Papermoon Loves Lucy

A Lucille Ball Supersite!

LUCY ON “THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW” ~ PART 2

November 4, 1968 ~ S2;E6

Directed
by Dave Powers

Written
by Bill Angelos, Stan Burns, Mike Marmer, Hal Goldman, Al Gordon, Don
Hinkley, Kenny Solms, Gail Parent, Buz Kohan

Cast

Carol
Burnett (Herself)
got her first big break on “The Paul Winchell Show” in 1955. A
years later she was a regular on “The Garry Moore Show.” In 1959
she made her Broadway debut in Once
Upon a Mattress,
which she also appeared in on television three times. From 1960 to
1965 she did a number of TV specials, and often appeared with Julie
Andrews. Her second Broadway musical was Fade
Out – Fade In which
ran for more than 270 performances. From 1967 to 1978 she hosted her
own highly successful variety show, “The Carol Burnett Show.”
Lucille Ball made several appearances on “The Carol Burnett Show.”
Burnett guest starred in four episodes of “The Lucy Show” and
three episodes of “Here’s Lucy,” subsequently playing a
character named Carol Krausmeyer. After Lucille Ball’s passing,
Burnett was hailed as the natural heir to Lucy’s title of ‘The
Queen of TV Comedy.’

Lucille
Ball (Herself)
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.

Supporting
Cast

Vicki
Lawrence
was
born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California. She sent Carol
Burnett a newspaper clipping showing their uncanny resemblance to
her. Burnett called Vicki hoping to find an entertainer who could
play her kid sister on her variety show. Lawrence was chosen as the
kid sister and in the fall of 1967, she made her debut on the first
episode of “The Carol Burnett Show.” She spent 11 years with the
show and earned one Emmy Award and five more nominations. She created
the role of Mama in the Family Sketches, which was spun off to
“Mama’s Family.”  An accomplished singer, her recording of “The
Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” was number one and earned
a Gold Record. Lawrence attended the tribute shows “All Star Party
for Carol Burnett” in 1982 and “All Star Party for Lucille Ball”
in 1984.  

Harvey
Korman
got his
first big break as a featured performer on “The
Danny Kaye Show”
in 1963.
After
ten successful seasons he left “The
Carol Burnett Show”
in 1977 to appear in his own series which only lasted six episodes.
From 1964 to 1965 Korman appeared in three episodes of “The Lucy
Show” as various characters. He found screen success in many of the
films of Mel Brooks. Harvey Korman died in 2008 at age 81.

Lyle
Waggoner was
a handsome leading man who had little success in films but found fame
as the announcer and character actor on “The Carol Burnett Show.”
He left the show in 1974 in a mutual agreement with the producers to
appear in “Wonder Woman.”  

Guest
Cast

Eddie
Albert
(Himself) had appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1950 film The
Fuller Brush Girl and
would guest-star as himself on “Here’s Lucy” in 1973.

Nancy
Wilson
(Herself) makes the first of her six appearances on “The Carol
Burnett Show.”

Don
Crichton (Count
Orloff, uncredited) was one of the Lester Flatt dancers. He also made
three appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”  

Dede
Ball (Herself,
in Audience) is Lucille Ball’s mother. She is said to have been in
the audience for every show Lucy ever did in front of live audience.

Ernie
Anderson
(Himself, in Audience) replaced Lyle Waggoner as the show’s announcer
in 1974. In 1967 he starred with Tim Conway in the short-lived TV
series “Rango.”  

Timeline
of collaborations between Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett (not
including award and talk shows)

Like
Lucille Ball’s sitcoms, “The Carol Burnett Show” was also aired
on Monday nights, generally at 10pm. There
was no new “Here’s Lucy” episode on November 4, 1968 due to it
being the eve of a Presidential Election. The next day, Republican
challenger
Richard
M. Nixon
defeated
Vice President Hubert
Humphrey,
and Independent
Party
candidate
George
Wallace.

In
Carol’s opening remarks she brings out Lucy, who introduces her
mother Dede, who is sitting in the audience. Carol asks Lucy about
working with her children, Lucie and Desi Jr., on her new show,
“Here’s Lucy.”  

Harvey
joins Carol for a sketch called “The Old Folks” where they
play two senior citizens in rocking chairs.

Carol
introduces Nancy Wilson, who sings "The Folks Who Live on the
Hill”
(1937) by
Jerome
Kern
and Oscar
Hammerstein II.

Carol
and Vicki play sisters (as they often did) named Carol and Chrissy,
in a sketch where Carol’s husband Roger (Harvey Korrman) brings home
his new boss, Mr. Bellows (Eddie Arnold), a health fanatic who
expects them both to be as fit as he is. In this sketch, Carol and
Roger’s last name is Bradford, just like Carol’s was in her first
appearances on “The Lucy Show” in 1966 and 1967.

