Lucy Goes To Art Class

S2;E15 ~ January 13, 1964

Synopsis

Lucy
and Viv enroll in a beginners art class with their sights set on
a handsome newcomer. When Viv lands a date with him, Lucy sets out
to get even.

Regular
Cast

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

Gale
Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney) does not appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Robert
Alda (John Brooks III) originated the role of Sky Masterson in
Broadway’s Guys and Dolls, winning the 1951 Tony Award. He is the
father of Alan Alda of “M*A*S*H” fame. Although this is his only
appearance on the “The Lucy Show,” he will do three episodes of
“Here’s Lucy.”

John
Carradine (Professor Guzman) originally studied sculpture and
went to Hollywood to be a scenic designer. Instead, he became one of
Hollywood’s most respected character actors. He did two films with
Lucille Ball, Winterset (1936) and Five Came Back
(1939). His long career encompassed everything from Westerns to
Horror, even playing Herman’s boss on two episodes of “The
Munsters.” He appeared frequently on Broadway and is the father of
actors Robert, David, and Keith. He died in 1988.

Robert Alda’s character was named after the show’s Art Director Rolland M. Brooks and John Carradine’s character was named after his colleague, Pato Guzman.

Howard
Caine (Harold)
was master
of 32 foreign and American dialects. He was featured on Broadway in
Wonderful Town, Inherit the Wind, Lunatics and Lovers, and
Tiger at the Gates.
He replaced Ray
Walston
as
Mr. Applegate in Damn
Yankees.
On screen he played Lewis Morris, the representative from New York,
in 1776.
He will make one more appearance on “The Lucy Show” in
“Lucy
Goes Into Politics” (S2;E25).

Harold
is the proprietor of Harold’s Stationery and Art Store.

The
other students in the art class are played by:

William
Meader
had
appeared as an airport extra in “The
Ricardos Go to Japan,”
a
1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” He made many more
appearances on “The Lucy Show,” most times as a clerk in Mr.
Mooney’s bank.
Renita Reachi was a costumer for “The Lucy Show” from 1966 to 1968. She was also Vivian Vance’s camera and lighting stand-in for “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.” She was a costumer and/or made crowd appearances on “Here’s Lucy” and the Lucille Ball films Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) and Mame (1974).
Hazel
Pierce was
Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in throughout “I Love
Lucy.” She also made frequent appearances on the show. Of her many
on-camera appearances on “The Lucy Show” only once was she given
a character name and credited, in “Lucy
Plays Cleopatra” (S1;E1).
She was also an uncredited extra in the film Forever
Darling (1956).
Bennett
Green was
Desi Arnaz’s camera and lighting stand-in throughout “I Love Lucy”
and
was
featured on screen in 21 episodes, often given a line or two. This
is one of his uncredited appearances on “The Lucy Show” but he
was given screen credit in seven future episodes.
Sid
Gould
was
first seen in “Lucy
is a Kangaroo for a Day” (S1;E7).
He made more than 45 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.”

Three
other background performers play the rest of the art students. All
students are uncredited.

MR. BROOKS: “I do believe that all of us have some sort of creativity bottled up inside of us.”
LUCY: “I think this class might be just the thing to pop my cork!”

The poster behind the art store counter is a print of the Edgar Degas painting

Dancers at the Barre – a masterwork begun in the early 1880s and continuously revised by the artist for the next 20 years. Degas most famous ballet-themed work, The Star, hung in the hallway of the Ricardo’s apartment on “I Love Lucy.”

Lucy
is shopping for an atlas to help Jerry with his homework. She says
that the only export from England she knew about was Richard Burton.
Technically, Richard
Burton (the actor) is
from Wales, not England. Burton will make a rare TV appearance on
“Here’s Lucy” in 1970.

Lucy
spills her purse at the art store. The contents include a partially
eaten sandwich from lunch, an apple, and a broken mousetrap.
This classic TV trope allows Mr. Brooks to ‘meet cute’ with
Lucy.

In the second kitchen scene, there is a pink bakery box on the counter. These same boxes will turn up later in the year in “Lucy’s Contact Lenses” (S3;E10) and “Lucy Gets Her Maid” (S3;E11).

Mr.
Brooks spent $16.32 (with tax) for his custom-framed Mona Lisa print.
Adjusted for inflation, that would be like $137 in today’s economy.

