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“The ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas Show”
(December 24, 1956) This special was filmed on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1956. Since it was a holiday, and the episode consisted mainly of flashbacks, there was no studio audience present for the filming. “Little Ricky Gets a Dog” (S6;E14), “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (S6;E12), and “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13) were all filmed in the weeks before the Christmas special, but saved to become the first episodes of 1957. They would also be the last episodes set in the New York City apartment before the big move to Connecticut.
This program is considered the first ‘retrospective’ (clips) show in television history.
During the first season “Drafted” (S1;E11) aired on Christmas Eve, so a ‘tag’ (a short scene following the main episode) was shot which depicted the four main characters all dressed like Santa Claus. They sang “Jingle Bells” and at the end of the tag, a fifth Santa is suddenly there – the real St. Nick? In turn, they tug on each others beards which come off easily, but when they get to the mysterious stranger, he says “ouch!” His beard is real! He then disappears into thin air, leaving the gang mystified. They look into the camera and say “Merry Christmas, everybody!” This is the only time in the series that the ‘fourth wall’ is broken and the actors directly address the camera. We – the viewers – are the “everybody."
In the 1951 Christmas tag Santa was played by Vernon Dent, but in this full episode he is played by A. Cameron Grant, who also had a bit part in The Long, Long Trailer (1954).
This tag was used several times throughout the early seasons and was the inspiration for this full fledged “Christmas Show” during season six. Naturally, Little Ricky was incorporated into the story.
In this fleshed out version, the gang reminisce (via flashbacks to previous episodes) as they trim the tree (literally and figuratively) on Christmas Eve. The flashbacks (all from season 2) include Lucy telling Ricky about her pregnancy in "Lucy Is Enceinte” (S2;E10); Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel singing in a barbershop quartet in “Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (S2;E12); and Ricky, Fred and Ethel frantically preparing for Lucy’s impending labor in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16).
The episode establishes that in the Ricardo household, Santa Claus is not only in charge of bringing the presents and stuffing the stockings, but also bringing the Christmas tree!
Once Little Ricky is safely tucked into bed, Fred and Ethel enter with the tree – a Christmas gift from the Mertzes that cost $5.00! Trimming off a branch here and there to even out the shape, Fred gets caught up in Lucy’s reminisces and ‘trims’ the tree into a bare trunk with a few haphazard branches.
Because this was a special episode, it was never re-broadcast in syndication. It was felt that viewers had no interest in a Christmas special at any other time of the year. The episode was also full of extended clips that were already part of the syndication package. Lucy and Desi considered this show a holiday ‘gift’ to the fans, and not a regular episode. Sanka Coffee was the evening’s sponsor, with an ‘alternate sponsor’s’ message from Procter & Gamble’s Lilt.
- CBS would eventually re-broadcast this episode in primetime on December 18, 1989. The ‘wraparound’ segments (the non-flashback parts) were broadcast in color in 1990, and these color scenes are available on the DVD release.
- On December 20, 2013, CBS rebroadcast the Christmas episode with “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (S5;E23) aka “Grape Stomping” in which both episodes were colorized. This broadcast drew an astonishing 8.65 million viewers.
- On December 7, 2014, CBS aired the “Christmas Show" once more (with an encore showing on December 24, 2014) paired with a colorized “Job Switching” (S2;E1) aka “The Chocolate Factory.”
- The colorized “Christmas Show” was shown again in December 2015, this time teamed with a newly colorized version of “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (S1;E30) aka “Vitameatavegamin.”
- In December 2016, now a CBS holiday tradition, the “Christmas Show” was aired with a colorized version of “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (S4;E18).
- In December 2017, CBS again broadcast “The I Love Lucy Superstar Special” with a colorized version of “The Fashion Show” (S4;E19).
- In December 2018, CBS presented the show alongside a newly-colorized version of “Pioneer Women” (S1;E25) aka the long loaf of bread.
- In December 2019, CBS presented the show alongside a newly-colorized version of “Paris at Last” (S5;E18) from 1956.
- In 2020, CBS announced that it was giving the special a year off. This is likely due to the fact that due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, there was no time or resources to create the colorized companion episode.
Christmas Future
Mattel issued separately-sold ‘Barbie’ dolls of each of the characters in their Santa suits.
“The Lucy Show” featured two Christmas episodes. The first (filmed and broadcast in black and white)
in 1962
and co-starring Vivian Vance. The second (filmed and broadcast in color) in 1965 and co-starring Gale Gordon.
During the holidays, The Lucy-Desi Museum in Jamestown NY adapts their “I Love Lucy” set recreation for the holidays.
1956, Cameron Grant, CBS, christmas, Christmas Show, Colorized, Desi Arnaz, Ethel Mertz, Flashbacks, Fred Mertz, I love lucy, Keith Thibodeaux, Little Ricky, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, Lucy-Desi Museum, Mattel, Richard Keith, Ricky Ricardo, Santa Claus, The Long Long Trailer, The Lucy Show, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley -
The “I Love Lucy” Pilot
(recorded March 2, 1951 ~ broadcast April 30, 1990) In the early 1980s, the Museum of Broadcasting (now the Paley Center for Media) began actively searching for the long-lost “I Love Lucy” pilot. During the 1970s all traces of the pilot had disappeared; not even Desi Arnaz or Lucille Ball owned or knew where to find a copy.
In December 1989, a film print was found in the possessions of the late Pepito Perez, who had appeared in the pilot as a clown. Pepito’s widow, Joanne Perez, had read about the search for the pilot in TV Guide and recalled that her husband had been given a copy. CBS aired the pilot as an hour-long special hosted by Lucie Arnaz on Monday (the same day of the week “I Love Lucy” traditionally aired), April 30, 1990. Over 30 million viewers tuned in.
The original pilot was kinescoped (not filmed) on March 2, 1951, in Hollywood. If the series were sold to a sponsor, it was planned that it would be produced live, just as nearly all CBS programs were at the time. However, Lucy and Desi didn’t want to commute to New York to appear live, and possible sponsor Philip Morris didn’t want their commercials kinescoped west of Chicago due to the poor quality image. (The coaxial cable which allowed live TV shows to be telecast coast-to-coast wasn’t finished at the time.) This prompted Desi to suggest film – which was fine with Philip Morris, as they had sponsored a filmed version of “Truth or Consequences” the year before. But unlike CBS’s filmed "Amos and Andy,” which used prerecorded audience reactions, the network wanted Lucy to appear in front of a live studio audience – just as she did for her radio show. Desi contacted Al Simon, who had produced “Truth or Consequences” and discussed the possibilities of using the same techniques for “I Love Lucy.”
In the pilot Lucy looks much different from the Lucy Ricardo we will come to know. Her hair is shoulder-length and free-flowing; she is also five months pregnant and looks it, despite loose-fitting clothing. The couple’s surname was originally Lopez, but it was changed to avoid confusion with another bandleader, Vincent Lopez.
Their apartment on the seventh floor of a sleek high-rise in midtown (designed by Chris Choate) will be replaced by a humble brownstone on East 68th Street.
Most noticeably, the characters of Fred and Ethel Mertz are not in the pilot. Instead, Ricky’s agent Jerry (played by Jerry Hausner) is a regular cast member. It will later be decided to add the best friends / neighbors / landlords to the regular cast and relegate Jerry the Agent to an occasional guest appearance. One scene in the pilot was based on Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” episode #80 "The Wills.”
This opening narration was done by Bob LeMond, who was also the announcer for Lucy’s radio show. When the pilot was re-discovered, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release. In doing so, the name Lopez was changed to the more familiar Ricardo.
