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“Lucy’s Mother-in-Law”
(S4;E8 ~ November 22, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed September 30, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 46.5/67
Synopsis ~ Lucy meets her Cuban mother-in-law for the first time. To help bridge the language barrier, she enlists the help of Ricky’s new mind-reading act.
For his direction of this episode, William Asher was nominated for the 1955 Directors Guild of American (DGA) Award. He lost to Ray Kellino, who directed “The Answer,” an episode of CBS’s “Four Star Playhouse” starring David Niven and Richard Reeves, who made 9 appearances on “I Love Lucy.” This would be the series’ only recognition for direction.
The day this episode first aired, Life Magazine’s cover story was about color television. CBS toyed with the idea of filming and airing an episode of “I Love Lucy” in color. Two weeks later TV Guide announced that “Ricky’s Contract” (S4;E10) would be broadcast in color, but this never happened.
This is one of five episodes in which William Frawley does not actually appear. Although his voice is heard yelling for Ethel to get his lunch. In reality, it would have been impractical to have Frawley on set for that one moment, so it would have been a ‘voice double’ adopting Fred’s gruff shout.
Following the initial broadcast of “Lucy’s Mother-in-Law,” Desilu’s “December Bride” aired an episode titled “Lily’s Mother-in-Law.”
Appropriately, the show opens with Ricky at the club finishing a rehearsal of "Bim Bam Boom,” a song recorded in 1942 by Cuban musician Miguelito Valdés, known as ‘Mr. Babalu.’
When Ricky sees Lucy at the club, he immediately assumes she’s heard from Hollywood about his screen test, which was part of the previous episode. There will be one more non-Hollywood episode (”Ethel’s Birthday”) before he lands the part in “Ricky’s Contract” (S4;E10).
While there, Ricky auditions Professor Bonanova, a mind reader who uses a hidden transmitter and a sexy assistant wearing a hidden microphone. This is what Ricky calls “electro-nicks”.
Oops! Desi’s line was supposed to be “We are thinking of putting him on to the bill.” He ad libbed “We are thinking of using him at the club” forgetting that he is at the club when he is saying it.
Fortunio Bonanova plays the Professor, using his own surname. He was actually a Spanish-born classically-trained singer. His most memorable role was as the harried vocal coach of the second Mrs. Kane in Citizen Kane (1941). Virginia Barbour plays his wired assistant. Barbour’s only other screen credit was as a waitress in an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1965.
ASSISTANT: (whispering) “What’s your birthday?”
LUCY: (whispering) “August the sixth.”
ASSISTANT: “August the sixth what?”
LUCY: “August the sixth period. He’s a mind reader, let him tell you.”August the sixth is Lucille Ball’s real birthday, although Lucy Ricardo claimed to be a Taurus in “The Seance” (S1;E7). She also reveals that her nickname in grade school was bird legs. However, when Lucy meets her old friend Helen in “The Passports” (S5;E11) her nickname was “droopy drawers.”
Ethel tells Lucy that her mother-in-law comes all the way from Indiana once a year just to look under her rug for dirt! William Frawley was 67 years old at the time, so it is not inconceivable that his mother might still be alive. Ethel tells Fred that she’ll be visiting her mother during “The Camping Trip” (S2;E29).
ETHEL: “If I thought she’d stay home I’d send her the rug in a box of dirt!”
Lucy and Mother Ricardo peek in on the baby, who is sleeping. The insert shot of Little Ricky (one of the Mayer Twins) was likely filmed after the studio audience left.
Oops! When Lucy goes to hang up her mother-in-law’s coat, they hastily packed closet spills out into the room. This bit of comedy was inspired by the radio show “Fibber McGee & Molly” who had a closet that regularly spill out with the help of various sound effects. Behind Ricky’s Mother, the closet door remains open and inside there seems to be a box of cue cards! Not exactly something Lucy and Ricky would have at home!
Before Ricky gets home, Lucy is alone with her mother-in-law and must communicate via pantomime.
Lucille Ball was expert at mime and looked for any opportunity to include charades in the stories. Here, she pantomimes what’s for dinner: chicken and rice. This gives Lucy the opportunity to walk like a clucking hen, something she will do again in “Lucy Raises Chickens” (S6;17).
Lucy’s pantomime of “rice” would probably be considered politically incorrect today. Asian stereotypes continued well into “Here’s Lucy.”
Oops! While translating English into Spanish, Desi mistakenly says “I got my fingers crossed,” instead of the line (“I got my wires crossed”). Lucy couldn’t resist pointing out his error, resulting in an unscripted on camera exchange between the two. The translation trouble will also be part of “Paris at Last” (S5;E18) when Lucy is in custody of the Paris police and Ricky must act as intermediary.
When Lucy’s dinner burns to a crisp, whatever she pulls out of the smoking oven is certainly not a chicken! It resembles a burned loaf of bread or a meatloaf. Arroz con pollo is actually made on top of the stove in a pot, not in the oven.
Lucy string of bad luck continues while ironing her mother-in-law’s dress.
When Ethel suggests Lucy meet her mother-in-law at the United Nations to provide translation service, she gets the idea to ask for the Professor’s help.
