LUCY AND UNCLE HARRY’S POT

S5;E21
~ February 12, 1973

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O’Brien

Synopsis

When
Lucy breaks a vase which has great sentimental value to Harry, she
goes to a ceramics class to make him a new one – with dubious
results!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Carter), Gale
Gordon (Harrison
Otis Carter)

Lucie
Arnaz (Kim
Carter) does not appear in this episode, nor does she receive screen
credit. Except for the clips seen in the season finale, the character
will not return to the series until the fourth episode of season six.

Guest
Cast

Jack
Manning
(Mr. Hubbell) previously played Mr. Walters in “Lucy and Donny
Osmond” (S5;E11). The same month this episode first aired, he was
also seen on ABC’s “Jigsaw” and “Marcus Welby M.D.” This is
his last appearance on the series.

Roger
Twedt (Mr.
Tweed) was a real-life art teacher from Palm Springs, California. He
acted as Lucille Ball’s adviser for using the pottery wheel. This is
his only professional acting credit.

It is unknown if Twedt’s surname was pronounced the same as “Tweed” in real life, or if they just decided to simplify it for the show. He is definitely referred to as “Mr. TWEED” in the dialogue.

Orwin
Harvey
(Joe, Ceramics Shop Employee) was
an actor and stuntman who played one of the singing and dancing
teamsters in “Lucy
Helps Ken Berry” (TLS S6;E21).
This is one of his nine appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Alex
Ball
(Ceramics Shop Employee, uncredited) began his career as an ‘extra’
in 1944. He previously appeared with Lucille Ball in Critic’s Choice
(1963). He is no relation to Lucille Ball.

This
episode was inspired by a student film titled “The
Potter’s Problem”
by Stuart Cracraft of Palm Springs which won the California Art
Educators Award. It was seen by the “Here’s Lucy” writers and
turned into an episode. Lucille Ball employed the student’s art
teacher, Roger Twedt, to be her instructor on and off-camera.

The
title
is odd because it calls Harry “Uncle Harry” and neither Kim nor
Craig are in the episode. Some sources list it as “Lucy and
Harry’s Pot.” Titles were only used internally and by publishing outlets – they were never seen by the viewing public. The “Lucy and…” format of titling episodes
also makes it sound like the pot belongs to Lucy AND Harry. Further,
the item in question is not really a pot, but a vase or an urn. On
her DVD introduction to the episode, Lucie Arnaz ends with a little
giggle, probably because the title sounds like Lucy and Harry are
growing marijuana! [Okay, the above IMDB listing is not real!]

The
first draft of this script was turned in on January
3, 1972,
more than a year before it was aired. Perhaps Kim’s absence from so
many episodes at the end of season 5 is because it was hoped that
Lucie Arnaz’s pilot “Kim Cuts You-Know-Whose Apron String”
(S4;E24) was going to be picked up for series. It was not.
Coincidentally, January 3, 1972, was also the day that “Lucy and
the Little Old Lady” (S4;E17) starring Helen Hayes was first aired.

The
date this episode first aired, “Here’s Lucy” was followed by a
new episode of “The
Doris Day Show”
that featured many former “Here’s Lucy” background players: Jack
Berle, Robert Hitchcock, Shep Houghton, Monty O’Grady, Murray
Pollack, Clark Ross, and Norman Stevans. All actors were uncredited,
just as they usually were on “Here’s Lucy.”

The first five minutes of this episode involve Lucy playing ‘Miss Fix-It’ with the typewriter, adding machine, and telephone, borrowing a screw from one to repair the other. This topic was explored more fully in “Lucy the Fixer” (HL S1;E14) and much later on “Life With Lucy” in “Lucy Gets Her Wires Crossed” (LWL S1;E4).

Harry’s cherished pot was made by his former secretary, Miss
Lindsay.
This must be a character that worked for Harry before the series
began. In the very first episode of the series, Harry had another
secretary, but she was named Singleton (played by Doris
Singleton), not Lindsay.

The
scene in the pottery class with Lucy ‘behind the wheel’ features a
lot of ad-libbed dialogue. At one point,
Lucy asks Mr. Tweed if he is married (he is). Twedt (who was not an actor,
but an art teacher) smiles at the unexpected question, but stays in
character.

1973 Price Check!

6 Art Lessons – $20
Lucy’s Manicure – $2.50

The episode makes use of ‘insert shots’ of Lucy working her clay. They appear to be of Lucille Ball, but since her face is not shown, they may have been done later with a double.

When Lucy gives Harry the restored pot / vase, he is so grateful he takes Lucy out to breakfast at the Sky Room of the Winthrop Hotel. The episode has a sentimental, rather than comic, ending. Throughout the episode, Harry is depicted as a mellower, less bombastic character. This is likely due to the influence of writer Bob O’Brien, who also wrote the screenplay for the 1950 Lucille Ball / Bob Hope film Fancy Pants.

While
expecting, Lucy Ricardo worked with clay in “Lucy Becomes a Sculptress”
(ILL S2;E15) to be more cultured for her baby. Like Lucy Carter,
Mrs. Ricardo was not very good with clay.

“Lucy
Goes to Art Class” (TLS S2;E15) to get to know a handsome bachelor
(Robert Alda) in a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

A
year later, Lucy Carmichael shatters Mr. Mooney’s gift wrapped
ceramic figure, a present for his wife, in “Lucy and the Ceramic
Cat” (TLS S3;E16). She also visited a ceramics shop to find out about its repair or replacement. Although the hideous cat prop turned up again on the series, it is sadly absent from the shelves of the ceramics
shop in “Lucy and Uncle Harry’s Pot.”

The tall-necked pussycat in the ceramics store was first glimpsed in Flip Wilson’s office in “Lucy and Flip Go Legit” (S4;E1) and will be seen again when “The Carters Meet Frankie Avalon” (S6;E11). It was also used as set dressing in the film Sweet Charity (1969). Like “Here’s Lucy,” the movie was filmed at Universal.

The
hiring of a professional to teach he a technical skill was something Lucille Ball also did in 1956, when she was required to toss pizza dough in “Visitor from Italy”
(ILL S6;E5). Ball hired Hollywood pizza
chef extraordinaire Aldo Formica to be her coach and also to appear on
camera, much like Roger Twedt does here. Interestingly, both skills are technically called “throwing”!

Set
Alterations! To
facilitate the pot falling to the ground, the file
cabinets that were formerly built-in to the office wall are now no longer built-in but free-standing.

Character
Consistency! When the pot (vase) breaks, Harry goes into a depression. Lucy says
she’s never seen him take anything so hard. Would that include the
death of his brother? Just wondering.

Sitcom
Logic Alert! Lucy presents Harry with a restored original vase (pot) – which is
miraculously pristine again, thanks to the ceramics shop –
overnight!