It is immediately established that this is a show-biz couple that sleeps until 11:00am and that Ricky is a morning person, whereas Lucy is not! The first song sung by Ricky is (naturally) “Babalu.” His conga band then plays a Latin-infused version of “The Continental” for a scene change. At the nightclub, Ricky then performs “Granada” and a medley of “Cuban Cabby” and “Cielito Lindo.” These songs would all be sung during season one episodes. The first time Lucy makes fun of Ricky’s English is his pronunciation of the word “jinx.”
After the pilot was picked up for production and Lucie Arnaz was born in July 1951, pre-production and casting for the neighbors began. The first episode of the series is “Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Murder Her” (S1;E4) and it finally goes before the cameras (and a live audience, as planned) on September 8, 1951. After getting several episodes ‘in the can’ it is decided to make the second episode filmed (“The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub”) the premiere because it was deemed ‘funnier’ due to Lucy’s hillbilly antics. Some sources also speculate that they needed a few weeks to iron out some technical glitches with the first show. America gets its first glimpse of “I Love Lucy” on October 15, 1951, and the rest is television history!
The pilot episode would remain unseen for 39 years, although much of the dialogue would be recycled in “The Audition" (S1;E6). This includes Lucy’s clown act as ‘The Professor.’
Unfortunately, Pepito was not available to recreate his pilot performance in “The Audition,” so he was replaced by Pat Moran, playing Buffo the Clown. Pepito, a good friend of Desi’s, would be invited back to perform in “Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (S2;E12) to fill time when that episode was running short.
The pilot ends with Lucy about to tell Ricky something surprising, which he thinks is that she is expecting a child. Instead she tells him that she baked his favorite pie! Ironically, in real life Lucille Ball was five months pregnant when she spoke the lines!
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“Job Switching”
(S2;E1 ~ September 15, 1952) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed May 30, 1952 at General Service Studios. Rating: 64.4/60
Synopsis ~ Ricky and Fred think doing housework is much easier than earning money. So the boys try doing the housework while the girls attempt to hold down a job at a candy factory. Problems soon arise on both fronts.
This episode is based on Lucy’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband,” episodes #78 and #79 titled “Women’s Rights ~ Part Two.” The scenes in the chocolate factory is not part of the script!
This was one of five episodes filmed in May 1952 and held for broadcast the following season. It was the first episode of season 2 and the first to be directed by William Asher. Asher would direct 102 episodes of the 179 in the series, more than any other director.
Along with “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (S1;E30 aka “Vitameatavegamin”) and “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (S5;E23 aka “Grape Stomping”) it is consistently rated one of the most popular episodes of the series and one of the most recognizable sitcom episodes in television history.
Desilu Studios considered it the epitome of their work and for many years screened it for all visiting dignitaries.
In 1996, TV Guide included this episode as part of its “100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History” ranking it # 2. The special “TV’s Funniest of the Funniest,” ranked it first among the 30 funniest moments in TV history. Not surprisingly, this is one of Lucille Ball’s favorite episodes.
As the episode opens, an angry Ricky reads aloud the note Lucy’s written on the back of her bounced check to the beauty parlor:
“Dear Teller, be a lamb and don’t put this through until next month.”
LUCY: “That’s why they call ‘em tellers. They go around blabbing everything they know.”
At the start of the first scene in the kitchen, Ricky is cooking while wearing Lucy’s heart-pocket apron. He seems to be whistling what sounds like “There’s a Brand New Baby at Our House,” although it is mostly covered by the orchestra’s scene intro music. This is a song he wrote in 1951 for his daughter Lucie Arnaz and introduced on the radio program “Your Tropical Trip” in 1951. This being the first episode of the second season, Desi knew that Lucille Ball’s real-life pregnancy would be worked into the plot of the show. Although it wouldn’t happen for nine more episodes, perhaps Desi is foreshadowing the blessed event for attentive fans?
Lucy reads the New York Herald Tribune, a real-life daily published between 1924 and 1966 after the merger of the New York Herald and the Tribune. In a true role reversal, Lucy sits in Ricky’s chair and also ignores him behind her newspaper.
The back page of the newspaper has ads for Johnnie Walker whiskey and Schaefer beer. In 1947, Lucille Ball did print ads for Schaefer beer. At the time, she was the star of the stage play Dream Girl.
The gag of launching toast out of the toaster is repeated here, except this time it is Ricky launching it to to Lucy foreshadowing their role reversal in the episode. The bit was first seen in “Be a Pal” (S1;E3) and then again in “Ricky Thinks He’s Going Bald” (S1;E34).
TOAST TRIVIA: Notice that in the above gif Lucy catches the toast and then her hand goes below the table. In the next moment, Lucy takes a bit out of the toast, but it is not the same piece that was launched from the toaster! The piece of toast that flies through the air is actually an inedible lightweight prop. Lucille Ball has an edible piece in her lap. She quickly makes the switch and takes a bite of her toast!
The drug store calls to tell Lucy that Ricky left his hat there when picking up the breakfast orders, essentially exposing his lie to Lucy that he easily made the breakfast himself. Although unknown today, drug stores generally ran modest food service counters, serving light inexpensive fare, in addition to their apothecary duties.
This is the third and final time that Lucy will be seen wearing her ‘Vitameatavegamin’ dress. Curiously, although she only wore the dress three times, all of the episodes are popular ones.
The employment office Lucy and Ethel go to is named the Acme Employment Agency. Their motto is ‘People We Place Stay Put.’
Lucy and Ethel are interviewed by its president, Mr. A. Snodgrass (Alvin Hurwitz). This is Hurwitz’s second of only three screen appearances. The year before he appeared on “Raquet Squad.”
Before candy makers, the job openings offered Lucy and Ethel were:
- stenographer, bookkeeper, comptometer operator, dental technician, insurance adjuster, and PBX operator
A comptometer was the first commercially key-driven mechanical calculator, patented in 1887. Essentially, it was an adding machine with added features.
A PBX [Private Branch Exchange] operator handles a commercial telephone switching system.
This is similar to a list of available jobs mentioned in in the newspaper during “The Amateur Hour” (S1;E19):
- stenographer, bookkeeper, cook, and lady wrestler
In that episode, Lucy ends up as babysitter to the unruly Hudson Twins.
Before Lucy and Ethel are interviewed by Mr. Snodgrass, the applicant in the hot seat is played by Hazel Pierce, Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in and frequent on-camera background player. As usual, she does not have any lines.
During the switch, even the boys’ wardrobe has been influenced. Ricky wears a frilly apron and Fred wears a scarf “to keep the dust out of his hair.”
Doing his best to promote the sponsor’s product, Desi has a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes tucked in his rolled-up sleeve. He makes sure his left arm faces the camera, even though it means turning away from William Frawley.
Fred refers to Ricky as ‘Ricky Margaret McBride’ after Ricky shows him how he has starched Lucy’s stockings. This is a reference to Mary Margaret McBride who was a successful radio personality and journalist who reached the height of her popularity from 1935 to 1955. McBride often gave household hints when advertising products. Ethel satirizes her as Mary Margaret McMertz when selling Lucy’s salad dressing on TV in “The Million Dollar Idea” (S3;E13).
Oops! In the mayhem that ensues after the pressure cooker explodes, Ricky and Fred scrub the chickens with brushes and cleanser! One of the chicken’s feet knocks the cleanser into the sink, where it stays.