Mary Emery plays Ricky’s mother. Emery was born in 1896 in Monterrey, Mexico, as Margarita Cabazos. She would reprise her role in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (S6;E9), which would be her last appearance before retiring from show business. She was first seen with Lucy in The Fuller Brush Girl (1950). She died in February 1988, just 8 months before Desi Arnaz’s real mother, Dolores de Acha (right).
Interestingly, neither Lucy’s mother nor Ricky’s mother ever is given a first name.
When Lucy is offering her Cuban guests a cigarette, she uses the name of their sponsor, but with a Spanish inflection: “Philip-ay Morris-ah?”
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. and Pilar Arcos play Spanish-speaking guests of the Ricardo’s at a small gathering in madre Ricardo’s honor. Hoyos also appears as one of Ricky’s relatives in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (S6;E9). Arcos has the distinction of being the only other Cuban-born actor in the episode.
Bennett Green, Desi’s camera and lighting stand-by and a frequent extra on the show, plays the Cablegram Delivery Man.
THE BEST BITS BEAR REPEATING!
Poor ironing skills were a source of comedy in “Job Switching” (S2;E1) as well as several times on “Here’s Lucy.”
Poor translating skills were a source of comedy in “Paris at Last!” (S5;E18).
Poor cooking skills for company were a also source of comedy in “The Matchmaker” (S4;E4). In this case the burnt offerings actually looked like charred chickens.
Lucy’s unique ‘bird walk’ would be repeated in “Lucy Raises Chickens” (S6;17) as well as on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”
Spanish-speaking “Cuban Pals” also visited the Ricardo apartment during season one.
Mary Emery reprises the role of Lucy’s Mother-in-Law when “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (S6;E9).
Five weeks later, Ricky’s mother-in-law (Kathryn Card) will be introduced in “California, Here We Come!” (S4;E13) and play the role until 1959.
Fred and Ethel’s mother-in-laws remain perennially off-screen.
In 2003 Card was nominated by TV Land for Best TV In-Law. She lost to Endora, Darrin’s mother-in-law on “Bewitched,” played by Agnes Moorehead.
Desi Arnaz fully explored mother-in-law humor in his series “The Mothers-in-Law” which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1969, concurrently with the last seasons of “The Lucy Show” and the start of “Here’s Lucy.”
Lucille Ball played a mother-in-law herself in “Life With Lucy” when her daughter married Ted (Larry Anderson) and they all moved in together. Finally “Lucy IS Mother-in-Law” bringing things full circle!
1954, Bim Bam Boom, citizen kane, Cuba, Desi Arnaz, Ethel, fortunio bonanova, Fred Mertz, I love lucy, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, Lucy’s Mother in Law, Mary Emery, Miguelito Valdes, Ornithophobia, Pilar Arcos, Ricky Ricardo, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., The Mothers in Law, Tropicana, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley -
“Lucy Cries Wolf”
(S4;E3 ~ October 18, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed June 3, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios.
Rating: 49.2/68
Synopsis ~ To test Ricky’s love, Lucy fakes being in danger. She thinks she has proved her point – until a real criminal shows up!
This was the 100th episode aired, but not filmed. This is one of five episodes filmed before the company went on summer hiatus but saved for broadcast during season 4. Although it was the first one filmed (June 3), it was aired third. The honor of 100th Episode filmed goes to “The Business Manager” (S4;E1), which everyone agreed was a stronger episode to kick off season 4. A cake celebrated the landmark, which read “The First 100 are the Hardest”. “I Love Lucy” would end just 20 episodes before episode 200.
The story combines Lucy and Ricky’s relationship issues with coping with urban crime, something that has been part of the series since the very beginning.
The title is based on the Aesop’s fable about a young shepherd who tricked his fellow villagers by shouting for help, pretending that wolves were attacking his sheep. Several times the villagers rushed to his aid, only to find the shepherd laughing at them. One day, some wolves actually came – and none of the villager’s believed him or came to his rescue.
The episode opens with a frustrated Lucy trying to get Ricky’s attention over his morning newspaper. This is a familiar scenario, having also started the second episode of the series, “Be a Pal” in 1951.
This time Ricky is reading the New York Daily Bulletin, a fictional newspaper that was likely created by the oldest paper prop maker in Hollywood, The Earl Hayes Press. The one blooper here is that Ricky is reading the FINAL EDITION at breakfast. Big city newspapers published a morning and evening edition, which would be the last (or final) edition of the day.
When the camera angle switches to Lucy’s POV, a small article titled THUGS ROB HOUSEWIFE can be seen in the middle of the page. It is this article that launches the plot of the episode and is recreated on the right. Upon closer examination, the font and spacing of this article are clearly different from the rest of the paper. It is likely that the text of the article was as per the script, so that Lucille Ball can just read what is printed.
Oops! The article about the crime says it took place at 527 East 65th Street. Like the Ricardo’s address of 623 East 68th Street, this is a fictional address. In Manhattan, 65th Street ends with the 400′s block.
This episode was not completely fictional for the cast. Crime even affected the Arnaz family.
