THE CASE OF THE RECKLESS WHEELCHAIR DRIVER

S5;E6
~ October 16, 1972

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs

Synopsis

A show business agent tries to sue Lucy for hitting his client with her wheelchair. but Lucy and Harry think the young man is
faking and that the agent is a con artist. Kim plots to expose the young man by promising him a paying job
singing and dancing while Lucy films the entire performance – proving that he’s not injured at all.

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Jesse
White
(Hickey) is probably best remembered for playing the lonely Maytag
repairman on TV commercials airing from 1967 to 1988. A busy
character actor, White first starred opposite Lucille Ball on a 1958
episode of “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” titled “K.O. Kitty.”
He died in 1997.

Jimmy
Bates
(Billy Joe Jackson, the Dancin’ Man from Alabam’ / Choreographer) appeared as an
uncredited extra in such films as Singin’
in the Rain (1950)
and Easter
Parade (1948). He previously appeared with Gale Gordon on a 1963 episode of
“Dennis the Menace.” As one of the show’s choreographers,
Bates previously appeared in the musical episode “Lucy, the Co-Ed”
(S3;E6). It is his final screen appearance.

Ed
Hall (Officer
Egan) a stage actor from New England making the first of his two
appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Harry
Hickox
(Sergeant Montgomery) was best known for playing anvil salesman
Charlie Cowell in the 1962 film The
Music Man. He
played a drill sergeant in “Lucy
Gets Caught Up in the Draft” (TLS S5;E9).
This is his third and final appearance on “Here’s Lucy,” all
as policemen.

Robert
Foulk
(Officer Rafferty) played the policeman on the Brooklyn subway
platform in “Lucy
and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) and
a Los Angeles Detective in “Lucy
Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20).
This is the fifth of his six characters, and his second time
playing a policeman on “Here’s Lucy.”

The
surnames of each of the three police officers are only listed in the
final credits, not spoken in the dialogue.

Rosalind
Miles (Schwab’s
Waitress) previously played an airline hostess in “Lucy Helps David
Frost Go Night-Night” (S4;E12). This is her last appearance on the
series.

Jayson
Wm. Kane
(Jayson Kane) started his screen career in 1971. This is his first
time on television and his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Since
this is a one-joke part, Kane uses his own name when introducing
himself to Kim (as Candy).

Gary
Morton (Blue
Parrot Emcee Voice, uncredited) 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. Morton passed away in
1999.

The
passerby in front of the West Valley Medical Center, the diners at
Schwab’s Drug Store, and the patrons of the Blue Parrot Night Club
are all played by uncredited background performers.

This
is the last of six episodes concerning Lucy’s broken leg. The
storyline was dictated by the fact that Lucille Ball actually broke
her leg skiing, necessitating scripts for the first half of season
five be tailored to her being in a cast.
This episode was filmed weeks after Lucille Ball was already walking
on her cast. She was put back into a wheelchair just for this episode
and it was added to the storyline sequence for broadcast.

Just
one week after he guest-starred in “Lucy and Joe Namath” (S5;E5),
a caricature of ‘Broadway Joe’ appears on the cover of Time
Magazine.
The inside article is titled “Joe Namath and the Jet-Propelled
Defense.” His appearance on “Here’s Lucy” may have been timed
to coincide with the article.

The
evening this episode first aired NBC debuted new competition for
“Here’s Lucy” called “Cool
Million.”
It featured Jackie Coogan (best known as Uncle Fester on “The
Addams Family”) who had done two episodes of “The Lucy Show”
and will do a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in addition to the
1975 TV movie “Lucy Gets Lucky.” This
first episode of “Cool Million” landed in the top fifteen,
but later shows got much lower ratings
and the series lasted just one season.

In
his DVD introduction to the episode, Jim Bates says that the role of
Jim Jackson was supposed to be played by Ken Berry, but a scheduling
conflict caused him to withdraw at the last minute. Because he was
the show’s choreographer Bates knew the dance number, and was asked
to fill in. Ken Barry was a protégé of Lucille Ball’s and appeared in a 1968 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

The
date on Lucy’s mugshot says 5/20/72,
which could indicate the shooting date. May 20 was, however, a
Saturday, and “Here’s Lucy” would likely not be shooting on a
weekend. It is possible, however, that the film date was delayed due
to the replacement of Ken Berry.

Kim
says she saw Billy Joe Jackson at Schwab’s. Schwab’s
Pharmacy was
a drug store located on Sunset Boulevard and was a popular hangout
for movie actors and industry deal makers from the 1930’s through
the 1950’s. Schwab’s also had a soda fountain serving ice cream
and light meals. It is Hollywood legend that
actress Lana Turner was discovered at Schwab’s. Schwab’s
closed its doors in October 1983 and five years later was
demolished to make way for a shopping center and movie theater.

Kim
pretends to be Candy
Cotton,
‘Miss Twinkle Toes of St. Louis Mo’. To get Billy Joe to dance (and
thereby prove he isn’t injured), Kim tells him she is in desperate
need of a partner for a gig at the Blue Parrot Club in Tarzana. She
promises him $100.

Unbeknownst to Jackson or Hickey, Lucy captures the entire performance on her home movie camera!

At
the Blue Parrot Night Club Kim/Candy and Jim Jackson sing “Down
By The Lazy River”
which was written by Alan
and Merrill Osmond for the Osmonds in 1971. They go directly into a
soft shoe to “On
Moonlight Bay” by
Percy Wenrich, a song that dates back to 1912. The montage also
includes “Basin
Street Blues”
written
by Spencer
Williams in
1928.

This
isn’t the first time Lucy has been arrested and booked.

Lucy
Ricardo was behind bars in “New Neighbors” (ILL S1;E21) in 1952,

…then
again in Bent Fork while “Tennessee Bound” (ILL S4;E14) in 1955,

…and
finally in Cuba when “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (LDCH) in 1957 (although set in 1940).

Lucy
Carmichael spent time in the clink in “Lucy Meets the Law” (TLS
S5;E19) in 1967.

Lucy
Carter returned to jail in 1973 in “Lucy Goes to Prison” (S5;E18).

Schwab’s
Drugstore was where Lucy Ricardo went to find fame and fortune in
Hollywood in “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E18) in 1955,
although no scenes took place there. [The above photo is a Lucy
imitator at a theme park posing in front of a replica of Shwab’s.]

Lucy Carmichael spent some time in a wheelchair when she tripped over an ottoman when “Lucy Sues Mooney” (TLS S6;E12) in 1967.

Character Consistency! Kim carries a guitar into Schwab’s but Kim does not play the guitar. Further, in the act she does with Jackson at the Blue Parrot, it is him who plays the guitar, not Kim!

Splitting Hairs! In this episode, Kim debuts a new shoulder length, curly hairdo. In the following week’s episode, “Lucy, the Other Woman” (S5;E7), her hair will be back to her old longer style. Fortunately, Kim wears a headscarf for most of the episode.