Lucy the Bean Queen

S5;E3
~ September 26, 1966

Synopsis

Mr.
Mooney partners with an enterprising southern colonel to market
canned baked beans offering a double your money back guarantee. This
gives Lucy an idea how to raise enough money to pay for her new
furniture.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney), Mary Jane
Croft (Mary Jane Lewis)

Guest
Cast

Ed
Begley
(Colonel Beauregard Bailey, above right) was born in 1901 in Hartford,
Connecticut. His first success was the 1947 Arthur
Miller
play
All
My Sons followed
by Inherit
the Wind (1955-57),
which ran for 806 performances on Broadway and won Begley the 1956
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 1962 he won an
Oscar for his supporting role in Sweet
Bird of Youth.
His son is the actor Ed Begley Jr. This is his only appearance
opposite Lucille Ball. He died in 1970.

Richard
Jury
(Addison, Sales Manager, above left) was born Richard Satriano in 1926. He
appeared occasionally on sitcoms of the time. This is his only
appearance on “The Lucy Show.”

Joseph
Mell
(Supermarket Manager #1) previously
played Bailiffs in “Lucy
the Meter Maid” (S3;E7)
and
“Lucy
is Her Own Lawyer” (S2;E23).
His first role on the series was as a Butcher in “Together
for Christmas” (S1;E13).
In 1964 he appeared in the TV special “Mr. and Mrs.” (aka “The
Lucille Ball Comedy Hour”), which featured many of the Desilu
regulars. Mell also appeared in a 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
In 1971, he was a Taxi Driver on “Lucy and the Lecher,” a
cross-over episode of Danny Thomas’s “Make Room for Granddaddy”
in which Lucille Ball played Lucy Carter, her character from “Here’s
Lucy.”

In
the final credits, Mell is actually listed as 2nd Manager, but is the first supermarket manager on screen.

John
Perri
(John Coke, Supermarket Manager #2) played the Man
from Full-of-Pep Vitamins in “Lucy, the Superwoman” (S4;E26) and
was previously seen as a Supermarket Checker in “Lucy
and Joan” (S4;E4).
He was seen on Broadway in The
Boy Friend (1954),
the musical that introduced Julie Andrews. This marks his final
appearance on “The Lucy Show.”

In
the final credits, Perri is listed as 3rd Manager, but is the second supermarket manager on screen. The
character name is not spoken or credited, but comes from the name
badge on his chest. The surname may also read ‘Cole’ or ‘Cone.’

Sid
Gould
(Furniture
Delivery Man #1, above right) 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’s
furniture moving partner (above left) is uncredited.

Bennett
Green (Furniture
Delivery Man #2) was Desi Arnaz’s stand-in during “I Love Lucy.”
He does frequent background work on “The Lucy Show.”

Green’s
furniture moving partner goes uncredited. This is the third time
Gould and Green have played delivery men. They delivered Major Fun
Fun in “Lucy the Robot” (S4;E23) and the massive computer in
“Lucy, the Superwoman” (S4;E26). This time, however, they are
teamed with different partners.

The
voice of Perkins
in the Bailey Beans sales department goes uncredited

This
episode was filmed June 30, 1966, just before the production broke
for summer hiatus.

Ed Begley (Colonel Bailey) is the first actor on “The Lucy Show” to have won a competitive acting Oscar at the time of his appearance. Four years earlier he had won Best Supporting Actor for Sweet Bird of Youth. Earlier in 1966, Mickey Rooney made a guest appearance on “The Lucy Show” having won an honorary Juvenile Oscar in 1938 along with Deana Durbin. Joan Crawford, who won the Academy Award in 1945, would guest-star on “The Lucy Show” in 1968. Coincidentally, the year Begley won, Joan Crawford accepted the Best Actress Award for Anne Bancroft, who was appearing in a play. Begley, however, is the only one to appear on “The Lucy Show” playing a character, while the others played themselves.

The first (and only) actor to have won a competitive Oscar at the time of his appearance on “I Love Lucy” was William Holden, who won for Stalag-17 in 1954.

This
is the first and only “Lucy Show” episode written by Phil
Leslie,
who started his career on radio writing for “Fibber McGee and
Molly” on which this “Lucy Show” plot is loosely based. It was
broadcast on the NBC Red Network on January 8, 1946 and was called
“Bean Counting Contest.” Jim
and Marian Jordan played Fibber and his wife Molly.
Leslie will
also write four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

To
prepare for this episode, Lucille Ball learned to drive a forklift
and spent much rehearsal time working to ensure she could maneuver it
on a dime.

Colonel
Bailey and Mr. Mooney were formerly partners in Bailey’s Pickles.

Lucy’s
pyramid scheme of rebates is based on the fact that Bailey’s
Barbecued Baked Beans cost 25 cents per can. Newspaper ads from
mid-1966 (above) offer Heinz and Dundee beans (on sale) for 19 and 20 cents
per can, so fictional Bailey’s is right in line with the cost of
their real-world competitors.

Lucy
intends to buy new furniture from the Royal Furniture Company for
$1,500 over three years, despite the fact that she has only paid back
$100 of the $800 her furniture cost the year before!

Lucy
says her mother baked the best beans she ever ate. In “Lucy with George Burns” (S5;E1) Lucy says her mother’s noodles were the best she ever ate.