While staying at the Ambassador East Hotel in Chicago in 1950, Lucille Ball was robbed of her jewelry, including a 40 carat aquamarine engagement ring. They were playing the The Chicago Theatre with a vaudeville act to test material for their planned television series, “I Love Lucy.”
The episode has some things in common with “Equal Rights” (S3;E4, right). Just as in season 3, it was the boys against the girls, and Lucy again faked a criminal attack over the telephone to Ricky.
Also, the two arresting officers in “Equal Rights” (Fred Aldrich and Louis Nicoletti) are now on the other side of the law, playing the burglars who abduct Lucy. This is one of 5 series appearances for Aldrich and one of 15 for Nicoletti. In 1954, Aldrich was seen in the MGM musicals Brigadoon and There’s No Business Like Show Business as well as Lucy and Desi’s The Long, Long Trailer, which also featured Nicoletti.
A rare backstage shot of the apartment that Lucy has deliberately messed up to look ‘robbed’!
Ricky assures Lucy that if she were in trouble, he would drop everything and come home immediately.
LUCY: “What if you were doing a number? Would you leave in the middle of it?”
RICKY: “Right between the ‘Baba’ and the ‘lu’.“
MRS. DE VRIES: “Oh, it’s a nice wide ledge.”
Dutch-born actress Beppie de Vries plays Mrs. de Vries, an East 68th Street neighbor across the street who sees Lucy on the ledge and calls to see if everything is alright and inadvertently gives away Lucy’s game. Both the actress and the character will never be heard of again.
This is the first time the Ricardo’s living room window is used for anything other than scenery. When next we see Lucy on the ledge in “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13) the ledge extends around the corner of the building to the window of the apartment next door. Here, it stops at the corner! In this episode, the building is made of small brick instead of large blocks, there are no pigeons, and there is no insert shot of the street below to show Lucy’s point of view from the ledge.
RICKY: “I don’t know whether something has really happened to her or she’s just yelling tiger.”
FRED: “You mean, crying wolf?”
RICKY: “Yeah!”Oops! When Lucy crawls out onto the ledge, she leaves the window open. Fred and Ethel fail to notice that when they entered the apartment it was closed, but when they come back from searching the bedroom, it is open!
After hearing Ricky and the Mertzes ‘pretend’ that Lucy’s abduction is just a minor inconvenience, Lucy is angry!
Thinking that her loss will be insignificant to her loved ones, Lucy is sad! This camera angle looks a lot like Lucy is in jail, reinforcing the urban crime theme of the episode.
The episode ends on a somewhat disconcerting note with two criminals loose in the neighborhood and Ricky, Fred, and Ethel not believing ‘the girl who cried wolf.’
The upside is that Lucy finally gets her Oscar!
FAST FORWARD
Other episodes of Lucycoms dealing with crime include:
- “The Fur Coat” (ILL S1;E9)
- “Too Many Crooks” (ILL S3;E9, above)
- “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5)
- “Lucy and the Great Bank Robbery” (TLS S3;E5)
- “Lucy Makes a Pinch” (TLS S3;E8)
- “Lucy the Gun Moll” (TLS S4;E25)
- “Lucy and the Stolen Stole” (TLS S6;E19)
- “Lucy’s Burglar Alarm” (HL S2;E7)
- “Lucy and Wally Cox” (HL S2;E21)
- “Lucy and Ma Parker” (HL S3;E15)
- “Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage” (HL S4;E4)
- “Lucy and Candid Camera” (HL S4;E14)
- “Dirty Gertie” (S5;E10)
- “Lucy Goes to Prison” (HL S5;E18)
- “Lucy Plays Cops and Robbers” (HL S6;E14)
- “Lucy and the Guard Goose” (LWL)
Lucy Carmichael also cries wolf when she pretends to be assaulted by a prowler to get Vivian’s sympathy in 1962′s “Vivian Sues Lucy” (TLS S1;E10).
Lucy and Viv LITERALLY cry wolf when they meet Ringo the Butler (Bob Burns) in 1965′s “Lucy and the Monsters” (TLS S3;E18).
“Ricky Cries Lobo” aka “Ricky Minds the Baby” (S3;E14).
Failed pilot for a sequel!?!
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“The Sublease”
(S3;E31 ~ May 24, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed April 22, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studios.
At the end of this season, “I Love Lucy” was #1 in the ratings finishing with a 58.8. This was down from season two’s rating of 67.3.
Synopsis ~ When Ricky gets a summer booking in Maine, they decide to sublet the apartment. When the job falls through, they must figure out a way to get rid of their nervous new tenant, Mr. Beecher (Jay Novello), a witness at a recent murder trial. In the meantime, they must move in with the Mertzes.
This episode was first aired on the 44th birthday of golf superstar Jimmy Demaret, who was the guest star on the previous week’s episode, “The Golf Game” (S3;E30). The episode was filmed on the 31st birthday of actor / producer Aaron Spelling, who would be seen in “Tennessee Bound” (S4;E15) and would later produce Lucille Ball’s final series “Life With Lucy.”
