LUCY, LEGAL EAGLE

S1;E7
~ November 8, 1986

[Photos © Getty Images]

Directed
by Marc Daniels ~ Written
by Richard Albrecht and Casey Keller

Synopsis

At
a yard sale, Kevin’s favorite Teddy Bear is accidentally sold.  When
Lucy offers a $50 reward for its return, the woman who bought the
bear asks for $500, so Lucy takes her to small claims court.  

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

Dena
Dietrich (Mrs.
Hilda Loomis) is probably best
known for her Chiffon Margarine commercial (inset photo) in which she utters the
famous line: “It’s
not nice to fool Mother Nature!”
She had recurring roles on such series as “Adam’s Rib” (1973),
“Karen” (1975), “The Practice” (1976-77), “The Ropers”
(1979-80), and “Philly” (2001-02).  

Allan
Rich
(Judge Cameron Potter) was a stage actor who began his screen career
in 1963. He also played judges on “Mallory” (1976), “Kojak”
(1978), “Baby…I’m Back” (1978), “Kaz” (1979), “ChiPs”
(1980), “The Ordeal of Bill Carney” (1981), “Gimme a Break!”
(1983), “Hill Street Blues” (1981-83), “Hardcastle and
McCormick” (1983), “We Got it Made” (1983), “Sledge Hammer!”
(1987), “Equal Justice” (1990-91), Armistad (1997), and A
League of Old Man (1998).

Potter
was also the maiden name of Ethel Mertz on “I Love Lucy.”

Eddie
Carroll (Customer
at Yard Sale) is probably most famous as the voice of Disney’s Jiminy
Cricket. In the 1960s he appeared in many Desilu-produced television
shows. He died in 2010.  

Nora
Boland (Little
Old Lady) was
one of a host of endearing character ladies who fell into their
careers quite late in life, making her screen debut at age 48. Born
Nora Madeleine Webb in 1929 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, she had
pursued theater here and there for much of her life before coming to
the US.

Despite her final credit billing, Boland is neither ‘little’ nor all that ‘old’! 

  
Charles
Walker
(Bailiff) appeared in 140 TV shows and films.  He also played a
Bailiff on “L.A. Law” (1986) a month before this episode aired,
as well as on “Tracy Takes On” (1997).  He also played quite a
few judges and security guards.

Brandon
Call (Max)
also played Max in “Lucy is a Sax Symbol” (S1;E5). Call was born
in 1976 and was a regular on “The Charmings” (1987-88),
“Baywatch” (1989-90), and “Step By Step” (1991-98). He was
originally cast as Kevin in “The Wonder Years,” but was replaced
at the last minute by Fred Savage.

Robin
Bach
(Litigant #1) was
born on December 28, 1947 in New Jersey. He made his big screen debut
in 1970 as the Gay Boy in Beyond
the Valley of the Dolls. 

Don
Diamond
(Litigant #2) is
probably best remembered as the scheming Crazy Cat in the western
comedy series “F
Troop” (1965-67).
He retired from acting in 1987, one year before this episode aired,
and passed away in 2011.  

Steven
A. Fredrick (Courtroom
Spectator, uncredited)

The
other courtroom spectators and yard sale shoppers are played by
uncredited background performers.

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This
was the tenth episode filmed, although it was aired seventh, on
November 8, 1986. Although the ratings had improved a tenth of a
point (from 8 to 8.1), “Life With Lucy” still lost its time slot.
This is the second to last episode to air before the show is
canceled.

Kevin: “I guess it was a mistake.  A tragic, tragic mistake!”

This
is the first of two episode written by Executive Story Editors
Richard Albrecht and
Casey Keller.
Their second episode, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” was not
aired.  The title of this episode is sometimes mistakenly listed as “Lucy, Eagle Beagle” and “Lucy, Leagle Beagle.”

The
episode opens with the McGibbon family having a yard sale inside the
house. Lucy comes down the stairs wearing a foam Statue
of Liberty
crown, holding a book in one hand and a lamp in the other.

Lucy:
(wearing a Statue of Liberty crown) “Remember
the lady who had her hundredth birthday last summer?”
Mrs.
Loomis:
“Did
you get a lot of presents?”

On
July 4, 1985 the Statue of Liberty celebrated its centennial. In
1970, Lucille Ball gave voice to the interior thoughts of the Statue
of Liberty in an NBC special called “Swing Out, Sweet Land.”  

