LUCY THE PROCESS SERVER

S1;E3 ~ October 7, 1968

Directed
by Jack Donohue ~ Written
by George Balzer and Phil Leslie

Synopsis

Lucy
plans a picnic on the beach with Kim and Craig but is called in to
work by Harry, who asks her to deliver a summons and make a bank
deposit.  Lucy gets the two mixed-up and loses the envelope of cash in a
department store trash bin.  

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Reta
Shaw (Mabel
Ryker) started
her career on the stage in such hits as Picnic
(1953)
and The
Pajama Game (1954),
for which she also did the film versions. She is best known for
playing maids, such as in Disney’s Mary
Poppins (1964)
and TV’s “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1968-1970), which she
filmed concurrently with “Here’s Lucy.”  She made three
appearances on “The Lucy Show” and she will make two more on
“Here’s Lucy.”

Jonathan
Hole (Floorwalker)
was
seen in eight Broadway plays between 1924 and 1934. His screen career
began in 1951. This is the first of his two appearances on the
series. He also played a department store employee in “Lucy
Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17) in addition to one other role on
“The Lucy Show.”

Joan
Swift (Salesgirl
#1)
made
six appearances on “The Lucy Show.”  This is the first of her two
episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Her final screen credit was 1975’s
“Lucy Gets Lucky” with Lucille Ball and Dean Martin.

Vanda
Barra (Salesgirl
#2) was
married to Sid Gould so is Lucille Ball’s cousin-in-law. She makes
the first of her 23 appearances on “Here’s Lucy” as well as
appearing in Ball’s two 1975 TV movies “Lucy Gets Lucky” (with
Dean Martin) and “Three for Two” (with Jackie Gleason).  She was
seen in half a dozen episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  

Frank
Radcliffe (Stockboy
#1) was known as as a specialty dancer in Hollywood musicals like My
Fair Lady
(1964), Sweet
Charity
(1969), and Li’l
Abner
(1959), among others.  This is his only television appearance and the
only time he received screen credit for his work.

Maurice
Kelly (Stockboy
#2) was an English-born actor who played a student in “Lucy and Viv
Take Up Chemistry” (TLS S1;E26).  This is the first of his three
appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”  He died at the young age of 46 in
1974.

Kathryn Janssen (Customer, uncredited) began doing background work in 1966. She was often seen on both “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”  

Writer
Phil Leslie had written one episode of “The Lucy Show.”  This is
the first of his four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”  George Balzer
was a longtime writer for Jack Benny making his debut writing for
Lucille Ball.  With Leslie, he will write three more episodes of
“Here’s Lucy.”  

The
date this episode first aired the Motion
Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopted their film rating
system.  The only new Lucille Ball feature film to be rated by the
MPAA after this date was Mame
(1974,
which was also Ball’s last feature film) which received a PG rating:
Parental
Guidance Suggested – Some material may not be suitable for
children.
This
PG rating was not added to the system until 1972 to replace M (Mature
Audiences) and then GP (All
Ages Admitted – Parental Guidance Suggested).

Regarding
the episode’s title:  Process servers are employed to notify
individuals of their constitutional right to due process of law by
“serving” them with a notification that states the legal issue
that involves them. Originally, legal papers were typically served by
a sheriff. As cities expanded in the United States this duty become a
burden on law enforcement creating the need for lay individuals to
deliver these papers legally and in a timely manner.

As
the episode opens and closes, Lucy is singing “By the Beautiful
Sea” in anticipation of their beach picnic.  “By
the Beautiful Sea” was
written by Harry Carroll and Harold R. Atteridge in 1914 for the
Broadway musical For
Me and My Gal.

It was sung by Lucy and the “I Love Lucy” cast in “Mertz and
Kurtz” (ILL S4;E2).  

The
client that wants the summons delivered is named Mr. Draper.  Harry
speaks to him on the telephone.  

Lucy
is sent to find Mrs. Ryker at the (fictional) Empire Department
Store.

Craig’s
mentions a friend named Danny.

When
Craig says he has some bad news Lucy wearily sits down and says “I
have a feeling this is going to be sock-it-to-me time!”  “Sock it
to me!”  was the catch phrase of
“Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,”
which aired opposite “Here’s Lucy” on NBC.  Dan Rowan and Dick
Martin were both seen on “The Lucy Show” before landing their hit
comedy variety show.

This
is not the first time Lucy has been employed to serve a summons.
Lucy Carmichael was assigned the task in “Lucy is a Process Server”
(TLS S2;E27) where she had to serve Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon)!

Lucille
Ball has had a history of troubles in department stores, first at
Macy’s in “Lucy and Orson Welles” (ILL S6;E3), then at Stacey’s
in “Lucy Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17, above) also starring Jonathan
Hole and “Lucy Gets Trapped” (TLS S6;E2), as well as at Bigelow’s in “Lucy and the Ceramic Cat” (TLS S3;E16).

Lucille
Ball also had an encounter with a department store mannequin
in the 1974 film Mame that involved dismemberment of the
dummy!

“Lucy is a Process Server” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

Although it feels a bit familiar at times, the script of this episode has a very clever (if a bit contrived) ending that ends with all the loose ends being tied up: justice is served AND Lucy and the kids get their picnic – albeit in the living room!