Also on the date this episode was first aired, Kaye Ballard appeared on the cover of Life Magazine. The actress and singer guest-starred on “Here’s Lucy” in 1971 in “Lucy and Harry’s Italian Bombshell” (HL S4;E3). In August 1971 Ballard was the musical guest on the “Tonight Show” which also featured Lucille Ball. In 1967 she had co-starred in “The Mothers-In-Law” with Eve Arden, a sitcom produced and directed by Desi Arnaz. Ballard remained friends with Lucy and Desi and lived in the Rancho Mirage home near Palm Springs once owned by them. She died in 2019.
Jay Novello (Mr. Beecher) had previously appeared as superstitious Mr. Merriweather in “The Seance" (S1;E7), and would return as Mario in “The Visitor from Italy” (S6;E5). He also appeared on two episodes of “The Lucy Show,” but dapper Novello is probably best remembered for playing Mayor Lugatto on “McHale’s Navy” in 1965.
This plot was recycled on “Lucy Makes Room for Danny,” the seventh episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.” In it, the Ricardos sublet their house to Danny Williams (Danny Thomas) and his family while they travel to Hollywood so Ricky can do a movie. As soon as the Williams’ move in, the movie is canceled, forcing the Ricardos to move into the guest house with the Mertzes.
The storyline also resembles “Lucy Hates To Leave” (S6;E16), where the Ricardos move in with the Mertzes before their Connecticut home is ready.
The scene where Lucy and Ethel scare Mr. Beecher away by staging a murder is reminiscent of “Equal Rights” (S3;E4), where the pair fake a hold-up over the telephone, popping a paper sack for a gunshot.
Here, Lucy uses one of Little Ricky’s toy balloons.
While political references were rare on “I Love Lucy,” this episode references Ike and Mamie, aka President Dwight D. Eisenhower and first Lady Mamie Eisenhower. Mamie is also mentioned in “The Golf Game” (S3;E30). The First Lady is said to have watched “I Love Lucy” and invited Ball to the White House shortly after Ball was accused of being a Communist sympathizer in 1953. More people tuned in to see the birth of Little Ricky than Eisenhower’s inauguration a day later!
Fred’s reading lamp makes a second appearance, after doing its descending shade trick in “Redecorating the Mertzes Apartment” (S3;E8).
Interestingly, the rent on the Ricardo apartment in 1954 is just $125, but their real estate agent Mrs. Hammond knows she can get $300, which is approximately $2,800 in today’s dollars. The average rent of a one bedroom / one bath apartment on East 68th Street (Lenox Hill) in NYC today is between $4,000 and $5,000 per month!
RICKY: “They’re trying to make us look at this thin’ through a sweater.”
LUCY: “You mean they’re trying to pull the wool over our eyes.”
The scene with Lucy comforting Little Ricky was done to an empty crib. The scenes with the actual baby
(The Mayer Twins)
were shot after the studio audience left.
Among the things the Ricardos have to store at the Mertzes is Little Ricky’s chair manufactured by Cosco. During Christmas 1953 these listed for $20.95. Ricky’s conga drum and guitar are decorating the set because they are symbolic of Ricky Ricardo!
Oops! After Lucy pulls the kitchen window shade, the handle swings in and out of the window indicating there is no glass! Lucille Ball notices it, but continues with the scene.
Although this is the only series appearance by Virginia Brissac (Mrs. Hammond), she started her acting career in 1913 (two years after Lucille Ball’s birth) and did two films with William Frawley. Her final film appearance was as James Dean’s Grandmother in Rebel Without A Cause (1955). She died in 1979 at age 96.
Both Lucy and Ethel catch up on the news by reading the same April 19, 1954 issue of Time magazine with theologian Henry P. Van Dusen on the cover. Lucille Ball had appeared on the cover of Time two years earlier. Using the magazine on camera was Lucy and Desi’s small way of thanking them for their coverage.
For more about the magazines seen on “I Love Lucy” click here!
“The Sublease” has a twist ending. Lucy and Ethel manage to scare off Mr. Beecher, freeing up their apartment, but not before Fred announces he’s found and paid for an outside rental. Just then, Ricky comes in and announces that he’s booked in Del Mar, California – meaning they have two apartments, when they don’t need any! Since this is the last episode of season 3, it leaves the unanswered question: Did the Ricardos ever go to Del Mar? If so, wouldn’t their famous trip to Hollywood during season 4 be their SECOND California trip? When the show resumes in the fall, Del Mar is never mentioned again.
In real life, Lucy and Desi owned a summer home in Del Mar at 1920 Ocean Front Drive. The Arnaz family actually spent their 1954 summer hiatus relaxing there. It was Desi’s favorite vacation spot. He spent many happy hours there fishing and at the Del Mar racetrack. He retired to Del Mar with his second wife, Edie, and lived there until his death in 1986.
Although we never hear about the Ricardos visiting Maine, they do make it as far as Vermont in “Lucy’s Summer Vacation,” a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
FAST FORWARD
Getting rid of an unwanted tenant has been a staple of “Lucy” sitcoms.
In “Viv Moves Out” (TLS S2;E22), Lucy Carmichael rents Viv’s room to a mother and son musical act (Roberta Sherwood and Robert Lanning) who rehearse – loudly – at all hours of the day and night.
