LUCY CALLS THE PRESIDENT

November 21, 1977

Directed
by Marc Daniels ~ Written by Madelyn
Davis and Bob Carroll Jr.

Synopsis

Indiana
resident Lucy Whittaker calls the White House to talk to President
Carter about a local housing project and finds he has invited himself
to dinner! Lucy’s friends, family, and most of the town soon get
involved, causing nothing but chaos in the Whittaker home.   

Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Whittaker) was
born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen
career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’
due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning,
she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which
eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television
situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband,
Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful,
allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming
it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known
as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s
marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy
returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted
six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s
Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr.,
as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show”
during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more
attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Vivian
Vance (Viv)
was
born Vivian Roberta Jones in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1909, although her
family quickly moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she was raised.
She had extensive theatre experience, co-starring on Broadway with
Ethel Merman in Anything
Goes.
She was acting in a play in Southern California when she was spotted
by Desi Arnaz and hired to play Ethel Mertz, Lucy Ricardo’s
neighbor and best friend. The pairing is credited with much of the
success of “I Love Lucy.”  Vance was convinced to join the
cast of “The Lucy Show” in 1962, but stayed with the series only
through season three, making occasional guest appearances afterwards.
Vance made six guest star appearances on “Here’s Lucy.” Vance
died in 1979.

Viv
is Lucy Whittaker’s best friend and has lived next door to her for
twenty years. Her (unseen) husband’s name is Leonard. We never learn their last name.

Gale
Gordon (Omar Whittaker) was
said to be the highest paid radio artist of the 1930’s and was in
such demand that he often did two or more radio shows a day. His
professional collaboration with Lucille Ball started in 1938 as the
announcer of Jack Haley’s “The Wonder Show” (Wonder Bread was
their sponsor). He played Mr. Atterbury on Lucy’s “My Favorite
Husband” and was a front-runner for the part of Fred Mertz on “I
Love Lucy.” When scheduling prevented his participation, he
appeared as Mr. Littlefield, the Tropicana’s owner
in two episodes of
the show. In addition to Mr. Littlefield, he played a Judge in “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny,” a
1958 episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.” “The Lucy Show”
solidified his partnership with Lucille Ball for the rest of their
careers. He went on to play Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”
and Curtis McGibbon in “Life with Lucy.” He died in 1995 at the
age of 89.

Omar
is Lucy Whittaker’s father-in-law.  

Ed
McMahon (Floyd
Whittaker) was
born in 1923 in Detroit, Michigan. He was a comedian, actor, singer,
game show host, and announcer. He is most famous for his thirty year
run as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, announcer, and second banana on
“The Tonight Show.” He acted with Lucille Ball on “Lucy, the
Wealthy Widow” (HL S6;E3) as well as “Lucy
and Johnny Carson” (HL S2;E11) in
which he played himself. He died in 2009.

Floyd
is Lucy’s husband. He owns a bowling alley. 

Mary
Wickes
(Millie Baker) was
one of Lucille Ball’s closest friends and at one time, a neighbor.
She made a memorable appearances on “I Love Lucy” as ballet
mistress Madame Lamond in “The
Ballet” (ILL S1;E19). In
her initial “Lucy Show” appearances her characters name was
Frances, but she then made four more as a variety of characters for a
total of 8 episodes. She made 9 appearances on “Here’s Lucy” as
various characters. This is their final collaboration on screen.
Wickes died in 1995.

Miss
Mildred Baker is Lucy and Floyd’s aunt.  

Mary
Jane Croft (Midge Bowser) 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. She died in 1999 at the age of 83. 

This is Croft’s final screen appearance.

James
E. Brodhead (Mayor Wally Bowser) previously
played Tilford in “The
Big Game” (S6;E2) and the Foreman, Mr. Miller, in “Lucy and Joan Rivers Do Jury Duty”
(HL S6;E9).
 His career lasted until 1995.

Steve
Allen
(Himself) was a talk show and variety host as well as a published
composer. Although he was seen with Lucille Ball on awards and quiz
shows, this is their first time acting together. Allen was married
to Jayne Meadows, whose sister Audrey would guest-star on “Life
With Lucy” in 1986.