Recognizable
character actor Ed Begley receives entrance applause from the studio audience.

Mr.
Mooney notes that it costs five cents postage to send a letter. This
rate went into effect in 1963, rising a penny, and went up again
another penny in 1968. Today the cost is 47 cents, down from an
all-time high of 49 cents in 2014.

Lucille
Ball frequently had episodes written around redecorating so that the
show’s visuals would not become stagnant. Lucy Carmichael has only
had her California apartment furniture for a year. Although aired in
the fall, this episode was actually filmed before the production went
on summer hiatus, giving the set designers and decorators time to
make the changes. Lucy’s Danfield home (above) was redecorated in the hiatus
between seasons 1 and 2.

Colonel
Bailey says the Bailey’s Bean sales chart looks like a ride at
Disneyland. The now-iconic theme park in Orange County,
California first opened in 1955. In late 1965 Disney announced plans
to build a sister park in Orange County, Florida. Walt Disney World
opened in 1971.

Bailey:
“Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.”

Mooney: “We’re
not in the construction business!”

“Rome
wasn’t built in a day”
was a plea for someone to be patient. The phrase was a French
proverb in the late 1100s but was not recorded in English until 1545.
Ironically, Mr. Mooney was recently in the construction business,
partnering with Winslow Construction Company in “Lucy
and the Sleeping Beauty” (S4;E9) and “Lucy and Clint Walker”
(S4;E24).

Desilu
saves a salary by having the voice of Perkins in Colonel Bailey’s
sales department come from the overhead intercom system instead of an
onscreen actor.

Lucy
buys 3,000 cans of beans (in cases) and stores them in her (empty)
apartment. When she turns the cases into a sofa and armchair, she
calls the decorating style “early
pork and beans.”

Lucy
gets a phone call from Frank Winslow, whom she dated in “Lucy and
the Sleeping Beauty” (S4;E9) and “Lucy and Clint Walker”
(S4;E24). Frank owns a construction company and is loaning Lucy the
forklift.

Bailey’s
Barbecued Beans jingle:

Bailey’s Beans, Bailey’s Beans
Priced
for folks of every means.
Fix
a pot, cold or hot
Good
old Bailey’s Beans.
Don’t
delay, go today
To
your nearest store.
Hurry
up! Hurry up! Hurry up! Woah!
Buy Bailey’s Beans!

Callbacks!

A 1949 episode of Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” also dealt with beans: “OVER BUDGET – BEANS!” Liz (Lucille Ball) goes over her budget again by buying six cases of beans that were on special, so George cuts off her allowance. Soon they’re eating nothing but beans, and the electricity and telephone have been disconnected!

Baked
beans were a point of contention when Lucy Carmichael and Mr. Mooney
first met in “Lucy Gets Locked in the Vault” (S2;E24) where the
only food they had was a can of beans (but no opener).

In
“Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) Lucy Ricardo schemes to get new
furniture by entering a drawing at the Home Show – 100 times!

Having
an apartment full of baked beans is visually similar to Lucy Ricardo
having an apartment full of Aunt Martha’s Old Fashioned Salad
Dressing in “The Million Dollar Idea” (ILL S2;E13).

Mary
Jane getting trapped by stacked cartons of baked beans is visually
reminiscent of when Lucy Carmichael stacked recycled newspapers in
her Danfield home to sell to salvage to pay for the new Fire
Department dress uniforms. Just as Lucy drives a forklift in this
episode, “Lucy Drives a Dump Truck” (S1;E24) full of newspapers in
1963. Both episodes featured Mary Jane Croft.

When
Lucy meets Colonel Beauregard Bailey, she turns on the southern
charm. Lucille Ball also tried to charm a southerner named
Beauregard (Robert Preston) as Mame in the 1974 film of the same name.

Blooper
Alerts

The
safe in Mr. Mooney’s office in the previous episode is now gone and
the office has reverted to the way it looked at the start of season
5.

Lucy
says the two pinheads at the bottom of the supermarket map represent
her and Mary Jane. If that is so, they must be living in or around
the San Pedro area, not Hollywood. Also, if Mary Jane lives next
door to Lucy in the same complex the two pin heads should be adjacent
– or practically on top of one another.

All
three supermarkets were filmed on the same set, slightly rearranged.
In supermarket #3, a shelf of bread has been moved in front of the
soda machine.

In supermarket #2 (top photo) you can see boxes of Kiddie
Cookies, a fictional product first seen on “The Talent Discoverers
Show” in “Lucy
and the Plumber” (S3;E2),
then in the Los Angeles supermarket during “Lucy
and Joan” (S4;E4),
and again on the the kitchen shelves of the inventor in “Lucy the
Robot” (S4;E23).

Mr.
Mooney is investing his personal money in Bailey’s Barbecued Beans,
which might be a conflict of interest for a bank executive,
especially having a meeting on bank time.

After
Lucy and Mary Jane relax on their pork and bean box furniture, the
camera pulls back far enough to see where the edge of the
wall-to-wall carpet meets the gray cement of the studio floor. This
area had to remain uncarpeted to allow the heavy cameras to move
freely during filming. You can also see the actors’ ‘marks’ –
white tape denoting where the actors should stand to be in the camera
shot.

Papermoon Loves Lucy