Lucy in the Music World

S4;E3
~ September 27, 1965

Synopsis

When
Lucy takes a job in a music producer’s office, she wangles her new
neighbor into a gig on a television show.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael)

Gale
Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney) and Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) do
not appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Mel
Tormé
(Mel Tinker) was
a musician nicknamed ‘the velvet fog’. He was best known as a singer
of jazz
standards.
He was also a jazz composer
and
arranger,
drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of
five books. He composed the music for “The
Christmas Song”
(“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) and co-wrote the
lyrics with Bob
Wells.
He reprised the role of Mel Tinker in a two-part episode in season
five. Tormé
died in 1999 at the age of 73.

Lou
Krugman
(Barney Miller) was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1914. He made a
memorable debut at Desilu as the ever-patient film director in “Lucy
Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;18).
After that episode was filmed, Lucy sent him a telegram telling him
how impressed she was with his acting. She rewarded him with
appearances in “The
Great Train Robbery,” (ILL S5;E5) and
the role of the Club Babalu’s Manager in “Lucy
and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1) and
“Lucy
Meets Orson Welles” (ILL S6;E3).
He previously appeared as the science teacher in “Lucy Takes Up
Chemistry” (S1;E26) and will make one future appearance on the
show.

Mr.
Miller is an executive at Pop Records.

Reb
Foster
(Himself) was one
of the most influential disc jockeys in Los Angeles during the
sixties. He
also managed the rock groups Steppenwolf, The Turtles, and Three Dog
Night.

Twenty
uncredited singers and dancers appear on the “Wing Ding” show.

Mr. Miller ask Lucy: “You think you can function in our mad mad mad mad world?” This is a nod to one of the most successful comedies of 1964 It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. The film featured quite a few actors who have (or will) appear on “Lucy” shows: Charles Lane, Ethel Merman, Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Edie Adams, Alan Carney, Lloyd Corrigan, Edward Everett Horton, Roy Roberts, Jack Benny, Allen Jenkins, Monty O’Grady, Barbara Pepper, and Elliott Reid.

While taking shorthand, Lucy says she is simultaneously writing a letter to her aunt who lives in Schenectady.

Mel

Tormé

wrote and performed the original songs “Whatever Happened
to the Moon?” and (with Lucy) “My Trousseau Just Lies on
the Shelf.”

My
trousseau just lies on the shelf
Since
his surfboard came back by itself.
My
tears drown my heart with emotion
Since
my dropout dropped into the ocean.
He
said that I bugged him when I say things to him
Like
don’t learn to surf
‘Til
‘ya learn how to swim.

“Wing
Ding” is hosted by Reb Foster and presents:

The Six Bare Feet (three barefoot boys);

The Torch Bearers (three girls in beehives);

and the
DDTs (four boys with hair over their eyes playing guitars). Reb says
that the DDT’s will “do away with the Beatles.” Their look is
clearly a satire on the Beatles. Their verse of “Wing Ding”
mentions 007, aka Ian Fleming’s spy character James Bond. When this
episode was filmed Goldfinger was about to be released in
London. By the time it aired, the film was in release in the US.

“Wing
Ding” has a sponsor named Mr. Thornton who lives in San Francisco.

Some
of Pop Records biggest hits:

“He Wears a Hubcap for a Halo” –
about a teenage girl whose boyfriend got run over by a
police car.
“I’ve Got Tears in My Ears from Lying on My Back in
My Bed While I’m Crying Over You”
“I Lost You to the Arms of
Another” – about a girl whose boyfriend goes skin diving and gets
tangled up with an octopus.

Lucy
says she has a knack for knowing what teenagers want to listen to
because she was a teenager for seven whole years. Lucy would have
been a teenager between 1924 and 1931, forty years ago. She neglects
to mention that she is currently the mother of a music-mad teenage
girl (Chris).

When
one of The Six Bare Feet drops a saxophone on his toes, Lucy looks
for a replacement act but the Heartaches are in Vegas, the Weeping
Willows are in Miami, the Four Sob Sisters are in Fresno, and the Cry
Babies are in Oakland. Lucy suggest that she and Mel form an act
called The Tear Ducts.

Callback!

Lucy
also acted as talent scout for a musical TV show in “Lucy and the
Plumber” (S3;E2) where she discovers Beauty the dog and then Harry
Tuttle, a virtuoso violinist and plumber.

Blooper
Alert!

Since
Mel Tinker lives next door to Lucy in her Los Angeles complex, his
apartment is simply Lucy’s re-dressed. It is odd, however, that a
full sized motorcycle could be taken up to the second floor. The
bike is a 1962 Honda Dream.

When
Lucy is reading the album covers, they clearly have her lines of
dialogue describing the songs taped to the back. The second album
has no cover art at all.