LUCY MAKES A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS

S4;E6 ~
October 18, 1971

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Phil Leslie and Ralph Goodman

Synopsis

Lucy
is in desperate need of a raise to balance her budget so she takes desperate measures to
convince Harry she deserves it.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter), Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter), Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter)

Guest
Cast

Gary
Morton
(Carnival Barker) was
a comedian who worked the famed ‘Borscht Belt’ in the Catskills
Mountains. He met Lucille Ball shortly after her divorce from Desi
Arnaz and they married in November 1961. At her request, Morton gave
up his nightclub career and became a producer of “The Lucy Show.”
Morton also served as a warm-up comic for the show’s studio
audience. He appeared in “Lucy
and the Andrews Sisters” (S2;E6) and “Lucy
and Sammy Davis Jr.” (S3;E3).
Morton passed away in 1999.

The
final credits list Morton as “Pitchman”.

Larry
J. Blake (Fireman)
first appeared
as a Native American Medicine Man in “Lucy
the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15).
He was an ex-vaudevillian making the fourth of his eight “Here’s
Lucy” appearances.

Jack
Berle
(Restaurant Patron, uncredited) was
the older brother of Milton Berle. This is one of his eleven
uncredited appearances on the series. He previously did two
episodes of “The Lucy Show.”

Charles
Cirillo
(Carnival Worker, uncredited) played
a singing and dancing truck driver in “Lucy
Helps Ken Berry” (TLS S6;E21).
This is his last appearance on “Here’s Lucy.”

Victor
Romito
(Carnival Worker, uncredited) was
seen as the Bartender in “Lucy
Meets John Wayne” (TLS S5;E10).
He also appeared in four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Romito
was an extra in the 1960 Lucille Ball / Bob Hope film Critic’s
Choice.

Walter
Smith
(Carnival Patron, uncredited) made
13 mostly uncredited appearances on the series. He also did one
episode of “The
Lucy Show.”

The
other diners at the restaurant, other carnival patrons, and the two
firemen who enter with Larry J. Blake, all go uncredited.

In
order to get Harry to give her a raise, Lucy and Kim employ the
following tactics:

Flatter
him by hanging a portrait of him at the office with the inscription
“Our Beloved Founder.”
Take
him to lunch at his favorite restaurant where Kim has been forced to
take a job waiting tables, despite having no skill for the work.
Hosting
lunch for the other secretaries in the building and selling them
soft drinks, then returning the cans for the deposit.
Using
their life savings to pretend to operate a counterfeiting outfit at
the office.

The
photograph of Gale Gordon used in both “The Lucy Show” and
“Here’s Lucy” has returned! Lucy correctly says that the
photograph was taken about ten years ago!

It was originally a black
and white portrait of Gale Gordon as Mr. Mooney on “The Lucy Show”
used
on posters and billboards when he ran for comptroller in “Lucy
Goes Into Politics” (TLS S2;E25).
After that it was seen above Mr. Mooney’s mantle in his living room.
It
then turns up on “Here’s Lucy” colorized in “Lucy Goes on
Strike” (S1;E16)…

…and “Lucy Protects Her Job” (S2;E14) where it
was impaled on ram’s horns.

It was transformed into Harry’s great
grandfather in “Lucy Takes Over” (S2;E23).

Harry
says he feels like a gigolo having Lucy pay the check at lunch. When
she asks if he would like to pick up the check instead, Harry sings a
few bars of “Just
a gigolo, everywhere I go.” “Just
a Gigolo” was
a
popular song, adapted by Irving
Caesar in
1929 from an Austrian tango. It was most famously covered by Louis Prima in 1956.

Harry’s
favorite waitress at his favorite lunch spot is named Charlotte.

To
help pay the bills, Kim takes a job waiting tables earning forty
cents an hour! She could make $10 an hour if she worked topless, a scandalous reference for the normally squeaky clean “Here’s Lucy”!

Harry
says he started working delivering newspapers at 6 years old!

Clumsy
Kim dumps a plate of salad on her Uncle Harry as well as a glass of
iced tea! It is clear that Lucie Arnaz is following in her mother’s
footsteps. This fulfills one of “Here’s Lucy”’s comic
requirements – getting Harry wet. In this episode, Harry gets
revenge when Lucy moonlights at a carnival dunk tank! They both get
soaked while trying to put out a waste basket fire with the water
cooler jug!

Lucy
says her life-savings is $150. In today’s economy, Lucy has just $950 in the bank!

Lucy
calls the printing press her ‘Jolly Green Budget Balancer.’ Harry
calls it her ‘Private Edition of Fort Knox.’ This is one of several
references to The
Jolly Green Giant,
the cartoon mascot of Green Giant frozen vegetables. It is also one
of many references (usually by Gale Gordon) to Fort
Knox,
the Kentucky military installation that houses most of the country’s
gold reserves.

A
carnival was also the setting for “Lucy Misplaces $2,000” (TLS
S1;E4) in 1962.

Gulp!
After Lucy comes up from her dunk in the tank, she has her
cheeks puffed out looking as if she’s about to spit out some water.
This would be a typical follow up to the joke itself. But when Lucy
opens her mouth, no water comes out. It is possible she swallowed
it!

Harry’s
Old Flame! Even after being doused with water and foam from
the fire extinguisher, the waste paper basket fire flares up again.
Gale Gordon still tries to set Lucy’s employment contract ablaze
using a cigarette lighter instead of just the flames in the waste
basket.

Working
Girl! This is not the first time Kim has taken a job, she
worked in a boutique in “Lucy’s Working Daughter” (S1;E10).