THE BIG GAME

S6;E2
~ September 17, 1973

Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O’Brien

Synopsis

Football
great O.J. Simpson speaks at Harry’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon and
passes on a couple of free passes to a sold out game.  At first,
Harry sells the tickets for a nifty profit, but then has to buy them
back when he discovers that Simpson’s wife will be there. When she
cancels, Simpson gives Harry her tickets, which he tries to scalp
outside the stadium.  

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

O.J.
Simpson
(Himself)
was born Orenthal James Simpson in 1947.  An alumni of the University
of Southern California and winner of the Heisman Trophy, he is is
former NFL running back for the Buffalo Bills (1969-77) and the San
Francisco 49’ers (1977-78). Simpson parlayed his success on the
gridiron into a career as an announcer and actor. He was inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro
Football Hall of Fame in 1985. Once a popular figure with
the  public, he is most well known today for his trial and acquittal
for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and
her friend Ron Goldman. In
2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged
with the felonies of
armed robbery and kidnapping.  He was convicted and sentenced to 33
years imprisonment, but granted parole on July 20, 2017. 

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.

James
E. Brodhead
(Tilford) makes his third screen appearance in a career that lasted
until 1995.  He will appear on one more episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Tilford
and Harry are friends and neighbors who play golf together. 

Sid Gould (Man at Luncheon) 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.  

Gould is in the audience of the Chamber Luncheon but has his back to the camera and has no lines. 

Tom
Kelly (Himself,
Sportscaster) first
called play-by-play of college football and men’s basketball games in
1961. He did so on radio from 1961 to 1988, then on TV from 1989
until 2003. He described the action of five USC national championship
football teams, five Heisman Trophy winners, and 92 first team
All-American footballers.
Kelly will do one more episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Cliff
Norton
(Billy Ray, left) played Sam the Plumber in “Lucy Meets the Burtons”
(S3;E1) whose coveralls were later worn by an incognito Richard
Burton and turn up when Lucy is packing up the office in “Lucy and
Harry’s Memoirs” (S5;E24). This is the second of his three
appearances on the series.

Al
Checco (Bobby
Joe, above right) was previously the comedy partner of Don Knotts entertaining US
troops stationed overseas. This is the first of his two appearances
on the series.

Billy
Ray and Bobby Joe are undercover detectives pretending to be Sooner
fans from Oklahoma.

Frank
Coghlin
(Fan #1) has only one other screen credit (according to IMDB) – a
1984 episode of “Newhart.”  

Robert
Foulk (Fan
#2) 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 last of his six characters on “Here’s Lucy.”

Jerry
Jones
(Policeman)
founded
the Chicago-based theatre company Actors of America until the summer
of 1968 when he abruptly moved to Hollywood. Prior to this he played
a policeman on “The Doris Day Show” and “The Brady Bunch.”
This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Eugene
Molnar
(Student Usher) makes the last of his four appearances on “Here’s
Lucy.” The series was his only screen credit.

Sig
Frohlich (Vendor,
uncredited) makes
this final (of six) background appearance on the series.

Eddie
Garrett (Fan,
uncredited) is probably best remembered for playing Ed, the crime
photographer on “Quincy M.E.” from 1976 to 1983.  He will do one
more episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Robert
Hitchcock
(Fan, uncredited) was
seen in in one episode of “The Lucy Show.” This is the fifth
of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Walter
Smith
(Fan, uncredited)  made
14 mostly uncredited appearances on the series. He also did one
episode of “The
Lucy Show.”  

Other
attendees at the luncheon and other fans at the stadium are played by
uncredited background performers.

This
script was submitted on July 3, 1973.  The day before Betty
Grable,
one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, died. Grable and Lucille Ball
appeared in three films together.  Grable also appeared with husband
Harry James in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” in 1958.  

The script was
revised on July 10, 16 and 17, 1973.  

Ironically,
“Here’s Lucy” was aired opposite “Monday
Night Football” on
ABC. Fortunately for Simpson and his fans, the evening of September
17, 1973 the game was between the Green Bay Packers and the New York
Jets. The day before, Simpson and the Buffalo Bills won against the
New England Patriots. Simpson
rushed for 250 yards on 29 carries, setting a new NFL
single-game rushing record. 
The 1973-74 season would be a banner year for Simpson.  

In
1973 a film titled The
Big Game
was
released starring Stephen Boyd and Ray Milland.  It had nothing to do
with football or any other ball game.  

