LUCY, THE MATCHMAKER

S1;E12
~ December 16, 1968

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

Synopsis

When
Lucy wants to find a date for Harry, she visits a computer dating
service that matches him with her old friend Vivian.

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Vivian
Vance
(Vivian Roberta Jones) 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, making occasional guest appearances afterwards.
This is the first of her half a dozen appearances on “Here’s
Lucy.” She also joined Lucy for a TV special “Lucy Calls the
President” in 1977. Vance died two years later.

Vance
uses her birth name as her character name in all of her “Here’s
Lucy” guest appearances. Vivian Jones and Lucy Carter went to
school together.

Dick
Patterson
(Mr. Morton of the Select-A-Spouse Dating Service) made
his
Broadway debut in David
Merrick’s
Vintage
‘60,
and appeared in The
Billy Barnes People,
the national touring company of Bye
Bye Birdie, and
opposite Carol
Burnett in
Fade
Out, Fade In.
His last musical was Smile,
a spoof of beauty pageants. He was seen in “Lucy Helps Danny Thomas” (TLS S4;E7). This is
the first of his four appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Morton
was Lucille Ball’s surname after her marriage to Gary Morton.

Alice
Backes
(Flat Chested Woman) made
her first TV appearance as a contestant on Groucho Marx’s “You
Bet Your Life” in 1950, billed as a ‘future actress.’ This is the
first of her two appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”
By her death she accumulated nearly 100 screen credits, so her game
show ambitions were more than realized.

Lucy
thinks The Woman may be #42-26-38,
Harry’s
computer date.
The Woman thinks Lucy is talking about her measurements. This joke
may be the character’s only reason for being in the script and the reason Backes was cast.

Rhodes
Reason
(Bradley Henshaw) appeared on “Lucy and Carol Burnett: Part One”
(TLS S6;E14) and here marks the first of his five episodes of “Here’s
Lucy.” He also appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1974 TV special “Happy
Anniversary and Goodbye.”

The
restaurant patrons are played by uncredited background performers.

Computer
dating service episodes became quite popular sitcom staples in the
late 1960s and ’70s. “Bewitched,” “Love American Style”
and many others used similar plots, but “Here’s Lucy” was one of
the first to use it as a plot device.

The
computer dating services advertised in the newspaper include
Get-A-Gal, Find-A-Fellow, and Select-A-Spouse Computer Dating Service, which is the one Lucy chooses to visit.

The
studio audience’s ovation for Vivian Vance is unusually loud and
long.

Vivian
tells Lucy she still lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In real life,
Vivian Vance had also relocated to Santa Fe, where she owned a small
travel agency with her husband.

Select-A-Spouse
does not give out names, only numbers: Vivian is #42-26-38 and Lucy’s
date, Bradley Henshaw, is #74-32-59.

Vivian
initially lies and tells Lucy that she is in town to do a movie with John
Wayne. Vivian Vance, Lucille Ball and John
Wayne
first shared the screen in “Lucy and John Wayne” (ILL S5;E2) in
1955.

Vivian
says she can tell from Lucy’s face that her date is no Rock Hudson.
Vivian Vance, Lucille Ball and Rock
Hudson
first shared the screen in “In Palm Springs” (ILL S4;E26) in
1955.

Trying
to flatter Harry, Vivian compares him to Richard Burton. Lucille
Ball, Gale Gordon and Richard
Burton
will share the screen in “Lucy Meets the Burtons” (S3;E1) in
1970.

Things
we learn from this episode:

Vivian is single
Harry
is heterosexual
Lucy
wasn’t always a redhead

Since
this episode acts as a reunion of sorts, it is worth looking back to
how they all first met.

The
first time Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance acted together was on
September
8, 1951 in “Lucy
Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Murder Her” (ILL S1;E4), which was filmed
first but aired fourth on “I Love Lucy.”

The
first time Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, and Gale Gordon acted together on TV was in “Lucy’s Schedule” (ILL S1;E33) in 1952. Gordon had first appeared with Ball on 1938′s “The Wonder Show” and was a regular on radio’s “My Favorite Husband.”

The
first time Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.
acted together was “Lucy is a Referee” (TLS S1;E3) in 1962. The
Arnaz children were uncredited extras at a football game.

Prior
to that, Desi Jr. alone made a cameo with his mother and Vivian Vance
on “The Ricardo’s Dedicate a Statue” (ILL S6;E27), the very last
half hour episode of “I Love Lucy” in 1957. Despite rumors to
the contrary, Lucie Arnaz was not in this episode.

The
first time Desi Jr. and Lucie Arnaz were in the same episode as Gale
Gordon came in “Lucy at Marineland” (TLS S4;E1) in 1965, although
they did not share screen time with Gordon. Lucie Arnaz and Gordon
had their first (brief) scene together in “Lucy and the
Ring-a-Ding-Ring” (TLS S5;E5) in 1966. Desi Jr. and Gordon didn’t
act on screen together until “Mod, Mod Lucy” (S1;E1), the
premiere of “Here’s Lucy” in 1968.

There
were several “I Love Lucy” episodes where Lucy Ricardo played
matchmaker: “The Matchmaker” (ILL S4;E4) where her targets are
Sam (spider) and Dorothy (fly);

“Lucy is Matchmaker” (ILL S2;E27)
where she tries to fix up Eddie Grant and Sylvia Collins;

and “Lucy
Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) where she sets her bow in the direction
of the elderly Miss Lewis (Bea Benadaret) and the neighborhood
butcher Mr. Ritter (Edward Everett Horton).

Sitcom logic alert! Vivian is from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The only reason she gives for being in Los Angeles is that the computer dating service matched her with “Horrible Harry,” who turns out to be her old friend Lucy’s brother-in-law and someone she previously dated. Unlikely coincidence aside, Santa Fe is 850 miles from Los Angeles, so Vivian must be really desperate for male companionship!

Where The Floor Ends! When
the camera pans wide in the living room, viewers catch a glimpse of
the edge of the stage.

Cue Cards! When
Harry’s computer punch card comes out of the machine, it has
his match’s number written on it in red marker! In 1968, computers
could not yet master handwriting.

Osmosis! Vivian
applies perfume without bothering to take the top off the bottle.