Allen
interviews Lucy for his new TV show “The People Watchers.”  

John
William Young
(John, TV Director) makes his television debut with this special. He
is perhaps best
remembered
as Tinker in Patrick
Swayze’s Road
House (1989). 

Stack
Pierce
(Secret Service Agent Stockley, right) was
a professional baseball player for six years, first with the
Cleveland Indians and then with the Milwaukee Braves, before turning
to acting. He died in 2016.

Joey
Forman (Secret
Service Agent Thatcher, above left) had
a nightclub act with Mickey Rooney during the 1950s that led to his
appearance on many TV variety shows. He appeared in “Lucy Gets
Lucky” in 1975.

Mrs.
Lillian Carter (Herself)
was
born in 1898 in Richland, Georgia. She was married to James Earl
Carter Sr. Her son, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, became the 39th President of the United States in January 1977. She died in 1983 in
Plains, Georgia.

Roy
Rowan (Voice
Over Announcer, uncredited) was Lucille Ball’s announcer for all of
her sitcoms. He also made occasional on-camera appearances. 

Reverend
and Mrs. Harris, the town councilmen and their blue-haired wives, and
all the other guests are played by uncredited background performers.

---

This
was Lucille Ball’s fifth prime time special after the end of
“Here’s Lucy” in 1974. They include “Happy
Anniversary and Goodbye” (1974),
“Lucy
Gets Lucky” (1975),
“Three for Two” (1975), and
“What Now, Catherine Curtis?” (1976).  

Returning
to her sitcom format, Lucy tapes (not films) in front of a studio
audience and uses a laugh track as ‘sweetener.’  Interestingly, when
introducing the show and its stars, announcer Roy Rowan never calls
it “Lucy Calls the President” just “The Lucille Ball Special.”

This
special aired on CBS during Thanksgiving week on a Monday night, the
traditional night  “Lucy” sitcoms aired from 1951 to 1974. As
with later seasons of “Here’s Lucy,” it was up against “Monday
Night Football” on ABC. This
special is available on DVD from MPI video or can be streamed online.

This
was the last time Lucille Ball and Vivian
Vance appeared on screen together. During filming, Vance was
already suffering from the cancer that would lead to her death two
years later. Traces of her recent stroke can be seen on her mouth
and speech. It was Mary Jane Croft’s final screen performance as
well as the last time Lucille Ball would work with Mary Wickes.  

As the host of the quiz show “I’ve Got a Secret” Steve Allen had both Lucille Ball… 

…and Vivian Vance as guests.  

During
the table read, new art director Hub Braden sat down in Lucy’s
director-high chair. Vivian Vance delicately came over to Braden,
whispering “you
are sitting in the Queen’s chair. No one sits in that chair except
Lucy.”
Vivian explained only Lucy and Gary Morton were allowed the high
directors chairs. Even director Marc Daniels had a low director’s
chair. Coincidentally, the script also contains some confusion about
director’s chairs, when Lucy Whittaker sits in the one meant for
Steve Allen during her interview.    

During
the course of taping, Lucy would call ‘cut’ if she didn’t like the
flow of the scene. Confronting director Marc Daniels on stage, Lucy
would demand changes.

In
the middle of the video taping of the special, Lucy was supposed to
step in a prop cake. Ball did not like the staging of the
scene. An argument ensued in which Lucy screamed at Daniels and the
entire cast. The cast disappeared behind the scenes while Ball and
Daniels argued over the scene in front of the studio audience. At the
craft services table, Hub Braden asked Vivian Vance “does
Lucy blow up like this often?”  Vivian replied, “We
put up with Lucy and her temperament, knowing we will all kiss and
make up after she blows her top. We have experienced Lucy’s behavior
for years. It is all part of the job!”
Thirty minutes later, with the audience still seated, the scene was
successfully taped. Vivian Vance later said “Cast
mates only talked to Lucy when they worked together. Lucy only called
them when she needed them for a television special.”

