LUCY STOPS A MARRIAGE

S3;E16
~ December 28, 1970

Directed
by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Frank Gill Jr. and Vincent Bogart

Synopsis

Harry
makes a business deal with an old high school flame (Jayne Meadows) to
invest $100,000 in Carter’s Unique Employment Agency. Lucy somehow thinks
Harry is going to marry her instead, and goes to outrageous lengths to
assure he doesn’t!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Jayne
Meadows
(Laura Trenton) was the older sister of Audrey Meadows (“The
Honeymooners”) who would play Lucy Barker’s sister on “Life With
Lucy” (LWL S1;E8). Between 1977 and 1995 Jayne was nominated for
three prime time Emmy Awards. Meadows was a panelist on “I’ve Got a
Secret” for three of Lucille Ball’s appearances on the quiz show. She was married to
TV host Steve Allen. She died in 2015.

The
surname Trenton is the same as the capitol of New Jersey where infant
Lucille Ball lived for a short time.

Marcel
De la Brosse (Maurice,
Maitre d’ at Chez Moi) was a French-born character actor who began
his Hollywood career in 1931. He acted in a 1959 installment of the
“Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” hosted by Desi Arnaz Sr. This is
his final screen credit before retiring at age 68. He lived another
30 years and died in 2001.

The
other diners at Chez Moi are played by uncredited background
performers.

This
is the final new episode of calendar year 1970.
The show returns on January 4, 1971 marking 20 years of Lucille Ball
on television.

This
is the first of two episodes written by Frank
Gill Jr. and Vincent Bogart.
Gill died in July 1970, before this episode was first aired. Bogart
had won a 1956 Emmy Award for his writing on “The Phil Silvers
Show.”

This
episode marks the last time Lucille Ball would do her famous “spider
face” (“Ewwww!”).
The term “spider
face”
was how the writers would describe Ball’s reaction based on a facial expression that originated when she played Little Miss Muffett in a Jell-O commercial.

“Here’s Lucy” started to pepper the dialogue with hip words like “Groovy”
and “Peace”. Later, Lucy chides Craig for calling Laura Trenton
“a beat up old chick.”

After
Harry seals the deal with Laura Trenton, he starts singing “I’m
in the money.”
The
song “We’re
in the Money” (aka
“The Gold Diggers’ Song”) is from the 1933 film Gold
Diggers of 1933
and
was written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren. It is now part of
the stage musical 42nd Street.
It was last heard in “Lucy and the Gold Rush” (S1;E13).

Lucy
says that Harry started a hope chest after getting an autographed
photo of Marjorie Main. Marjorie
Main
(1890-1975) was a character actor known for playing mothers,
like Ma Kettle. She was featured in The
Long, Long Trailer (above)
with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in 1957.

Harry
finds an outdated suit that he says goes back to when Franklin Roosevelt
said “We
have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
This quote is from Roosevelt’s first inaugural address. That means
Harry’s suit dates back to 1933 and is 37 years old!

Telling
Harry there’s a huge stain on the suit, Lucy says that seltzer takes
out stains. That is the cue for Lucy, Kim and Craig to douse Harry
with seltzer water. Harry is all wet – again!

Having
no clothes left, Harry puts on his old Army uniform. Lucy calls him
Smokey the Bear. Smokey
Bear was
an
advertising icon used from 1940 to warn against the dangers of forest
fires. The character usually wears a hat similar to the one
Harry wears with his uniform. Smokey Bear
was mentioned several times on “The Lucy Show.”

Harry
calls Kim and Craig Sonny
& Cher.
The married singing duo had numerous hit songs during the ‘60s and
’70s. In
1970, Sonny and Cher starred in their first television special, “The
Nitty Gritty Hour,” a
mixture of comedy skits
and live music. They were first mentioned in the series opener, “Mod,
Mod Lucy” (S1;E1). Cher’s
mother, fashion model Georgia Holt, had appeared on both “I
Love Lucy” and “The
Lucy Show.” Cher
and Lucy would appear on an Emmy-nominated special together in 1979.

The
title of this episode evokes the famous line spoken by Camille, Queen
of the Gypsies, played by Lucy Ricardo in “The Operetta” (ILL
S2;E5):
“This wedding must never take place!”

Hearing
Harry call the waiter Maurice is reminiscent of when Gale Gordon
played Alvin Littlefield on “I Love Lucy,” owner of the Tropicana, whose Maitre ’d
was also named Maurice

(Maurice Marsac, above left).

Lucy
Carter peaking at Harry in the next booth is similar to when Lucy
Ricardo peaked at William Holden in the adjacent booth at the
Hollywood Brown Derby.

Like Father / Like Son! At
the French restaurant, Craig says “Gracias”
to
the French Maitre d’.
This
sounds like an ad-lib line. Although Desi Jr. is being sarcastic, it is something that his father, Desi Arnaz Sr., might say as Ricky Ricardo without intentionally trying to be funny.