LUCY’S THIN BLUE LINE

Lucy and Law Enforcement ~ Part 2

On “The Lucy Show,” Lucy Carmichael not only had multiple run-ins with the police – she actually became one for a couple of episodes!  Here’s a look at Carmichael and Cops! 

“Lucy and Viv Become Tycoons” (1963) ~ When Lucy and Viv open their own business at home, they are visited by Sergeant Robbins (Bern Hoffman) to check on their permits and operating practices. In 1960, Hoddman appeared in the Lucille Ball / Bob Hope film The Facts of Life.

“Lucy Drives a Dump Truck” (1963) ~ Driving a truck to a nearby town, Lucy and Viv are pulled over by a Brewster policeman played by Richard Reeves, a veteran of nine episodes of “I Love Lucy” including playing a policeman in “Equal Rights” (1953). This is his only appearance on “The Lucy Show.”  

“Lucy and the Safe Cracker” (1963) ~ When Mr. Mooney gets locked in the safe (again), Lucy contacts a safe cracker (Jay Novello) and Sergeant Wilcox (James Flavin) is on the scene. Coincidentally, Flavin played the Immigration Officer searching for Mario Orsatti (Jay Novello) in “Visitor from Italy” (1956). He will return to “The Lucy Show” two episodes later to play Sgt. Wilcox again in another bank-themed episode. He appeared in four films with Lucille Ball, including playing a police sergeant in Without Love (1945). During his long career he played so many officers of the law that his IMDB photo is of him in a police uniform!  

“Lucy and the Bank Scandal” (1963) ~ Sergeant Wilcox (James Flavin) investigates a case of embezzelment at the Danfield Bank. Lucy suspects Mr. Mooney and digs up his yard to find the stolen cash. 

“Lucy is Her Own Lawyer” (1964) ~ Officer Joe (Joe Mell) the Baliff, swears in Lucy Carmichael as well as Mr. Mooney and Nelson the dog! Mell returns as a Baliff in “Lucy the Meter Maid” (1964) and a Bank Guard in “Lucy the Stockholder” (1965). 

“Lucy the Meter Maid” (1964) ~ Lucy joins the Danfield Police Force as meter maid. When Viv doesn’t feed the meter, Lucy issues her a summons and they land up in court. Once again, Joe Mell plays the Baliff. 

“Lucy Makes a Pinch” (1964) ~ Still on the Force, Lucy is recruited to be part of a stake out. The episode features three of Danfield’s finest (left to right): Murdock (Jack Searl), Captain Bradford (Alan Carney), and Detective Bill Baker (Jack Kelly).  As a child actor, Jack Searl was featured in the 1932 film Officer Thirteen, about motorcyle cops. Alan Carney played a policeman in the 1963 comedy classic It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In 1955, Jack Kelly appeared on a TV series titled “City Detective.” 

“Lucy the Coin Collector” (1964) ~ When Lucy drops a rare coin down the sewar grate, she is consoled by a cop on the beat (Ray Kellogg). This is the second of his seven episodes of “The Lucy Show.” He also did two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Just as in his other screen credits, most most times he played policemen, as he does here.  

“Lucy and the Ceramic Cat” (1965) ~ While Lucy breaks into Bigelow’s Department Store, Viv stands guard outside, diverting the cop on the beat (John J. ‘Red’ Fox). Fox was best known for playing policemen, which is what he did on five of his eight appearances on “The Lucy Show” as well as three of his five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

“Lucy, the Stockholder” (1965) ~ After buying a single share of the Danfield Bank for $32, Lucy the stockholder pays the bank a visit. She warns the lackadaisical guard (Joe Mell) that she has a nine year-old nephew who is quicker on the draw than him.

“Lucy and the Undercover Agent” (1965) ~ Trying to get access to Carol Channing, who is performing at a military base, Lucy charms Military Police (MP) officer Sol Schwartz. The character name was specifically chosen so Lucy can sing “Hello, Solly” to the tune of “Hello, Dolly”. 

“Salute to Stan Laurel” (1965) ~ In a special tributing the late comic actor, Lucille Ball is part of a silent movie sketch featuring Buster Keaton and Harvey Korman as a policeman in the park. 

