Lucy Gets a Roommate

S5;E7
~ October
31, 1966

Synopsis

Carol Burnett guest stars as Lucy’s
new roommate, a shy librarian who happens to have a piercing laugh
and a tendency to hiccup loudly. When their musician neighbors
visit for a party, Lucy discovers she also has a powerful singing voice!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Carol
Burnett (Carol Bradford) got her first big break on “The Paul
Winchell Show” in 1955. Winchell guest starred with Lucy in “Lucy
and Paul Winchell” (S5;E4). A years later she was a regular on “The
Garry Moore Show.” In 1959 she made her Broadway debut in Once
Upon a Mattress, which she also appeared in on television three
times. From 1960 to 1965 she did a number of TV specials, and often
appeared with Julie Andrews. Her second Broadway musical was Fade
Out – Fade In which ran for more than 270 performances. From
1967 to 1978 she hosted her own highly successful variety show, “The
Carol Burnett Show.” This episode marks the first of her five
appearances with Lucy as Carol Bradford. In return, Lucille Ball
made five appearances on “The Carol Burnett Show.” Burnett also
returned to star in three episodes of “Here’s Lucy,” once playing
herself. After Lucille Ball’s passing, Burnett was hailed as the
natural heir to Lucy’s title of ‘The Queen of TV Comedy.’

Carol
Bradford is a college graduate and employed as a librarian. To relax,
she sings and reads.

Dino
Natali (Mel, Musician, Bass), Dom Germano (Musician,
Guitar), Al Torrieri (Musician, Guitar), Attilio Rizzo
(Musician, Accordion), Roger Pearsall (Musician, Drums)
will all also be seen in the next episode “Lucy and Carol in Palm
Springs” (S5;E8).

Although
not billed as such, this group of musicians (with the exception
of drummer Roger Pearsall) was collectively known as The Vagabonds.
Contrary to popular belief, Joe Pesci was not part of this group. The musicians live across the hall from Lucy and Mary
Jane. Torrieri (who does most of the talking) brings a pizza and a
bottle of Chianti to the party. Dino plays Mel, the shy one who
takes an interest in shy Carol. In the final credits, Torrieri is
listed as ‘Torre’ and Attilio Rizzo is listed as ‘Atillo Risso.’ As
the only non-Vagabond, pick-up musician Roger Pearsall goes
uncredited.

This
episode was filmed on Thursday, July 14, 1966. The episode was filmed on Bastille
Day and aired on Halloween!

Carol
Burnett’s character name is consistent with other celebrities playing
characters (not themselves) on the show; using their own first name
and a different surname starting with the same letter. Mel Torme
became Mel Tinker; Joan
Blondell become Joan Brenner, and Roberta Sherwood became Roberta
Shaeffer.

Lucy thinks Carol will be a suitable roommate if she is five foot six and a half inches tall – so they can wear each others clothes. We can infer that that is Lucille Ball’s height.

Carol
Burnett gets a warm round of entrance applause from the studio
audience.

Carol Burnett uses her trademark Tarzan yell in both this and the following episode, “Lucy and Carol Visit Palm Springs” (S5;E8).

Carol
wears contact lenses, but wears eyeglasses (with no lenses) so that people won’t think she’s vain. “Lucy’s Contact Lenses” (S3;E10)
were the subject of a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

When Lucy Ricardo decided to write a novel, she also adopted glasses without lenses!

Carol’s
pet goldfish is named Harvey. This was a full year before Burnett
started working with Harvey Korman, who had already done three guest appearances on “The Lucy Show.” Carol says Harvey loves TV and
his favorite program is “Flipper” (1964-67), an NBC program set
on the Florida coast that concerned a boy and his pet dolphin,
Flipper. On “I Love Lucy” Little Ricky had a goldfish that Fred
Mertz nicknamed Moby.

Carol
finds a prize ribbon on Lucy’s dresser. Lucy says she won fourth
place in a beauty contest. Carol laughs uncontrollably! Coincidentally, Lucy Carter and Carol Krausmeyer (Carol Burnett) compete in a beauty pageant on “Here’s Lucy” (1970).

A
nervous Carol spouts off a few facts to impress the equally nervous musician Mel:

There are 6,950,000 books in the New York Public Library.
The
first public library was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
More
than 42,000 library books are stolen annually.

Carol
surprisingly sings a bluesy, belted version of “Hard
Hearted Hannah (the
Vamp of Savannah)”
written by Jack
Yellen,
Bob Bigelow, Charles Bates, and Milton
Ager.
The song was first published in June 1924.

Callbacks!

Hic?! Carol
says she always gets the hiccups when she gets nervous. In “Lucy
and the Sleeping Beauty” (S4;E9) Lucy says she always gets the
hiccups when she’s hungry. In “Lucy’s
Last Birthday” (ILL S2;E25) Lucy
Ricardo says she gets hiccups from crying. In “Lucy
Takes a Cruise to Havana” (above, set
in 1940), Lucy McGillicuddy tells Susie MacNamara (Ann Sothern) that she doesn’t get the hiccups very often!

Musician Dom
Germano says “Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could keep us from
our appointed freeloading.” He
is paraphrasing the unofficial postman’s creed: “Neither
snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from
the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
The motto is inscribed on the James Farley Post Office in New York City,
facing Penn Station. The credo was previously parodied in “Lucy
and the Missing Stamp” (S3;E14) spoken by the Danfield Postmaster (Robert S. Carson, above).

Carol
hangs an ugly “Home Sweet Home” sampler in place of Lucy’s expensive
abstract painting. On “I Love Lucy,” Fred and Ethel Mertz had a
“Home Sweet Home” sign hanging in their bedroom in “Vacation from Marriage” (ILL S2;E6, inset photo). The same sign
turns up again over the bathroom door at One Oak Cabins in “First
Stop” (ILL S4;E13).

Blooper
Alerts!

In
“Lucy the Bean Queen” (S5;E3) Lucy donated all her old furniture
to charity because she was buying new. In this episode, five weeks
later, she somehow has gotten the old furniture back!