LUCY’S GREEN THUMB

Unaired
Episode
{originally scheduled for broadcast December 6, 1986}

[Photos © Getty Images]

Directed
by Marc Daniels ~ Written
by Mark Tuttle

Synopsis

Lucy’s
energy drink breakfast is so unpalatable that the entire family dump
it into a potted plant. When they come home, the plant has tripled in
size. Realizing that Lucy may have invented a new miracle fertilizer,
the pressure is on for her to recreate the concoction. But when Lucy
can’t recall the recipe, Curtis’s dreams of fame and fortune wilt.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Barker), Gale
Gordon (Curtis
McGibbon), Ann
Dusenberry
(Margo Barker McGibbon),  Larry
Anderson
(Ted McGibbon), Jenny
Lewis
(Becky McGibbon), Philip
Amelio
(Kevin McGibbon), Donovan
Scott
(Leonard Stoner)

[For
biographies of the Regular Cast, see “One Good Grandparent Deserves
Another” (S1;E1)]

Guest
Cast

Jerry
Prell
(Reporter) was seen on television in “The Bold and the Beautiful”
and “The Young and the Restless.”  Off screen he was active with
New
England Academy of Theater
and the Hartford Conservatory.

Doris
Hess
(Woman with a Sick Swedish Ivy) played Tina on three episodes of
“Happy Days” and small roles on “Laverne and Shirley.” Hess
was particularly busy in ADR
(automated
dialogue replacement).  

The
woman’s Swedish Ivy is named Helga.

Stuart
Shostak
(Stuart, Photographer) took
a class taught by Lucille Ball in 1979 and subsequently went to work
as her personal film archivist from
1981 until her death in 1989. This is his only screen acting credit.
He also served as Assistant to the Producers and warm-up comedian for
the series.

The
reporter calls Stuart by his real first name.  

Melvin,
Agnes, and
Helga (Potted
Plants)

Others
at the press conference are played by uncredited background
performers.

---

This
episode was filmed ninth, but scheduled to be the eleventh one
broadcast. It went before the cameras on October 21, 1986.

This
is the only episode written by Mark
Tuttle,
who was also a writer on “Three’s Company,” one of Lucille Ball’s
favorite shows. His career started in 1963 writing for “The
Beverly Hillbillies.” He had worked with director Mark Daniels on
two episodes of the TV series “Private Benjamin” (1981-82).  

On
December 2, 1986, just two weeks after “Life Was Lucy” was
canceled, Desi
Arnaz Sr.
died from lung cancer at the age of 69. His final screen appearance
was on “The David Letterman Show” in 1983.  These two events
devastated Lucille Ball and she became despondent.

Lucy: “I’m just a big flop.”

On
December 6, 1986, “Life With Lucy” (and ABC’s entire Saturday
night line-up) was replaced by Christmas specials.

Curtis: “I’m just going to be a small businessman with a small store.”

In
this episode,Curtis becomes obsessed with making money, just like his
previous “Lucy” characters Alvin Littlefield (“I Love Lucy”),
Mr. Mooney (“The Lucy Show”), and Harrison Carter (“Here’s
Lucy”, above).

The
very first time Lucille Ball was seen on “Life With Lucy” she was
carrying a potted plant (a schefflera).
Lucy was afraid it had spider mites.

Lucy: (To Melvin) “The
free ride is over!  You either get growin’ or get goin’!”  

The
living room now is home to two potted plants: Agnes (on the coffee
table) and Melvin (on the table behind the sofa). Lucy begins the
episode saying good morning to Agnes.  Hearing Lucy say “Agnes”
reminds us of Mame, the 1974 film in which one of the major characters was named Agnes Gooch (Jane Connell).

Lucy: “My mind is a blank!”
Curtis: “We know that!”

Unbeknownst
to Lucy, the entire family dumps Lucy’s healthy breakfast (a
super-strength organic energy drink) into Melvin’s pot rather than
swallow it. When they come home, Melvin has tripled in size!

