PLUMBING THE DEPTHS!

Lucille Ball & Plumbers

Clogged drain? Leaky sink?  Installing a shower?  Call a plumber!  Or – if you are like Lucy – do it yourself.  Here’s a look at the plumbers of the Lucyverse!

“The Two Mrs. Coopers” (1950) ~ Liz (Lucille Ball) thinks everyone, including her husband George (Richard Denning), has forgotten her birthday. Before leaving for work, he reminds her of an important date: It’s Saturday and he told her to call the plumber last Wednesday about the leaky bathroom basin! Liz dissolves into tears!

On “I Love Lucy” Fred Mertz generally handled all the minor plumbing problems at 623 East 68th Street.  Fred’s sudden arrival to fix a sink or unclog a drain was a clever way for the writers to get Fred into a scene with a purpose. 

In “Equal Rights” (1954), however, Fred tells Ricky that he called the plumber and he is coming out this afternoon. Problem is, it is already night and they are headed to dinner!  This is likely an ad lib by Frawley. He doubles down on the error after Lucy’s brief interruption.

In “Fan Magazine Interview” (1954), everyone is trying to impress a journalist.  Fred arrives to fix the leaky faucet in a derby and bow tie. Lucy calls him the “Beau Brummell of plumbers.”  Beau Brummell (1778-1840) was the arbiter of men’s fashion in Regency England.

A sight gag in “The Amateur Hour” (1952) betrays that Ethel handles the more simple plumbing tasks. Fred has always been full of s*#t! 

‘Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower” (1962) ~ Lucy Carmichael decides that her Danfield home needs another shower and asks Harry to help her install it. Harry gets out of helping by paying a local plumber to do the job under the guise of being an old friend. After Lucy drives him away with her meddling, she and Viv finish the job themselves, nearly drowning as a result! 

At first, Lucy prices putting in the new shower with Paisley the Plumber. His prices are so high that Lucy says they are in danger of needing “socialized plumbing.”

LUCY: “The only way to get clean is to be filthy rich.”

These jokes are clearly about the high cost of health care in America, which was a topical issue, even in the early 1960s. 

Stafford Repp plays Joe Melvin, a plumber from nearby Ridgebury. He is best known as Police Chief O’Hara on “Batman” but will appear again on “The Lucy Show” as well as on “Here’s Lucy.” 

“Lucy and the Plumber” (1964) ~ To fix her kitchen sink, Lucy calls a plumber named Harry Tuttle (Jack Benny). 

MR. MOONEY: “Would you explain the emergency that made you drag me away from the bank?”

LUCY: “Well, I’m having trouble with my plumbing.”

MR. MOONEY: “Mrs. Carmichael, any normal woman faced with that situation would send for a plumber, not a banker!”

LUCY: “Oh, I know that, but today, to get a plumber, you need a banker. I just sent for a plumber, so I need money to pay him.”

HARRY: “What’s the matter, lady, haven’t you ever seen a plumber before?”

Harry is the spitting image of Jack Benny and plays the violin between jobs.  

Lucy is intent on getting him out of the drain and onto the stage by entering him in “The Talent Discoverer’s Show” on TV. Harry cleans up good, but doesn’t win so he puts down his bow and picks up a wrench again. 

This time, however, he has a plumber’s helper, Irving, who enters just as the episode ends.  

In “Lucy the Stamp Collector” (1964), the sink is again acting up, making the kitchen look like the geyser Old Faithful.  Lucy says she can’t afford to call a plumber – despite the fact that she did so twice previously!  She hopes that the discover of valuable collectible stamp will save the day – until she mails it! 

“Lucy Meets the Burtons” (1970) ~ When the bathroom sink at the Unique Employment Agency needs fixing, Lucy hires a plumber she sees outside a hotel. Unbeknownst to Lucy, Richard Burton has swapped clothes with the plumber to escape his mobs of fans. 

The real Sam the plumber is played by Cliff Norton. Sam has his name boldly printed on his tool box, the front of his overalls, and on his back – just in case anyone mistakes him for Richard Burton!

Lucy pays Sam / Burton $23.50 for fixing the leak in the sink, taking fifty cents off for the time he took to recite Shakespeare!