This might have been prevented had Ricky cut the feet and heads off the chickens before cooking them! The can is redacted, so it is impossible to know what brand they are using. Also, when Desi turns on the water, their must be air in the line because it makes a humming sound he knows will be a problem in editing. He adjusts the water flow and the sound stops. Unusually, the curtains over the stove have been closed. This is likely to mask the mechanics of pumping the cooked rice through the pot.
Outside the back door is usually a backdrop of a cityscape. Here is has been replaced by a brick wall. This is likely also to hide the stagecraft.
Whoops! When Ricky slips on the rice for the first time it was accidental; not planned. Desi Arnaz got such a great reaction from the audience that he repeated the gag several more times. Unfortunately, in doing so he bruised his ribs.
This is one of the episodes where Lucille Ball had to learn a special skill so she hired someone who actually could teach her how to do it (in a week) and appear in the episode. Other times this happened:
- Jitterbug – Arthur ‘King Cat’ Walsh
- Toss Pizza Dough – Aldo Formica
- Karate / Judo – Louis Coppola and Ed Parker (”The Lucy Show”)
- Operate a Pottery Wheel – Roger Twedt (”Here’s Lucy”)
The calendar on the wall of the dipping room has the month redacted with tape, but the configuration of the days and dates means it can only be March 1952. The episode was filmed at the end of May 1952 and not aired until October.
Amanda Milligan (Candy Dipper) was a real candy dipper with See’s Candies in Los Angeles. Milligan not only said that the day she spent on the set was the most boring day of her life, she also later said that she had not even seen the program! She told Lucy that she usually watched wrestling Monday nights at 9pm.
Milligan originally had lines in her scene but these were cut because of she was uncomfortable talking on camera.
This is her only screen appearance.
The look of shock on Lucy’s face when the candy maker slaps Lucy was genuine. During rehearsals, Milligan didn’t slap Lucy hard enough for Lucy’s liking so desperate to get the proper reaction during filming, Lucy swatted the fly off Milligan’s nose very hard. In response, Milligan gave Lucy a real wallop – taking Lucy aback, just as she hoped.
Trivia! Although it looks like the slap with the chocolate occurs twice, it was actually the same slap from two different camera angles.
The dipping room and the wrapping room are actually the same set re-dressed. Even the sign of rules next to the door is the same in both rooms.
Elvia Allman played the strident forewoman of Kramer’s Kandy Kitchen. This was the first of three appearances on the series, although she had appeared with Lucille Ball on radio. She would return to the show as one of Minnie Finch’s neighbors in “Fan Magazine” (S3;E17) and as reporter Nancy Graham in “The Homecoming” (S5;E6). She made two appearances each on The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour“ and ”The Lucy Show.“
FAST FORWARD!
In the final scene of “The Matchmaker” (S4;E4) Ricky also apologetically returns home with a huge box of chocolates for Lucy.
Lucy also encounters some trouble with candy in “Face to Face” (S5;E7) when the TV lights for their home interview make a caramel chewier than she expected.
The episode was colorized and aired on CBS as the second half of the “The ‘I Love Lucy’ Christmas Special” on December 7, 2014.
Barbie honored the episode with collectible dolls representing Lucy and Ethel at Kramer’s Candy Kitchen.
“The Lucy Show” also featured an employment agency (left)
with a catchy slogan: ‘Odd Jobs for Odd People’ It inspired the Unique Employment Agency (right) where Lucy and Harry Carter work during “Here’s Lucy.” Their slogan is ‘Unusual Jobs for Unusual People.”
The gag of a hot iron scorching clothes was repeated a couple of times more on “Here’s Lucy.”
Lucy also had trouble keeping up with conveyor belts at the laundry in “Bonus Bucks” (S3;E21) and the post office in “Lucy and the Missing Stamp” (TLS S3;E14).
Then again at a toy factory in “Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” (TLS S5;E13) and LAX in “The Great Airport Chase” (HL S1;E18) filmed on location.
Lucy Carmichael got a face full of chocolate again in “Lucy and the Safe Cracker” (TLS S2;E5). Wally Cox plays an ex-con who owns Grandma’s Dandy Candy Shop.
CHOCOLATE INSPIRATION!
The famous conveyor belt scene is re-enacted in a 1969 episode of ”Bewitched“ when Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde) and Serena (Elizabeth Montgomery) go to work in an ice cream shop.
William Asher (Montgomery’s husband) directed the episode, just as he did “Job Switching.”
While appearing on the talk show “Donahue” in March 1974 to promote Mame, one audience member says her favorite episode is the Candy Factory, which Lucy says is hers, too. The audience instantly knows that she is talking about “Job Switching”.
On a March 1977 episode of “Saturday Night Live” Gilda Radner played Lucy Ricardo in a sketch where she works the conveyor belt at a bomb factory!
In 2014, Kate McKinnon played Lucy in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that mentioned this episode.
A clip from the episode is seen in the 1986 fantasy film Nothing Lasts Forever starring Zach Galligan (above), Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd.
A clip from the episodes is used in the 1986 movie musical Little Shop of Horrors, as Audrey (Ellen Greene) sings “Somewhere That’s Green,” imagining her home life with Seymour and their two children as they “snuggle watching Lucy” on their “big, enormous 12″ screen.”
The Fox animated series “Family Guy” parodied “Somewhere That’s Green”, including the family watching Lucy”, in a 2005 episode titled “The Courtship of Stewie’s Father” (S4;E16).
Jeff Daniels mentioned this episode as he recalled working in a Burger King when he was a guest on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” in 1986.
When a chocolate volcano explodes, this episode is mentioned on a 1990 episode of “Growing Pains” titled “The Home Show” (S5;E16).
In the 1997 episode "Oh What A Tangled Spell She Weaves” (S2;E11) of “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) gets a job at a pizza place with her best friend Valerie (Lindsay Sloane), who is soon promoted after Sabrina falls asleep on the job. During her nap, Sabrina has a dream where she’s falling behind on a fast-moving assembly line, just like Lucy.
On a June 1999 episode of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” (S6;E137), a filmed intro to a sketch titled “A Couple of Mutts” features Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and O’Brien in a moment that satirizes the famous conveyor belt scene.
In a 2006 episode of the Nickelodeon series ”Drake And Josh” the title characters go to work at a sushi factory called Ball and Vance (a nod to Lucy and Vivian). The conveyor belt scene is re-enacted with sushi instead of chocolate.
A clip from “Job Switching” was included in the 1998 documentary TV show "California’s Gold” hosted by Huell Howser. He also tours See’s Candy (where Amanda Milligan worked) and gets an inside look of the assembly line that inspired this episode.
On a 2009 episode of “Jeopardy!” the episode is the subject of a $600 clue in the category ‘At the Candy Factory’.
In a 2012 episode of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” titled “The Last Roundup” (S2;E14), the ponies sort cherries on a conveyor belt and have trouble keeping up. The ponies wear the same sort of chef’s hats that Lucy and Ethel did at Kramer’s Candy Kitchen.
“Family Guy” satirized the conveyor belt scene – but instead of candy it was pills! The episode, titled
“Burning Down the Bayit”
(S10;E15), first aired on Fox on March 4, 2012.
In 2018, “Family Guy” satirized the episode again in “Pawtucket Pete” (S17;E9).
A cartoon still image from the episode is on one of the TV screens (top left) in “Family Guy Through The Years” (2018) which supposes that the series began in 1956.
On a 2017 episode of “The Simpsons” titled “Kamp Krustier” (S28;E15) Homer worked a conveyor belt of radioactive materials. To keep up, Like Lucy, he shoved some in his mouth!