It
is worth noting that a man named Melvin Frank directed Lucille Ball
in the 1960 film The
Facts of Life. [The plant behind Lucy is mere coincidence!] 

Margo:
(about
Melvin’s growth spurt) What
could have made it grow so fast?”
Kevin:
“I know. (pointing
up) Aliens!”

This
episode slightly resembles the 1960 film (and stage and screen
musical) Little
Shop of Horrors,
in which a plant mysteriously grows to enormous size. The plant’s
origins are also attributed to aliens! In this case, instead of
blood, its life-force is derived from Lucy’s energy drink. The
musical film was released on December 19, 1986, just two weeks after
this episode was scheduled to air, but the stage musical had been
playing off-Broadway since 1982 and would out-last “Life With Lucy”
by a full year.  

Curtis comes up with the name Gigant-a-Grow for Lucy’s miraculous growth potion.

Curtis:
“From
now on, when you hear the name McGibbon, you’ll think fertilizer!”

Margo
tells her mother that thanks to her discovery she’ll be in the
encyclopedia next to Luther Burbank. Luther
Burbank
(1849-1926) was a pioneering horticulturalist who developed more than
800 varieties of new plants in his career. A Californian, many
schools and public buildings have been named after him. In 1986 he
was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Curtis
promises Leonard three weeks paid vacation. He plans to go to Hawaii
to lie on the beach. This is the third mention of Hawaii
in the series. In the first episode, Curtis had just returned from
vacationing there and in the second episode guest star John Ritter
says that his wife is Hawaii with
the kids. Hawaii was a popular destination with Lucille Ball and her
sitcom characters. It
was also a
favorite get-away destination of the Arnaz family, has been mentioned
since the early days of “I
Love Lucy”,
even before it officially became a state!

On
the telephone, Curtis asks a reporter if they’ve got a connection
with “60
Minutes.”
He thinks the story of Lucy’s Gigant-a-Grow would be perfect for
Morley Safer. The CBS TV prime time news magazine show began airing
in 1968, the same year as “Here’s Lucy.” Safer was a host of “60
Minutes” from 1968 until his death in 2016.  

Lucy
briefly does her famous ‘spider’ face “ewww” when Curtis
threatens to get the formula out of her head “one
way or another.”
Unfortunately, the moment is obscured by background music fading out
to commercial and the omnipresent laugh track.

The
recipe for Lucy’s 11th attempt at duplicating Gigant-a-Grow:

• 1 ounce of ginseng
  extract
  
• 3
  drops of lecithin
  
• gobs
  of garlic powder
  
• wonderful
  (God-given) wheat germ
  
• yeast
  to rise it to heaven
  
• blend
  on high

---

In
“Ethel’s Home Town” (ILL S4;E15) a old vaudeville gag makes it
appear that a potted plant grows into a tall tree – all behind the back of Ethel Mae Potter (we never forgot her)!  

When
the Ricardo’s rent their Connecticut home to the Williams family in
“Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (LDCH 1958), Lucy is worried if they
will take care of her houseplants. When Ricky finds out she’s been
rescuing them against his wishes, she physically demonstrates how
badly wilted they’d become.

In
“Lucy’s Mystery Guest” (TLS S6;E10) Lucy
Carmichael is plant-sitting for a neighbor when her health nut Aunt (Mary Wickes) sprays the plant for bugs, and it promptly
wilts. 

In
“Lucy and Mannix are Held Hostage” (HL S4;E4) Lucy Carter
suddenly starts naming and talking to her plants. Their
names are Ruthie, Hugo, and Priscilla. Ruthie meets an untimely end
when she is tossed out a window in an attempt to stop a robbery.  

---

This
Day in Lucy History {had
this episode aired as planned on December 6th}

“Ricky’s
Contract”
(ILL S4;E10) – December 6, 1954

“Lucy
Saves Milton Berle”
(TLS S4;E12) – December 6, 1965

“Lucy
in the Jungle”
(HL S4;E13) – December 6, 1971