LUCY AND DANNY THOMAS

S6;E1
~ September 10, 1973

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O’Brien

Synopsis

Lucy
befriends a gruff painter (Danny Thomas) who says that most artists
only sell their work after they die. Lucy decides to go into mourning
to help his work sell – until the artist wants to paint Lucy
herself – nude!

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. The character will not return to the series until the fourth
episode of season six.
Despite her absence, the final credits do state “Lucie Arnaz
Wardrobe by Alroe.”

Guest
Cast

Danny
Thomas
(Danny Gallupi) was
born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz in 1912. His screen career began in
1947 but he was most famous for appearing on television in the
long-running show “Make Room for Daddy” (1953-1964), which was
shot at Desilu Studios.  When the series moved from ABC to CBS
in 1957, Thomas and the cast starred in a rare TV cross-over with
“The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny.”  In
return, Lucy and Desi turned up on Thomas’s show.  Fifteen
years later, Lucy and Danny did yet another cross-over when Lucy
Carter of “Here’s Lucy” appeared on “Make Room for
Granddaddy.”  In addition, Thomas also played himself on a
1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.”  Thomas is fondly
remembered for founding St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He
is also father to actress Marlo Thomas. He died in 1999.

Danny
Gallupi disguises himself as his brother, Giuseppe Gallupi.  

Hans
Conried (William
Barkley) first
co-starred with Lucille Ball in The
Big Street (1942).
He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan
Jenkins in “Redecorating”
(ILL S2;E8)
and
later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy
Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13)
–
both
in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by
voicing Captain Hook in Peter
Pan.
On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in in “Lucy’s
Barbershop Quartet” (S1;E19) and
in “Lucy
Plays Cleopatra” (S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle
Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was
filmed on the Desilu lot. He died in 1982 at age 64. This episode was
his final appearance on a “Lucy” show.

William
Barkley owns the art studio adjacent to the plaza.

Sid
Gould (1st Bidder) 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.   

Shirley
Anthony (2nd Bidder) makes
the sixth of her 13 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”  This
is one of only two times where she received screen credit.

Bob
Whitney
(3rd Bidder) appeared with Lucille Ball in The
Facts of Life
(1960). This is the first of his five appearances on the series.
Like Danny Thomas, he was born in 1912.  

Bob
Harks (Auction Spectator / Stand-In for Hans Conried, uncredited) was seen in the
background of Mame
(1974). In 1970 he popped up on his first television show and was
seen in more than a dozen episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He died at
age 83 in 2010.

Frieda
Rentie
(Auction Spectator, uncredited)  makes
the second of her three uncredited appearances on the series. Rentie
was in the 1958 film South
Pacific and
1972’s The
Poseidon Adventure.

The
artists and gallery spectators are played by uncredited background
performers.

“Here’s
Lucy” opens its 6th season with a slightly newer look. Lucille Ball
has an updated, more  contemporary appearance with new make-up and
wigs, and the entire show is shot in soft focus to help downplay
Ball’s age (62). She
is no longer shot in close-up and always filmed through a filtered
lens. This
is generally the complaint about the film Mame,
which was finished and about to be released. Although originally
scheduled for release in late 1973 in time for awards season, poor
early word of mouth led Warner Brothers to move the release date to
Spring 1974.  

For
the 1973 Fall Season, CBS moved “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” to
follow “Here’s Lucy.”  By the end of the season, both shows will
be canceled.

Shirley
Anthony
(3rd Bidder) introduces the episode on the series DVD and recalls that
Thomas and Ball had great affection for one another and liked to make
each other laugh.  

Lucille
Ball dabbled in painting during her rare free time at home.

The
previous episode, at the end of season five, hinted that the series
would continue but how or if Carter’s Unique Employment Agency was
bought back is never mentioned.  Neither Lucy’s home nor the
Employment Agency are seen in this episode. Scenes are set in
Danny’s attic studio [TV trope: all artists live in sparsely furnished attics with skylights] or in the plaza adjacent to the Barkley Art
Gallery.  

Lucy
says she does paint by numbers because it is for beginners. Paint
by Number kits date back to 1950 and were a cultural phenomenon.  

There
are two ‘age’ jokes in the first scene, both directed at Lucy. Danny
tells her to go find a bingo parlor and Harry says she reminds him of
Grandma Moses. Anna
Mary Robertson Moses (1860-1961)
was an American folk
artist who
began painting at the age of 78 and is often cited as an example of a
person who successfully began a career at an advanced age. In
“Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9) Lucy Ricardo is so proud of Little
Ricky’s first drawing, she dubs him the next “Grandpa Moses.”
The Ricardos had two framed prints by Grandma Moses next to their front
door: “So Long” and “The Old Snow Roller.”  

Lucy
quotes lyrics from the song “People”
written
by Bob Merrill for the 1964 Broadway musical Funny
Girl.
It was introduced by Barbra Streisand, who also sang it in the 1968
film adaptation.  

Danny
cites Van
Gogh, Gaughin,
and Modigliani
as painters who only found fame and fortune only after death.  

Lucy
rebuffs Danny’s assertion that all great paintings of women were
nudes by citing “Whistler’s
Mother.”
The actual name of the painting is “Arrangement in Grey and Black
No. 1” by American painter James McNeill Whistler. It was painted
in 1871 and is housed at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.  Danny
incorrectly claims that the subject is sitting in a rocking chair.

Danny
jokingly says that the reason the “Venus
de Milo” didn’t
have any arms because the sculptor didn’t want her to use them to
cover nude body!  One of the most famous pieces of statuary in
history, it is of Greek origin and dates back to between 130 and 100
BC.  It currently is on view at the Louvre in Paris.  

The (nearly) ‘nude’ painting of Lucy featured in the episode was saved and is now at the
Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New York.

In
“Paris at Last” (ILL S5;E18) Lucy Ricardo encountered an artist (Shepard Menken) on the street passing off mass produced paintings as original works of art!  [TV Trope: All artists and Frenchmen wear berets!]

Lucy
Carmichael took art class in drawing in order to get close to an
eligible bachelor (Robert Alda) in “Lucy Goes to Art Class”
(S2;E15).

Lucille
Ball and Danny Thomas were together in “Lucy Makes Room for Danny,”
a 1958 installment of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” which also featured Gale Gordon as a Judge…

and
“Lucy Helps Danny Thomas” (TLS S4;E7) where Mrs. Carmichael gets
involved in Thomas’s TV variety show.  

Character Consistency! Harry was formerly depicted as a miser, but here he is walking around with $500 cash in his pocket, and spends $5,000 on an unseen painting.  

Nautical
Knowledge!
Harry calls the subject of Danny’s painting a ‘boat’ and Danny
corrects him that it is a ‘ship.’ At the start of the series, Harry’s
home and office were decorated with ships and other nautical items. One of Harry’s hobbies
was building ships in bottles. He should know the difference.

Oops!
When Lucy startles Danny while he is hiding behind the door, he
jostles the shelf unit with his arm and a brown bottle falls to the
floor.  Danny Thomas appears surprised, but picks it up.  It falls with a sound that betrays it is actually empty and plastic.

Wardrobe
Malfunction! When
Danny is disguised as his own brother, Giuseppe, his hat has trouble
staying on his head due to the wig. It falls off twice, but is caught
before hitting the floor.

“Lucy and Danny Thomas” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

Lucille Ball and Danny Thomas have great comic chemistry but the script feels like it could be from any series.  Harry behaves uncharacteristically and there is no tie in to the the series’ premise.