A January 2015 episode of “Cutthroat Kitchen” titled “Alton’s Chocolate Factory” (S6;E13), featured a sabotage based on the conveyor belt scene. The affected chef had to stop cooking for five minutes to take chocolates off the conveyor belt and put them into boxes. Any chocolates that fell off the end of the belt resulted in a $100 fine per piece of chocolate.
On the 2015 episode “Taxed” (S7;E4) of “The Good Wife,” Judge Schakowsky (Christopher McDonald) compares his courtroom to Lucy in the candy factory!
The episode was glimpsed in two episodes of TV’s “Nostalgia Critic” in 2013 and 2014.
The famous speeding conveyor belt was even part of a now defunct Disney-MGM Studios attraction Super Star Television that allowed audience members to step in to Lucy and Ethel’s shoes in front of a live audience to recreate the scene.
Images from this episode have been seen on countless pieces of “I Love Lucy” collectible merchandise, including chocolates…
…and VHS tapes!
1952, Acme Employment, Alvin Horowitz, Amanda Milligan, Bewitched, CBS, Chocolate Factory, Conveyor Belt, Desi Arnaz, Elvia Allman, Ethel Mertz, Fred Mertz, I love lucy, Job Switching, Josh and Drake, Kramers Kandy Kitchen, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, Mary Margaret McBride, Ricky Ricardo, See’s Candy, tv, Vivian Vance, William Asher, William Frawley -
“Hollywood at Last!” aka “L.A. at Last!”
(S4;E16 ~ February 7, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed December 2, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios. It was the 114th episode filmed. Rating: 49.9/63
Synopsis ~ The gang finally arrive in Hollywood and Lucy immediately sets out to hunt for celebrities at the Hollywood Brown Derby, where she has a disastrous encounter with William Holden. When Ricky brings Holden back to their hotel, Lucy must disguise herself to avoid being recognized.
This episode is the culmination of the gang’s cross-country journey. It was released on VHS as “L.A. at Last!” and is sometimes still referred to by that title.
This episode was colorized and presented as a CBS special on May 17, 2015, along with a colorized version of “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13). A lost scene, not seen since its original airing, was reinserted in which we hear that Bobby the bellhop had a bit part in the film Julius Caesar.
The episode begins with second unit footage of the Los Angeles City Hall (white tower on right).
Built in 1927, it remained the tallest structure in the city for more than 30 years and became an icon of Los Angeles. It was seen in many films and television shows.
“…able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!”
It was prominently featured at the beginning of each episode of “Adventures of Superman.” Coincidentally, in 2015 CBS teamed “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13) and this episode as their holiday colorized special.
The rectangular brown building on the left is the Los Angeles Hall of Justice.
The historic 1925 building was featured on television shows including “Dragnet,” “Perry Mason,” and “Get Smart.” It was the home of Los Angeles County courts and was for many years the primary Los Angeles County jail.
The building was closed shortly after sustaining damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In 2015, the building re-opened after undergoing a complete restoration.
The camera pans over to the now legendary Hollywood Freeway, where the title of the episode is seen.
The Pontiac with the actors doubles drives into the frame.
The car pulls up to the fictitious Beverly Palms Hotel. The building is actually the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills, which was then known as the Beverly Carlton. This is the only exterior shot of the hotel.
Oops! There are two signs that say the real name of the hotel in the footage!
The Ricardos are staying in room 315 and the Mertzes are in room 317. The first celebrity Lucy ‘thinks’ she sees is Van Johnson, but it turns out to be just the hotel detective. Lucy and Desi knew they could eventually prevail upon their old friend to make a guest appearance, which he eventually does in “The Dancing Star” (S4;E27).
Robert D. Jellison plays the recurring character of Bobby the bellboy throughout the Hollywood episodes. Viewers may remember him as the milkman in “The Gossip” (S1;E24). He makes one more appearance as another luggage jockey in “Lucy Hunts Uranium,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” set at the Sands Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.
William Holden is the first of many celebrity guest stars on the Hollywood episodes. Lucille Ball and Holden had starred together in the film Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), as seen in the above backstage candid flanked by screen writer Frank Tashlin (left) and director Lloyd Bacon (right).
William Holden was born William Franklin Beedle, Jr. in O’Fallon, Illinois, in 1918. He moved to Pasadena, California, when he was three. In 1937, while studying chemistry at Pasadena Junior College, he was signed to a film contract by Paramount. His first starring role was in Golden Boy (1939). In 1951, he was nominated for an Oscar for Sunset Boulevard and would win the award in 1954 for Stalag 17. He would win a second Oscar in 1977 for Network.
William Holden is the first and only actor on “I Love Lucy” to have won a competitive acting Oscar at the time of his appearance on the show.
In return for his appearance in this episode, Holden got to promote his most recent film, The Country Girl (1954) with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. The movie was first seen in Los Angeles just nine days after this episode was filmed.
The real-life Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant was founded by Wilson Mizner in 1926 on Wilshire Boulevard. Its distinctive exterior resembled a large brown derby to attract tourists and passing motorists. A second location on North Vine Street (not shaped like a derby) was opened in 1929. Due to its proximity to movie studios, it became the place to do deals and be seen. Clark Gable is said to have proposed to Carole Lombard there and rival gossip columnists Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper were regular patrons. Its walls were decorated with hundreds of celebrity caricatures all drawn by resident artist Jack Lane. They are faithfully reproduced on the “I Love Lucy” stage as are their distinctive derby-shaped wall sconces.
The restaurant was destroyed by fire in 1987 and closed, but that same year was licensed to the Walt Disney theme parks where you can still enjoy the original Cobb salad today.
Technically, the Brown Derby is featured in many “I Love Lucy” episodes set in Hollywood, since its distinctive sign can be glimpsed from the Ricardo’s balcony!
Oops! The view from the hotel window is a bit too high to be from a third story room. In reality, this is a photograph of downtown LA from the roof of Desilu Studios.
As soon as they are seated in their booth, Lucy and Ethel (but not viewers) get to see Cary Grant and Gregory Peck, who are paged for a telephone call, the first of over 100 stars they would ‘see’ in Hollywood. Grant and Peck, however, never made an actual appearance on the show. There are also pages for unseen stars Walter Pidgeon and Ava Gardner (which gets Fred on his feet).
On the wall above their booth there is a caricature of Jimmy Durante with his famous ‘schnozzola’ extending into a second frame. This was a copy of the actual portrait. A few weeks later, Lucy will disguise herself as Durante to fool near-sighted Carolyn Appleby in “Lucy and Harpo Marx” (S4;E28). Lucille Ball had played a nurse in Durante’s 1935 film Carnival and he would make a cameo appearance on "The Lucy Show” in 1965, exactly eleven years later!
Lucy also spots a caricature of Eddie Cantor, who had starred in a few of Lucille Ball’s early movies Roman Scandals (1933) as well as Kid Millions (1934) and – later – Ziegfeld Follies (1945). On Broadway, Cantor introduced the song “We’re Having a Baby (My Baby and Me)” which Ricky movingly sang to Lucy in “Lucy is Enceinte” (S2;E10).
Lucy and Ethel can’t decide if one of the caricatures is Shelley Winters or Judy Holliday. Although Lucille Ball never worked with Judy Holliday, Winters guest-starred on a 1968 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” Coincidentally, the same night this episode first aired, Shelley Winters was on NBC in a television adaptation of the Clare Booth Luce play The Women.
A woman in the next booth clarifies that the caricature is of Eve Arden. That woman is played by Eve Arden herself!
Eve Arden was then starring in the show "Our Miss Brooks.” Arden and Ball had both appeared in the films Stage Door (1937) and Having Wonderful Time (1938) where they became known as ‘the drop gag girls’ because they could enter a scene, pull off a funny line or bit, and then disappear into the ensemble again. Arden is the first on-camera celebrity Lucy and Ethel meet in Hollywood – even if for just a moment.