In a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Lucy Carter sublets the Unique Employment Agency to a toy distributor (Wally Cox).
A year later, Lucy regrets renting to her new tenant, a sexist used car dealer named Kermit Bosworth (Jackie Coogan). On one early episode of “I Love Lucy” new mother Lucy wonders aloud whether Little Ricky will grow up to be the next Jackie Coogan. Although he is best remembered today as the feisty Uncle Fester on “The Addams Family”, he was first a famous child star.
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“Lucy is Envious”
(S3;E23 ~ March 29, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed February 16, 1954 at Ren-Mar Studio. Rating: 59.5/83
Synopsis ~ When Lucy and Ethel unwittingly pledge $500 each to a charity, they take a job posing as Martians on top of the Empire State Building to earn the money!
The plot was most likely inspired by the 1953 film The War of the Worlds which is also about a Martian invasion. Two days before this episode aired, a British film called Devil Girl from Mars hit US cinemas.
Also hitting the big screen in 1953 was Invaders From Mars, which featured Hillary Brooke (Angela Randall in “The Fox Hunt”) and Richard Deacon (Tallulah Bankhead’s butler in “The Celebrity Next Door”), in his film debut. America had Martian madness!
This was writer Jess Oppenheimer’s least favorite episode because he found it unrealistic.
While reading through the newspapers in bed, Lucy sees that her old school chum Cynthia Harcourt is in town. She has a penthouse at the Waldorf, the same hotel that Lucy and Ethel stayed at in “The Publicity Agent” (S1;E31) when pretending to be Franistan royalty. Cynthia puts the bite on Lucy for a donation, and both Lucy and Ethel pledge ‘five’, not realizing that Cynthia means five hundred, not five dollars!
Cynthia is played by Mary Jane Croft (using a posh accent) in her first series appearance. She will return in season 5 as the woman sitting next to Lucy on a plane in “Return Home from Europe” (S5;26) before taking the role of Betty Ramsey in season 6. Croft became one of Lucy’s best friends in both “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy,” always playing a character named Mary Jane. Her last screen appearance was in “Lucy Calls the President” (1977).
Cynthia, whose husband is named Cyrus, tells Lucy that she’s already received pledges from Lucy’s old school chums Renita, Adele, and Hazel. These names come from real life.
- Renita Reachi was Vivian Vance’s stand-in and later a wardrobe assistant on the show. Her first name was used as the name of a sexy dancer in “Cuban Pals” (S1;E28).
- Adele Sliff was the “I Love Lucy” script supervisor. Her full name would be used again in by Rock Hudson “In Palm Springs” (S4;E26).
- Hazel Pierce was Lucy’s stand-in and also a frequent extra on the show. Her first name would be the same as a drug store waitress in the Ricardo’s neighborhood.
When Cynthia drops by unexpectedly, Lucy is in the middle of cleaning, and the apartment is in disarray. The Handy Dandy vacuum cleaner Lucy purchased during “Sales Resistance” (S2;E17) is left out!
The messy apartment also has some of Little Ricky’s toys strewn about. Little Ricky’s toy Telephone Bank is on the mantle.
The toy rotary telephone savings bank is by Amerline of Chicago, IL, copyright 1945. It was designed to tech children how to use the phone as well as the value of saving money. When scouring the apartment for the money to pay her pledge, Lucy says she even broke into Little Ricky’s piggy bank, but only found a couple of IOUs from Ricky. Could this be what she is referring to?
Looking through Billboard, Lucy spots a job for ‘two girls with courage’ and PR man Al Sparks comes over to hire the pair to help promote a new film called “Women from Mars.”
The Billboard was founded in 1894 as a trade publication for bill posters but soon branched out to embrace all facets of the entertainment industry. They are famous for their “charts” tracking the sales of recordings and films.
Sparks is played by Herb Vigran, one of TV’s busiest character actors. He had already been seen as Joe, the washing machine repairman (and Mrs. Trumbull’s nephew) in “Never Do Business with Friends” (S2;E31) and as Jule, Ricky’s music agent. Of his more than 350 credits, he also made six appearances on “The Lucy Show.”
Opening the scene at the top of the Empire State Building are two tourists from Kansas, Henry and Martha, hell-bent on seeing Wichita through the observation binoculars. They are played by Dick Elliott and Kay Wiley. This is Kay Wiley’s fourth and final appearance on the show, most memorably as one of the customers in Hansen’s Dress Shop in “The Girls Go Into Business” (S3;E2). Dick Elliott was seen with Lucy in the films Next Time I Marry (1938) and Meet the People (1944) and would return as one of the spectators at Yankee stadium in “Lucy Meets Bob Hope” (S6;E1).
Joan Carey (above right) was a frequent background player who later became Lucille Ball’s stand-in during “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”
The elevator operator is played by Louis A. Nicoletti, a veteran of 15 episodes who later served as assistant director of “The Lucy Show,” The Long, Long Trailer and “Here’s Lucy.”
Little Ricky makes a brief appearance in his stroller. He is played by the Mayer Twins.
