Lucy and the Ring-a-Ding Ring

S5;E5
~ October 10, 1966

Synopsis

Mr.
Mooney buys his wife an expensive ring. When he allows Lucy to try
it on, she can’t get it off her finger!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Don
Beddoe
(Mr. Barmarche) made his
Broadway in 1929 and enjoyed a decade-long career on the stage with
more than a dozen plays to his credit. Although he may have made some
minor appearances in silent films, Beddoe made his real transfer to
film work in 1937. He appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1949 film
Easy
Living.
This is his only series appearance.

Ray
Kellogg
(Cop) played
the barking Assistant Director (“Roll
‘em!”)
in “Ricky’s
Screen Test” (ILL S4;E6)
and later appeared in “Bullfight
Dance” (ILL S4;E22).
This is the fifth of his seven episodes of “The Lucy Show.” He
also did two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Just as he does here,
most most time he played a policeman.

Lucie
Arnaz (Teenager)
was the real life 16 year-old daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi
Arnaz. She previously appeared on “The Lucy Show” as Cynthia, a
friend of Lucy’s daughter Chris. She also did background
appearances, most recently with her brother Desi Jr. in “Lucy at
Marineland” (S5;E1). She will do two more appearances of “The
Lucy Show” before becoming a regular on “Here’s Lucy.”

Lucie’s
‘hippie’ boyfriend goes uncredited.

This
episode was filmed on Thursday, July 7, 1966.

During
this extremely physical comedy-heavy episode, Gary Morton’s loud
guffaw can be heard clearly in the studio audience.

Having
lunch at her desk at the bank, Lucy uses the same pink Melmac cups
and saucers she has at home.

Steaming
open Mr. Mooney’s sealed envelope, Lucy says she feels just like
James Bond. In mid-1966, Ian Fleming’s dashing British spy
was being played on screen by Sean Connery. Thunderball was
released in 1965.

The
custom designed ring Mr. Mooney buys for his wife costs $6,000.
Adjusting for inflation, that would be like more than $45,000
today. Mr. Barmarche reiterates to Mr. Mooney that they do not give
trading stamps. Trading
Stamps were
small paper coupons given to customers by merchants in loyalty
marketing programs. When a customer accumulated a number of them,
they could be exchanged for premiums, such as personal items,
housewares, furniture, and appliances. In “Lucy, the Camp Cook”
(S3;E6) Mr. Mooney’s car runs out of gas because he wouldn’t stop at
a service station that didn’t give trading stamps! “Lucy Gets the
Bird” (S3;E12) begins with Lucy and Viv collecting trading stamps
hoping to earn a trip to Hawaii.

Conveniently,
Lucy has a condition where her fingers swell when someone yells at
her.

Mr.
Mooney gets a telephone call from someone named Miss Jones, if for no
other reason than for the telephone ring to startle an already
frazzled Lucy.

This
is the first time we see the exterior street entrance of Lucy’s
Glenhall Apartment complex.

Mr.
Mooney drives a red Volkswagen convertible, a somewhat unusual choice
for a middle-aged banker during in the mid-1960s.

As
usual, Lucy has no control over the kitchen sink sprayer and gets Mr.
Mooney soaking wet.

The
plot of this episode was recycled for “Lucy Meets the Burtons”
(1970) where Lucy Carter tries on Elizabeth Taylor’s expensive ring
and can’t get it off her hand in time for a press event with Richard
Burton. The ending, however, of the “Here’s Lucy” episode was
more like “The Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4), in which Lucy’s hand is
thrust through a curtain to hide the fact that she is shackled.

Callbacks!

Lucy
and Mary Jane steam open an envelope, something that Lucy Ricardo did
when she thought Ricky was “Drafted” (ILL S1;E11) in 1951. By
1960, in “Lucy Meets the Mustache” (the very last time we ever
see the Ricardos and the Mertzes), Lucy has replaced kettle steam
with a carefully manipulated knitting needle.

With
the fancy ring on her finger, Lucy pretends to be talking to Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Philip, even doing a curtsy. Lucy Ricardo
practiced curtsying for Elizabeth and Philip when “Lucy Meets the
Queen” (ILL S5;E15) after Ricky’s show at the Palladium.

Lucy
takes far too many of her ‘relaxation pills’ and becomes groggy,
something that happened to Lucy Ricardo on the “Staten Island
Ferry” (ILL S5;E12) and then again as the co-host of a morning news
show with Paul Douglas in “Lucy Wants a Career” (1959).

Lucy
also had garbage disposal woes back in Danfield in “Lucy the Coin
Collector” (S3;E13) and “Lucy the Disc Jockey” (S3;E26).

Blooper
Alerts

Sitcom Logic Alert! Mr. Mooney’s ring falls down the drain and somehow lands up in Mary Jane’s washing in the laundry room! Unlikely, to say the least!

Continuity Issues! In
“Lucy the Bean Queen” (S4;E3), two episodes earlier, Lucy was
redecorating her apartment with new furniture but here she has
exactly the same furniture she has always had! There were no scenes
set in Lucy’s apartment in the intervening episode, “Lucy and Paul
Winchell” (S5;E4).