LUCY VISITS JACK BENNY

S1;E2 ~ September 30, 1968

Synopsis

Lucy
sees an ad for a bargain vacation in Palm Springs and decides to take
the kids away for the weekend. Not able to resist a bargain, Harry
tags along. When they get there, they discover that the place is run
by Hollywood’s most notorious cheapskate, Jack Benny, who nickles and
dimes the foursome for the duration of their stay.

Directed by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carter)l, Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie
Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter)

Guest
Cast

Jack
Benny (Himself)
was born on Valentine’s day 1894. He had a successful vaudeville
career, and an even greater career on radio with “The Jack Benny
Program” which also became a successful television show. His screen
persona was known for being a penny-pincher and playing the violin.
Benny was a Beverly Hills neighbor of Lucille Ball’s and the two
were off-screen friends. Benny previously appeared on “The Lucy
Show” as Harry Tuttle (a Jack Benny doppelganger) in “Lucy
and the Plumber” (TLS S3;E2), did
a voice over cameo as himself in “Lucy
With George Burns” (TLS S5;E1),
and played himself in “Lucy Gets Jack Benny’s Account” (TLS
S6;E6).
This is the first of his
three episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Benny and Ball appeared on
many TV variety and award shows together. He died in 1974.

Sid
Gould
(Sam, Tour Guide) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,”
all as background characters. This is the first of his 40 episodes of
“Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille
Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

Jackie
Gleason (Ralph Kramden, Tour Bus Driver, uncredited) was born in
1916. He became one of America’s most recognized all-around
entertainers but is perhaps best remembered for his iconic character
of bus driver Ralph Kramden on “The Honeymooners” which was seen
on CBS just like “I Love Lucy.” On “The Lucy Show” Lucy
Carmichael frequently referred to Gleason even borrowing his “Away
we go” exit in a couple of episodes. In 1975 Gleason teamed with
Lucille Ball for the CBS TV film “Three for Two.” He died in
1987.

Don
Anderson
(Man on Tour, uncredited) was seen in the last two episodes of “The
Lucy Show” as well as making three appearances on “Here’s
Lucy.”

James
Gonzales
(Man on Tour, uncredited) was a popular Hollywood extra who first
acted with Lucille Ball in the 1953 The
Long, Long Trailer.
He was previously seen on “The Lucy Show” as Stan Williams in
“Lucy
Digs Up a Date” (TLS S1;E2).
He was seen in more than 20 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3
episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Monty
O’Grady (Man on Tour, uncredited) was first seen with Lucille
Ball in The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and played a passenger
on the S.S. Constitution in “Second
Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14). He was a traveler at the airport
when “The
Ricardos Go to Japan” (1959). He made more than a dozen
appearances on “The Lucy Show” and a half dozen more on “Here’s
Lucy.”

Uncredited
background performers play the other tourists.

“Here’s
Lucy” head writer Milt Josefsberg had been one of Jack Benny’s
writers, accounting for the sharp dialogue and frequency of Benny’s
guest appearances.

When
Harry questions how Lucy can afford a weekend in Palm Springs, Lucy
says “On
what you pay me I can’t afford ten minutes in Cucamonga.”
Cucamonga
is
a suburban city situated at the foothills of the San Gabriel
Mountains 37 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. Cucamonga became
well known to fans of Jack Benny’s radio program, in which
announcer Mel Blanc would call out: “Train
leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu-camonga!”
Blanc also said the city’s name as Bugs Bunny in the Warner Brothers
cartoons. Cucamonga was mentioned in “Lucy Helps the Countess”
(TLS S4;E8) and “Lucy and the Soap Opera” (TLS S4;E19).

Benny’s
guest register lists past guest Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Peck, Howard
Hughes, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lemmon, Mr. and Mrs. Steve McQueen, and Mr.
and Mrs. Kirk Douglas, and Sheikh Bin Abdulla Fouad and wife and wife
and wife and wife and wife. Kirk Douglas made a cameo
appearance in “Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20, above photo)
and was a long-time resident of Palm Springs. Gregory Peck
was mentioned (but never seen) on two episodes of “I Love Lucy.”
Sheikh Bin Abdulla Fouad
(1925-2015) was a real-life businessman, although his name is clearly
being used for comic effect based on the Arab tradition of having
multiple wives.

Benny
tells Harry that his room is more expensive but that it overlooks
Raquel Welch’s patio. When he learns that she sunbathes every day,
miserly Harry eagerly agrees to the extra expense. Voluptuous sex
symbol Raquel Welch
had three films in release in 1968. Welch was also a real-life
resident of Palm Springs. [Above photo is not from the episode. Welch does not actually appear on the show!]