At the Hollywood Brown Derby, Fred orders the veal cutlet Marco Polo. In the original script he ordered the turkey Marco Polo, simply because it was the most expensive item on the menu, but the line was cut. Lucy gets spaghetti and meatballs with extra meat sauce, which was a specialty of the house according the the 1949 Brown Derby cookbook. Lucy also orders a tossed salad from the menu which the waiter explains is a mixed green salad with an oil dressing. The Derby Mixed Green Salad recipe can also be found in the Brown Derby Cookbook.
William Holden orders a Cobb salad and coffee. The Hollywood Brown Derby is the ‘birthplace’ of the Cobb salad, which was said to have been hastily arranged from leftovers by owner Robert Cobb for theater owner Sid Grauman. One story says that it was a chopped salad because Grauman had just had dental work done, and couldn’t chew well!
After Lucy knocks the dessert tray onto William Holden, a cameraman can be seen standing at the right edge of the frame. In the re-mastered DVD version, the cameraman was cropped out. Hazel Pierce and Bennett Green, Lucy and Desi’s camera and lighting stand-ins, are seated in the booth next to Holden.
The pie that William Holden got hit with was really filled with apple sauce.
This is the second of three appearances on the series for Harry Bartell, who plays the Derby’s Headwaiter, Gus. He was first seen as the Process Server in “The Courtroom” (S2;E7) and will be the Jewel Thief in “The Great Train Robbery” (S5;E5), book-ending the Hollywood episodes.
Ray Alan plays a Brown Derby waiter in his first of three series appearances. He would also go on to be an extra in four episodes of “The Lucy Show.”
Lucy and Desi had a real-life contract with MGM Studios for The Long, Long Trailer (1954) so it was chosen to be Ricky Ricardo’s studio for Don Juan as well. At the end of the episode, the announcer states that “William Holden appears courtesy of Paramount Pictures.” He is, however, seen taking a meeting at MGM with Mr. Sherman, approving of an un-named script. Perhaps in deference to Paramount, the dialogue of this episode does not mention MGM by name, just as “the studio.” Even so, Holden tells Ricky that they are “a wonderful studio to work for.”
MGM producer John Sherman is played by Dayton Lummis making his third and final series appearance on the series. He was first seen as another producer, Broadway producer William Parker (“Parker Preps Prod for Pittsburgh Preem”) in “Ricky Has His Eyes Examined” (S3;E11). He went on to play prissy publisher Mel Eaton in “Lucy Writes a Novel” (S3;E24).
In a bit of nepotism, his secretary is played by Dani Sue Nolan, the real-life wife of the episode’s director, William Asher.
The original script had an additional scene where we get to see Lucy frantically looking for a disguise to prevent William Holden from recognizing her. In it, she penciled on thick eyebrows and got the putty nose and other make-up out of Ricky’s make-up kit. Unfortunately, because the audience laughed so hysterically during the ensuing scene with her putty nose, the lead-up to it had to be cut for time. All that remains of the scene is the above production still. It would have been interesting to see where Lucy found the jeweled cat glasses!
During Lucy and Holden’s chat, there is a copy of Look magazine on the coffee table. Its cover is obscured by another, smaller magazine placed on top of it. If it had been the most recent edition at the time of filming, the cover would have been of Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida, sporting the trademark short haircut Lucy tries to emulate in “The Black Wig” (S3;E26). The Arnaz family would appear on the cover of the December 28, 1954 edition of Look, and typically thanked their magazine coverage with camera time. The cup and saucer are square shaped and the cup handle forms a distinctive ear-shaped curve made by Franciscan Ware from 1949 to 1954.
LUCY: “This California sun sure makes your skin soft!”
The putty nose routine is Lucille Ball’s favorite comedy bit. Make-up artist Hal King put a wick at the end of Lucille Ball’s infamous putty nose to prevent her real nose from getting burned. Lucy dipping her smoking nose into her coffee cup was an ad lib. The script actually said for Lucy to pull off her putty nose and put it in the coffee cup to extinguish the fire.
Lucille Ball’s costume designer Elois Jenssen created the black rhinestone-encrusted house coat Lucy wears for William Holden’s visit.
This is the fifth of ten appearances of the outfit, which Jenssen called ‘black point-d’esprit’.
LUCY: “I kissed Bill Holden!”
Interestingly, to cover for Lucy, Holden makes up a story in front of Ricky about what happened at the Brown Derby that omits the fact that he ended up covered in pie! It would be interesting to know just when Ricky discovered the real truth about what happened!
Three of Hollywood’s biggest stars, William Holden, Lucille Ball, and Eve Arden share a moment backstage between takes.
During a break in filming, Lucy smooches director Bill Asher while Holden looks on.
Fast Forward!
Even before the show aired, Desi Arnaz knew he had another winner on his hands and scheduled a special press screening of the show at the real-life Brown Derby. Restaurant owners Bob and Sally Cobb co-hosted the event.
The episode was an immediate sensation with congratulatory telegrams flooding in to Desilu Studios, including one from silent screen star Colleen Moore: “Your program last night was the funniest I have ever seen anyplace, anywhere, and your scene with the putty nose should go down in history.”
A bit later in the season, Holden’s wife, Brenda Marshall, appears in “The Fashion Show” (S4;E20) wearing ‘Heathcliff,’ a beige street suit of cashmere wool designed by Don Loper. She is only referred to as “Mrs. William Holden.” The couple were married from 1941 to 1971.
The script received a 1956 Emmy nomination. It lost to “The New Phil Silvers Show.” Lucille Ball, however, won for her performance as Lucy Ricardo.
In subsequent scripts, almost every celebrity on the show after Holden mentioned the infamous pie incident at the Brown Derby. Many said they were scared to meet Lucy because of it, others wanted to know if the story was true.
Ricky even references the Bill Holden incident in “Lucy Meets Charles Boyer” (S5;E19), set in Paris!
In 1969, the Hollywood Brown Derby made another appearance on “Here’s Lucy”. This time, Lucy Carter met Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. In both episodes, Lucy jumps when she hears the name Gregory Peck and causes the waiter to spill a tray of food and drinks on the celebrities.
Lucille Ball was a frequent patron of the Brown Derby. Here she sits under a caricature of her 1934 co-star Eddie Cantor, a caricature that Ethel recognizes by name in the episode.
After this episode, Lucille Ball and William Holden were seen together only twice more. The first time was in isolated cameos on “The Dean Martin Christmas Show” in 1968.
The second was a celebration of the work of director George Marshall on “The Merv Griffin Show” in July 1971.
In an episode of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (2018), Midge takes her friend Imogene to New York’s Stage Deli where she expects to see famous people, but is disappointed. The scene takes place in Fall 1959.
Selling ‘Hollywood’!
Mattel’s Barbie commemorated the episode with a collectible doll complete with charred nose and coffee cup! The episode also inspired collectible plates, Christmas ornaments, and numerous other merchandise.
1955, Avalon Beverly Hills Hotel, Bobby Jellison, Brown Derby, Brown Derby Restaurant, CBS, Cobb Salad, Dani Sue Nolan, Dayton Lummis, Desi Arnaz, Ethel Mertz, Eve Arden, Fred Mertz, Hollywood at Last!, Hotel Carlton, I love lucy, Jack Lane, L.A. at Last!, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, MGM, Miss Grant Takes Richmond, Ricky Ricardo, The Hollywood Brown Derby, tv, Vivian Vance, William Asher, William Frawley, William Holden -
I LOVE LUCY spin-offs we’d like to see!
