March
25, 1977
Directed
by Dick McDonough
Written
by Charles Lee, Gig Henry, Jeffrey Barron, Kathleen Green, Howard
Albrecht, Sol Weinstein, Sheldon Keller
Bob
Hope
was born Lesley Townes Hope in England in 1903. During his extensive
career in virtually all forms of media he received five honorary
Academy Awards. In 1945 Desi Arnaz was the orchestra leader on Bob
Hope’s radio show. Ball and Hope did four films together. He
appeared as himself on the season
6 opener of
“I Love Lucy.” He did a brief cameo in a 1964 episode of “The
Lucy Show.” When
Lucille Ball moved to NBC in 1980, Hope appeared on her welcome
special.
He died in 2003 at age 100.
STARRING
Lucille
Ball 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 April 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.
Bernadette
Peters was
then appearing in the CBS series “All’s Fair.” She is best known
for her work on Broadway, making her debut in 1959 and since earning
two Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Peters has also appeared
on the TV series “Mozart in the Jungle” and “The Good Fight.”
Vivian
Reed
was
twice nominated for Broadway’s Tony Award: in 1976 for Bubbling
Brown Sugar, and in 1992 for The
High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club.
Jack
Albertson
played the airport dispatcher
in “Bon Voyage” (ILL S5;E13) when Lucy Ricardo misses her sailing
and must be lowered to the ship by helicopter. He would go on to win
a 1969 Oscar for The
Subject Was Roses.
Albertson memorably played Grandpa Joe in the 1971 movie Willy
Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,
but
is perhaps best known as ‘the Man’ on the TV series “Chico and
the Man,” which won him a 1974 Emmy.
Albertson
is billed as “special guest star.”
Captain
& Tennille were husband-and-wife
duo ‘Captain’ Daryl
Dragon
and Cathryn
‘Toni’ Tennille.
They created five albums certified gold or platinum and scored numerous
hits on the US singles charts, the most enduring of which included
"Love
Will Keep Us Together,”
“Do
That to Me One More Time,”
and “Muskrat
Love.”
They hosted their own television variety series on ABC
in
1976–77.
Captain
& Tennille are billed as “special attraction.”
Jimmie
Walker
(Blue Cross Doctor) is probably best remembered as J.J. on the hit
CBS TV series “Good Times.”
Walker
is billed as doing a “cameo.”
FEATURING
Chaz
Chase
(Hungry Orderly) made
his name in vaudeville and burlesque in the 1920s by eating
anything and everything such as cardboard, flowers, and even lit
matches, cigars, and cigarettes.
Jeffrey
Barron
(Humphrey Featherfax) was also one of the show’s writers. He won a
1982 Emmy for his work on “SCTV.”
Screenwriter Barron
was likely cast because the character only says two words (“That’s
nice”) and hides behind a newspaper for the entire sketch.
Ed
Beheler
(Jimmy Carter) appeared as President Jimmy Carter in five motion pictures
between 1977 and 1993.
Sid
Gould (Thirsty
Patient)
made
more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” and nearly as many
on “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille
Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton. In real life he was married to Vanda Barra.
Vanda
Barra (Screaming
Patient) made
over two dozen appearances on “Here’s Lucy” as well as
appearing in Ball’s two 1975 TV movies “Lucy Gets Lucky” and
“Three for Two”. She was also seen in half a dozen episodes of
“The Lucy Show.”
Ysabel
MacCloskey
(Rich Matron) appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1968 film Yours,
Mine and Ours.
In 1971, she played Aunt Hagatha on two episodes of “Bewitched.”
Louisa
Tennille
and
Melissa Tennille
(Captain & Tennille’s back-up singers, uncredited) were also two of Toni
Tennille’s three real-life sisters.
John
Harlan
(Announcer)
Les
Brown and His Band of Renown
This
special was taped over a period of three days at NBC’s Burbank
Studios (studio 3) at 3000 West Alameda Avenue in Burbank. The
90-minute special was sponsored by Texaco.
After
Lucille Ball’s death, a clip from this special will be incorporated
into “Bob Hope’s Love Affair with Lucy,” Hope’s television
tribute to Ball.
Lucy
also appeared on her friend Danny Thomas’ “Wonderful World of
Burlesque” (1965) doing an aerial act titled “The Butterfly Ballet” wearing a costume by Bob Mackie and with flying by Foy.
On
“I Love Lucy” Fred and Ethel Mertz were ex-vaudevillians. In
“Mertz and Kurtz” (ILL S4;E2), Fred gets a visit from
his former partner, Barney Kurtz (Charles Winninger). Over dinner, they rattle off a list
of (likely fictional) past vaudevillians: Sliding
Jim Crane, Kravitz and Lane, The Shardi Sisters, The Flying
Harrisons, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Guppy, The Costellos, Frank Parise,
Adolph Gonzalez, and John Fugle the fire-eater. In real life, both William Frawley (Fred Mertz) and Charles Winninger were veterans of vaudeville and burlesque.
