THE BOW WOW BOUTIQUE

S6;E5
~ October 8, 1973

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

Synopsis

Harry
buys a pet shop in order to turn a profit. But when the staff quits, it falls to Lucy and Kim to shampoo the pups!

Regular
Cast

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

Guest
Cast

Bob
Williams (Himself)
had a comedy act with his (seemingly) uncooperative dog Louie that
played Las Vegas and was seen on “The Colgate Comedy Hour”
(1955), “The Hollywood Palace Christmas Show” (1965), “The Jack
Paar Show” (1965), and many others.

Jonathan
Hole
(Mr. Dinwiddie) previously played a department store floorwalker in
“Lucy a Process Server” (S1;E3) and was also seen in a similar
role in
“Lucy
Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17).
He was
seen in eight Broadway plays between 1924 and 1934. His screen career
began in 1951.

Mr.
Dinwiddie is the (former) manager of the Bow Wow Boutique.

Sid
Gould (Sid)
made
more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background
characters. This is one of his nearly 50 episodes of “Here’s
Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin
by marriage to Gary Morton.

Sid
is the dog groomer for the Bow Wow Boutique.

Andy
Albin
(Joe)
began
his vaudeville career after winning a Charleston contest in
Philadelphia. His first screen role was as a farmer (uncredited) in
Hitchcock’s North
By Northwest (1959).

Joe
is the in charge of boarding and feeding at the Bow Wow Boutique.
Albin was likely cast because he is nearly bald.

Eve
McVeagh (Mrs.
Gordon) played Roberta (Bert), Lucy Ricardo’s hairdresser, in “The
Black Wig” (ILL S3;E26). The character was named after Lucille
Ball’s hairdresser during the series’ first season, Roberta French.
McVeagh
worked with Alfred Hitchcock on seven of his television projects.
Her
contributions in film and television spanned 33 years.

The character’s name is not spoken aloud, but is listed in the final credits.

Canine Cast

Louie, Bob Williams’ dog, a French Spaniel.

Louie appeared on many television shows with Williams.

Winston, Mrs. Gordon’s dog, a Bloodhound.

Mrs. Gordon has another dog, Dolly, a Fox Terrier, that stays “in the car.” It is Dolly’s birthday!

Teddy,
an English Bulldog

Teddy
(or Ted) is short for Theodore, which was the first name of Mr.
Mooney (and his son) on “The Lucy Show.”

Tiger,
a Yorkshire Terrier

Tiger
was also the name of the neighbor’s dog featured on the very first
episode of “The Lucy Show

Tinkerbell,
a St. Bernard

In “Vivian
Sues Lucy” (TLS S1;E10), Lucy
Carmichael calls Vivian ‘Tinkerbell’ due to her propensity for
ringing her bedside bell while (supposedly) incapacitated.

An
unnamed Dachshund

Listening
to Harry and Mr. Dinwiddie’s “Due / Do” conversation, Lucy says
she hasn’t heard anything like it since Abbott
and Costello.
Lucy is referring to Bud Abbott (1897-1974) and Lou Costello
(1906-59), a comedy duo and their most famous routine “Who’s on
First?” Lucille Ball was featured in their 1945 film Abbott
and Costello in Hollywood
playing herself.

Easter
Egg! On
the counter of the Bow Wow Boutique are bongo drums and maracas. The
plush dog adjacent to the instruments is dressed in a Flamenco
outfit! These are possibly a silent tribute to the Arnaz musical
heritage.

Bob
Williams tells Lucy and Kim that he communicates with Louie via ESP.
Williams tells Lucy and Kim that Louie wants to be a statue. Louie keeps his head
down and Williams declares it “The End
of the Trail,” a
statue (and originally sculpture) by James Earl Fraser. It stands in
Waupun, Wisconsin, as
a tribute to Native Americans.

Before
bathing him, Lucy asks Louie if he wants a Henna
Rinse.
Henna Rinse was the hair dye that Lucille Ball (and all her TV
incarnations) used to make her hair that unique shade of red. It was
comically portrayed on “I Love Lucy” as the first thing Lucy
Ricardo would grab in case of a fire!

Bathing
Teddy, Lucy says he’ll be the “Winston
Churchill of the century.”
Winston
Churchill (1874-1965)
was a British Prime Minister who was known as “the British Bulldog”
and known for his “bulldog spirit.” At
age 17 Winston Churchill sold his bicycle to buy a bulldog he named
Dodo. A 1941
photographic portrait of Churchill by Yousuf Karsh (used on the five
pound note since 2013) was informally known as the “Bulldog
Portrait.” Churchill
often called his depression his “dark dog.” Later in the
episode, Lucy says Harry looks like a bulldog.

The
electronic hum of the temperamental blower and suds hose is actually
the sound of an amplifier being turned on and off. Cam McCulloch was
the series’ Sound Engineer.

Commenting
on the size of St. Bernard Tinkerbell, Lucy says “I
think I bet on her once at Santa Anita.” Santa
Anita is
a horse racetrack in Southern California that was frequently visited
by Lucille Ball. It was first mentioned by Fred (William Frawley)
in “Ricky
Minds the Baby” (ILL S3;E14) in
1954. More recently, it was mentioned during the Secretary
Beautiful Contest in “Lucy Competes With Carol Burnett” (S2;E24).

Hearkening
back to early episodes of “Here’s Lucy,” comedy was often derived
from the fact that Lucy was incapably of handling hoses without
getting Harry wet. Here, Harry gets his revenge – but not for long!

Lucille Ball (as Lucy Barker) also did a comedy scene involving soap suds in “Life With Lucy” (1986).

Kim
and Craig pet-sit the entire contents of a pet shop in Lucy’s living
room in “Lucy
the Helpful Mother” (S2;E15).

Lucy
Carmichael and Vivian Bagley visited a pet store in “Lucy Gets the
Bird” (TLS S3;E12) where a piranha eats Lucy’s handbag!

Kim
pulls on Winston’s sagging skin the same way Lucy Carmichael did to
Thunderbolt in “Kiddie Parties Inc.” (TLS S2;E2).

Although
there are six live dogs in this episode, that is not the most dogs to
ever appear with Lucy on television. That distinction belongs to
1963’s “Lucy and Viv Learn Judo” (TLS S1;E22) where more than a dozen
assorted pooches stormed the Carmichael home.

Name Game! It’s a bit confusing that Eve McVeagh’s bloodhound is named Winston, but the bulldog in the second half of the show is named Teddy. The bulldog is traditionally associated with Winston Churchill and Lucy even mentions the Churchill’s name while bathing Teddy. It would have been clearer to have the dogs’ names reversed. If these were the dogs real names, it might have been feared they wouldn’t respond to commands if they were given a “stage name.”

Recycling!

The large plush pink poodle in the Bow Wow Boutique was previously
seen underneath the jungle gym when “Lucy Sublets the Office”
(S4;E21) to a toy vendor.

Editing!
There is an obvious jump cut edit when Lucy is drying off Teddy the
bulldog that occurs right after Lucy says “Doesn’t
that feel good?”