Little Ricky is in a “Folda Rolla” toddler stroller manufactured by Peterson Baby Products during the 1950s. It was light-weight and ideal for apartment-dwellers like the Ricardos as it folded up for easy storage.
The Empire State Building opened in 1931 at the height of the great Depression. The observation deck depicted in the show is on the 86th floor but there is also a smaller observation deck on the 102nd floor. The fence around the observatory terrace was put up in 1947 after five people tried to jump during a three-week span. The deck has been featured in such films as King Kong (1933), On the Town (1949), An Affair to Remember (1957), The Producers (1968), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Love Affair (1994), and many others.
Oops! When Lucy and Ethel are scaling the fence of the observation deck, Vivian Vance drops her ray gun. For the rest of the scene it lays on the floor in the background. Ethel must share Lucy’s ray gun!
After their stunt, Lucy reads in the newspaper that “Hordes of invaders were also seen in New Jersey and Connecticut.” Perhaps not so coincidentally, the 1939 radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” placed the epicenter of their Martian invasion in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Orson Welles, who produced the broadcast for his Mercury Theatre, was a friend and frequent house guest of the Arnazes. He will play himself at the start of season six. That same year the Ricardos and Mertzes will all move to Connecticut.
Oops! When Lucy is swatting Ricky with her napkin at the end of the episode, the napkin flies out of her hand onto the floor.
It’s a moo-moo!
FAST FORWARD
When not wondering about life on Mars, there was always the Moon!
Second unit footage of the Empire State Building was seen in “Bon Voyage” (S5;E13) as the helicopter carrying Lucy Ricardo toward the SS Constitution flies over Manhattan. A view of the Empire State Building starts the final scene of the first episode of “The Lucie Arnaz Show” (1985).
Mattel made Lucy and Ethel Martian dolls, one of only two doll sets in the Lucy / Barbie series that were miniatures, made from Kelly Dolls.
Unacknowledged, a 2017 documentary about the cover-up of UFO findings, included a clip from this episode.
In 2018, NASA landed an un-manned unit on Mars. Naturally, the internet (okay, me) had a field day with the idea.
Although it was indeed the 89th episode filmed, the title of the episode is not “Lucy From Mars”. The word “Envious” in the title refers to Lucy’s envy of her old school chum Cynthia, but that fact is far upstaged by her antics dressed as a Martian, so “Lucy from Mars” is a much better title with instant recognition by viewers.
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Roller Ball! Lucy gets her skates on every decade or so!
“The Million Dollar Idea” on I LOVE LUCY (1954), “Lucy and the Good Skate” on THE LUCY SHOW (1964), and in MAME (1974).
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“The Million Dollar Idea”
“Television! We’ll go on television!”
(S3;E13 ~ January 11, 1954) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed November 28, 1953 at Ren-Mar Studios.
Rating: 62.7/83
It was the 79th episode filmed. This is the first new episode of the series in calendar year 1954.
Synopsis ~ Lucy dreams of making millions by selling her homemade salad dressing. To help sales, Lucy and Ethel go on television, which brings in more orders than they can handle!
This ‘get rich quick scheme’ hearkens back to “The Girls Go Into Business” (S3;E1), where Lucy and Ethel buy a dress shop, combined with elements of “Lucy Does a Television Commercial” (S1;30, above) where Lucy pitches Vitameatavegamin and (in her living room) Philip-Morris.
The episode opens with the foursome having dinner. This allows an opportunity for jokes about Ethel’s weight. At dinner Lucy is wearing the Elois Jenssen dress she previously wore in “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (S3;E11)
and will wear twice more in 1954.
Lucy’s leaf print tablecloth was made by Calaprint. This tablecloth was seen in several episodes and even appeared later in the Westport house in a kitchen scene when Lucy is ironing it.
Lucy’s ivy pattern dishes were from the Franciscan Ivy dinnerware from California-based Gladding, McBean, & Co. The set was first sold in 1948, so it was only a few years on the market when “I Love Lucy” series began filming in June 1951.
Lucy had the full dinner service including salt and pepper shakers, butter dish, and tea set with teapot (which is used in the next scene, set in the kitchen at breakfast the next day).
The Ivy set was used throughout the series as well as on “Bewitched” (above, also directed by William Asher) and “The Donna Reed Show.” It even turns up used in the Lucy / Desi film Forever Darling (1956).
For dessert, Lucy brings out a plate of bite sized pastries. When Ricky wants to talk about her being overdrawn at the bank, Lucy doesn’t want to discuss it while she’s eating. Rather than have to ‘splain her finances, Lucy eats a dozen of the treats while Ricky waits patiently! What the props department used for the sweets is unknown, but they make an audible crispy crunch when Lucy bites into them. Luckily for Lucille Ball re-takes were a rarity on “I Love Lucy!”
Ricky: “There’s lots of wonderful salad dressings on the market made by people who know what they’re doing!”
~ A BRIEF HISTORY OF SALAD DRESSING ~
- 1896 ~ Joe Marzetti opened a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, and began to serve his customers a variety of dressings developed from old country recipes. He began packaging his dressings to sell to restaurant customers in 1919.