Some
of this behavior can be attributed to the fact that Ball had also
just lost her mother, Dede in July. She was visibly distraught at
her mother’s absence from the audience. It is said that Dede never
missed a filming of her daughter’s shows.

Like the previous Lucille Ball Specials, the show reunites many “Here’s Lucy” production staff, including hairstylist Irma Kusely, associate producer Howard McClay, and costumer Renita Reachi.

The expansive living room set, with kitchen and front yard, was built on the Warner Brothers Studio stage, the same studio that filmed Mame (1974).

In
1963, Lucy Carmichael didn’t wait for the president to come to her,
she went to him in “Lucy Visits the White House” (TLS S1;E25).
At the time, John F. Kennedy was occupying the Oval Office.  Although
he did not appear, a voice double supplied a final offstage line.  

In
1971, Lucy Carter spoke to the President of the United States on the
telephone in “Lucy and the Astronauts” (HL S4;E5). Although his
name was not spoken, Lucy
does, however, ask about his daughters. Richard Nixon had two
daughters, Tricia and Julie. 

This
special was first aired on actor Lawrence Luckinbill’s 43rd birthday. He married Lucie Arnaz less than two years later, becoming
Lucille Ball’s son-in-law. 

The
action takes place in the living room of the Whittaker home on
Overlook Road in Bundy, Indiana, 20 miles north of Indianapolis.
Although there is no real town of Bundy in Indiana, the name is
popular there. Indiana was the home of impressionist painter John
Elwood Bundy (1853-1933).

Millie: “I’m so excited I’m two jumps ahead of a flit.”

President
Carter plans to stop by the Whittaker home on their way to Chicago
from a fundraiser in Indianapolis. He tells Lucy that his mother,
Miss Lillian, his wife Rosalynn, and daughter Amy, will be with him.

Gale
Gordon is playing Ed McMahon’s father. There are just 17 years
difference in their ages. Hearing Lucy call Gordon “dad” is more
unusual, since he is just five years older than Ball and their
previous sitcom relationship was that of contemporaries. Ball is
twelve years older than McMahon.  

Lucy
calls the President to complain that the Federal government is
building low-cost housing on the outskirts of Bundy, which will mean
the destruction of Camp Sunny Slope, a camp for underprivileged kids.

Lucy:
(on phone) “How
would you feel if somebody tore down Amy’s tree house?”  

In
the second scene, Viv bursts through the door excitedly, having heard
that the president is coming. Floyd says to Omar “you’d
think they’d just won a Caribbean cruise on a quiz show.”  Lucy
Ricardo and Ethel Mertz tried to win a cruise on a quiz show in
“Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation” (ILL S3;E22, above). 

A flashback set in 1940
during the first “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” (1957) finds Lucy
McGillicuddy and newlywed Ethel Mertz on a cruise. Lucy’s private secretary co-worker Susie (Ann Sothern) is also aboard. 

Lucy Carter and
Vivian Jones also went on a cruise in a two-part “Here’s Lucy” in
1971.  

Seeing
Omar with an apron on and kerchief on his head, Millie calls him
“King of the Gypsies.” Lucy Ricardo played Camille, Queen of the
Gypsies, in “The Pleasant Peasant,” an operetta she wrote and
starred in for the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in 1952’s
“The Operetta” (ILL S2;E5, above).  

Millie’s
brother Wilbur is a banker. She threatens Viv that he might foreclose
on her house.

During
the preparations for the Carters’ visit, Omar says he needs to go to
the hardware
store.
In his final appearance with Lucille Ball in “Life With Lucy”
(1986), Gale Gordon played hardware store owner Curtis McGibbon.

Omar
is a staunch Republican. Lucy says he has ‘little elephants’ on his
undershorts. When Omar is pressed into service to stand in for the president
during Lucy’s ‘rehearsal,’ he says “I
just hope Ronnie Reagan doesn’t hear about this!”
President Ronald
Reagan was
previously mentioned in several episodes of “Here’s Lucy” during
his stint as Governor of California. During his presidency, he was
mentioned on “Life With Lucy” (1986). A year later, Lucille Ball
formally met Reagan when she accepted her Kennedy Center Honors. 