Sitting
alone in an empty bedroom, Eddie Albert sings “Father
of Girls” by
Ervin M. Drake, although it begins with a verse from “Soliloquy”
from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel.

In
the soap opera parody “As the Stomach Turns,” Carol (as Marion)
and Lucy (as Laura Peterson) are widows and funeral groupies. Vikki plays
Carol’s unmarried daughter with two infants in her arms. 

Eddie Albert plays a
widower named Chester Marfack, a mortician. Nancy Wilson (as Julia)
arrives and announces her intentions to integrate Canoga Falls. In the final
moments a handsome stranger comes to the door (Lyle Waggoner,
naturally).

This sketch was produced at the height of the civil rights movement and satirically reflected how television portrayed race. As in all real soap operas, the dialogue is delivered without irony or expression – almost deadpan. 

Marion
(answering the door to Nancy Wilson): “Why, it’s a negro. (organ
sting) The first negro we’ve ever had in Canoga Falls.”
Julia:
“Hello. I’ve come to integrate your town.”
Marion:
“Wonderful news.”
Julia:
“My name is Julia. I graduated from college when I was 15, medical
school at 15, phi beta kappa, summa cum laude, and I’m up for the
Nobel Prize.”
Marion:
“Good for you, Julia.”
Julia:
“Well, I could have gone further, if it hadn’t been for
discrimination.”
Marion:
“Tell me, do you have a place to live yet?”
Julia:
“No, I don’t.”
Marion:
“Would you like to live here?”
Julia:
“Would I have to pay rent?”
Marion:
“I’m a liberal, but I’m not a fanatic. Tell me, are you
married?”
Julia:
“I’m a widow.”
Marion:
“Oh,
a black widow.  I want to introduce you to my friends. Julia, this is Chester
Marfack, the town mortician.  Chester, this is Julia, the town
negro.”

When
Julia says her name, the audience laughs with recognition. “Julia”
was one
of the first weekly series to depict an African
American
woman
in a non-stereotypical
role.
The show starred actress and singer Diahann
Carroll,
and ran for 86 episodes on NBC,
from
September 17, 1968, to March 23, 1971. Like the Julia of “As the
Stomach Turns,” the character was in the medical field and a widow. When this sketch first aired, the show had only been on for five weeks, but was hyped in the media for its take on a working woman of color. 

The
finale is a tribute to the astrological sign Leo which happens to be
Lucy’s sign.
Nancy
teams with Carol for “The
Other Man’s Grass Is Always Greener”
by
Tony
Hatch
and
Jackie
Trent
which
was a 1967 hit for Petula
Clark.

Special
lyrics about famous Leos are put to the song “Drop That Name”
written by Jule Styne for the musical Bells
Are Ringing
(1956). Names dropped include Henry Ford, Lawrence of Arabia, and
Orville Right. The song features quick black-out sketches about the
Leos as well as a photo montage of those mentioned.  

As
Cleopatra, Nancy Wilson sings “A
Good Man is Hard To Find”
written in 1919 by Eddie Green and popularized by Bessie Smith.
Eddie Albert appears as Julius Caesar. Carol plays Queen Elizabeth I
singing the same song (with adapted lyrics). Harvey Korman appears as
Lord Essex. Lucy picks up the song as Catherine the Great, Empress
of Russia, glamorously attired in an all-white costume by Bob Mackie. 

Lucy:
“Peter the third, my royal spouse,
No
longer hangs around the house.

I
think you’re cute Count Orloff, Potemkin, too.

There’s
gotta be one Russian in the joint who’ll do.

What
Catherine wants, she’s sure to get.

No
man would dare to answer ‘nyet.’  

I’ll
have a royal ball, with one and all.

So
you show up at seven, and you fill in at eight.”
Boys:
“Every Cossack knows the reason Catherine’s great.”

Lucy:
“Because a good man nowadays is hard to find!”

Throughout
the medley, Vicki Lawrence plays a troubadour with a lute,
introducing each new Leo in song.

Ooops!
When playing exercise fanatic Mr. Bellows, Eddie Arnold accidentally
trips on the platform leading to the front door. Luckily, he ends in
a sitting position.  

Earlier
in the same sketch, Carol grabs the bags of groceries from Vicki and
several boxes of food fly out, landing with a hollow thud. Vicki
retrieves one, but a milk carton is stranded on the set for the
entire sketch.

In
the finale, Lucy’s last solo line “Treat
him right!”
is obviously not Lucille Ball  singing. 

This
Date in Lucy History – November 4th

“Lucy
Goes Duck Hunting”
(TLS S2;E6) – November 4, 1963

Michael T. Mooney

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