LUCY UPSETS THE WILLIAMS HOUSEHOLD

“Make
Room for Daddy”
aka “The Danny Thomas Show” (S6;E14) ~ January 5, 1959

Directed
by Sheldon Leonard ~ Written by Sid Dorfman and Arthur Stander

Synopsis

While
rehearsing a show together, Danny Williams invites Ricky and Lucy
Ricardo to move in to his apartment. Lucy and Kathy, meanwhile, are
spending up a storm at the department stores. To curb their spending, the boys cut off their
charge accounts in this battle of the sexes.  

Cast

Danny
Thomas (Danny
Williams)  was
born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz in 1912. His screen career began in
1947 but he was most famous for appearing on television in the
long-running show “Make Room for Daddy” (1953-1964), which was
shot at Desilu Studios. When the series moved from ABC to CBS in
1957, Thomas and the cast starred in a rare TV cross-over with “The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny.” In
return, Lucy and Desi turned up on Thomas’s show in this episode. In addition,
Thomas played himself on “The Lucy Show” in 1965 also played an aging artist on a 1973 episode of “Here’s
Lucy.”  Thomas is fondly remembered for founding St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital. He is also father to actress Marlo
Thomas. He died in 1999.

Lucille
Ball (Lucy
Ricardo) 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, which was not a success and was canceled
after just 13 episodes.

Desi
Arnaz (Ricky
Ricardo) was born in Cuba in 1917 and immigrated to America as a
youngster.  He was a musician who married Lucille Ball in 1940 after
meeting her on the set of 1939’s Too Many Girls, which he had done on
stage in New York.  In order to keep him ‘off the road’ Ball
convinced producers to cast him as her husband in a new television
project based on her radio show “My Favorite Husband.”  The
network was convinced.  In 1951, Arnaz and Ball began playing Lucy
and Ricky Ricardo, roles they would be identified with for the rest
of their lives. The couple had two children together, Lucie and Desi
Jr.  In 1960, Ball and Arnaz divorced. Desi became a producer,
responsible for such hits as “The Mothers-in-Law” (1967-69). He
re-married in 1963. Desi Aranz died in 1986, just a few years before
Ball.  

Marjorie
Lord (Kathy
Williams) was the ‘second’ Mrs. Williams, joining the cast in 1957
as a nurse who cared for Danny’s son, Rusty. Lord was previously
seen on stage and screen. She also appeared on “The Lucy-Desi
Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny.”
She
died on November 28, 2015, at the age of 97.

Angela
Cartwright (Linda
Williams) joined the cast of “The Danny Thomas Show” in 1957 at
the age of five. In 1965 she played the role of Brigitta in The
Sound Of Music. That
same year she played Penny Robinson on TV’s “Lost in Space.”
Her first appearance with Lucille Ball was on  “Lucy
Makes Room for Danny.”

Sandra
Wright
(Sales Clerk) makes her third and final screen appearance here. The
credits list her as “Sanda” Wright.  

Bennett
Green
(Club Employee / Store Clerk, uncredited) was Desi Arnaz’s camera and
lighting stand-in for the run of “I Love Lucy.”  He frequently
also appeared on camera and had a few lines, often wearing Desi’s
wardrobe. Green subsequently did eight episodes of “The Lucy Show”
and appeared in “Mr. and Mrs.” (1964) with Ball and Bob Hope.  

A
Police Officer and other Ohrbach’s Store Clerks are played by
uncredited background performers.

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“Make
Room for Daddy”
(aka “The Danny Thomas Show”) ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and
from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. In March 1953, Danny
Thomas chose Desilu Studios to film it using
its three-camera method, perfected on “I Love Lucy,” which
ran concurrently on CBS. When “I Love Lucy” went off the air (in
its half-hour format) in 1957 and “Make Room for Daddy” was
facing cancellation, CBS acquired the show and moved “Make Room for Daddy” into
“Lucy’s” old time slot.