American Pickers, Bent Fork, Betty Ramsey, Borden Twins, CBS, Frank Nelson, Hans Conreid, Hayden Rourke, history channel, Hot Bench, I love lucy, I Spy, K.T. Stevens, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Moroni Olsen, My Big Fat Fabulous Life, New Neighbors, Ralph Ramsey, Redecorating, Teensy and Weensy, Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Courtroom, TLC, tv, Ugly Betty, Wreck-It Ralph -
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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“Lucy is Enceinte”
(S2;E10 ~ December 8, 1952) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed October 3, 1952 at General Service Studios. Rating: 67.7/87
Synopsis ~ Lucy feels strange and Ethel suggests she might be expecting! When Lucy comes back from a doctor’s visit and reveals that Ethel was right, she has to find the “perfect” moment to tell Ricky the good news.
This is the first of the seven episodes surrounding Lucy’s pregnancy. It was filmed with Lucille Ball already six months pregnant.
Lucy and Desi both feared that the show would be canceled when she got pregnant in real life, but creator / producer Jess Oppenheimer convinced them to write it into the show. CBS and Philip Morris, the show’s sponsor, were against the idea, but eventually consented with the proviso that Lucy should not be shown smoking in any of the pregnancy episodes. They also requested that every script be reviewed by a priest, a minister, and a rabbi. The clergymen never requested anything be taken out. Instead, they praised the episodes for being upbeat and realistic.
Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s baby was already decided to be a boy when this episode aired.
Contrary to popular opinion, “I Love Lucy” was not the first show to feature a pregnancy plot on TV – that distinction actually belongs to TV’s first sitcom “Mary Kay and Johnny” in 1948 – but “Lucy” was the one that received the most attention due to the show’s overwhelming popularity. In 1948 very few Americans even owned a television set!
The original script used the word ‘pregnant’ a lot, but Philip Morris found the word distasteful and asked the writers to replace it with euphemisms like ‘expecting’ and ‘blessed event.’ The title of this episode uses the French word for ‘pregnant, ‘enceinte,’ although that word, too, was never spoken aloud. The religious advisers advocated for the use the word ‘pregnant,’ which they saw as harmless. Ironically, the word ‘pregnant’ does appear in the title of the following episode, “Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable.”
LUCY: “I’ve been feeling really dauncy.”
ETHEL: “Dauncy?”
LUCY: “That’s a word my grandmother made up for when you’re not really sick but you’re feeling lousy.”Dauncy is a word writer Bob Carroll Jr.’s mother used to describe how she felt.
ETHEL: “You don’t suppose you’re gonna have a baby?”
LUCY: “A baby?”
ETHEL: “Yeah. That’s a word my grandmother made up for tiny little people.”
William Frawley was a die-hard Yankees fan, so it is natural that Fred gives Lucy a genuine NY Yankees cap, a glove, and a signed ball for his ‘godson’. When he tells Lucy to read out the signature, she at first says "Spalding,” the ball’s brand name, but then finds it is signed by Joe DiMaggio, a center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the Yankees. If Lucy saved the ball, it would fetch upwards of $2,000 on the collectibles market today. At this point, DiMaggio was still one year from marrying movie star Marilyn Monroe, who is frequently mentioned on the series.
At the club, Ricky is rehearsing "Granada.” He calls upon his trumpet player Tony Terran to start with his solo. This is the second of three times Ricky sings the song, which was written by Agustin Lara in 1932. It was previously heard on the un-aired pilot and would be heard again in “Changing the Boys Wardrobe” (S3;E10), where it is also presented in ‘rehearsal mode’ with full orchestra.
William Hamel makes his first of three appearances as the Tropicana Maitre d’. He will appear again in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16) and “Lucy’s Last Birthday” (S2;E25). Richard Reeves makes his fourth of eight series appearances, this time as the lighting technician at the Tropicana.
At the evening show the scene opens with “The Lady in Red.” The song was originally featured in the 1935 film In Caliente starring Dolores del Río. This is its second performance on the series, having already been sung by Ricky in “Cuban Pals” (S1;E28).
"Rock-a-bye Baby” is a traditional English nursery rhyme and lullaby that dates back to 1765. Lucy croons a bit of the song again in “Return Home From Europe” (S5;E26) when pretending to coddle Chester, a cheese disguised as a baby!
Oops! You can tell Desi is already overcome with emotion because when singing “Rock-a-bye Baby” he mistakenly sings the "cradle will fall” lyric twice.
The woman who covers her face with her hands when Ricky is singing “Rock-a-bye Baby” is ‘Queen of the Extras’ Bess Flowers, who, by the end of her career, had appeared in more than 700 films and TV shows. She was featured in many “I Love Lucy” episodes, most noticeably directly behind Lucy and Ricky during the “Over The Teacups” scene in “Ethel’s Birthday” (S4;E8). She was seen in the background of 17 Lucille Ball films (more than any other actor) and also made five appearances on “The Lucy Show.”
In the original script when Lucy tells Ricky that she’s going to have a baby, Ricky nearly faints with Lucy catching him and then the baby song is played.
When it came time for Ricky to sing “We’re Having a Baby” to Lucy, the script called for the couple to be extremely happy. When the cameras rolled, however, Lucy and Desi were both overcome with emotion recalling the moment they found out they were pregnant with their second child and cried tears of happiness during the scene instead. They re-shot the scene the way it was originally written but when the happy version was compared with the emotional one, there was no question that the first take should be used. Lucille Ball remembers,
“When we did this scene before an audience, Desi was suddenly struck by all the emotion he’d felt when we discovered we were finally going to have Lucie. His eyes filled up and he couldn’t finish the song; I started to cry, too. Vivian started to sniffle; even the hardened stagehands wiped their eyes with the backs of their hands. The director wanted retakes at the end of the show, but the audience stood up and shouted, ‘No, no!’”
“We’re Having a Baby (My Baby and Me)” was written in 1941 for the Broadway musical Banjo Eyes by Vernon Duke with lyrics by Harold Adamson and John La Touche. It was originally performed by Eddie Cantor. A clip of this song was eventually used in the season 6 Christmas special. Part of the lyrics are “you’ll read it in Winchell that we’re adding a branch to our family tree.” Ironically, Lucy and Desi first found out about Lucy’s second pregnancy (which ended in a miscarriage) by listening to Walter Winchell. Somehow, the radio columnist had gotten the lab results of Lucy’s pregnancy test and reported it before the couple even had heard back from the doctor!
FAST FORWARD!
Of the many letters that Lucy and Desi received regarding Lucy’s pregnancy being featured on the show, only about 200 responses were negative.
Parts of the emotional ending were used as flashbacks in the season 6 Christmas Special.
“Family Guy” produced an episode titled “Stewie is Enceinte” (S13;E12) in 2015. The title is an obvious nod to “I Love Lucy,” a series that often inspired the animated show’s comedy.
A clip from this episode is included in the 1997 romantic comedy A Smile Like Yours. In the film, Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly play a couple trying to conceive a child.
1952, Banjo Eyes, Bess Flowers, CBS, Desi Arnaz, Ethel Mertz, Fred Mertz, Granada, I love lucy, Joe DiMaggio, Lady in Red, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy is Enceinte, Lucy Ricardo, Mary Kay and Johnny, NY Yankees, pregnant, Richard Reeves, Ricky Ricardo, Rock-A-Bye Baby, Spalding, Tropicana, tv, Vivian Vance, Walter Winchell, We’re Having A Baby My Baby and Me, William Frawley, William Hamel -
When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
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“Lucy Goes to the Hospital”
“Ricky! It’s time!”
