LUCY FIGHTS THE SYSTEM

S6;E24 ~ March 18, 1974

Directed by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Robert O’Brien

Synopsis

A waitress feels she’s been fired for being too old, so Lucy and Kim plan to get her re-hired by turning the restaurant upside down with inept service by an incognito Kim.

Regular Cast

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

Guest Cast

Mary Treen (Mary Winters) appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1950 film The Fuller Brush Girl. She is best remembered as Hilda (the maid) on “The Joey Bishop Show” (1962-65). She appeared as Cousin Tilly in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) and as Pat Day in Kitty Foyle (1940).  In 1972, she played Alice’s temporary replacement Kay on “The Brady Bunch.” Treen had done two films with Gale Gordon, as well as appearing with him on the sitcom “Pete & Gladys” in 1961. She died in 1989.

Winters is a career waitress who has been fired from her job at Harvey’s Welcome Inn. Her phone number is 555-9786. This role was written with Mary Wickes in mind. The surname “Winters” sounds similar to “Wickes” and also goes along with the theme of aging, winter being a metaphor for the last stages of one’s life. The original script (by Bob O’Brien) described the character: “Mary Winters is a woman who has seen many summers and the strain of years of hard work shows in her weary bearing.”

Jack Collins (Harvey Stevens) appeared on the final episode of “The Lucy Show” so it is fitting that he also appears here, on the final episode of “Here’s Lucy.” He played Russel Slater on “Dallas” from 1982 to 1987. This is his sixth appearance on the series.

Stevens is the owner of Harvey’s Welcome Inn. He has just turned 40 (but isn’t happy about it).

John J. ‘Red’ Fox (Charlie) was best known for playing policemen, which is what he did on five of his eight appearances on “The Lucy Show” as well as three of his five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Charlie is the bartender at Havey’s Welcome Inn.  

Ernest Sarracino (Tony) played the Judge in “Lucy and the Runaway Butterfly” (TLS S1;E29), also directed by Jack Donohue. His screen acting credits span from 1939 to 1994. He was featured in two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Tony is the chef at Harvey’s Welcome Inn. In the original script the chef’s name was Antoine, but was probably changed to adapt to the casting of Sarracino.

The Diners

The ‘Soup / Salad’ Couple

• Vanda Barra makes one of over two dozen appearances on “Here’s Lucy” as well as appearing in Ball’s two 1975 TV movies “Lucy Gets Lucky” and “Three for Two”. She was seen in half a dozen episodes of “The Lucy Show.” Barra was Lucille Ball’s cousin-in-law by marriage to Sid Gould.

• Sid Gould 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.

The ‘Fur Coat’ Couple

• Harry Holcombe played the Judge in the Lucille Ball film Yours, Mine and Ours in 1968. Holcombe played judges on 14 of his 100 screen credits.

• Barbara Morrison played irate shoppers in both “Lucy’s Working Daughter” (S1;E10) and “Lucy Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17). Morrison was an English-born actress who made three appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

The ‘Franklin’ Foursome

• Larry J. Blake (Mr. Franklin) first appeared as a Native American Medicine Man in “Lucy

  the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15). He was an ex-vaudevillian who made eight “Here’s Lucy” appearances.

• The other three members of Mr. Franklin’s party are played by uncredited background performers.

The ‘No Reservations’ Foursome

• Eddie Quillan (Mr.Jackson) appearedwith Lucille Ball in the film A Guide for the Married Man (1967) and in two episodes of “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”

• Shirley Anthony (Mrs. Jackson, uncredited) made many appearances on “Here’s Lucy.” From 1994 to 1999 she played Sally on“The Rockford Files” TV movies.

• Bob Whitney (uncredited) appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). He played one of the jurors (unnamed but credited) in “Lucy and Joan Rivers Do Jury Duty” (S6;E9). Whitney and his unidentified blonde dinner companion were also paired as patrons of Dirty Jack’s Paradise Cafe in the previous episode, “Where is My Wandering Mother Tonight?” (S6;E23).

The ‘Table #2’ Couple

• Buddy Lewis (above right) was previously seen in “Lucy Competes with Carol Burnett” (S2;E24) and “Lucy and Chuck Connors Have a Surprise Slumber Party” (S6;E13). Lewis’ blonde dining companion is unidentified.

The ‘Booth by the Door’ Couple

• Leoda Richards (uncredited) made at least three background appearances on “I Love Lucy.” She also did four episodes of “The Lucy Show.” In 1968, she was in the Lucille Ball film Yours, Mine and Ours and was also seen in Mame (1974). Richards’ dining companion is unidentified.

This is the final episode of the series, the 144th episode to be aired. Season six ended a disappointing 29th in the ratings and a 20 share, the lowest of the series. It was widely reported at the time that it was Ball’s decision not to continue. Lucie Arnaz chose to leave the series after being cast in the national tour of the musical Seesaw. Without her children, and with enough episodes for reruns, Ball met with CBS and they mutually chose to end the series. Ball
was the last performer from TV’s golden age who still had a weekly series at the beginning of 1974. Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Art Linkletter, Garry Moore, Jack Benny, George Burns, all were no longer on the network. Only “Gunsmoke” (1955-75) will survive for one more season. Between 1974 and 1978, still under contract, Ball would star in seven television specials for CBS.

This draft of the script is dated January 13, 1974 and shows some slight changes.