The
desert city of Palm Springs was a favorite get-away spot for the
Arnaz family. Lucy, Desi, and their children had a home there and it
was in Palm Springs that Desi chose to open a golf course and hotel,
the Indian Wells Resort, which is still in business today. A statue
to Lucille Ball is located in downtown Palm Springs. Lucie Arnaz and
her husband Laurence Luckinbill recently relocated from Connecticut
to Palm Springs.

Jack
Benny only charges $3
a night for rooms, but adds on ‘extra charges’:

$1
an hour for binoculars
50
cents for golf ball retrieval
10
cents for picking an orange from his tree
Swimming
is free, but 11 cents for towels (10 cents for the towel, one cent
for tax)

When
Lucy balks at paying a penny tax, Benny replies “Go
fight with Ronald Reagan!” Former
Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan
had been elected Governor of California in 1967, a position he held
until 1975. He was later elected 40th President of the United States and served until 1989. Jack Benny did
three episodes of “General Electric Theatre” (1953-1964) which
was an anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan. Ball met President Reagan when she was honored by The Kennedy Center Honors in 1986 (above). No word whether they discussed taxes!

Nearly
sitting on Jack Benny’s famous violin, Lucy says that as a little
girl she took five or six lessons. Naturally she plays like a
virtuoso but her performance is obviously mimed to pre-recorded
music. Lucille Ball had a rudimentary knowledge of the violin, which
she learned for “The Lucy Show” (above photo) but the “Here’s Lucy” gag relied upon extremely
difficult and technical playing that was well beyond her
capabilities.

When
Kim and Craig are playing table tennis, Lucie Arnaz seems to ad lib
the line “He
plays like Lawrence Welk.”
The scene required Desi to hit the ball over the fence. Because the
gag needed several volleys to get the timing right, it is possible
Lucie felt the scene was getting dull and needed some vocal interest.
Lawrence
Welk
was a popular bandleader and television personality who was
frequently mentioned on “The Lucy Show.” He will play himself on
a 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Jack
Benny tells Lucy that he is going on tour with Clyde McCoy, trumpet
player and they will be billed as “Benny and Clyde.” The line is
an obvious pun on the title of the Oscar-winning 1967 film Bonnie
and Clyde.
Clyde
McCoy (1903-1990)
was jazz
trumpeter
whose
popularity spanned seven decades. He is best remembered for his theme
song, “Sugar
Blues”
written by Clarence
Williams and
Lucy Fletcher, as well as being the co-founder of Down
Beat
magazine
in 1935.
In
1951,
Down Beat was
parodied on “I Love Lucy” as Half
Beat
magazine in “Men are Messy” (ILL S1;E8).

While
preparing dinner Benny hums a bit of his
theme song “Love in Bloom” by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin.

The
Tour Guide (Sid Gould, in his first of many series appearances) says
they are late because “Bob
Hope did more jokes than usual.” Bob
Hope
was a long-time comedy partner of Lucille Ball’s doing four films
with the redhead as well as appearing on “I Love Lucy” and “The
Lucy Show” (also with Jack Benny). Hope was also a resident of Palm Springs.

Benny
charges each of the tourists one dollar for a hot dog or hamburger, a
tour of the house, and an autographed photo. When
bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) enters, the underscoring
plays the theme from “The Honeymooners” by Sammy
Spear. As
the episode fades out Gleason utters his iconic catch phrase: “How
sweet it is!”

Palm
Springs, California, was featured in 1955′s “In Palm Springs” (ILL
S4;E26) starring Rock Hudson and 1966′s “Lucy and Carol in Palm Springs”
(TLS S5;E8) starring Carol Burnett.

Golf
is what attracted Desi Arnaz to Palm Springs. The game, always good
for a few laughs when Lucy is playing, was featured in 1954′s “The Golf
Game” (ILL S3;E30) and 1964′s “Lucy Takes Up Golf” (TLS S2;E17) both
of which starred Jimmy Demaret and Vivian Vance.

When
Harry rings the doorbell at Lucy’s home, Lucy squints and peers at the opaque glass
and solid wood door as if she could see through it and tell who is on
the other side. Sure enough, she is right!

After
hearing Lucy read the alluring newspaper ad for the Palm Springs
accommodations, Harry remarks on what a bargain it is – despite
that fact that Lucy never mentioned the actual price. He doesn’t
learn the rate until he arrives there, after driving more than 100
miles!

When
Jackie Gleason comes out onto the patio, a few of the tourist extras
look shocked and delighted to see him. If he was their tour bus driver, they
should not be all that surprised at his presence. Gleason probably
did not rehearse with the extras, who may have been kept in the dark
about “the great one’s” cameo and been taken aback at his last
minute walk-on role. This has been hailed as one of the greatest
cameos in television history.