On
a 1969 episode of “The Carol Burnett Show,” Harvey Korman plays
Tommy Two Step, the emcee at a vaudeville theatre in 1919. Lucy
and Carol appear as a musical duo known as The Rock Sisters.
In
“Lucy and Jack Benny’s Biography” (HL S3;E11) a flashback is set
during Benny’s vaudeville days with Lucy Carter as his partner,
Debbie.
The
cold open of the show is Bob Hope in a backstage setting, recalling
that he learned his craft from some of the greats of vaudeville: Al
Jolson, Fred Allen, Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, Fred Olson, Georgie
Jessel, Sophie Tucker, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Ted Lewis,
Eddie Leonard, Ken Murray, Joe Frisco, Pat Rooney, Harry Richmond,
Eva Tanguay, Burt Williams, Sir Harry Lauder (“Roamin’ in the
Gloamin’”), Milton Berle, Gallagher and Sheehan, Eugene and Willy
Howard, Webber and Fields, Smith and Dale (the original ‘Sunshine
Boys’), Fred and Adele Astaire, Olson and Johnson, Clayton Jackson
and Jimmy Durante, George M. Cohan, Will Rogers, Ed Wynn, Harry
Houdini, the Marx Brothers, the Ritz Brothers, the Dolly Sisters, the
Duncan Sisters, the Gumm Sisters (featuring Judy Garland), Ray
Bolger, Jack Haley, Burt Lahr, Joe E. Brown, Martha Raye, Joey Lewis,
W.C Fields, Benny Fields, Blossom Fields, and himself – Bob Hope.
Most of the names are accompanied by still photos of the artists.
One
name conspicuously missing from Hope’s lengthy list of vaudevillians
is George
Burns. Ironically, the theme song to his television and radio show (“Love
Nest”) is used as musical introduction to the first sketch.
Although friendly rivals, they often appeared on the same shows
together.
Hope’s
monologue mentions the current drought, the upcoming (49th)
Academy Awards, and the remake of King
Kong.
He jokes at length about President Carter and the national political
situation.
Later in 1977, Lucille Ball will also do a comedy special
with the same themes, “Lucy Calls the President,” featuring a
cameo by Lillian Carter, the President’s mother.
The backdrop (oil
cloth) that Hope stands in front of to do his monologue was also used
in “Bob Hope’s All-Star Tribute to Palace Theatre” in
January 1978.
The
first sketch is titled “The
Neglected Wife” starring
Bernadette Peters in the titular role, ignored spouse of Humphrey
Featherfax (Jeffrey Barron), who hides behind the morning papers and
only replies “That’s nice.” The wife only has the margarine to
talk to. When she lifts the lid, it says “butter”! This is a
joke about a ubiquitous television commercial from Parkay Margarine.
Bob Hope plays the iceman. Naturally the sketch contains a pun on
the title of the 1939 Eugene O’Neill play (and 1973 film) The
Iceman Cometh.
Hope:
“Lombard
had her Gable, Minnie Mouse had her Mick. Every man has one woman but
the iceman has his pick.”
Captain
& Tennille sing “Can’t
Stop Dancin’”
by
John Pritchard Jr. and Ray
Stevens
which
became a Top 40 hit early in 1977. It was the first single released
from their third studio album Come
In from the Rain.
They are joined by two of Toni Tennille’s sisters, Louisa and Melissa.
Hope
and Jack Albertson sing “Who
Taught Us Everything?”
by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill with special lyrics for this show. The
song is from the 1964 Broadway musical Funny
Girl,
which was inspired by the life of vaudevillian Fanny Brice. The two
perform with straw hats and canes against a backdrop of photographs
of famous Vaudeville artists. The two wonder if vaudeville went to
die on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Albertson does an imitation of
Eddie Cantor singing “If You Knew Susie.” Hope does an imitation
of Al Jolson (thankfully not in black face, as in the giant photo
behind him), singing “Toot, Toot, Tootsie.” As Ted Lewis (with
battered top hats) Hope and Albertson sing a medley of “Me
and My Shadow” and
“When My Baby Smiles at Me.”
The
next sketch is “The Housecleaners” and is inspired by the
vaudeville tenet of mayhem. The intro music is “We’re In the
Money.” The curtain rises on a posh room owned by a rich matron
(Ysabel MacCloskey). Hope and Lucy play house cleaners from the A1
Careful Cleaning Company named Leslie (Hope’s real name) and Ramona
(not Lucy’s real name). They sing their jingle (to the tune of “I
Write the Songs”):
“We
clean the dirt that makes the whole world sneeze.
