LUCY AND LIBERACE

S2;E16
~ January 5, 1970

Directed
by Jack Baker ~ Written by Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs

Synopsis

For
a high school initiation, Craig goes on a scavenger hunt to retrieve
one of Liberace’s candelabras. Liberace loans it to him but Lucy
thinks he stole it so she recruits Harry to sneak into the star’s
mansion and return it.

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Liberace
(Himself) was born Władziu
Valentino Liberace
in 1919. A piano prodigy, he was the
son of working-class immigrants, and enjoyed a career spanning four
decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and
endorsements. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s,
Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world,
with
established residencies in Las
Vegas,
and an international touring schedule.

Liberace (known informally as ‘Lee’) embraced a lifestyle
of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, acquiring the sobriquet
“Mr. Showmanship.”
Prior to this episode, his only appearance with Lucille Ball was the
musical film Best
Foot Forward
(1943). He died at age 67 after a battle with HIV/AIDS.

Ben
Wrigley
(Williams, Liberace’s Butler) was a British actor who appeared in My
Fair Lady (1964)
and Bednobs
and Broomsticks (1971).
He previously appeared as a ticket agent in “Lucy Flies to London”
(TLS S5;E6). This is the first of his three episodes of “Here’s
Lucy.”

Paul
Winchell
(Carlo, Liberace’s Tailor) previously played himself in“Lucy
and Paul Winchell” (TLS S5;E4). He
was born Paul Wilchinsky in 1922. Coming into the public eye in 1948,
he became one of the most famous ventriloquists since Edgar Bergen.
He hosted the enormously popular children’s television show
“Winchell-Mahoney Time” (1964-68) in which he shared the
spotlight with Jerry Mahoney, one of his most popular characters. He played Doc Putnam in “Main
Street U.S.A.” (TLS S5;17) and
“Lucy
Puts Main Street on the Map” (TLS S5;E18).
This is the second of his two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He died in 2005.

Winchell
uses an Italian accent for this character.

This
is the first episode of the new year and the new decade.

The 1970s
will see the end of “Here’s Lucy” in 1974, as well as Lucille
Ball’s return to the silver screen in Mame
that same year. In 1971, Lucie Arnaz will wed Phil Vandervort and
Desi Arnaz Jr. made his big screen debut in Red
Sky at Morning. At the end of the decade, Lucie Arnaz made her Broadway debut in
They’re
Playing Our Song (1979).

The
date this episode was first aired (January 5, 1970) ABC premiered
a new daytime drama called All
My Children. Philip Amelio, who played Lucy’s grandson on “Life With Lucy”, appeared on the sudser in 1988. It ceased production in 2013.

Liberace
brought $50,000 worth of his spectacular wardrobe to the set, and
Lucille Ball hired a round-the-clock security guard to ensure its
safety. The tuxedo jacket that lights up in the dark made its debut
on this show; Liberace will use it in his act for the rest of his
life.

In
the 2013 HBO biopic Behind
the Candelabra,
an aging Liberace (Michael Douglas) compares
his domestic life with partner Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) to an old
sitcom. Scott protests: “Why am I the Lucy?” Douglas’ father Kirk made a wordless cameo appearance on a 1966
episode of “The Lucy Show.”

Professor
Harkens gave Craig the African mask.

Lucy
recalls her initiation into ‘The Swingers’ in high school. The double
entendre of ‘swinging’ is quickly cleared up by Lucy saying she was
in a trapeze club! For her initiation, she had to get an autographed
photo of Rudy Vallee. Rudy
Vallee
was a singer popular in the 1920s and ’30s who made a guest
appearance on the first episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in
1957. He will guest star as himself during season 3 of “Here’s
Lucy.”

Kim
guesses that Craig may have to retrieve an item from Engelbert
Humperdinck. Lucy replies “What’s
an Engelbert Dumperhinck?” Engelbert
Humperdinck
is
an English pop
singer
acclaimed as one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around.
In 1969 he released two albums and had three hit singles. That same year he was the first guest on “The Liberace Show”.

In
Liberace’s mansion, he enters and sits at a glass-lid Baldwin grand
piano and plays Chopin’s “Military
Polonaise”
(Opus 40, #1) composed in 1838.

When
Liberace tries on the light-up jacket, he says “This’ll
really turn them on in Pasadena!” He could be referring to his senior citizen female fans. There was a popular song at the time titled “Little Old Lady From Pasadena.” Later in the episode we learn that the candelabra loaned to Craig was a gift from a Senior Citizen group.

In
a retrospectively ironic line, Liberace says about his many
candelabras: “I’ve
got closets full of them.”
Although Liberace was flamboyant, his sexual orientation was never
discussed publicly (he was ‘in the closet’) until later in his life. When 17 year-old Craig
and Liberace are alone (and Craig’s shirt is unbuttoned to the navel)
it is difficult not to think of Liberace’s romance with 18 year-old
Scott Thorson (inset), who later sued the entertainer in America’s first
same-sex palimony case.

At home, Craig
gets a phone call from Bill. This is probably a nod to Desi Arnaz
Jr.’s friend and band mate Billy Hinsche.

Answering
the front door, Kim says “It’s
probably Craig with his arms loaded down with that something he had
to get from a big star.”
Lucy replies: “Maybe
he’s got his arms full of Jackie Gleason.” This
is a quick joke about comedy star Jackie
Gleason’s
weight. Gleason did a cameo as Ralph Kramden in the second episode
of “Here’s Lucy” (above).