The
Mona Lisa is
a half-length portrait of Lisa
Gherardini
by
Italian
Renaissance
artist
Leonardo
da Vinci (1452-1519),
which has been described as the best known, most visited, most
written about, most sung about, most parodied work of art in the
world. The portrait is known for its enigmatic grin, which Lucy
attempts to mimic in this episode. The actual painting hangs in the
Louvre (above) in Paris, France. Unlike the reproduction seen in this episode, in real life it is a
mere 30” by 21”.

The African masks behind Viv on the Art Store wall will be stored in the Desilu Props Building and brought out to decorate The Hairy Ape nightclub (below) when “Viv Visits Lucy” (S5;E15) three years later!

Although similar, they are not the same masks that decorate the office of the Unique Employment Agency during the first few seasons of “Here’s Lucy.”

Since
Mr. Brooks is new in town, Viv mentions that she is in charge of the
Danfield Welcome Wagon. Welcome
Wagon
was a business founded in 1928 to greet newcomers to a neighborhood.
A representative (called ‘hostesses’ because they were generally
women) would
visit new homeowners with a gift basket containing samples, coupons,
and advertising from contributing businesses.
Today Welcome Wagon activities are primarily conducted online and
through the mail.

Once
again, Chris mentions her friend Cynthia. The character was played by
Lucie Arnaz, but has been mentioned far more than she has been seen.

LUCY: “I wonder how late Flo’s Beauty Shop is open.”
VIV: “I dunno. Why?”
LUCY: “I just thought, perhaps, you’d have time to go and get your hair done.”
VIV: “I had my hair done this afternoon.”
LUCY: “Awww, I’m sorry, Viv. Yes, I see you did. Well, I guess even Flo has her off days.”

In several previous episodes Flo was a
mentioned to be a manicurist. The name is probably a tribute to
Lucille Ball’s childhood friend Flo Pauline Lopus.

Lucy’s
‘poison pie’ consists of three jars of hot peppers, two cans of
anchovies, and one bottle of Tabasco sauce.

Among other lies about Lucy, Viv tells Mr. Brooks she has cats and a
parrot.

Callbacks!

Lucille Ball dabbled in painting during her rare free time at home.

The crazy contents of Lucy’s purse was also a visual gag in “Bonus Bucks” (ILL S3;E21).

The overstuffed purse was again a source of humor in “Lucy the Coin Collector” (S3;E13).

Harold, the art store owner, mentions Lucy and Viv’s previous enrollment in night classes. This is a callback to “Lucy and Viv Take Up Chemistry” (S1;E26). Hazel Pierce played a student in both episodes.

Lucy
Ricardo visited an art store when she was expecting Little Ricky in “Lucy
Becomes a Sculptress” (ILL S2;E15). Instead of painting, she decided on sculpture.

Fast Forward!

In 1973, Lucy Carter also took an art class – this time making pottery in “Lucy and Uncle Harry’s Pot” (HL S5;E21).

Lucy Carter got involved in the art world again when she meets a gruff painter (Danny Thomas) who fears he won’t be discovered until he’s dead.

Lucille Ball will revive the ‘Mona Lucy’ sight gag in 1977 on “Bob Hope’s All-Star Comedy Tribute to Vaudeville”.

In 1966, Carol Channing revived Lucy’s gag of putting her face in a cut-out of Mona Lisa on CBS’s “An Evening with Carol Channing.” That same year, Desi Arnaz produced a pilot for a series starring Channing, but it was not picked up for production.

Blooper
Alerts!

Drawing a Blank! After sketching for just a few moments, Viv triumphantly says “There!” Lucy takes a glance at Viv’s pad and snidely remarks “That’s very good, Viv. Why don’t you draw what the rest of the class is drawing?” But when Viv gets up to get another pencil, her pad tips toward the camera and we can see it is completely blank!

Mona Upside-Down Pie! When
Lucy picks up the hot pie from the floor after it has fallen on the
paining, the Mona Lisa’s face is upside down. Lucille Ball wants it
right side up for the camera so she twists her arms around until it
is the proper orientation for the audience.

Sitcom Logic Alerts! Even from across the room, it is a stretch to believe that Viv and John don’t notice Lucy’s face in the Mona Lisa when examining the frame! Later, when Viv paints a mustache on Mona Lucy, it just so happens that John has a palette of wet black paint and a brush lying on his coffee table. Handy!

Papermoon Loves Lucy