We
even dusted King Kong’s BVDs.”
The
brag that they clean the apartment of two of the two biggest stars in
television: Sanford
and Son.
The sitcom about junk dealers starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson
aired on NBC from 1972 to 1977. The series finale was broadcast just
three days prior to this special.
As in vaudeville, there are a few asides to the audience throughout the sketch.
The
sketch’s gimmick is that the home is equipped with a sprinkler system
set to go off if anyone even says the word “F – I – R – E”.
The two sing “April
Showers”
while they clean. While they play pranks on each other, Ramona
accidentally falls into the priceless painting creating what Bob Hope
describes as “The Mona Lucy.” Lucy’s face on the Mona
Lisa is a gag that was previously seen in “Lucy Goes To Art Class”
(TLS S2;E15) in 1964.
Ramona
pummels Leslie with down pillows, causing feathers to fly everywhere.
Hope quips “You
just killed the six million dollar duck.”
He is conflating the 1971 film “The Million Dollar Duck” and the
1974 TV series “The Six Million Dollar Man.” The two fence using
toilet plungers, wrecking the room in the process. Naturally, this is
when the rich matron unexpectedly returns.
Seeing the mess, she
blurts out “You’re
fired!”
Saying the forbidden word (well, a form of it anyway), everyone looks
up waiting to get wet. Instead of the sprinklers going off, a
grinning Jimmy Carter (look-alike Ed Beheler) is lowered on a swing
holding a garden watering can.
“Sorry
folks, this is as much water as you get during the drought.”
Vivian
Reed
(star of the hit Broadway musical Bubbling
Brown Sugar)
sings and dances (with the help of four male back-up dancers)
“They’ll Be Some Changes Made” / “After You’ve Gone.” Reed
was nominated for a 1976 Tony Award and won a Drama Desk and Theatre
World Award for her work with the show.
Bernadette
Peters sings a slow, torchy rendition of “Mean
to Me”
by Fred
E. Ahlert
and Roy
Turk. Close-ups reveal that Peters cries while singing
the song. She receives a tremendous ovation from the audience.
In
front of the show curtain, Bob Hope chats with
Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille. Their banter pays (tongue-in-cheek)
tribute to the ‘little acts’ of vaudeville, but is actually a lead-in
to their next song, “Circles”
written by Toni Tennille. It is from their 1977 album Come
In From The Rain.
An
elegantly dressed Lucille Ball stands against the proscenium arch to
introduce “the last of the red hot mamas”….
Miss
Sophie Tucker,
played by Lucille Ball. She sings “Some
of These Days” by
Shelton
Brooks,
Tucker’s signature song.
Vivian
Reed and Hope exchange friendly banter in front of the show curtain.
At Hope’s request, she sings “God
Bless The Child”
by
Billie
Holiday
and
Arthur
Herzog, Jr.,
the show-stopping song from Bubbling
Brown Sugar.
Bernadette
Peters and Hope talk about the heyday of vaudeville. Passing behind
a dressing screen they emerge as baggy pants hobos singing “A
Couple of Swells”
by Irving Berlin, a song originally heard in the film Easter
Parade
(1948).
The
‘after piece’ sketch is titled “The
Hospital.”
At Mount Crazy Hospital, Bernadette Peters plays the sexy nurse,
Lucille Ball is the clumsy Dr. Spinebender, Bob Hope is the heavily
bandaged patient.
“Whether
you’re hit by a cab or stabbed by a cactus,
This
is the place to get malpractice.”
Hope
(clutching
his chest): “It’s
my heart. I can’t get my ticker to flick it’s Bic’er.”
Lucy
(to Nurse): “Nursie,
don’t snicker, but I think he’s getting sicker quicker. You’d better
do your schticker. I’m gonna go have a shot of liquor.”
Jimmie
Walker does
a cameo as a doctor who gives the patient Blue Cross – literally
painting a blue cross on Hope’s hospital gown.
Next, an orderly (Chaz Chase) arrives to “clean
up the room” and ends up eating a lit cigarette, a book of matches, and the Nurse’s carnation.
When Lucy calls for two tablets, Jack Albertson appears as Moses holding the ten commandments. Hope quips “No matter where you go, Charleton Heston.” Heston played Moses the the Cecil B. DeMille Bible epic The Ten Commandments (1956).
Oops!
When
patient Hope gets up to leave, the cast on his leg starts to slip
off. Lucy ad libs “Put
your leg on.”
Bob
Hope wraps up the show, sitting on a stool backstage just as at the
start. He sings “The
Curtain Falls”
by Sol Weinstein.
This
Date in Lucy History ~ March 25th
“Lucy’s
Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22) – March 25, 1957
“Lucy
Visits the White House” (TLS S1;E25) – March 25, 1963
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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