Harry
is reminded that in college he underwent initiation into the
fraternity Delta Delta Tau. The joke comes when he gives says their
initials – DDT. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT)
is a chemical used as an insecticide. In the late 1960s and early
‘70s DDT was frequently in the news regarding its harmful effects on
humans, wildlife, and the environment. DDT was eventually banned.

The
candelabra is inscribed “To
Liberace. From his Senior Citizen Fan Club in Pismo Beach.”
Along with Cucagmonga, Pismo Beach was often used as a punch-line for jokes about California. It was mentioned in “Lucy Goes on
Strike” (S1;E16). Pismo Beach is one of the locations Lucy and
Ethel want to visit before returning to New York in “Lucy
Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E18).

On
their way to return the candelabra to Liberace, Harry holds it forth
and says “Lead,
kindly light.” “Lead,
Kindly Light”
is
a hymn
with
words written in 1833 by John
Henry Newman
as
a poem titled “The Pillar of Cloud.”

Sneaking
into Liberace’s mansion through the back door, Harry’s shoes squeak!
Lucy says “You’d sure be a goofball on ‘Mission: Impossible.’” The Desilu TV spy show “Mission:
Impossible”
has been a source of humor for “Here’s Lucy,” which even did a
whole episode parodying the show: “Lucy’s Impossible Mission”
(S1;E6, above).

Harry
and Lucy sing while Liberace plays “By
the Light of the Silvery Moon,”
a song
written in 1909 by Gus Edwards and Edward Madden. Lucy says she and
Harry first performed the number at the Kiwanis
Capers.

When
Lucy suggests that Liberace use the whole family on his TV special,
Liberace remarks “You’re
about 83 short of the King Family.”
The
King Family
was a family musical group that had great success on records and
television in the 1960s. They had a TV show on ABC that ran until
1969.

As
the big finale, everyone sings and dances to "I’ll
Be Seeing You,”
a song written by
Sammy
Fain
and
Irving
Kahal
in
1938.
It
was inserted into the Broadway
musical
Right
This Way,
which closed after just fifteen performances.

Lucy and Lee shared the covers of many periodicals of the 1950s. Both had top-rated television programs and were instantly identifiable figures and names. Nearly 20 years later, both are still considered show business royalty.

Offscreen, Lucy and Desi socialize with Liberace during the height of their fame.

At
the start of the episode, Craig enters wearing an African mask. The
moment is similar to when Ricky Ricardo researched African masks for
his Voodoo act during “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). The scene also begins the 1953 episode. Ricky Ricardo also briefly wore an African mask in “Cuban Pals”
(ILL S1;E28) before singing “Similau.”

Liberace
tells Craig not to worry about returning the candelabra as he has
a lot of them. Craig replies: “If
Los Angeles ever had a black out – you could light the whole city.”
This
echoes when Liberace was first mentioned by Lucy Ricardo in “The
Diner” (ILL S3;E25) in 1954.

LUCY RICARDO: (about Ricky’s bad mood):
“Everything
went wrong down at the club last night. Right
in the middle of his big number, the lights went out all over the
whole neighborhood. Everybody got up and, and left and went into the
nightclub across the street.”
ETHEL MERTZ: “How’d they manage without electricity?”
LUCY RICARDO: “Liberace was playing there. He does his show by candlelight.”

“Lucy’s Club Dance” (S3;E25) included the February 26, 1954 issue of TV Guide with Liberace (and a candelabra) on the cover. It was one of many used as set dressing for a corner news stand.

In
“Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (ILL S2;E12) Lucy and Ethel sing “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” and wangles her way
into performing with a barbershop quartet.

In
“Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) Lucy Carmichael and
Vivian Bagley sing “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” and
wangles her way into performing with a barbershop quartet.

Craig’s
collectibles are no doubt supplied by prop master Kenneth Westcott
from the Desilu props supply. It is likely that all of the items were
used in some television program, but the one most recognizable is the
female ship’s figurehead. It was last seen in the background of the
Sunset Strip beatnik hangout in “Viv Visits Lucy” (TLS S5;E15).

In “Lucy and the Countess Have a Horse Guest” (TLS S4;E6), Lucy Carmichael tells the Countess (aka her old chum Rosie) that since moving to Hollywood she has met Lassie’s hairdresser, the man who used to dry off Lloyd Bridges, and Liberace’s dentist. Liberace was well known for his continual smile.

In “Lucy Dates Dean Martin” (TLS S4;E21) Lucy Carmichael admires (and later wears) a sequined top once worn by Audrey Hepburn. Dean Martin says “The last time I saw anything that fancy was on Liberace.” In “Lucy and Liberace” Harry admires and tries on Liberace’s red sequined jacket.

Math Fail! Liberace says that the Carters are 83 short of the King Family. There were 39 members of the King family, ranging in age from 7 months to 79 years, who appeared on their television show. Liberace is exaggerating by 48 Kings!

Where
the (Marble) Floor Ends! In the
living room scene the camera pulls back to far and reveals the
soundstage cement floor. When
this happens in Liberace’s mansion, the tape spike marks are clearly
visible for centering of the dance numbers and camera positions.

Sitcom
Logic Alert! The
ending of the episode ditches all pretense of reality and turns into
a musical performance for the studio audience, including Liberace
waving to the audience as he exits – stage right! It is jarring
and a sign that – once again – “Here’s Lucy” is unsure of its
identity.