LUCY LOSES HER COOL

S3;E13
~ December 7, 1970

Directed
by Herbert Kenwith ~ Written by Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer

Synopsis

Lucy
goes on the Art Linkletter show and is challenged not to lose her
temper for 24 hours in order to win $500. Little does she know that
her friends and family are all in on the stunt and are
determined to make her lose her cool!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Art
Linkletter
(Himself) was
born in 1912 in Moose Jaw, Canada. He was the host of “House
Party” (aka “The Linkletter Show”) which ran on CBS radio and
television for 25 years, and “People Are Funny,” on NBC radio and
TV for 19 years. Linkletter had one of the longest marriages of any
celebrity in America, at nearly 75 years. He was the father of five
children. Art Linkletter also played himself on a 1966 episode of
“The Lucy Show.” He died in 2010 at age 97.

Mary
Jane Croft (Mary
Jane) 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.

Vanda
Barra
(Mrs. Carol Carroll from Walla Walla) was
Lucille Ball’s cousin-in-law and married to frequent day player Sid
Gould. This is just one of her over two dozen 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.”

This is a one-gag character based on her name. Because it wouldn’t be realistic for Art Linkletter to directly approach Lucy right off the bat, a throw-away character is created as a buffer to make it seem more natural.

Richard
Erdman
(Supermarket Clerk) was seen in the Lucille Ball film
Easy Living in
1949. This is his only series appearance.

Scott
Garrett
(Kid) was a child actor who was eleven years old at the time of
filming. He made his last screen appearance in 1980 and became a behind the scenes draper for motion pictures and television.

The
Kid’s mother (or whoever she is) goes uncredited and has no dialogue.

The studio
audience of “The Art Linkletter Show” (all uncredited) are played
by:

Leon
Alton appeared
with Lucille Ball in The
Facts of Life (1960)
and Critic’s
Choice (1963).
He was in two episodes of “The Lucy Show.” This is the
second of his three episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”
Jack
Berle was the older brother of Milton Berle. This is just one of
his eleven uncredited appearances on the series. He also did two
episodes of “The Lucy Show.”
Paul
King makes
the second of his five background appearances on the series.
Leoda
Richards
made
at least three background appearances on “I Love Lucy.” She also
did four episodes of “The Lucy Show.” Coincidentally,
Richards was also in the studio audience of “The Art Linkletter
Show” on “The Lucy Show” in 1966. In 1968, she was in the
Lucille Ball film Yours,
Mine and Ours.
In deference to her reputation, Richards gets prime seating for the camera shot, located just behind Lucy and Mary Jane.
Walter
Smith makes
the third of his 13 mostly uncredited appearances on the series. He
also did one episode of “The
Lucy Show.”
Luree
Wiese
played a member of the Danfield Art Society in “Lucy Gets Her Maid”
(TLS S3;E11). This is her only appearance on “Here’s Lucy.”

Other
members of the studio audience, pages, shoppers, and security guards are all
played by uncredited background performers.

The
DVD Box Set lists this episode as “Lucy LOOSES
Her Cool” in the main menu.

On
the DVD, the episode is introduced by ‘TV Legend / Author’ Art
Linkletter,
who died shortly afterwards.

The
date this episode first aired (Monday, December 7, 1970), Art Linkletter began a week of co-hosting “The Mike
Douglas Show” interviewing Barbara Walters and football player
Roosevelt Grier.

Craig
says he is doing his biology homework by reading Playboy
magazine. This is the first time the magazine has been named, but
Harry has been seen ogling centerfolds in two previous episodes.
Despite using the name, the magazine’s cover has been removed. An ad for Lee Jeans is visible on camera.

Oddly, Craig makes no attempt to hide the magazine from his mother.
He then tells Lucy he got the magazine from his Uncle Harry!

Lucy
mentions borrowing earrings from Aunt
Vivian
during her last trip to California. Vivian Vance’s last appearance
was in “Lucy and Viv Visit Tijuana” (S2;E19) aired eleven months
earlier. Her next appearance will be “Lucy Goes Hawaiian”
(S3;E23 & 24) in February 1971.

When
Kim asks Lucy what day it is, Lucy naturally responds “Monday.”
All of Lucille Ball’s sitcoms aired on Monday
nights!

In the supermarket, Lucy actually slips on a banana peel, a comedy trope dating back to vaudeville.

When
she is about to lose her temper, Lucy ‘hears’ the voice of Art
Linkletter in her head. This surreal technique is repeated three
times throughout the episode.

Lucy
Carter pronounces tomato
as “toe-mah-toe”.
This is how Lucille Ball would pronounced the word in real life. On
“I Love Lucy”, however, Ball made a concerted effort to
pronounces it “toe-may-toe”
to make Lucy Ricardo sound less cultured.

When
Mary Jane asks Lucy to hold her groceries, they include boxes of
Kellogg’s Corn
Flakes
and Post Toasties,
although the brand names of both have been covered with tape.
Toasties were actually Post’s version of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, so
Mary Jane is buying two boxes of flakes. Toasties were discontinued
in 2016.

Harry
gives the Kid a dollar to squirt Lucy in the face with seltzer water,
but naturally Harry ends up getting the shower instead!

This
episode is a combination of “Ricky
Loses His Temper” (ILL S3;E19) and “Lucy and Art
Linkletter” (TLS S4;E19). Lucy Ricardo frequently got into
tests of will with Ricky for a modest wager. Above she tries to get him to lose his cool by using a dribble glass filled with “toe-may-toe” juice!

In 1966, Art Linkletter dared
Lucy Carmichael to not make a sound for 24 hours in “Lucy and Art Linkletter” (TLS S4;E16). [Note: Background player Leoda Richards is seated just behind Lucy, just as she is in this episode.]

The
end of the episode has Lucy presented with a bill for the damage to
the supermarket that comes to $499.99, leaving her with just one
cent. In “Bonus Bucks” (ILL S3;E21) the prize is $300 but when
the damage done to the laundry to retrieve the lucky buck comes to
$299, Lucy Ricardo is left with just one dollar – and extremely starched!

Lucy
Carter wreaked havoc in a supermarket where Craig was employed in “Lucy, the Shopping
Expert” (S1;E20).

Lucy Carmichael also terrorized the market place
in “Lucy
and Joan” (TLS S4;E4)…

…and in “Lucy
the Bean Queen” (TLS S5;E3).

The
stunt with the pyramid of oranges was first done in “Lucy, the
Shopping Expert” (S1;E20). The display table and scales look to be the same ones in each episode.

Wireless!

Art Linkletter’s microphone cord is tucked into his jacket pocket! He is literally wired for sound!

Where
the Floor Ends!
The camera pulls out too far in Lucy’s living room and reveals where
the carpeting meets the cement stage floor.