LUCY’S WEDDING PARTY

S3;E8 ~ November 2, 1970

Directed
by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Sam Perrin and Ralph Goodman

Synopsis

Harry
goes to his college reunion and leaves Lucy to house-sit. When a
friend of Mary Jane’s loses her wedding venue due to a mix-up, Lucy
invites her to use Harry’s house. But when Harry comes home
unexpectedly, Lucy must play hide the wedding guests!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter), Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter)

Desi
Arnaz Jr. (Craig
Carter) and Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter) do not appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Mary
Jane Croft (Mary
Jane) makes
her sixth series appearance as Mary Jane. Croft played Betty Ramsey
during season six of “I Love Lucy.” She also played Cynthia
Harcourt in “Lucy
is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and
Evelyn Bigsby in “Return
Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26).
She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy
Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the
actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her
episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing
Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in
1999 at the age of 83.

Lyle
Talbot
(Freddy Fox) previously played Harry’s lawyer in “Lucy Takes Over”
(S2;E23). He was
a ‘B’ movie actor who made several films for Ed Wood, including
what is considered one of the worst films ever made Plan
9 from Outer Space (1959).
This is last appearance on the series. He was previously seen on two
episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Freddy
Fox is an old college classmate of Harry’s at Bullwinkle State.

Bruce Gordon (Grandfather Konstantine Kasos) played Frank Nitti on “The Untouchables” (a Desilu show) as well as a parody of that program on “The Lucy Show” called “Lucy the Gun Moll” (TLS S4;E25). Gordon had appeared on Broadway in the long-running play Arsenic and Old Lace (1941-44) with Boris Karloff. He was also on Broadway with Charlton Heston and Katherine Cornell in Antony and Cleopatra (1947-48). He died in 2011 at age 94.

The character says he is 77. Gordon was just 54 at the time of filming.

Paul
Picerni (Father
Lambros) makes the first of his four appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”
He also appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1975 TV movie “Lucy Gets
Lucky.”

In
the final credits this character is listed as “Mandikos”. This
may be a hold-over from an earlier version of the script.

Cynthia
Hull
(Cleo Menikos) played Ann on the Desilu show “Here Comes the Brides” (1968-69).
This is her only appearance with Lucille Ball.

The
character’s first name is probably an homage to Cleo Smith, Lucille
Ball’s cousin and the series’ producer. Cleo is the bride.

Sam
Chew Jr.
(Joe Andropopolas) comes from one of the oldest families in
Pennsylvania. This is just his fourth screen credit in a career that
featured hundreds of TV and film appearances.

The
character is billed in the final credits as “Groom”. He has no
dialogue.

The
wedding guests, musicians, and dancers are played by uncredited
background performers.

The episode is introduced on the series DVD by Bruce Gordon (Grandfather Kosos) and Paul Picerni (Father Lambros).

On this date, in the metro New York TV market, a viewer could watch a rerun of “The Lucy Show” at 10am (WCBS), a rerun of “I Love Lucy” at 7pm (WNEW), and this new “Here’s Lucy” at 8:30pm (CBS). The TV Guide cover that week featured Mike Connors (”Mannix”) who would appear as Joe Mannix on “Here’s Lucy” in 1971. “Mannix” was the last successful TV show to be produced by Desilu.

When
Lucy tries to sneak into the office in the morning, Harry tells her
to stop tiptoeing through the tulips. This is yet another in a
nearly weekly series of references to “Here’s Lucy’s” competition
on ABC, “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.” A regular performer on
the show was a stringy-haired eccentric named Tiny Tim, who had a hit
song with “Tiptoe
Through the Tulips” which
he also played on the ukulele.

When
Lucy says she knows one Greek named Spiro, Mary Jane immediately
thinks she’s referring to Spiro
Agnew
(1918-96), the 39th Vice President of the United States under Richard M. Nixon. Like
Nixon, Agnew later left office in disgrace and was replaced by Gerald
Ford, who then replaced Nixon as President. Lucy corrects Mary Jane
that she is referring to Spiro Shapiro who owns a Greek restaurant
down in Chinatown.

The series also mixed cultures for comedy in the
opening scene of “Lucy and the Generation Gap” (S2;E12) which was
set in Murphy’s Pizza Parlor, owned by Murphy Irving Fong!

When
Harry enters the office in his old college threads, Lucy calls him
handsome
Joe Namath,
a professional football player who also had a career in show
business. In 1972 he guest-starred as himself on “Here’s Lucy.”

It
is mentioned that Lucy is a widow, something that is rarely
discussed.

Harry
and Freddy carry Bullwinkle pennants that were last used in “Lucy, the Co-Ed” (S3;E5) during the song “Collegiate.”

“Lucy
and the Golden Greek” (TLS S4;E2) also featured Greek dancing and
co-starred Mary Jane Croft.

Harry’s
home is decorated with the very same roll-top desk that Lucy
Carmichael had in her living room on “The Lucy Show.”

“I Love Lucy” had a wedding episode where Lucy Ricardo re-did her vows. In real-life, Lucy and Desi also renewed her vows in a Catholic Church on June 19, 1949 after being married for nine years.

On “The Lucy Show” Lucy Carmichael hosted the wedding of her sister Marge (Janet Waldo).

Memory
Lapse! Harry
just recently put on an show for the alumni at Bullwinkle University
in “Lucy, the Co-ed”
(S3;E5). Isn’t that a sort of reunion? Why another one so soon?
Also in “Lucy
the Co-ed”
(S3;E5), the college is called BU (Bullwinkle University) but here it is
named BS (Bullwinkle State) for the sake of the double entendre.

Throwing
Shade!
When Lucy backs away from Harry in the final scene, she bumps into
the lamp shade which wobbles. Lucille Ball, however, never loses
focus!

Shut
the Door! After
Lucy fetches Harry and Freddy’s coats from the closet, the door
swings open. Without much ado and barely a glance to her right, Lucille Ball reaches over and shuts
it as the scene continues.

Sitcom
Logic Alert!
Why doesn’t Lucy just send the kids to the movies and use her own
home for the wedding?