In
the DVD introduction to the episode, James
E. Brodhead
(Tilford) recalls that O.J. Simpson was very deferential and in awe
of the other actors.  

To
get into the spirit of the occasion, Mary Jane brags she is wearing
her Tommy
Trojan pendant.
The University of Southern California (USC) was known as ‘The
Trojans’ and was represented by the profile of a Trojan warrior
wearing a helmet. It was emblazoned on a variety of items, from
apparel to jewelry to show school spirit. Unfortunately, the
reference might be lost on those not from Southern California as well
as those who do not follow sports.

Mary
Jane and Lucy ponder who will win the big game between the USC
‘Trojans’ and
the
University of Oklahoma ‘Sooners’,
the #1 and #2 college teams in the country. USC did indeed play a
home game against the OU on September 29, 1973. On the luncheon dais,
Harry says that O.J. will be in the booth with sportscaster Tom Kelly
on Saturday.  This likely means the episode (filmed in the summer)
was probably targeted to air on Monday, September 24 but was moved up
a week.  Mary Jane thinks that USC will prevail, but in actuality, it
turned out to be a rare tie score!

Mary
Jane says she learned a lot about football because of her crush on
Howard Cosell. Howard
Cosell (1918-95)
was one of television’s most famous and enigmatic sportscasters. He
was nominated for an Emmy in 1974. Cosell appeared with Lucille Ball
on two “Bob Hope Birthday” specials in 1978 and 1983.  

When
Harry notices Lucy has spelled ‘Commerce’ with only one ’M’ she says
they ran out of ’M’s’ because her girlfriend needed them for the
Marymount Mother of the Month membership meeting.  

It
is usually Gale Gordon who ends up all wet on “Here’s Lucy” but
here, O.J. Simpson gets the honors when a decorative football falls
into the punch bowl in front of him.

Simpson
mentions his wife Marguerite. Marguerite
L. Whitley
and Simpson divorced in 1979. Simpson shows Lucy a photo of his 5
year-old daughter, who he says is in a dance recital.  Although she
is not mentioned by name, he is referring to their firstborn,
Arnelle.  

The
face value of the tickets that Simpson gives Harry and Lucy (on the
50 yard line, Row 22) are $6.50 each.  But Tilford says they are
worth more than that and buys them from Harry for $50. When Harry
finds out that Simpson’s wife will be seated next to them, he buys
them back for $100.  

When Mrs. Simpson must cancel, O.J. gives Harry
her pair of tickets as well.  To recoup his losses, Harry tries to
sell them outside the stadium and is arrested for scalping!  The
exterior scene of the ticket gates and the refreshment stand is
supposed to represent Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but the venue’s
name is never mentioned.

Outside
the stadium, Billy Ray and Bobby Joe enter singing “Oklahoma!”
the title song from the 1943 musical and 1954 film by Richard Rodgers
and Oscar Hammerstein II. They are apparently out-of-towners there to
route for the away team, the Oklahoma Sooners.  In “Lucy Tells the
Truth” (ILL S3;E6) Lucy Ricardo claimed to have been in Oklahoma,
but it turns out she meant Tulsa, not the Broadway musical!  

In
his holding cell, Harry hears O.J. mention his name on the radio and
breaks into a spirited rendition of “Fight
On!”
the USC fight song. It
was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet with lyrics by
Sweet and Glen Grant.  

Another
professional football player turned celebrity actor guest starred on
“Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy and Joe Namath” (S5;E5) in 1972.  

Lucy,
Harry and Mary Jane also staged an event for the Chamber of Commerce
in “Lucy and Jim Bailey” (S5;E9). Harry is president of the
Chamber in both episodes.  

Brand
X!
The brand name of Lucy’s manual typewriter has been covered with blue
tape. At the stadium snack bar, the menu board features the red
Coca-Cola logo (the dynamic ribbon) but the actual product name is
covered in red tape.  

Props!
Although
Lucy is clever to turn a ‘W’ upside down to be an extra ’M’ to spell
‘Commerce’, there is no reason why the hanging letters would have
hooks on the bottom of the ‘W’.  The close-up reveals that it is the
only letter to have hooks on both ends.  

“The Big Game” Rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

Yes, it is O.J.  It’s hard to watch this episode without thinking of the horrific murders in 1994 and all that followed.  The plot of this episode is actually quite clever – and is unusually styled around a real-life, much-anticipated event.  I’m sure no one at the time thought the game would end in a tie!