Lucy and the Efficiency Expert

S5;E13
~ December 12,
1966

Synopsis

An
efficiency expert (Phil Silvers) takes over the bank and makes Lucy
his gal Friday. On a visit to a toy factory looking for a big loan,
Lucy must work the assembly line to prove that one worker can do the
job of four. She fails – spectacularly!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Phil
Silvers (Oliver
Kasten) was born Philip Silversmith in 1911 (the same year as Lucille
Ball). He started
entertaining at age 11. He made his Broadway debut in 1939. In 1952
he won a Tony Award in the Broadway musical Top
Banana in
which he played a TV star modeled on Milton Berle. His feature film
debut came in 1940. Silvers
became a household name in 1955 when he starred as Sergeant Ernest G.
Bilko in “You’ll
Never Get Rich,”
later re-titled “The
Phil Silvers Show.”
Lucille Ball did a cameo on his show in March 1959. In 1963, Lucy and Phil performed the classic ‘Slowly I Turned’ sketch for “CBS Opening Night.” The year after
“Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” was first aired, Ball and
Silvers both had bit parts in the film
A Guide for the Married Man
(1967). He died at the age of 74.

Oliver
Kasten tells everyone to call him “OK” (his initials). He calls
Lucy “Red.” Lucy then addresses Mr. Mooney as “TM.” Kasten
has been married 12 years and has 12 children. Now that’s
efficiency!

Tol
Avery
(Mr. Grantland) was a Texas-born character actor making his only
series appearance, although he returns for a 1970 episode of “Here’s
Lucy.”

Grantland
is the owner of The Grantland Toy Company and is asking the bank for a
million dollar loan.

George
DeNormand
(Bank Employee) appeared
in three films with Lucille Ball from 1937 to 1963. This is the just
one of his many appearances on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s
Lucy.”

Hazel
Pierce (Bank
Customer) was
Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in throughout “I Love
Lucy.” She also made frequent appearances on the show. Of her many
on-camera appearances on “The Lucy Show.” She was also an
uncredited extra in the film Forever
Darling (1956).

Roy
Rowan
(Voice on the Toy Factory Loudspeaker) was the announcer
for every episode of “My Favorite Husband,” “I Love Lucy” as well as “The Lucy Show”
and “Here’s Lucy.” He was also the voice heard when TV or radio
programs were featured on the plot of all three shows. His first
on-camera appearance was in “Lucy
Takes Up Golf” (S2;E17).

Male
and female background actors play the other bank employees and
customers. Wendy and Betty are are the names of two assembly line
workers at The Grantland Toy factory but they go uncredited.

This
is the final episode of the 1966 calendar year. The next new episode
will be seen on Monday, January 2, 1967.

Mary
Jane repeats a joke she says she heard on “The Red Skelton Show”
(1951-71). Red
Skelton
was a celebrity guest star on “Lucy Goes to Alaska,” a 1959
episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” He also starred with
Lucille Ball in the film Du Barry
Was a Lady (1943).
Skelton’s show aired on Tuesday nights on CBS.

In
turn, Lucy repeats a joke she heard on “The Jackie Gleason Show”
(1966-70). The show aired on Saturday nights on CBS. In addition to
specials with Lucille Ball, Jackie
Gleason made
a 1968 cameo appearance on “Here’s Lucy” as his most famous
character Ralph Kramden. On her way out of the office after
mentioning the show, Lucy does Gleason’s famous “away we go”
exit.

When
Lucy wonders aloud why Mr. Kasten repeats everything, Mr. Mooney says
that his mother was frightened by a bunch of radishes. Radishes have
been known to “repeat” on some people – a polite way of saying
“make them burp.” Mr. Mooney makes no reference to a television
show to excuse his bad joke.

Mr.
Mooney (probably joking) says his wife is bald! Lucy says that Mr.
Mooney’s wife is taking karate lessons! Irma sounds like a
formidable presence. While it might seem a shame that she is never
seen on screen, it is far more fun to imagine her!

