LUCY AND THE PROFESSOR

S5;E19
~ January 29, 1973

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O’Brien

Synopsis

Lucy
hears her daughter is dating an older man, so she goes to Kim’s
college to see for herself. Unfortunately, Lucy mistakes an elderly
professor for the younger one that Kim is actually dating!

Regular
Cast

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

This is the last episode to feature Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter) until October 1, 1973 (S6;E4), except for the archival clips seen in “Lucy and Harry’s Memoirs” (S5;E24).

Guest
Cast

John
Davidson
(Professor John Kleindorf) was born in 1941 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived musical
Foxy in 1964. That same year he appeared on TV’s “Kraft Music
Hall,” which launched his career singing and hosting on television.
The same year this episode aired, Davidson starred in the one-season
series “The Girl With Something Extra” opposite Sally Field.
(The ‘something extra’ was E.S.P.) He had his own talk show in
1980. The week before this episode first aired he was the center
square on “The Hollywood Squares,” a show that he eventually
assumed hosting in 1986. He returned to Broadway in State
Fair
in 1996 and appeared in regional theatres nationwide.

Professor
Kleindorf is the head of the music department of the college Kim
attends.

Murray
Matheson
(Professor Dietrich) was born in Australia in 1912. He appeared on
stage in Australia, London, and Canada before moving to Hollywood. He
is most known for playing the Clown in the memorable 1961 “Twilight
Zone” episode “Five Characters In Search of an Exit.”
Matheson’s
last appearance was in the “Kick the Can” segment of
Twilight
Zone: The Movie (1985), the same year as his death at age 72.

Professor
Dietrich is the author of the best-selling book Sex
and the College Girl.

Patti
Cubbison
(Gloria) makes her third television appearance – all in January
1973. She did two more shows in 1974 completing her screen acting resume.

Mitch
Carter
(Charlie) started his career the same year this episode was filmed.
He is probably best recognized as Bumper in Sordid
Lives
on film and TV. He transitioned to a voice artist working on “Trollhunters.”

Irwin
Charone
(Dean Phillips) made
five appearances on “The Lucy Show.” The expressive character
actor also did an equal number of “Here’s Lucy” episodes. He
died in January 2016 in Maplewood, New Jersey, at the age of 93. He is the only member of the guest cast to have previously appeared
with Lucille Ball.

The
other students, faculty, and musicians are played by uncredited
background performers.

The themes of this episode reinforce the series’ exploration of the generation gap. The topic is even mentioned in the dialogue.

The
title is a nod to a TV series called “Nanny
and the Professor” (1970-71)
which starred Juliet Mills and Richard Long and aired for three
seasons on ABC TV. It revolved around a magical nanny (like Mary Poppins) caring for a widowed college teacher’s three young children.

On the date this episode first aired (January 29, 1973), actor John Banner died at the age of 63. He was best remembered as

Sergeant Schultz

on “Hogan’s Heroes”, a role he briefly repeated on “Lucy and Bob Crane” (TLS S4;E22) where he also uttered his famous catch-phrase “I know nothing!”

PROFESSOR KLEINDORF: ”Thanks Professor Dietrich. You’re really groovy.”
PROFESSOR DIETRICH: (points to his frown lines) “These aren’t grooves. They’re wrinkles.”

Lucy
mentions to Professor Dietrich (thinking she is talking to Professor Kleindorf) that she broke her leg skiing some time ago. This is a callback to
Lucy Carter / Lucille Ball’s skiing accident at the start of season
5.

Lucy
Carter gives her maiden name as McGillicuddy, the same as Lucy
Carmichael and Lucy Ricardo. Lucy also mentions that she is a widow,
something rarely spoken about.

Professor
Dietrich tells Lucy that he is late for a lecture in Westwood, a neighborhood in the northern central portion of Los Angeles. It is the home of the University of California Los
Angeles (UCLA)
so perhaps that is where the Professor is headed. Charlie’s letter
sweater, however, bears the letter “F”.

Professor
Kleindorf and Kim sing “Happy
Together.”
This is a 1967 song from the Turtles’ album of the same
name. It knocked The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” out of the
#1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

At the Bash, Professor
Kleindof, Dean Phillips, and Kim perform “I
Believe in Music,”
a 1972 song written and originally recorded by Mac Davis. It
reached
#22 on the Billboard
Hot
100 chart. John Davidson included it on his 1973 album …Well,
Here I Am.

Lucy IS the Professor!

The Professor was the name of the clown character Lucille Ball created for her pre-television tour, the pilot episode, and “The Audition” (ILL S1;E6) on “I Love Lucy”.

Lucille Ball became Professor Ball when she gave seminars in comedy at UCLA. One of these seminars was broadcast on “America Alive” in 1978.

May
/ December romances (without the mistaken identity plot) were previously explored in “The Young Fans” (ILL S1;E20).

Fortunio Bonanova played the Professor,

a mind-reader Lucy Ricardo enlists to help her speak Spanish in “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law” (ILL S4;E8), although the episode might well have been titled “Lucy and the Professor”!

A 1963 cover story of “The Lucy Show” comic book teased a storyline about Lucy’s pursuit of a ‘zany professor’!

Lucie Arnaz and John Davidson appeared together on “The Mike Douglas Show” in December 1972, while filming this episode.

FAST FORWARD!

Lucille Ball was a guest on “The John Davidson Show” on February 26, 1982. She shared the stage with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour.

Also in the early 1980s, Lucie Arnaz (spelled incorrectly in the above ad) was a guest on John Davidson’s syndicated talk show to talk about her movie with Neil Diamond.

Warm Reception! John Davidson gets a round of entrance applause from the studio audience in the second living room scene. This indicates that the two living room scenes were probably shot first and the campus scenes afterward.

A McGillicuddy is Where? Lucy’s says her maiden name is McGillicuddy, but we met her brother
Herb in “Kim Finally Cuts You-Know- Whose Apron String” (S4;E24)
and his last name was Hinkley. This was also inconsistent on “The
Lucy Show” when widow Lucy Carmichael said her maiden name was
McGillicuddy after first claiming it was Taylor.

Plot Angles! Professor Dietrich holds Professor Kelindorf’s conspicuously labeled folder at an extremely unusual angle so that both the camera and Lucy can see it! While it can’t be a comfortable angle to read, the plot depends on Lucy believing he is Kim’s boyfriend!

Product
Displacement!
The milk crates used have had their brand name redacted with blue
tape or paint.

Where
the Floor Ends!
In the living room, the camera pulls back for John Davidson’s
entrance and viewers can see where the living room carpet ends and
the soundstage floor begins.

Sitcom
Logic Alert! It is generally considered unethical for a teacher to date a student. He also tells Kim one of her classmates is “not very bright”!