S6;E16
~ January 1, 1968
Synopsis
When
Lucy breaks her leg, Viv comes to nurse her and the two stroll down
memory lane by recalling their past misadventures.
Regular
Cast
Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carmichael),
Gale
Gordon
(Theodore J. Mooney)
Mary
Jane Croft (Mary
Jane Lewis) and Roy
Roberts
(Harrison Winfield Cheever) do not appear in this episode. Mary Jane
is mentioned as being on vacation.
Guest
Cast
Vivian
Vance (Vivian
Bunson) makes her penultimate appearance in the role she created, Lucy’s
best friend and former roommate, Vivian Bagley (now Bunson). Vance
was born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas, in 1909,
although her family quickly moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where
she was raised. She had extensive theatre experience, co-starring on
Broadway with Ethel Merman in Anything
Goes.
She was acting in a play in Southern California when she was spotted
by Desi Arnaz and hired to play Ethel Mertz, Lucy Ricardo’s
neighbor and best friend. The pairing is credited with much of the
success of “I Love Lucy.” Vance was convinced to join the cast
of “The Lucy Show” in 1962, but stayed with the series only
through season three. She made half a dozen appearances on “Here’s
Lucy,” as well as joining Ball for a TV special “Lucy Calls the
President” in 1977. Vance died two years later.
This
is the first new show of 1968. There were no new episodes on
December 18 and December 25, 1967. This is the first and only clips
show on “The Lucy Show.” Not including actors appearing in the
clips, this episode has the smallest cast of any “Lucy Show.” For this episode, the opening credits roll rather than fade in. This
marks the penultimate appearance of Vivian Vance as Viv Bunson.
As
of January 1, 1968 Desilu Studios is owned by Paramount, a subsidiary
of Gulf + Western. Desilu Productions, however, remains the producer.
Lucille
Ball didn’t want to do a ‘final episode’, because the show was about
to be rerun on CBS on weekday mornings (replacing “I
Love Lucy,”
which was going into syndication). Ball felt a final episode would
hurt the show in reruns.
In
lieu of an official final episode, Ball opted to do a clips show
during this second half of the final season. It
is then decided to involve Vivian Vance and to limit the clips to
those involving the two of them. Vance thought it would be a good
idea to do a retrospective of all their bits together going back to
1951. Ball immediately nixed the suggestion, in part because it is
still difficult for her to deal with the Desi years. In the end, all
but one of the clips are from Season 1 of “The Lucy Show” which
was filmed and aired in black and white.
Wrap
around scenes were filmed to introduce and conclude the clips. These
were shot in one day, without a live studio audience. At one point,
when Lucy says, “I’ve
always had a sensible reason for everything I did,”
Viv jokes back, “Sensible?
Sensible my ass!”
Although
the take wasn’t used, it can be seen on bloopers reel on the DVD
extras. In the final cut Viv simply replies “Sensible?”
The connecting scenes were written by series script supervisor Milt Josefsberg. Milt’s wife Hilda Josefsberg receives a “based on an idea by” credit line.
Lucy
confesses that she broke her leg falling out of bed during a romantic
dream. She says she will be out of work at least a month. Lucy has a
female doctor named Dorothy.
Cheapskate
Mooney sends Viv a bus ticket to travel 3,000 miles to come and nurse
Lucy.
The
first flashback clip is from “Lucy,
the Coin Collector”
(S3;E13) where Lucy and Viv go down into the storm drain to retrieve
a rare penny worth $16.50. It features Tex
Brodus
as an ‘Ed Norton-like’ sewer worker. This is the only clip that is in
color. It was strategically placed just before the first commercial
break so that the audience was not put off by the disparity between
black and white and color before being hooked into the show’s
premise.
The
second flashback clip is from “Lucy
and Her Electric Mattress”
(S1;E12) where Lucy uses stilts to get into an upper bunk.
That
is followed by a clip from “Lucy
and Viv are Volunteer Fireman”
(S1;E16) in which Lucy and Viv hear an actual fire alarm and race to
put on their uniforms and head out the door. Once they arrive at the
firehouse, the scene includes Carole Cook (Thelma), Ruth Crews
(Dorothy), Bess Flowers, Hazel Pierce, and other members of the
Danfield Women’s Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Next
is a clip from “Lucy
Puts Up a TV Antenna”
(S1;E9) which places Lucy and Viv on the roof of their home
manipulating a giant TV aerial.
It
is followed by “Lucy
and Viv Put in a Shower” (S1;E18)
which finds the pair up to their necks in water in a sealed shower
stall.
The
final clip is from “Lucy
Buys a Boat”
(S1;E30), which shows Lucy and Viv trying to deal with a leaky,
pitching vessel.
Going
into the kitchen to prepare bedridden Lucy some lunch, Viv slips and
also breaks her leg. She says she feels just like a female version
of The
Man Who Came To Dinner.
This was the title of a 1939 play and a 1942 film where a pompous
radio star slips on the ice outside the home of a suburban Ohio
couple and becomes their unwilling house guest during his recovery.
Coincidentally, both the Broadway production and movie version starred Lucille Ball’s good friend Mary Wickes, who appeared on “The Lucy Show’ nine times! Hollywood’s ‘Queen of the Extras’ Bess Flowers was also in the film and is one of the Danfield Firewomen in the third clip. Patrick McVey was also in that episode, and briefly appears in the film. Jimmy Durante, who plays Banjo in the film, did a walk-on cameo as himself on a 1966 “Lucy Show.”
Callbacks!
The
“I Love Lucy” Christmas Show was also a clips show – the
only one in the series.
Mr. Mooney also broke his leg in “Lucy Plays Florence Nightingale” (S2;E14).
Flash Forward!
In real-life, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident shortly
before the start of Season 5 of “Here’s Lucy.” Instead of ending
the show, Lucy had her broken leg written into the script and filmed
using a cast and wheelchair.
“Here’s Lucy” also chose to end with a retrospective clips show between the two main characters (Lucy and Harry): “Lucy and Harry’s Memoirs” (HL S5;E24). Like “Lucy and Viv Reminisce” it didn’t actually ‘end’ the series. Instead, Lucille Ball chose to extend “Here’s Lucy” for a sixth season to match her previous two series’. The last shot of the episode was re-done to show Lucy Carter adding the word “Temporarily” to the ‘Out of Business’ sign, and leaving with a knowing wink!
Blooper
Alerts!
The Shadow Knows! When
Viv walks into the kitchen there’s the crashing sound of her falling
but her shadow on the window sill reveals that Vance is still walking across the room.
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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