Mary
Jane says an efficiency expert was hired by her studio to help save
money on a picture called Gunfight
at Gower Gulch.
Desilu (formerly RKO, now Paramount) was located on Gower
Street in Hollywood. It was informally known as “The Gower
Studios.”

About
Kasten, Mr. Mooney says, “He
reminds me of a sergeant I once knew.”
This is an allusion to Sergeant
Bilko,
a character played by Phil Silvers on “The Phil Silvers Show”
(1953-59). The series ran concurrently with “I Love Lucy” on CBS.
Curiously, the studio audience does not react to the reference, nor
does the production add in any “canned” audience reaction.

As
usual, Mr. Mooney gets all wet when Lucy lifts the jug off the water
cooler while they are moving it. Lucy previously had trouble with an
office water cooler in “Lucy is a Kangaroo for a Day” (S1;E7).

When
Lucy efficiently combines two proverbs into one, Kasten remarks “By
George, I think she’s got it!”
This was the triumphant cry of Professor Henry Higgins in the stage
musical and 1964 feature film My
Fair Lady.
Lucy did a parody of the show titled “My Fair Lucy” (S3;E20).

We
learn (for the fist time) that Mary Jane and Lucy are bowlers!

As
the hobby horses come down the conveyor belt, it is Lucy’s job to put
on the saddle, insert the saddle horn, attach the horse’s head, and
add its tail. In between, she is also supposed to immediately
respond to any orders heard on the factory loudspeaker.

On
the shelves of the factory is a real-life product called Nutty
Mad Indian.
It was a mechanical tin toy depicting a Native American warrior with
a silly expression on its face beating a tom-tom. The battery
operated toy was manufactured in the 1960s by Marx but would
definitely not be “PC” today.

The toys described as “six
yellow hound dogs” certainly resemble Disney’s dog Pluto. This is
not the first time a Disney character toy has been seen on a “Lucy”
show. Cleo the Goldfish (from Pinocchio)
was a prop in “The Ricardo’s Change Apartments” (ILL S2;E26).
Like Pluto, Cleo went unnamed in the episode.

This
is the final mention of Bank President Mr. Cheever before he finally
appears on screen in the next episode, “Lucy’s Substitute
Secretary” (S5;E14), the first new show of 1967.

Callbacks!

Conveyor
belts always mean trouble in the Lucyverse! The most famous conveyor
belt in television history was found at Kramer’s Candy Kitchen in
“Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1). Lucy Ricardo also got “carried
away” via conveyor belt searching a laundry sorting room for “Bonus
Bucks” (ILL S3;E21). Lucy Carmichael was swept away on a post
office conveyor belt (and subsequently bagged and tagged) in “Lucy
and the Missing Stamp” (S3;E14). When we see the conveyor belt at
Grantland Toys, we know exactly what to expect!

Blooper
Alerts!

Say What? When
Kasten and Lucy are reciting common sayings, Phil Silvers says one
backwards: "A
penny earned is a penny saved.”
Out of context it might seem that Silvers is being funny by
reversing the adage, but when viewed in the episode, it is clear that
he was supposed to be setting up Lucy for the punchline and simply
forgot the correct line.

Reputation Tarnisher! When
Lucy is placed in charge by Mr. Kasten, Mr. Mooney says that he’s
never been able to get her to do extra work in the past. In the
previous episode, “Lucy and the Monkey” (S5;E12), Lucy was said
to be overworked to the point of having hallucinations, even asked to
sell tickets to the Bank Benefit. She has also been known to work
from home. So what exactly is Mr. Mooney talking about?

Snake-in-a-Box! When
the voice on the loudspeaker orders a jack-in-the-box, Kasten and
Lucy both open snake cans.

Efficient? Any
assembly line that suddenly adapts to fill “on demand” orders
would be highly inefficient, although Kasten seems more upset about
the employees taking a coffee break, something that has proven to
improve worker productivity.

Floor Plan! The
lobby of the bank has once again been reconfigured to accommodate the
action of the episode.