(S2;E16 ~ January 19, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. It was filmed on November 14, 1952 at General Service Studios. It was the 51st episode filmed. Rating: 71.8/92
Synopsis ~ With the baby due at any moment, Ricky and the Mertzes carefully rehearse the trip to the hospital. But when the fateful moment actually comes, things don’t go quite so smoothly.
PRE-NATAL CARE
This show’s action takes place all in one evening. This was Desi Arnaz’s favorite episode. At the time of filming, Lucille Ball was seven months pregnant.
For five episodes after this one, any scene featuring Lucy was filmed in advance to accommodate Ball’s leave, with book-ending scenes featuring only the other cast members filmed closer to the actual air date.
This is the episode that made “I Love Lucy” a national phenomenon. It is estimated that 72% of the American public who owned a television tuned in to see the birth of Little Ricky. To put that number into perspective: the “M*A*S*H” finale is the highest rated non-Super Bowl program of all-time with over 50 million viewers, but the percentage of households that watched the episode was just over 60%. The Beatles’ first performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 was seen by 73 million people, which accounted for roughly 60 to 70% of American households, slightly lower than “Lucy’s” 72%.
On April 3, 1953, infant Desi Arnaz, Jr. graced the cover of the very first national edition of TV Guide.
On January 19, 1953, Newsweek made Lucy’s baby the cover story – even though the article had to be written several weeks in advance.
- "Lucy Sticks To Script: A Boy It Is!” ~ New York Daily Mirror
- “TV Was Right: A Boy For Lucille” ~ New York Daily News
- “What The Script Ordered” ~ Life Magazine
This episode aired the day before the inauguration of President Eisenhower and five months before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. More people watched this “I Love Lucy” episode than either one of those televised historic events!
On the morning of Monday, January 19, 1953, the “I Love Lucy Comic Strip” dealt with the birth of the Ricardo baby, and announced “It’s a BOY!”, about 14 hours BEFORE the episode aired at 9pm. Additionally, the baby’s sex was announced in many papers in a syndicated column the day before Lucille Ball had her baby and Lucy Ricardo had her Little Ricky.
Lucy’s obstetrician is Dr. Joe Harris, named after Lucille Ball’s real-life baby doctor. Lucy already knew she would have to have a C-section, since her first baby (Lucie) was born by Caesarean. Since Dr. Harris scheduled all of his C-sections to be done on Mondays, they were able to plan their second baby’s birth to coincide with this episode. Little Ricky and Desi, Jr. were both born on January 19, 1953. So many fans sent Lucy flowers and cards that her hospital room was filled, as was the hallway outside. Lucy and Desi sent thank-you notes to every fan.
It had been pre-decided that the Ricardo baby would be a boy, no matter what the gender of the Arnazes’ real-life baby turned out to be. Desi hoped Lucy would have a son, because he was the last male in his family line and wanted an heir to carry on the family name. Lucy and Desi thought that if they had a daughter on the show that it would confuse Lucie, their real life daughter, who would wonder why she wasn’t on TV with her parents. Had Lucy given birth to a girl, she would have been named Victoria Dolores. The night before Desi Jr. was born, Vivian Vance had a dream that Lucy came to her in a white dress and said, "Vivian, I had a boy.”
THE BLESSED EVENT
The scene of the gang trying to get Lucy to the hospital is included in flashback clips in the Christmas special during season six. In recent airings, the scene was colorized. The same scene was also used in a season 3 teaser trailer aired to get people excited about the new season.
Ironically, had Lucy’s address not put their apartment in the East River in real-life, she would only have one block to travel to the Weill-Cornell Medical Center, located at 525 East 68th Street.
The Desilu prop department must have been fans of the then-popular Paper-Mate Deluxe Ballpoint because a pen aficionado has spotted it as the pen Ricky uses to sign the hospital register. The eagle-eyed pen fan also spotted the same Paper-Mate in six other episode!
The fathers’ waiting room at the hospital is outfitted with a candlestick phone without a dial. For businesses with a central switchboard like a hospital, this type of phone often remained in use throughout the 1950s, despite being replaced by desktop rotary telephones for residential use. The waiting room also permits smoking and Ricky nervously lights up (probably a Philip Morris cigarette) while waiting for the big news. It wasn’t until 1993, 40 years later, that smoking inside hospitals was banned by a Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO).
This is the first appearance of character actor Charles Lane (Mr. Stanley, the other father in the waiting room). He was one of several actors considered for the role of Fred Mertz. Lane later went on to create memorable characters like Mr. Hickox in “The Business Manager” (S4;E1) as well as the clock-watching passport office clerk in “Staten Island Ferry” (S5;E12). He made a total of four appearances on “I Love Lucy” and two more on “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.” In 1962, Lucille Ball cast him as banker Barnsdahl in the first season of "The Lucy Show.” He died at the ripe old age of 102.
The waiting room scene was inspired by one of Lucille Ball’s early films, Carnival (1935) starring Jimmy Durante. Lee Tracy (left) plays a nervous man who’s wife is about to give birth to their first child. He encounters a calmer man, who has already had six children! Sadly, the mother dies in childbirth. Lucille Ball plays a nurse who locks lips with Durante while Tracy smuggles his child out of the hospital.
The Tropicana Maitre D’ is played by William R. Hamel. This is his second of three appearances in this role during season two.
The nursing staff includes Barbara Pepper (in her fourth of nine appearances on the show), Ruth Perrott (second of three appearances), Peggy Rea (first of four appearances), Hazel Pierce (Lucy’s stand-in and frequent extra), and Adele Longmire (first and only appearance). Desi’s stand-in and frequent extra Bennett Green plays the orderly. Ralph Montgomery (the Policeman) had appeared with Lucy in the 1949 film Sorrowful Jones.
James John Ganzer plays newborn Enrique Alberto Ricardo IV (aka Little Ricky). Although he was technically the first of eight actors to play the role, this is his first of only two appearances, the other in the flashback opening of “The Club Election” (S2;E19) likely taken from this same shoot. He was five days old at the time.
The scene of Ricky singing in his voodoo costume was filmed the following week because there wasn’t enough room on the sound stage for the hospital set and the Tropicana set.
Oops! In “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13), Lucy tells Caroline that Little Ricky was born at 11 o’clock in the morning, but here Ricky is in mid-performance at the Tropicana NIGHTclub when the baby is born!
When this episode originally aired, Philip Morris had a special announcement regarding the birth of the Ricardo baby after the episode ended and before the credits rolled. The film shows baby Ganzer in a bassinet as Little Ricky.
"Yes, there’s a new baby, a wonderful baby at the Ricardos’, and we at Philip Morris rejoice in the blessed event. We know that all our millions of friends join us in extending congratulations and good wishes to the Ricardos. May their lives together be filled with as much joy and laughter and carefree happiness as they have brought all of us week after week. To Lucy, to Ricky, and to the new baby: love and kisses from Philip Morris and from all America.”
POST-NATAL EXAM
In 1969′s “Lucy and Harry’s Tonsils” (HL S2;E5),
expectant father Mr. Phillips (Jack Collins) is similar to the character of Mr. Stanley (Charles Lane).
In a strange coincidence, on January 19, 1996, exactly 43 years later, Marlee Matlin gave birth to her daughter at the same time that the evening’s episode of “Picket Fences” was being aired in which her character on the show, Mayor Laurie Bey, was giving birth!