In
1970, after a couple of reunion specials, ABC brought back “Make Room for Daddy” as “Make
Room for Granddaddy.” In
addition to Lord, Rusty Hamer and Angela Cartwright, other returning
regulars were Sid Melton as Charley Halper and Hans Conried as Uncle
Tonoose. The show lasted only one year, producing 24 episodes.
According to Lord, the series faced many obstacles, including the the
absence of producer / director Sheldon Leonard to control Thomas and
improve the quality of the scripts, and the fact that ABC switched
the time slot of the show from Wednesday nights at 8pm to Thursday
nights at 9pm. In 1981, the reboot’s 16th episode was also a “Lucy” cross-over, this time with “Here’s
Lucy” and Lucy Carter.

“Make
Room for Daddy” takes place in New York City, but the show was
filmed in front of a studio audience in Hollywood, California.

Rusty
Hamer (Rusty
Williams) does not appear in this episode, despite being a regular
cast member. He is, however, depicted in the show’s opening credits.
Coincidentally, Hamer also also did not appear in the 1971 cross-over
between “Make Room For Granddaddy” and “Here’s Lucy.”   Interestingly, Little Ricky is also absent from this cross-over episode. Both boys are not even mentioned!

When
“I Love Lucy” finished its half-hour format in 1957, “Make Room
for Daddy” was given its prized Monday night time slot. To
symbolize the show’s “move” from ABC to CBS, a cross-over episode
of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy Makes Room for
Danny” depicting the Williams Family moving (temporarily) into the
Ricardo’s Westport, Connecticut, home. “Lucy Upsets the Williams
Household” was Desilu’s way of repaying Danny Thomas productions
for doing “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” a few months earlier.

CBS
aired “Make Room for Daddy” at 9, with “The Westinghouse Desilu
Playhouse” at 10pm. This was the umbrella title of the hour that
presented “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Weeks that “Lucy” was
not on, other programming was presented. On January 5, 1959,
that program was titled “Trial at Devil’s Canyon,” featuring
character actor Vito Scotti, who would later appear on two episodes
of “The Lucy Show.” Most of the “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse”
presentations featured introductions by Desi Arnaz and appliance
commercials by Westinghouse spokesperson Betty Furness.

On
December 1, 1958, the air date of “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” on
“The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse,” the episode of “Make Room
for Daddy” shown at 9pm was titled “Linda’s Tonsils.”  

Sandwiched
between “Make Room for Daddy” and “The Westinghouse Desilu
Playhouse” CBS aired yet another Desilu sitcom, “The Ann Sothern
Show” (Desi Arnaz, Executive Producer), which also did a cross-over
featuring Lucy Ricardo. Before Sothern’s first series “Private
Secretary” was canceled (due to a contract dispute), it, too,
featured a cross-over with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” with Susie
McNamara (Ann Sothern, above) joining Lucy McGillicuddy for a singles cruise
to Havana in 1940. On the evening of January 5, 1959, “The Ann
Sothern Show” featured two of Lucille Ball’s favorite character
actors, Charles Lane and Sid Melton.  

“Make
Room for Daddy” shared at least one Desilu staff member with “I
Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” Production Manager
(later Supervisor) W.
Argyle Nelson.
Nelson was born in 1901 and died in 1970.  

Producer
and Director Sheldon
Leonard
had appeared on “I Love Lucy” as Harry Martin, salesman for the
Handy Dandy appliance company in “Sales Resistance” (ILL S2;E17).
He played himself on a 1967 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

The
episode opens in Danny’s nightclub with Ricky Ricardo (conga drum in
hand) and Danny Williams rehearsing “I’ll
See You in C.U.B.A.”
by Irving Berlin. It was previously sung by Ricky (Desi Arnaz) on
“The Mustache” (ILL S1;E23) and “Ricky’s Contract” (ILL
S4;E9). Lucie Arnaz currently performs the song in her show “Latin
Roots,” a tribute to her father.