Rehearsing
“Hail To the Chief,” Lucy plays the saxophone,
Viv plays the piano, and Floyd is on the drum.  The tune is
unrecognizable. Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Carmichael, Lucy Carter, Lucy
Whittaker, and (in 1986) Lucy Barker, all played the saxophone in
episodes. Vivian played keyboards as Ethel Mertz and Vivian Bagley.  

Lucy
(to
Omar): “We’re
practicing ‘Hail to the Chief’ so we can play it when President
Carter gets here.  How did it sound?”
Omar:
“Like
you voted for Ford.”

After
the resignation of Republican President Richard Nixon in 1974, Vice
President Gerald
Ford
(himself replacing former Veep Spiro Agnew, who also resigned)
assumed the office of president for the remainder of Nixon’s term.
Ford
is the only person to have served as both vice president and
president without being elected to either office. He lost his bid to
retain the office to Democrat Jimmy Carter. His 895
day-long presidency is the shortest in
American history for any president who did not die in office.

Instead
of “Hail to the Chief,” Viv and Floyd strike up a chorus of
“Sweet
Georgia Brown,”
in honor of the Carters’ home state. The
song was first written in 1925 by Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey, and Maceo Pinkard. It
was last heard on “Here’s Lucy” played on the violin by Jack
Benny in “Lucy and Jack Benny’s Biography” (HL S3;E11) in 1970.  

Steve
Allen is coming to Bundy to interview Lucy for his new show “The
People Watchers.” The sound of the clap board startles Lucy
Whittaker just like it did Lucy Ricardo in “Ricky’s Screen Test”
(ILL S4;E6) in 1954.  

Oops!
When Lucy tires to remove her noisy chains during the interview, the
letters on them are “L” and “M” for Lucille
Morton
(her married name). Unfortunately, nobody thought to turn the “M”
upside down to correspond with the character’s name, Lucy Whittaker!

Wearing
a lettered t-shirt and carrying a bowling ball with writing on it,
Floyd walks in on Lucy’s interview with Steve Allen to get a free
plug for his bowling alley on 438 South Walnut Street (“six lanes,
no league play on weekends”). 

Fred Mertz did something similar when
“The Ricardos are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7) on TV in 1955. While
the cameras are rolling, Fred lowers his suit jacket and reveals a
plug for his apartment building written on the back of his shirt!  

At
the end of the first half hour, Omar fixes the lawn sprinklers and
they go off during Steve Allen’s interview. Getting people wet
(generally Gale Gordon) was one of the staple comedy bits on “Here’s
Lucy.”  

When
Lucy says that there is no lunch because of the Carters’ coming to
dinner, Omar gripes “Another
one of Carter’s cut-backs.”
The quip gets a smattering of applause from the (likely Republican)
studio audience!

Lucy’s
menu for the presidential dinner is:

• Barbecued Chicken
  
• Potato
  Salad
  
• Green
  Salad
  
• Baked
  Beans (brought by Midge)
  
• Homemade
  Pies and Cakes (baked by Viv)

Although
the initial guest list is 11, Omar invites his bridge partner Martha
Rudy. Viv invites her husband Leonard and his mother. Aunt Millie
invites her brother Wilbur, Aunt Beatrice, and the Reverend Harris
and his wife. Mayor Bowser invites the four Bundy city councilmen
and their wives. This brings the total to 26 (if Lucy can remember to
include her husband Floyd). Later, Agent Thatcher announces the total
guests has increased to 42!  

Midge
has had her hair done for the occasion. Beautician Carol had to open
the shop on a Sunday because “the
wife of every city councilman was there. The blue rinse flowed like
wine.”

Floyd:
(returning from the grocery store with Lucy) “I
thought we’d never get out of that market.  Everyone wanted to talk
to you.”
Lucy:
“Yeah,
well, that’s the price of fame.  Now I know how Farrah Fawcett feels.”

