
accommodate the fire hat.

The
cause of the brigade’s first call is that Grandma Sutton’s cat is up a
tree, a familiar TV trope of the time. Grandma Sutton (although never seen on screen) will be mentioned again in “Kiddie Parties Inc.” (S2;E2) in which clown Lucy floats away on helium balloons and knocks over Grandma Sutton’s TV antenna!

Curiously,
Lucy and Viv’s good friend Audrey Simmons (Mary Jane Croft) is not a
member of the brigade here, but will be in future episodes. The character was
introduced in “Lucy is a Music Lover” (S1;E8).

In
connection with this episode, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance were made
honorary fire chiefs of the Los Angeles Fire Department. They were
photographed wearing official white helmets with Henri O’Bryant, vice
president of the Fire Commission, Fred
Kline, commission president, and LA Fire Chief William L. Miller.

A scene from this episode was included in “Lucy and Viv Reminisce” (S5;E16), a clips show retrospective aired during the second half of the final season.

Callbacks!

Lucy
and Viv calmly and methodically rehearse changing into their fire fighting uniforms is reminiscent of when Ricky, Fred, and Ethel rehearsed what to do
when Lucy Ricardo was ready to give birth in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital”
(ILL S2;E16). Just like in that episode, when the “time comes”
pandemonium breaks loose, including comic bits like getting stuck in
doors, mishaps with the telephone, and clothing going everywhere. In
real life, Lucille Ball was a stickler for rehearsals.

Blooper
Alerts!

Lucy
and Viv read magazines, but their mastheads have been masked.

At
one point, Metcalf calls Lucy “Captain Mrs. Carmichael”.

The
final time the alarm sounds during Lucy and Viv’s rehearsal it sounds
as if it is in their living room. The fire alarm effect is done
practically with an air horn.

After
rehearsing the change into their uniforms, Lucy announces that they
got it down to one minute and 28 seconds. In fact, just one minute and
two seconds of screen time pass between when Lucy hears the alarm and she checks the time.

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