S5;E12
~ December 5,
1966
Synopsis
Mary
Jane warns an over-worked and over-tired Lucy that she could start
having hallucinations. Meanwhile, Mr. Mooney gets a visit from his
old college friend, who has a monkey for a show business partner.
Lucy goes to a psychiatrist when she sees the monkey and thinks it is
Mr. Mooney!
Regular
Cast
Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carmichael),
Gale Gordon
(Theodore J. Mooney), Mary
Jane Croft (Mary
Jane Lewis)
Guest
Cast
Hal
March (Robert Bailey) was first seen on “I Love Lucy” in
“Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16) using his own name to play an
actor who impersonates a doctor. He was then lingerie salesman Eddie
Grant in “Lucy is Matchmaker” (ILL S2;E27). In 1967 he was
seen with Lucille Ball in the film A Guide for the Married Man.
March and Ball were close friends. This is their final
appearance together.
Bob
Bailey is one of Mr. Mooney’s college friends who is scheduled to
entertain at the Bank Benefit with his new partner, Max (the Monkey).
Lew
Parker (Dr. Parker) is probably best remembered as the father of
Ann Marie, Marlo Thomas’ character on TV’s “That Girl” (1966-71).
This is the first of his five appearances on “The Lucy Show” and
he will return for two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He appeared on
Broadway in musicals from 1928 to 1972.
Janos
Prohaska (Max the Monkey) was an actor, stunt man, and animal
imitator who is probably best remembered as the talking cookie-mad
bear on “The Andy Williams Show” (1969) although due to his thick
Hungarian accent, his voice was dubbed. He returned to play animals
in three episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Prohaska died in a plane
crash in 1974.
This
is the first of two episodes written by Sam
Locke and
Joel Rapp.
Both returned to pen “Lucy and the Pool Hustler” (S6;E13). The
writers get a lot of mileage out of the adage “Trying to make a
monkey out of me,” which implies that someone is being made a fool
of.
This
episode is sometimes referred to as “Mooney the Monkey.” The title uses the word “monkey” but the
animal in question looks like a very large chimpanzee. Perhaps
because of the actor’s size, it was purposely left vague which
species of primate it is. On “Here’s Lucy” Lucy Carter has an
encounter with a (fictional) “garboona,” a cross between a
gorilla and a baboon, also played by Janos Prohaska.
This
is not the first time simian characters have been seen on “The Lucy
Show.” Actor George Barrows was inside the gorilla costume in
“Lucy and the Monsters” (S3;E18), “Lucy and Art Linkletter”
(S4;E16), and “Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (S4;E20, above). In
“Lucy the Babysitter” (S5;E16) Lucy Carmichael takes care of
several chimpanzees, but this time they are live animals, not actors
in costume!
Mr.
Mooney once again has a telephone conversation with his boss, bank
President Mr. Cheever, a character that has been referred to for
nearly a year, but not yet seen. When he appears two episodes from
now, he will be played by Roy Roberts.
Lucy
is asked to sell tickets for the Bank’s Benefit “for a very worthy
cause.” There was also a Bank Benefit in “Lucy and Paul
Winchell” (S5;E4). Winchell rightfully questioned why a bank
needed a benefit. We never learn what the “very worthy cause”
is. We also never see the benefit show itself to find out what Bob
and Max do in their act.
Mr.
Mooney asks Lucy for “the Gordon Reports,” an obvious reference
to the actor’s own surname.
Mary
Jane says she has a cousin named Barbara who suffered a nervous break
down and developed hallucinations.
Mr.
Mooney once again mentions that his wife is away with her “commando
troop.” In “Lucy the Robot” (S4;E23) the famously unseen Irma Mooney went to her commando troop’s reunion. This seems to be the excuse
for Mrs. Mooney not appearing in scenes taking place in her own home.
Mr. Mooney never says exactly what a “commando troop” is or what Mrs. Mooney does as part of it.
Hal
March (Bob Bailey) gets entrance applause from the studio audience,
but it is likely due to his showy entrance singing and dancing rather
than his star status.
Bob
Bailey wants to take Max the Monkey to lunch at the Brown Derby, but
he isn’t wearing a tie! The Hollywood Brown Derby was famously
visited by Lucy Ricardo in “Hollywood at Last!” (ILL S4;E16) and by Lucy Carter in “Lucy and Johnny Carson” (HL S2;E11).
A
worried and befuddled Lucy asks Mary Jane how to spell “psychiatrist”
– with a “p” or an “s”? On “I Love Lucy,” Cuban-born
Ricky pronounced it “Fee-suh-kee-uh-tryst” and was shocked to
learn that it was spelled with a “p”.
To
decorate the psychiatrist’s office, “The Lucy Show” props
department created medical diplomas with “Dr. Lew Parker” on
them. These are readable over Lucy’s shoulder in the medium shots.
They also created a plaque with Dr. Parker’s favorite saying:
FACE YOUR FEAR AND IT WILL DISAPPEAR
Lucy
at first thinks Parker’s favorite psychiatrist is Freud, but it is
actually himself. Sigmund
Freud
(1856-1939) is arguably the most famous psychotherapist to have every
lived. He developed what is commonly known as “talk therapy.”
Visually, he had a goatee beard and carried a cigar, an image that
today can infer ‘psychiatrist’ all on its own.
This
is the second time we have seen the living room of Mr. Mooney’s home.
The first was in “Lucy the Robot” (S4;E23). In that episode,
however, there was a giant black and white framed photo of Mr. Mooney
over the fireplace.
Lucy (as Major Fun Fun) and Wendell (Jay North)
threw eggs at it in that episode. Here it has been replaced by a
landscape painting.
Mr.
Mooney calls Max a “simian Socrates.” Socrates
was an ancient Greek Philosopher born around 470BC. Mr. Mooney is
likely inferring that Max is intelligent and has powers of reason.
Like
Mr. Mooney, Max the Monkey reads the Wall
Street Journal!
The newspaper is considered the bible of the business world. It was
first published in 1889 and is still around today.
Lucy
questions Dr. Parker’s methods, citing the “hypocritical
oath!”
The
Hippocratic
Oath
is historically taken by new physician to uphold specific ethical
standards.
Once
again Mr. Mooney uses a punch line that concludes with a reference to
Rebecca
of Sunnybrook Farm,
a
1903 children’s novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story
of Rebecca Randall and her cheerful optimism in the face of
adversity. The book (and subsequent film) was first mentioned in
“Lucy and the Winter Sports” (S3;E3) and again in “Lucy and Bob
Crane” (S4;E22).
When
Max the Monkey grabs up all Lucy’s Bank Benefit tickets, she quips
“Maybe
he’ll take Tarzan and Jane.”
She is referring to the Lord of the Jungle, Tarzan,
and his mate Jane,
the subjects of a 1914 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The characters
have been the inspiration for dozens of films, television shows, and
stage productions. Carol Burnett did her version of “the Tarzan
yell” in two previous “Lucy Show” episodes.
Callbacks!
Lucy
Ricardo saw a psychiatrist in “The Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27, above) and
“The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18).
On the shelf in Dr. Parker’s office is one of the title props from “Lucy and the Ceramic Cat” (TLS S3;E16).
Blooper
Alerts!
Sitcom
Silliness! Lucy’s hallucinations would have to be more serious than that as
she could actually touch the monkey as well. She also fails to
notice that the monkey never speaks.
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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