Farrah
Fawcett
was a
four-time Emmy
Award nominee
who rose to international fame when she posed for her iconic red
swimsuit poster – which became the best selling pin-up poster
in history. On TV she starred as private investigator Jill
Munroe in
the first season of the television series “Charlie’s
Angels” (1976–77).
In 1996, she was ranked #26 on TV
Guide’s "50
Greatest TV stars of All-Time.“
She died of cancer in 2009.

Thinking
Agent Thatcher is a prowler, Floyd hits him over the  head with a
skillet. Lucy quickly comes up with a plan to get them off the hook
with Agent Stockley. Omar says “The
way her mind works, she could have been ‘The Godmother’.”
Omar is punning about the blockbuster films The
Godfather
(1972) and The
Godfather Part II (1974),
based on the Mario Puzo novel of 1969. Nine days before this special
aired in November 1977, NBC broadcast a re-cut version of both films
titled The
Godfather Saga.

Viv:
“Come
see my cake.  I’m so proud of it, Lucy.”
Lucy:
“Oh,
it’s a work of art. It was so clever of you to make President
Carter’s teeth out of peanuts.”

Before
running for president, Jimmy Carter and his family were peanut
farmers.

Unmarried
Millie tells Agent Thatcher her phone number is 555-4321. She asks
Thatcher if he’s going to frisk her. He declines.

This
is the last time Lucy (whatever her last name may be) will make fun
of Vivian (or Ethel’s) eating habits.

As
if in an old western movie, Lucy and Viv face off with their pastry
guns full of red icing.

Viv:
“You
wouldn’t dare.”
Lucy:
“Maybe
not, but I’d like to.”
Viv:
“Two
can play that game.”
Lucy:
“Well?”
Viv:
“Smile
when you say that.”  
Lucy:
(broad
grin) “Well?”

A similar exchange occurred on “I Love Lucy” in 1954′s “Home Movies” (ILL S3;E20) also written by Davis (then Pugh) and Carroll, when Lucy and Ethel are dressed as Western gunslingers Tex and Nevada:

Lucy Ricardo: “Hold it!  I didn’t cut them cards.”
Ethel Mertz: “Are you accusin’ me of cheatin’?”
Lucy Ricardo: “Yep, I’m accusin’ you of cheatin’.”
Ethel Mertz: “Smile when you say that.”
Lucy Ricardo: (broad grin) “Yep, I’m accusin’ you of cheatin’.”

This
is not the first time Lucy and Viv have ended up covered in red icing
shot through pastry guns. In “Lucy’s Sister Pays a Visit” (TLS
S1;E15) in 1963, it happened to Lucy Carmichael and Viv Bagley.  

Omar
shows up for dinner dressed in his World War II military uniform:
Captain Omar Whittaker of the 831st Fighter Squadron.

Aunt
Millie accuses Viv of eating one of her deviled eggs. She made 50,
one for each state. Kansas is missing!

Viv:
“What
do you know. I swallowed my home state.”  

In
real life, Vivian Vance (nee Jones) was born in Cherryvale,
Kansas, although her family soon moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, which
would become Ethel Mertz’s home state on “I Love Lucy.”

In
the end, President Carter is called back to Washington on urgent
business and cannot come to dinner. But Miss Lillian phones and says
she’d be glad to come. Lillian Carter’s brief telephone scene was
obviously shot separately from the special, perhaps at her own home.
She was not on the set with the cast.

---

This
Date in Lucy History
– November 21st

“Lucy
and John Wayne”
(TLS S5;E10) – November 21, 1966

---

Three years after she gave up the sitcom format, Lucille Ball gives it (what she thinks) will be one last attempt – and reunites some of her favorite people to do it.  In hindsight, this special can be bittersweet, knowing that it is the last we will see of Viv, Mary Jane, and Mary Wickes with Lucille Ball.  Nine years later, Lucy was convinced to try it all over again with the ill-fated “Life With Lucy”.  She really should have left it here. Flaws aside (and there are a few), this feels like vintage Lucy all over again.