Lucy Makes a Pinch

S3;E8 ~ November 9, 1964

Synopsis

When
meter maid Lucy is recruited for a stake out with a handsome police
detective, she bungles the bust spectacularly. The next night,
trying to acquit herself, she recruits Viv to go on the stake out,
inadvertently handcuffing them both to the steering wheel just as the
crook arrives!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley)

Gale
Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney), Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael), Jimmy
Garrett (Jerry Carmichael), and Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley) do not
appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Jack
Kelly
(Bill Baker) started
acting at age two, modeling in soap ads and earning a lifetime supply
of soap for his pay. He
appeared
in eight Broadway shows between 1932 and 1965. This is his only
appearance opposite Lucille Ball.

Alan
Carney (Captain
Bradford) appeared with comedian Wally
Brown
in
a number of films from 1943-1946.
He played Mayor Dogmeat in the musical film Li’l Abner (1959). This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Jack
Searl (Murdock)
was a
fairly well-known child actor who gained a film following in the 30s.
He returns to play a criminal in “Lucy and Art Linkletter”
(S4;E16).

John
Harmon (Green Scarf Louie) will return to “The Lucy Show” for
another crime-themed episode “Lucy and the Stolen Stole”
(S6;E19). He also was in a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

This
is a stand-alone episode that continues the storyline of Lucy taking
a job with the Danfield Police Department in “Lucy, the Meter Maid”
(S3;E7). After this episode, the storyline will be dropped.

This
episode was filmed on Thursday, August 20, 1964.

In
the title, the word “pinch” means to steal something, a usage
mostly found in British English. Viv explains the pun by saying that
“Lots of relationships begin with a ‘pinch’” meaning squeezing a
bit of someone’s flesh between one’s fingers, hoping to illicit a
reaction.

Lucy
and Baker stake out Lover’s Lane in a 1964 Lincoln
Continental convertible.

When
Lucy and Viv are on their own stake out, they are sitting in a
customized Jeep
CJ-5.
It is never stated where or how they acquired a lavender jeep!

It
is mentioned for the third time in the series that Lucy and Viv live
at 132 Post Road.

Viv
calls the handcuffs a “San
Quentin charm bracelet.”
She is referring to San
Quentin State Prison,
located in Marin County, California. It was first opened in 1852 and
is still in operation today. There were two films titled San
Quentin, in 1937 and 1946.

Baker
mentions that Lover’s Lane is located in Paradise Grove! Viv says
that before she and her ex-husband Ralph were married they spent
their happiest hours at Lover’s Lane – before they met!

The
episode ends with both Lucy and Officer Murdock in drag!

Callbacks!

Detective
Baker brings Lucy some “bait” in the form of a diamond bracelet
and a platinum mink stole in a box labeled “Madame Fifi”. Madame
Fifi and her fur shop were featured in “Lucy Gets Amnesia”
(S3;E4).

In
“Too Many Crooks” (ILL S3;E9) Ethel Mertz also dressed in a coat,
hat, and scarf and was mistaken for a criminal.

Lucy
and Ricky Ricardo were shackled together without the key in “The
Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4).

Lucy introduces herself as “Officer Carmichael, Traffic Department, Badge Number 8715, District 9, 21st Precinct, Division 7, Vehicle Number 12, Unit 11A, Women’s Auxiliary” and then salutes. This is exactly the same way she presented herself to the judge in “Lucy, the Meter Maid” (S3;E7).

Blooper
Alerts!

What Season Is It? Viv
says “Spring is in the air” despite the fact that the episode was
filmed in August and aired in November. A similar situation occurred
in “Lucy, the Camp Cook” (S3;E6).

Wavering Waves! Lucy
tells Captain Bradford that she used to be a WAC. The
Women’s
Army Corps
(WAC)
was the women’s branch of the United
States Army
from 1942 to 1973. This contradicts their previous claim to have
been WAVES, the Navy’s equivalent to the WACs. It is obvious that
the change was made to capitalize on the homonym of Lucy being
“whack” or “whacky.”

Purchase Order! It
is unlikely that the police department would purchase genuine mink
and diamonds as “bait” when they could easily purchase costume
jewelry and fake fur.

In the Wrenches! When
Lucy has just been robbed by the Green Scarf Bandit, she says that he
wears a “wrench coat” before quickly correcting herself.