“Lucy Meets Mickey Rooney” (1965) ~ A silent movie sketch based on Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid features the Keystone Kops (Sid Gould, above). Keystone Kops are humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company (1912 to 1917).

“Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (1966) ~ Mr. Mooney is questioned by Officer Collins (Robert Foulk) of the Beverly Hills Police Department. He doesn’t have a permit to sell maps to the movie stars’ homes and is hauled down to the police station. Foulk played the Brooklyn policeman on the subway platform in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (1956). He will go on to play six characters on “Here’s Lucy,” two of them policemen. 

“Lucy the Gun Moll” (1966) ~ Robert Stack plays Federal Agent Briggs in this satire on Desilu’s “The Untouchables.” Stack played G-Man Eliot Ness on the Desilu TV series and only agreed to do the satire if the names were changed. 

“Lucy and the Submarine” (1966) ~ When Lucy sneaks onto a submarine to get Mr. Mooney to sign some bank papers, she must get past a stoic Navy Shore Patrolman (SP) played by Steven Marlo in the first of his two appearances on “The Lucy Show.” 

“Lucy and the Ring-a-Ding Ring” (1966) ~ Ray Kellogg plays the cop on the beat who discovers Mr. Mooney trying to get a nearly unconscious Lucy into his car because she has his wife’s ring is stuck on her finger. 

“Viv Visits Lucy” (1967) ~ To find a wayward Danfield boy, Lucy and Viv go to the infamous Sunset Strip, where they are mistaken for hippie biker chicks by the police. Ray Kellogg plays the Motorcycle Cop (right) and John J. ‘Red’ Fox plays Patrolman Harry McLeod (left). 

“Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (1967) ~ Mel Torme plays Mel Tinker, the deputy and Roy Barcroft plays his father, Police Chief Tinker, the law enforcement team in small town Bancroft. During his long career on screen, Barcroft played a sheriff 18 times between 1943 and 1966, including in Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966). 

“Lucy Meets the Law” (1967) ~ Lucy thinks she’s being arrested for littering when she is actually being mistaken for a red-haired jewel thief. Claude Akins (Lieutenant Finch) is perhaps best remembered for playing Sheriff Lobo in “B.J. And the Bear” (1978-79) and its sequel “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” (1979-81).

Jody Gilbert plays the matron aka ‘Tinkerbell’. Gilbert will also appear in two episodes of “Here’s Lucy,” in one of which she also plays a prison matron.

Ken Lynch (Officer Peters, left) started playing policemen on TV in 1950 and continued to do so for much of his career. Joseph Perry (Officer Miller, right) played a policeman on “My Living Doll” (1965) filmed at Desilu. He appeared on the police-themed shows “Policewoman,” “Police Story,” “Barney Miller,” “Hill Street Blues,” “CHiPs,” “The Rookies” “The Mod Squad,” “87th Precinct,” “The FBI,” “The Rookies,” and “The Sheriff of Cochise” a Desilu Production. 

“Lucy Sues Mooney” (1967) ~ Irwin Charone (Bailiff) makes the third of his five appearances on “The Lucy Show.”

Two uncredited performers play Officers of the Court. 

“Lucy and the Stolen Stole” (1968) ~ Lucy and Mr. Mooney go shopping for Mrs. Mooney’s birthday and wind up being arrested for possession of a stolen fur stole. The boys in blue are played by Ray Kellogg, Roy Shapiro, and John J. ‘Red’ Fox as Officer Shapiro.

“Lucy Gets Involved” (1968) ~ At Phil’s Fat Boy Drive-In, a policeman (John J. ‘Red’ Fox) interrogates motorcycle rider Tommy Watkins (Phil Vandervoort) with Mr. Burton (Jackie Coogan) overhearing. 

“Lucy and Sid Caesar” (1968) ~  A forger who looks like Sid Caesar is passing bad checks at the bank. Lucy and Mr. Mooney try to figure out how to tell the real Sid Caesar from the forger.  They enlist the help of the authorities (left to right): Irwin Charrone, John J. ‘Red’ Fox, and Ben Gage, who was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in 1955, appeared on “Our Miss Brooks” (filmed at Desilu Studios) and in Desilu’s “Star Trek.”  His last two screen appearances were in “Policewoman” and “Police Story.” 

STAY TUNED FOR PART 3