In 2006, the Ricardo baby was used to define the excitement surrounding the Tom Cruise / Katie Holmes baby by ABC News. In a lengthy discussion, ABC News acknowledged “The hoopla over the baby girl born Tuesday to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes recalls another highly anticipated birth 53 years ago arguably, one of the most-covered births of the 20th century.”
TV Guide and TV Land rank this episode #59 out TV’s 100 most memorable moments.
1953, Adele Longmire, Barbara Pepper, Bennett Green, Birth, CBS, Charles Lane, Desi Arnaz, Ethel Mertz, Fred Mertz, Hazel Pierce, I love lucy, James John Ganzer, Little Ricky, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Goes to the Hospital, Lucy Ricardo, Peggy Rea, pregnancy, Ralph Mongomery, Ricky Ricardo, Ruth Perrott, Tropicana, tv, TV Guide, Vivian Vance, Voodoo, William Frawley, William R. Hamel -
“Lucy Wants to Move to the Country”
(S6;E15 ~ January 28, 1957) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Madelyn Martin, Bob Carroll, Jr., Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Filmed December 6, 1956 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 42.1/56
Synopsis ~ Fed up with city life, Lucy yearns to move to the country. For their anniversary, Ricky buys a house in suburban Connecticut. But when Lucy gets separation anxiety, she schemes to get out of the deal.
Starting with this episode, the show begins a storyline about the move to Connecticut, although the exact town (Westport) won’t be revealed until “Lucy Misses the Mertzes” (S6;E17) two weeks later. They would live in Connecticut for the rest of the series as well as during the 13 episodes of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.”
Starting with this episode director William Asher returns to the series, replacing James V. Kern. He had directed seasons 2, 3 and 4.
Little Ricky does not appear in this episode.
The house is an old colonial and sits on two acres of land, with a guest house and barn. The selling price is never mentioned, but Ricky placed a $500 deposit down on it. They have a 20 year mortgage that won’t be paid off until 1977! Ricky says he’ll be 56, but stops short of saying how old Lucy would be. In reality, Lucille Ball would celebrate her 66th birthday in 1977.
At the start of the episode, Lucy and Ricky have just returned from a weekend visiting their friends the Munsons, who (apparently) had already made the move to Connecticut. Grace was a member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League. She is now making her own butter and jam, and has chickens who produce extra large eggs, foreshadowing the egg business that the Ricardos and Mertzes partner in once they relocate to Connecticut.
In the first draft of the script, the Munsons were referred to as the Johnsons! Lucille Ball preferred to use names that were familiar to her, so likely had it changed from Helen Johnson to Grace Munson. The surname Johnson had already been used for the oil tycoons in “Oil Wells” (ILL S3;E18).
Lucy tells Fred that a round-trip ticket is only $3.08. Today a round trip peak-fare ticket on Metro North from Grand Central to Westport is actually $36. In “Lucy Misses the Mertzes” (S6;E17) Fred again complains about the train fare.
Oops! To give Ricky the impression that their apartment is cramped compared to living in the country, Lucy pushes the furniture into the center of the room. The camera pulls back and viewers catch a glimpse of where the wall-to-wall carpeting ends and the cement studio floor begins.
LUCY: “The Empire State Building has better color than I do.”
In “Lucy Is Envious” (S3;E23) that color was green! Lucy and Ethel climbed the outside observation deck of the Empire State Building dressed as women from Mars to make money to fulfill a charity pledge!
The iconic skyscraper was also seen in the second unit helicopter footage used in “Bon Voyage” (S5;E13).
While Lucy tries to convince Ricky how dirty city living is, several spots of dust or dirt suddenly appear on Ricky’s suit coat, near his right shoulder. Moments later, just before the Mertzes enter, the spots are gone.
Lucy says that the Seven ‘City’ Dwarfs are: Sneezy, Dusty, Stuffy, Drafty, Sniffly, Noisy, and Pasty.
Ricky compares a weepy Lucy and Ethel to the Bobbsey Twins. The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of a long-running series of children’s novels written under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. There were a total of 72 books published from 1904 to 1979. The stories relate the adventures of the children of the upper-middle-class Bobbsey family, which included two sets of fraternal twins: Bert and Nan, and Flossie and Freddie. When this episode was filmed the newest book was “The Bobbsey Twins at Pilgrim Rock.” In 1953’s “The Camping Trip” (S2;E29) Ethel referred to Lucy and Ricky as the Bobbsey Twins. The books were also mentioned in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show.”
To get back their $500 deposit on the house, Lucy, Ricky, and Fred pretend to be ‘undesirable’ buyers – gangsters! Lucy had already pretended to be a gangster in “The Kleptomaniac” (S1;E27). These gangster are definitely something inspired by a Hollywood film – perhaps a script by Damon Runyon.
Gangster Ethel carries the leopard print purse seen many times before, including when Lucy goes to visit her childhood friend Helen in “The Passports” (S5;E11). Ethel buys the same exact bag while shopping in “Lucy Gets a Paris Gown” (S5;E20).
Also during this scene, there is a grandfather clock by the front door and there are plates on the fireplace mantel. When the Ricardos actually move in, the spot where the clock is empty, but a few episodes later, the same grandfather clock is back next to the front door, and the same plates are back up on the fireplace mantel. Perhaps the Spauldings decided to leave the items, and Lucy couldn’t decide whether she liked them or not!
When Mrs. Spaulding frisks Ricky for a gun, she says "He’s clean” and then claims “That’s what they say on ‘Lineup”! She is referring to “The Lineup,” a police drama which aired on CBS radio from 1950 to 1953 and on CBS television from 1954 to 1960. It aired concurrently with “I Love Lucy."
She didn’t know it when she spoke the line, but Eleanor Audley (Mrs. Spaulding) would appear in an episode of "The Lineup” later in 1957. Two months later Frank Wilcox (Mr. Spaulding) would also appear on the series.
Eleanor and Gerald Spaulding have lived in the one hundred year old Connecticut house for 30 years but are moving to a smaller home now that their children are grown. They reason that they don’t need such a big house for only two people. Coincidentally, this is the same reason the Bensons vacated their apartment in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (S2;E26) also making way for the Ricardo tenancy.
Eleanor Audley (Eleanor Spaulding) was a New York born actress who performed in eight Broadway plays between 1926 and 1944. She specialized in snobbish society matron types, most notably as Eddie Albert’s mother on TV’s “Green Acres” (1965), despite being only a year older than Albert. She is probably best known, however, as the voice of two of Disney’s most memorable animated villainesses: Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother in Cinderella (1950); and the evil Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She portrayed Mother Cooper, Liz (Lucille Ball’s) domineering, smothering mother-in-law on the radio show "My Favorite Husband.” She returned to “I Love Lucy” to play one of the garden club judges in “Lucy Raises Tulips” (S6;E26). It isn’t overtly stated if the judge is actually Mrs. Spaulding or another character, but the Spauldings moved “just down the road” and Eleanor could have maintained her membership in the garden club.
Frank Wilcox (Gerald Spaulding) had appeared with Lucille Ball in the films Her Husband’s Affairs (1947) and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950). This is his only series appearance.
Audley and Wilcox both appeared in the 1950 films Three Secrets and Gambling House as well as appearing together on a 1958 episode of “Jane Wyman’s Fireside Theatre” and a 1962 episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies,” in which Wilcox was a recurring character. After this episode of “I Love Lucy” it seems they were fated to be mated. They would again play husband and wife in a 1964 episode of "The Cara Williams Show” and again in two episodes of "Pete and Gladys” (1961 and 1962) – but not as the same couple!
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Papermoon Loves Lucy 