Lucy’s College Reunion

S2;E11 ~ December 16, 1963

Synopsis

When
Lucy attends her college reunion, she and Viv get involved with the
old college tradition of stealing the founder’s statue from the bell
tower. It all good fun until she learns her antics may get some
students expelled and her own daughter barred from ever enrolling!

Regular
Cast

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

Gale
Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney) and Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael) do
not appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Roland
Winters (Dean
Bennett) was the
sixth actor to play Charlie Chan and was the third non-Asian to play
the role.
He made his Broadway debut at age 20, eventually appearing in six
shows, including the ill-fated musical Minnie’s
Boys
(1970). His screen debut was an uncredited role – a newspaper
reporter at Trenton Town Hall in the landmark film Citizen
Kane (1941).
In 1966,
he acted in the play John
Loves Mary
at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ.
He died at the Actors’ Home in Englewood, NJ in 1986.

Lyle
Talbot (Howard
Wilcox) was a ‘B’ movie actor who made several films for Ed Wood,
including what is considered one of the worst films ever, Plan
9 from Outer Space (1959).
This is the second of his two appearances on the series, having
previously played Mr. Sanford in “Kiddie Parties Inc.” (S2;E2).
He returns for two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

The
character was named for a college friend of writer Madelyn Martin.
As a child, Lucille Ball once lived at Wilcox Apartments in
Jamestown.

Carole
Cook
(Betty Jo Hansen) usually plays the role of Thelma Green, although
she will also play Mrs. Valance in three episodes, as well as a
variety of other characters. 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.”

The
character was named for a college friend of writer Madelyn Martin.

Florence
MacMichael (1st Woman) was a Broadway performer who was a replacement for the role of
Agnes Gooch in Auntie
Mame,
a role she also did on tour. The week prior to this episode’s
initial airing, she appeared as Winnie Kirkwood on “Mr. Ed,” a
role she would play until 1965.

In
the reunion scene, MacMichael is the woman who asks Lucy is she still
remembers how to play the ukulele.

Dorothy
Konrad (2nd Woman aka “Cuddles” Konrad) played Dorothy Boyer in two previous
episodes and then will play a variety of other characters in three
more episodes.

Norman
Leavitt
(Art McQuillan) had
appeared in three episodes of “The
Lucy-Desi Comedy
Hour.” He first co-starred with Lucille Ball in 1950’s
A
Woman of Distinction and
1953’s The
Long, Long Trailer.
He was
first seen in “Lucy
is a Kangaroo for a Day” (S1;E7) and
will also appear in “Lucy and the Countess Lose Weight” (S3;E21).

Vicky
Albright
(College Girl, below right) made her screen debut at age two in the film The
Snake Pit
(1948). She’s
the daughter of actors Hardie Albright and Arnita Wallace. She left
acting in 1966 after playing Charlotte in The
Trouble with Angels.
She was a professional photographer for many years.

Tina
Cole
(College Girl, above left) is probably best known as Katie on the long-running
series “My Three Sons” (1966-72). Her mother was Yvonne King of
the King Sisters singing group who appeared with Desi Arnaz in the
1946 film Cuban
Pete.

Sid
Gould (Bass
Singer in the Alma Mater) was first seen in “Lucy
is a Kangaroo for a Day” (S1;E7).
He made 46 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background
characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould
(born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to
Gary Morton. Gould was married to Vanda Barra, who also appeared on
“The Lucy Show” starting in 1967, as well as on “Here’s
Lucy.”

Curiously,
the actor who plays Bill
Lancet
in the reunion scene has a couple of lines but is not given screen
credit or listed on IMDB.

A
dozen uncredited middle-aged men and women play the rest of the
alumni.

This episode was filmed on October 3, 1963.

The
action is set a fictitious Milroy University, named after Zachary
Milroy, its founder. Viv compares him to Leland Stanford, the founder
of Stanford University in California.

His life-size statue, however,
more resembles Abraham Lincoln or Ulysses S. Grant.

Chris
says she will be attending Milroy in two years time. When Candy
Moore is written off the series (in just one year’s time), her
absence will be explained by the fact that she went away to college.

For
this episode, regular writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Martin are
joined by newcomer Ted Koch, in his only “Lucy Show” credit.

Sherman
mentions that he and Jerry will be staying at Uncle Ned’s while Lucy
and Chris attend the reunion. Originally, Viv was not going along,
so it is unclear why the boys would need to stay with Uncle Ned. The
off-screen character of Uncle Ned was first mentioned in “Lucy and
Her Electric Mattress” (S1;E12). It was never determined if it is
Viv’s Uncle or Sherman’s.

Viv
says she went to Kansas State, which garners a smattering of
applause from the studio audience. In real-life, Vivian Vance was a
native Kansan, but went to drama school in New York City. Lucille
Ball dropped out of high school to go to New York City and pursue
acting work.

Viv’s
fear of heights kicks in again. It first came up in the first season
episode “Lucy
Puts Up a TV Antenna” (S1;E9).

This
episode uses matte paintings to depict the Milroy campus and the bell
tower with the statue of Zacharay Milroy. Matte paintings were first
used on the series in “Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna” (S1;E9) to show
the exterior of the Carmichael home.

Callbacks!

At
the reunion, Lucy plays “Has
Anybody Seen My Gal?” on
the ukulele. The 1920s hit was also heard as part of the Flapper
Follies in “Ricky
Loses His Voice” (ILL S2;E9)
and
“Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (ILL S6;E4). In both episodes
Lucy also played the song on the ukulele.

Blooper
Alerts!

Sky Seam! In
a medium shot of Viv wrestling with the statue atop the tower, you
can clearly see the vertical join in the sky drop.

Diploma Dilemma! This
episode has Lucy as a college graduate, but in “Lucy the
Babysitter” (S5;E16) Lucy will say she only has two years of
business college. Her education status will be
forgotten again in “Lucy Gets
Her Diploma” (S6;E5), where she claims to be a high
school dropout.

A McGillicuddy Ain’t Here! Lucy
says her maiden name is Taylor, but in “Lucy and John Wayne”
(S5;E10) she will say it is McGillicuddy, just as it always was on “I
Love Lucy.” Taylor is also the surname of the young couple who move into the Ricardo’s NYC apartment when they move to the country.