LUCY’S SAFARI

S1;E22
~ March 3, 1969

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

Synopsis

When
a rare Gorboona escapes from the zoo, Lucy, Harry and the kids help a
big game hunter (Howard Keel) trap him!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Howard
Keel
(Stanley Livingston, a Big Game Hunter) was discovered by Oscar
Hammerstein II during auditions for John Raitt’s replacement in
Broadway’s Carousel
in 1946.  After that, he also went on to play Curly in Oklahoma!
He is probably best remembered for his role in MGM’s Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers
(1954), a film that was mentioned on “I Love Lucy.”  On TV he
played Clayton Farlow on “Dallas” (1981-91).  This is his only
appearance with Lucille Ball.  Keel died in 2004.  

According
to the Unique Employment Agency’s file card on Livingston, he is 6’4”
tall, 220 lbs, dark hair, blue eyes, and single.  He has spent many
years living in Africa.

Janos
Prohaska (Gorboona)
was an actor, stunt man, and animal imitator who is probably best
remembered as the talking cookie-mad bear on “The Andy Williams
Show” (1969) although due to his thick Hungarian accent, his voice
was dubbed. He first played a simian on “Lucy and the Monkey”
(TLS S5;E12).  This is the first of three times playing animals on
“Here’s Lucy.” Prohaska died in a plane crash in 1974.

The
Gorboona escaped from the Topanga Zoo.  A Gorboona is a rare, nearly
extinct, cross between a GORilla and a baBOON.

Lucy, Desi Jr., and Lucie were on the cover of TV Guide the week this show premiered. 

Lucille
Ball was so hoarse from rehearsing the jungle mating call that she
nearly lost her voice. This show is not a favorite of anyone involved
in the episode.  Not to mention many who weren’t!

Howard
Keel’s character is named Stanley Livingston so that Lucy (and later
Harry) can say the iconic line “Mr.
Livingston, I presume”
a paraphrase of “Dr.
Livingstone, I presume.”  Doctor
David Livingstone
was a 17th century missionary and explorer in central Africa, the first European
to see Victoria Falls. When reporter H.M.
Stanley
finally found him in 1871, he supposedly greeted him with “Dr.
Livingstone, I presume?”
In 1939, a film called Stanley
and Livingstone was
released, starring Spencer Tracy as Stanley and Cedric Hardwicke as
Livingstone. The quote was included in the film and is majorly
responsible for its continued use today.

Livingston
tells Lucy that back in Africa he was enamored of an athletic (though
feminine) woman named Rachel Weatherby, who could single-handedly skin and quarter a
buffalo.  

Lucy
reluctantly tells the handsome and eligible Mr. Livingston that Kim
is 16 and Craig is 15.  

Lucy
tells Mr. Livingston that back home she used to work for a blacksmith
– handing him the horses!  She is likely bragging to impress Mr.
Livingston and vanquish his memories of Miss Weatherby.  [A
blacksmith?  In this episode it could very well be true!]

There
is a $10,000 reward for the safe return of the Gorboona.  It was last
seen in the Topanga Canyon.  Topanga Canyon is located in
western Los
Angeles County,
California,
in the Santa
Monica Mountains,
between Malibu
and
the city
of Los Angeles.

Lucy calls Mr. Livingston “bwana,” an East African word for boss or master.  In 1963 Bob Hope starred in the safari movie Call Me Bwana.

Livingston
demonstrates the mating call of the Gorboona, which in reality has
the same melody as “Indian
Love Call,” from Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach’s
operetta Rose
Marie.  Lucy
echos him (off key) and says “That
is pretty.”  Not
coincidentally, Howard Keel starred in the 1954 film version.  

The
Jungle Dance was choreographed by Jack Baker and Anita Mann.  In
the DVD introduction to the episode, Desi Arnaz Jr. says that the
dance sequence had him wearing “some of the worst clothes of the
entire series.”  At least Kim and Craig get to show off what they
do best: Craig drums and Kim does a dance solo. As usual, Lucy
turns the dance into an ad lib free-for-all that features a
Charleston!  When the Garboona appears, Lucy and the creature Tango
together.    

Harry’s
dance steps conjure up a rain storm that only falls on him – not
once but twice.  The rule on “Here’s Lucy” is that where there’s water,
Harry will get wet. Earlier in the episode, he was the only one to
fall in the creek when swinging across it on a vine.  

“Dr.
Livingston, I presume”
was first uttered by Lucy Ricardo in “Never Do Business With
Friends” (ILL S2;E31) when Lucy ‘discovers’ Ricky through the
laundry lines before begging him for a new washing machine.  

The
costumes for the dance are reminiscent of what Claude Akins wore as
the Giant Native in “Desert Island” (ILL S6;E8).  When Harry is
told to look for footprints but only discovers those of Livingston,
it is very similar to when Lucy tracked the footprints of a Giant
Native only to discover they were Ethel’s!  

The
Topanga Canyon area is verdant, but it is not a jungle!  

After
being shot with the tranquilizer gun, Lucille Ball does a slow motion
run from the Gorboona, including a slow motion swing on a vine.  Why
would the vine also be in slow motion?  Was it also affected by the
tranquilizer?  Just one of many unanswered questions in this fantasy
fiasco of an episode! 

“Lucy’s Safari” rates 1 Paper Heart out of 5

This
episode is more like a live action Saturday morning kids show than a
primetime sitcom.  The premise is unbelievable, silly, and (worst of
all) rarely funny. With all the show’s musical episodes, it is a shame that
Lucille Ball wasted singer Howard Keel’s only appearance in a
non-musical episode.