LUCY’S BONUS BOUNCES

S4;E16
~ December 27, 1971

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Martin Ragaway

Synopsis

On
the suggestion of his psychiatrist, Harry gives Lucy a big raise in
order to gain her loyalty. But the scheme backfires when Lucy
worries that Harry is hiding something.

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

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.

Parley
Baer (Dr.
Cunningham) previously played MGM’s Mr. Reilly in “Ricky
Needs an Agent” (ILL S4;E29) and
furniture salesman Mr. Perry in “Lucy
Gets Chummy with the Neighbors” (ILL S6;E18).
He made five appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He previously
played Dr. Cunningham in “Lucy’s Vacation” (S3;E17). Baer is
perhaps best known for his recurring roles as Mayor Stoner on “The
Andy Griffith Show” and Doc Appleby in “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Dr.
Cunningham is Harry’s psychiatrist. He has a neurotic wife and
neurotic children.

Paul
Picerni
(William McPherson, IRS Agent) also
appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1975 TV movie “Lucy Gets Lucky.”
Picerni was a cast member of Desilu’s “The Untouchables”
from 1959 to 1963.
This is his fourth and final episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Picerni’s
character is never identified by name in the script, only in the
final credits. Paul Picerni introduces this episode on the series DVD.

Vanda
Barra (Connie
the Waitress) makes one of 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.” Barra was Lucille Ball’s
cousin-in-law.

Shirley
Anthony
(Golf Course Restaurant Patron, uncredited) makes
the third of her 13 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Other
Golf Course Restaurant patrons and staff are played by uncredited
background performers.

This
is the final episode of calendar year 1971.

After 15 episodes, the series finally acknowledges that Craig, a role played by Lucille Ball’s own son, Desi Arnaz Jr., has gone
away to school. While at the office, Lucy gets a phone call from him, but Desi Arnaz Jr. is not heard or seen. He will, however,
return to the role for a single episode in season 5.

This
episode cleverly incorporates a running gag of fainting.

First
Harry faints when Dr. Cunningham suggests giving Lucy at $50 a week
raise…

Then
Lucy faints when she hears Harry telling her he’s giving her a $50 a
week raise…

Then
Kim faints when her mother tells her Uncle Harry gave her a $50 a
week raise. Then,
in a phone call, Lucy tells her son Craig that Uncle Harry gave her a
$50 a week raise, and it is inferred that Craig fainted. This is
accomplished by a descending chord from the background music and Lucy
asking “Craig?
Craig?”

Later, Mary Jane says she feels faint when she hears about the raise – but she
doesn’t pass out.

To bring the episode full circle, Harry faints
again when Lucy
returns
the $50 a week raise! After each person faints, someone sprinkles
them with water to revive them, but in Harry’s case (true to form) he
is drenched in water from several sources.

Harry
pays Dr. Cunningham $35 an hour. Accounting for inflation, that would be like $225 in today’s money. It is hard to believe tightwad Harry would shell out that amount for his own psychiatric care!

Reading the single entry in Harry’s diary, Lucy
says that Harry never had a secret love life and that if they ever
made a movie of his life he’d be played by Doris Day. This is a
reference to the song
“Secret Love” by
Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster for the 1953 film Calamity
Jane
starring Doris Day. The song was a #1 hit for Day.

Appealing
to the IRS Agent (Paul Picerni) for leniency for Harry, Lucy
paraphrases Portia, a lawyer in William Shakespeare’s The
Merchant of Venice.

When
the IRS starts to focus on Lucy, Harry insists she be taken to prison
– any prison – San Quentin, Alcatraz, Devil’s Island. Both San
Quentin and Alcatraz were located in California, while Devil’s Island
(aka Bagne de Cayenne) was a penal colony in French Guiana. All
three were no longer in service as prisons, but have entered pop
culture lore for their reputations.

Dr.
Cunningham, Harry’s psychiatrist, first appeared in “Lucy’s
Vacation” (S3;E17). Unfortunately, although this might have been a
good running character, this was his last appearance.

Title Trouble! The title never really comes to pass. Lucy ‘returns’ her raise before it can even be deposited in the bank, let alone ‘bounce.’

Character Consistency! The premise of the episode relies on the unlikely idea that tightwad Harry would give Lucy a $50 a week raise – a substantial sum for a secretary in 1971.

Costume
Recycling!
When spying on Harry, Lucy wears the same green candy striped jacket
she wore at the end of the previous episode, “Lucy’s Lucky Day”
(S4;E15).

Catching Up with Catsup!
A distracted and distressed Harry pours ketchup on his cantaloupe.
This gag is telegraphed by having large ketchup bottles on every
table, even in the previous scene. Harry’s melon has been noticeably
hollowed out to hold the ketchup. The ketchup has been watered down
to pour freely out of the bottle without any effort from Harry.