The script draft reveals that Lucille Ball’s long-time friend and co-star Mary Wickes was either the inspiration for the character or the original casting choice for Mary Winters. At least they found another Mary. Perhaps in honor of that idea, Mary Treen plays the role very much like Wickes might have.

After the series ended, “Here’s Lucy” was not immediately offered in syndication because the other two Lucy series were hits, and it was felt that this show might undermine the success of the other two. CBS retained the rights to run the show in daytime and reran the series weekday mornings from May 2 to November 4, 1977, in the same time-slot that they had previously rerun “The Lucy Show” and, before that, “I Love Lucy.” In the fall of 1981, “Here’s Lucy” was put into broadcast syndication but was not very successful and not shown much after 1985.

Ironically, for her last episode, Lucille Ball is up against her old pal Bob Hope in Call Me Bwana (1963), a film being shown on NBC that night.

It is somewhat ironic that the series’ final episode dealt with aging in the workplace, considering Lucille Ball had spent 23 years on series television. From the beginning, her characters never disclose their true age, which became a running gag. TV Guide called it the end of an era. Although, it is announced that Lucille Ball is quitting to pursue her movie career, feature film work never materialized.

Throughout this episode, Lucille Ball’s eyes occasionally wander to see the teleprompter or cue cards, something she started to rely upon more and more on as time went by.

When the episode opens at the Unique Employment Agency (for the final time), Harry is frantically looking for file folder the Costello account. As this is the final episode, it would have been fitting if Harry had been looking for the Rylander or Mosier account, two names Gale Gordon used many times regarding correspondence and reports. It is possible that Costello is a tribute to Lou Costello, with whom Gale Gordon did the 1959 film The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock. The film was released posthumously as Costello died March 1959.

Lucy shops during her lunch hour and eats at her desk. She owns a 1971 blue thermos known as half-pint vacuum bottle #2810 manufactured by King-Seeley Thermos Co. in 1971. Thermos was founded in Germany in 1904 and is still making thermos bottles (a generic term for any insulated bottle) today.

Mary Treen (Mary Winters) gets a round of exit applause from the studio audience after her first scene. So does Lucie Arnaz after her first scene.

Since the manager wants a young waitress with a degree in hospitality management, Kim uses the diploma of a former Unique Employment Agency applicant Sally Bartfield (who moved to Pittsburgh) to get the job. Ageist and sexist, Harvey insists on calling Kim “Pussycat”.

When Kim splits up – then re-arranges – the ‘No Reservations’ couples, she calls them “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.” This is a reference to the 1969 comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, which was filmed at Sunset Gower Studios, the former home of Desilu. In “Lucy Cuts Vincent’s Price” (S3;E9) Craig made a joke punning on the title of the film, which dealt with two couples who attempt a sexual liaison with each other.

When Kim clears table 2 by gathering everything in the table cloth and throwing the bundle over her shoulder, she sings a chorus of “Jingle Bells.” The song was part of the “I Love Lucy” Christmas tag and Christmas Show (1956).  In “Lucy Goes to Sun Valley” (1958), Lucy says that Ricky proposed to her at Christmastime, so their ‘song’ is “Jingle Bells,” or – as Ricky pronounces it – “Yingle Bells.”

“I knew it would end like this.”

This is the final line of “Here’s Lucy,” ending Lucille Ball’s 23 consecutive years on network television. Until 1986, that is!  

Interestingly, and perhaps less satisfying, it is not Lucille Ball who throws the pie at Harry, but actor Harry Holcomb!

All “Lucy” sitcoms have had their share of pie fights.  At the end of “The Diner” (ILL S3;E27), there is a four-way pie fight between the Ricardos and the Mertzes.

Ten years earlier, Gale Gordon also ended season two of “The Lucy Show” with a pie in the face in “Lucy Enters a Baking Contest” (TLS S2;E28).

This is not the first time Kim has waited tables. In “Lucy Makes A Few Extra Dollars” (S4;E6), Kim is a server at a cafe making 40 cents an hour!  In “Lucy Fights the System” she is earning $2.00 an hour (pre-tips). Larry J. Blake is in both episodes.

Although “Lucy Fights the System” was the last episode aired, it was not the last episode filmed. That would be “Meanwhile, Back at the Office” (S6;E16) aired on January 14, 1974. In it, Harry sells the business to Ken Richards (Don Porter) and the last shot (above) has the principals (for plot purposes, Lucie Arnaz is dressed as a little old lady) walking off into the proverbial ‘sunset’.

Over the Shoulder! When Lucie Arnaz flings the menu at Bob Whitney, it knocks over the salt shaker on his table.

Legal Eagle! The premise of this episode is slightly shoddy, since the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was passed in 1967, making Mary’s firing because of her age illegal.

Who Are You Again?  Larry J. Blake introduces himself as “Mr. Franklin” but Jack Collins (Harvey) addresses him as “Mr. Frankel”. The script and end credits confirm the surname as “Franklin”.

“Lucy Fights the System” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

In this final episode, Lucy cedes the stage to her daughter Lucie, handing over much of the episode to Kim for Lucie to shine – and she does. The episode also ends with a pie in the face, a symbol of the vaudevillian comedy roots that gave birth to much of Lucille Ball’s clowning. It is only right that Gale Gordon gets the last line!  While not a hilarious (and sometimes flawed) episode, it is a fitting goodbye.