To
cover for Kevin in the presence of his friend Max, Lucy says that
Charlie is hers and that she’s taken him to Disneyland. She says he especially loved the Country Bear Jamboree. This is the second mention of
Disneyland on “Life With Lucy” but it was first mentioned by Lucy
Carmichael in “Lucy the Bean Queen” (TLS S5;E3, above) in 1966.
Disneyland is located in Anaheim, about 35 miles from Pasadena.  

Kevin’s
Teddy Bear is named Charlie. We later learn that Leonard has a
stuffed animal named Fido and Ted had one named Binkie.

Curtis
objects to the sale of his vinyl record “Swing and Sway with Sammy
Kaye.” Curtis says he used to dance to Kaye’s band when he went to
school in Boston. Sammy
Kaye (1910-
87) was a bandleader and songwriter,
whose tag line, “Swing
and sway with Sammy Kaye”,
became one of the most famous of the Big
Band Era.
His signature tune was “Harbor Lights”.
In the mid-1950s Kaye had a television show on ABC. He died six
months after this episode aired.

Lucy
posts a $50 reward for Charlie, which brings some odd results.

Lucy:
(examining
a plush bunny) “This
isn’t even a bear. It’s a rabbit.”
Little
Old Lady:
(rips the ears of the bunny) “Now
it’s a bear.”

Curtis
throws the Little Old Lady scammer out of the Hardware Store. She
exits shouting “What
do you expect for fifty bucks? Winnie the Pooh?”

On
the witness stand, Curtis is forced to recall times when he thought
Lucy didn’t have “both oars in the water.” This being only the
ninth episode filmed, Curtis resorts to citing the time Lucy got her
hand caught in a saxophone (“Lucy is a Sax Symbol” S1;E5), the
time they got glued together on a TV show (“Lucy Gets Her Wires
Crossed” S1;E4), and the time she flooded the hardware store with
foam (“One Good Grandparent Deserves Another” S1;E1).  

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In
addition to this appearance in Pasadena small claims court before
Judge Potter, the Lucy character has been in the courtroom many times
over the past 35 years: 

“The
Courtroom” (ILL S2;E7) 1952;
Ricardo v Mertz, in the matter of a broken television set; the
Honorable Judge Moroni Olsen presiding

“Lucy
Takes a Cruise To Havana” (LDCH) 1957;
Ricardo & MacNamara v City of Havana, Cuba, in the matter of
disorderly conduct and damages to a sidewalk cafe; the Honorable
Judge Jorge Trevino presiding

“Lucy
Makes Room for Danny (LDCH) in
December 1958; Ricardo v Mertz v Williams, in
the matter of bodily injury complaints; the Honorable Judge Gale
Gordon presiding

“Lucy
and the Runaway Butterfly (TLS S1;E29) in
1963, in which Lucy
pursued a rare runaway butterfly into a courtroom; the Honorable
Judge Ernest Sarracino presiding

“Lucy
is Her Own Lawyer” (TLS S2;E23) in
1964; Carmichael v Mooney, in a matter of disturbing the peace with
Lucy as her own lawyer cross-examining herself and Nelson the sheepdog; the
Honorable Judge John McGiver presiding

“Lucy,
the Meter Maid” (TLS S3;E7) in
1964; Bagley v the City of Danfield, NY, in the matter of a parking ticket issued by Officer Carmichael;
the Honorable Judge Parley Baer presiding

“Lucy
and the Soap Opera” (TLS S4;E19) in
1966; in which Lucy
Carmichael gets herself cast as a juror to affect the outcome of the
case, and save her favorite character from being written out; the
Honorable Judge Sid Gould presiding

And
“Lucy and the Raffle” (HL S3;E19) in 1971; Carter v City of Los
Angeles, CA, in the case of running an illegal raffle; the Honorable
Judge Hayden Rorke presiding  

At the inside yard sale, Lucy demonstrates a vacuum cleaner and accidentally vacuums off Mrs. Loomis’s skirt. In 1953 Lucy Ricardo also had a difficult time with her Handy Dandy vacuum cleaner in “Sales Resistance” (ILL S2;E17). 

Lucy Carmichael sucked up Mr. Mooney’s necktie with her Handy Dandy vacuum cleaner in a 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

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This
Day in Lucy History –
November 8th

“Ricky’s
Movie Offer”
(ILL S4;E6) – November 8, 1954

“Lucy
Helps the Countess”
(TLS S4;E8) – November 8, 1965

“Won’t
You Calm Down, Dan Dailey?”
(HL S4;E9) – November 8, 1971

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