Ricky
gets a phone call that Lucy is in jail. She’s been accused of
running a gambling racket with gumball machines. Clearly the lack of
logic is a tell-tale sign that there are different writers for “Make
Room for Daddy.” To keep Lucy from distracting Ricky from his
rehearsal schedule, Danny suggests the couple move in with them in
their New York City apartment. Ricky references the debacle that
occurred when the Williams’ rented their Connecticut house. These
events occurred in “Lucy Makes Room for Danny,” a December 1957
episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  

Linda:
“Daddy, I want to be a chorus girl.”
Danny:
“Don’t be silly, who ever heard of a six year old chorus girl.”
Linda:
“Couldn’t you lie about my age?”

Ricky
calls Linda “a
regular Lucy Junior” regarding
her eagerness to get into show business. [Above, Cartwright is with Gale Gordon on “Lucy Makes Room for Danny.”] The
dialogue mentions Ethel
Mertz.
Vivian Vance does not appear in the episode, however.

Lucy
and Kathy are seen shopping at Ohrbach’s. Ohrbach’s was
a moderate-priced department store focusing primarily on clothing and
accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain’s demise
in 1987, Ohrbach’s expanded dramatically after World
War II,
and opened numerous branch locations in the metro areas of New York,
New Jersey, and Los Angeles. Its original flagship store was located
on Union
Square in New
York City, which
is probably where Lucy and Kathy are supposed to be shopping.  Although the name “Ohrbach’s” is seen on the walls of the department store set, the name is not mentioned in the dialogue. 

Lucy
buys seven negligees, intending to keep just two. In 1971’s “Make
Room for Granddaddy” cross-over with “Here’s Lucy,” Lucy Carter
comments on how many negligees are in Kathy’s closet.

Lucy
equates marriage to the Battle of the Sexes:

• Declaration of War (the
  wedding) 
• Series of Peace Talks (the honeymoon) 
• Break in
  Negotiations (the marriage)

She
calls the negligee their “combat uniform” and orders seven
negligees for Kathy, too. Ricky is onto Lucy’s tricks, despite her
turning on the waterworks, but Danny doesn’t catch on nearly as
quickly.

Ricky:
“Listen,
you Lebanese lame-brain.  In the battle of the sexes, Lucy’s a
general and you’re a 4-F.”  

Four
F
was the draft designation declaring a candidate unfit for military
service.

Later
in the episode, Ricky calls Danny a “camel
trader.”  Ethnic
jokes like these were never indulged on “I Love Lucy” and sound
odd coming from Desi Arnaz, who, after all, was an immigrant himself.

When
Danny cuts off Kathy’s charge accounts, Lucy and Kathy buy $180 of
dog food and sell it off at half price to get enough cash to buy new
evening gowns. Ricky reminds him that he forgot to turn off their
credit at the pet store.

Danny
suggest they use reverse psychology on the girls, open their charge
accounts, and give up the battle, theorizing that without an enemy, the girls will give up the fight. 

Ricky:
“Do
you know what Lucy could buy at Macy’s alone?”
Danny:
“What?”
Ricky:
“Gimbles!”

Macy’s Department store was mentioned several times on “I Love Lucy,” as
was their rival, Gimbles. Although Macy’s is still in business
today, Gimbles ceased operations in 1987, the same year Orbach’s went
chapter 11.   

Back at Orbach’s with charge-a-plates restored,
Lucy practically buys out the store and has is weighed down with multiple hats, furs, and bangles. She is followed by a retinue of clerks holding
her many packages.  

Taking
a break from their shopping, Lucy and Kathy recall when booking agent Fred
Duncan and Harry Stuart both bought their wives extravagant gifts –
because they were having affairs. Lucy immediately assumes Ricky is
in love with another woman and dissolves into her trademark tears. “Waaaa!  I’ve lost him!”

The
underscoring of the show works in a few notes of the “I Love Lucy”
theme song during the scene transitions.

In the end, Lucy
has made a complete change, wearing simple, old clothes, knitting
Ricky bongo covers, and putting up preserves. “Your
favorite: Cuban piccalilli.”

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This
Date in Lucy History
~ January 5

“Ricky
Has Labor Pains”
(ILL S2;E14) – January 5, 1953

“Lucy
and Liberace”
(HL S2;E16) – January 5, 1970

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