WITH VIV AS A FRIEND, WHO NEEDS AN ENEMY?

S4;E23
~ February 21, 1972

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis

Synopsis

Viv
arrives on Lucy’s doorstep with the idea that she might stay a while.
She is hired by Harry, who has just
fired Lucy (again).  Lucy schemes to get her job back from
Viv by pretending that retirement has “aged” her!  

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Vivian
Vance (Vivian
Jones) was born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1909,
although her family quickly moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where
she was raised. She had extensive theatre experience, co-starring on
Broadway with Ethel Merman in Anything
Goes.
She was acting in a play in Southern California when she was spotted
by Desi Arnaz and hired to play Ethel Mertz, Lucy Ricardo’s
neighbor and best friend. The pairing is credited with much of the
success of “I Love Lucy.”  Vance was convinced to join the
cast of “The Lucy Show” in 1962, but stayed with the series only
through season three, making occasional guest appearances afterwards.
This is her sixth and final appearance on “Here’s Lucy” and her
last sitcom appearance with Lucille Ball although she also joined
Lucy for a TV special “Lucy Calls the President” in 1977. Vance
died two years later.

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 (Vanda, above right) 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 by marriage to Sid Gould.

Sid
Gould (Sam,
Waiter) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” and
nearly as many on “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader)
was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton. 

The
other diners at the luncheonette and the cashier are played by
uncredited background players.

This is essentially the “Lucy” family: Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, Lucie Arnaz (her daughter), Mary Jane Croft, Sid Gould and Vanda Barra (her cousins). Behind the scenes were long-time “Lucy” scribes Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr. as well as Lucy’s cousin Cleo Smith (producer) and husband Gary Morton. If Lucille Ball could credit any group with her success, all of these people would be among them. 

When Lucie Arnaz began filming a pilot for her own spin-off series, Vivian Vance was considered to become a regular the following season to fill the void. Unfortunately, Lucie’s pilot didn’t sell and Vivian was diagnosed with breast cancer and could no longer work full-time. Sixty-three year old Vance underwent a mastectomy the following year, as well as having a minor stroke.

There
was no new episode the previous week, February 14, 1972 (Valentine’s
Day) so that CBS could air the new animated special “The
Lorax”
based on the story by Dr. Seuss. Lucy’s romance-themed
episode with guest-star Robert Cummings was moved to a week before
Valentine’s Day. In her introduction to the episode on the series
DVD, Lucie Arnaz incorrectly states that this episode was  first
broadcast on February 14, 1972, although the DVD liner notes
correctly list the date as February 21, 1972.  

The
day this episode first aired (February 21, 1972) US President Richard
M. Nixon began his historic trip to China.
Nixon became
the first President
of the United States to
visit the People’s Republic of China, ending more than 22 years of
hostility between the two nations. 

The
day before this episode first aired, journalist and broadcaster
Walter
Winchell
died at age 74.  His name was mentioned in the previous episode of
“Here’s Lucy.”  Winchell was
the narrator of Desilu’s “The Untouchables.”  His voice was
heard (uncredited) in the 1949 Lucille Ball film Sorrowful
Jones and “Lucy
the Gun Moll” (TLS S4;E25).
 His name was in the lyrics of the Desi Arnaz song “We’re
Having A Baby” sung on “Lucy
is Enceinte” (ILL S2;E10).  

Viv
tells Lucy that due to the plane trip she had breakfasts in New York,
Kansas City, and Albuquerque. Despite being born in Cherryvale, Kansas,
Vance grew up in Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
Lucy’s reference to Viv “eating her way across the country”
allows the script to make fun of Viv’s voracious appetite, a source
of comedy when she played Ethel Mertz, as well.  

Harry
installs a “new” time
clock,
although it looks to be anything but new. 

Harry previously installed
a time clock in “Lucy and the 20-20 Vision” (S3;E18) but that was
a modern, state-of-the-art (for 1971) model not the antique on
display here.

In “Lucy’s Vacation” (S3;E17) Kim says that Harry has fired Lucy 14 times. This episode brings the total up to 18!

Lucy
lies to Harry that she has gotten a dog and that she might go on a
cruise. Harry says he doesn’t believe her, unless the cruise is in a
rowboat on Echo Park Lake. Lucy and Harry did go on a cruise on a
ship in “Lucy Goes Hawaiian” (S3;E23 & E24).  Echo
Park
is a neighborhood in Central Los Angles.  

Kim
reminds “old” Lucy (and the viewers) that her son Craig
is away at college. For the first half of season four, Craig’s
absence went completely unmentioned, although in the second half he
has been discussed nearly every episode.

Viv
offers to take “old” Lucy to a beauty parlor for a Henna
Rinse.
This was the coloring that Lucille Ball (and Lucy Ricardo) used to
color her hair. Ball first started coloring her hair red for the
Technicolor film Du Barry
Was a Lady
in 1943. When Ball passed away in 1989, a supply of Henna Rinse was
found in her garage by her hairstylist Irma Kusely.  

The
gag of slamming the door so hard that the glass breaks was first done
in “Lucy and Wally Cox” (S2;E21), although it happened to Gale
Gordon as Mr. Mooney in  “Lucy
Gets Involved” (TLS S6;E17).  

Mary
Jane and Vanda also had lunch with Lucy sitting in the same positions
in the red booth in “Won’t You Calm Down, Dan Dailey?” (S4;E9).
Sid Gould also played the waiter, also named Sam.

Although she has played “old ladies” in the past, this is probably the least stereotypical presentation of aging that Lucille Ball has done in her career.  Her hair looks like it might actually look if she weren’t coloring it with Henna Rinse!  Still, she has on a floral print dress with frills, so she hasn’t completely let go of the classic little old lady image but it is a far cry from this…

in “Lucy and the Celebrities” (S4;E10) earlier in the season. 

Character Consistency!  Viv
calls Harry “Mr. Carter” which is very formal considering the two
have a long past that includes dating!  

Props! When
“old” Lucy drops her cane in the scuffle, Gale Gordon is quick to
back-kick it out of the way with his foot.  

“With Viv as a Friend, Who Needs an Enemy?” rates 5 Paper Hearts out of 5

Vivian
Vance is a breath of fresh air on the series. She allows Lucy and
Gale Gordon to relax and be at their best – even when she’s not in
the scene. This is about as close to Lucy and Ethel as they have
come since the early days of “The Lucy Show.” Sadly, except for
a TV movie in which Vivian was impaired by her stroke, this is the
last time. Vance looks glorious and her ‘haughty’ voice when angry
with Lucy was never funnier. At the end of the episode, Lucy gets
into the most convincing old lady get-up she’s yet worn on camera and
Viv says she hopes to be around when Lucy really gets old.  Sadly,
Vance died ten years before Lucy and the two had precious little time
together after this episode.