- 1912 ~ Richard Hellmann, a deli owner in New York, began to sell his blue ribbon mayonnaise in wooden containers. One year later, in response to a strong consumer demand, Hellmann began to market the mayonnaise in glass jars.
- 1925 ~ The Kraft Cheese Company entered the salad dressing business with the purchase of several regional mayonnaise manufacturers. This led to Kraft’s initial entry into the pourable dressing business with French Dressing as its first flavor.
Everyone agrees that Lucy’s salad dressing is delicious so ‘the million dollar idea’ is born! They decide to call their new product ‘Aunt Martha’s Old Fashioned Salad Dressing’ because it was Lucy’s family recipe. Curiously, Lucy and Ethel both have an Aunt Martha. We learn of Lucy’s Aunt Martha in this episode, and we learn about Ethel’s in “Face to Face” (S5;E7).
To sell the salad dressing they go on “The Dickie Davis Show,” a four-hour (!) daily TV program produced at the station run by Caroline Appleby’s husband, Charlie. [Neither Appleby appears in the episode, although both have previously been seen on screen.] Although unheard of today, commercials like this, often done live, were frequently part of television shows. In fact, Lucy and Desi did many such commercials in character as the Ricardos promoting their sponsors like Philip-Morris, Sanka, or (later) Westinghouse.
Dickie Davis is played by Frank Nelson, who seems to have cornered the market on radio and TV hosts in the Lucy-verse, having already appeared as Freddy Fillmore twice as of the date of this episode. Fillmore will make one more appearance in “Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation” (S4;E22) in March 1954. He also played talent scout Ben Benjamin and Westport neighbor Ralph Ramsey. It seems the writers had a penchant for alliterative names when it came to Nelson! The actor has the distinction of being the only performer to play more than one running character (two or more appearances) on the series.
Nelson’s own surname is used for the show’s main sponsor, The Nelson Photo Finishing Company, whose clever slogan is ‘Our Business is Developing.’ They are located at Leed and Hickox, non-existent NYC cross streets that likely reference Martin Leeds, a Desilu Executive, and Andrew Hickox, the Arnazes business manager.
Speaking of business, Lucy tells Ethel she’s used up her allowance until June the 12th — 1978! Ironically, in the previous episode Lucy had a nightmare that Ricky left her for a sexy Cuban dancer and she was reduced to begging outside their theater, 25 years in the future – 1978! [The episode was filmed and aired in late 1953.] For information on what Lucille Ball was really doing in 1978 click on the date!.
In their early ‘infomercial,’ Ethel plays ‘one of the country’s leading home economists’ Mary Margaret McMertz, a spoof on Mary Margaret McBride (1899-1976), a pioneering broadcaster and one of the nation’s most popular voices on radio. McBride was first heard on WOR as the host of a daily woman’s program.
Under the pseudonym ‘Martha Deane’ McBride portrayed a fictional grandmother telling stories, offering advice, interviewing guests, and skillfully pitching products. During her career, she was heard on all three networks: CBS, NBC, and ABC, retiring the year this episode aired.
To test the salad dressing, McMertz brings on an ‘average housewife selected at random’: Lucy, calling herself Isabella Clump, a nasal-voiced frump.
Product Placement ~ On Lucy’s stove top are three shakers: salt, pepper, and Accent, a seasoning blend comprised primarily of MSG.
Owens of Illinois
marketed a three-shaker set, which Lucy owned. As the series soared in the ratings, subliminal placement of such products became more common – even if the item was never used or mentioned.
Lucy and Ethel charge 40 cents a quart for their dressing. After Ricky subtracts the cost of the ingredients they are left with a profit of just three cents, which they promised to Caroline. They quickly realize that they have more orders than they can keep up with and aren’t making any money, so they go back on the show to ‘un-sell’ their product.
When Fred brings up the first sack of mail filled with order for the Salad Dressing, he says it is the “morning mail.” There was a time when the US Post Office made two deliveries a day: Morning Mail and Afternoon. The practice gone the way of the morning and evening editions of the newspaper.
Lucy then uses her maiden name to become ‘average housewife selected at random’ Lucille McGillicuddy (“Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!”).
When that, too, backfires, they buy store-made salad dressing at 50 cents a quart, 10 cents more than what they were originally charging, and affix their own labels on them!
Oops! Lucille Ball makes a rare dialogue error towards the end of the episode. She says they have 1,153 orders, but later tells Ricky there are 1,133 jars.
- On their way to deliver their orders, Lucy calls Ethel by her middle name, Roberta, which was Vivian Vance’s real middle name.
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Previously, in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (S3;E3),
Ethel’s middle name was Louise (William Frawley’s ex-wife’s first name).
- When she visits her hometown in season 5
her middle name is Mae (Vivian Vance’s mother’s middle name). “Ethel Mae Potter – We Never Forgot Her”.
Apparently, someone ‘forgot her’ middle name!
Sitcom Logic Alert! Lucy lives on the fourth floor walk-up brownstone. How will she and Ethel (on skates) manage shopping carts full of glass jars?!?
As the two Salad Dressing Delivery girls skate out the front door, Lucy says to Ethel:
LUCY: “You take the East Side and I’ll take the West Side and I’ll be in Jersey a-fore ya!”
Lucy is paraphrasing "The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond“, a well-known traditional Scottish song first published in 1841. The original lyrics are: “O ye’ll tak’ the high road, and I’ll tak’ the low road, and I’ll be in Scotland a’fore ye.” To make sure the spoken reference is understood by viewers, the orchestra plays the song with a Scottish sound as the episode ends.
FAST FORWARD!
Lucy also got her skates on in an episode of “The Lucy Show” and in the feature film Mame.
Nearly two years later, in November 1955, Jackie Gleason’s “The Honeymooners” also did a memorable spoof on television commercials when Ralph Kramden (Gleason as ‘Chef of the Future’) and Ed Norton (Art Carney as ‘Chef of the Past’) try to sell their newest ‘get rich quick’ gadget, the “Handy Housewife Helper.” The question is, “Can it core a apple?”
In 1938, while a contract player with RKO, a brunette Lucille Ball contributed her recipe for salad dressing to a cookbook titled Famous Stars Favorite Foods. Onions, oil, and salt are also ingredients in Aunt Martha’s Salad Dressing. Not being much of a cook, chances are this entry was handled by RKO’s publicity department.
On April 19, 2019, CBS broadcast a colorized version of this episode in primetime along with
“Bonus Bucks” (S3;E21) under the umbrella title of “Funny Money Special”. These two episodes bring the total number of colorized half hours to 16.
Nostalgia merchants and marketeers have produced a variety of Lucy merchandise and collectibles based on this episode:
- a heart-shaped plate;
- various holiday ornaments;
- kitchen aprons;
- video boxes;
- tin signs;
- a picture puzzle in a Aunt Martha’s Salad Dressing jar (above);
- foreign postage stamps
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“Ricky’s Old Girlfriend”
(S3;E12 ~ December 21, 1953) directed by William Asher, and written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. It was filmed on November 19, 1953. It was the 78th episode of the series.
Synopsis – Instead of playing cards or watching TV, the four take a magazine quiz that leads to Ricky inventing a former girlfriend to make Lucy jealous. When the girlfriend turns out to be real – and in town – Lucy has nightmares about Ricky leaving her for the sexy Cuban dancer.
The title of the marriage quiz is…
“How to Rate Your Marriage or Is Your Spouse a Louse?”
To make Ricky jealous, she lists the names of the men she’s dated. In real life they are the names of the cast and crew of the show:
- Billy (Asher), director
- Maury (Thompson), camera
- Jess (Oppenheimer), writer
- Jerry (Thorpe), assistant director
- Bob (Carroll Jr.), writer
- Bennett (Green), Desi’s stand-in
- Phil (Arnold), actor
- Danny (Cahn), editor
- Argyle (Nelson), production manager
- Bud (Molin), editor
- Wilbur (Hatch), conductor
- (Buddy) Noble, bass player
- Karl (Freund), cinematographer
- Frank (Inn), animal trainer
- Henry (Molin), editor
- Johnny (Speak), boom operator
- and Kenny (Morgan), actor and Lucy’s brother-in-law!
The ‘magazine’ is more of a pocket book. It is called “Pocket Reporter” and the back cover advertises a product called Titianola. Titianola is a red hair dye that is mentioned in the 1935 musical film Redheads on Parade! The plot seeks to reverse the trend of platinum blondes set by Jean Harlow by having a movie sponsored by Titianola. Lucille Ball was NOT in the film, although Irving Bacon, who played Ethel’s Father Will Potter was, as was frequent “I Love Lucy” extra Bess Flowers. At this point in her career, Lucille was still a brunette, but wore blonde wigs in several films. She didn’t dye her hair red (using a Henna Rinse) until 1943. Whether this ‘magazine’ was a prop leftover from Redheads on Parade is unknown.
Lucy also reveals that she met some of these men at Junior College. In real life Lucille Ball left high school to go to New York City and did not attend college. There is no future mention of Lucy Ricardo going to junior college.
In this episode Little Ricky is played by the Mayer Twins. This is their ninth appearance on the series. There are actually four actors playing Little Ricky in this episode alone!
The newspaper that reports that Carlota Romero is playing the Opal Room is called The New York Gazette – a fictional newspaper – although the back page (the arts section) names it The Daily Record.
The same exact headline “Bond Issue Defeated” turns up again in
“Lucy’s Club Dance” (S3;E25). Hollywood prop newspapers were often sourced from Earl Hays Press, which specialized in providing prop newspapers for movies and TV. It was not uncommon for the template to remain the same while the headline or photos pertaining to the story were inserted as needed.
Hiding the paper from Lucy, Ethel says that “Daddy Warbucks has left Little Orphan Annie again.” The famous comic strip Little Orphan Annie was a daily fixture of most national papers from 1924 to 2010.
Lucy was unfavorably compared to Orphan Annie when her home perm and handmade dress are a failure in “Lucy Wants New Furniture” (S2;E28).
The episode features a lengthy dream sequence, something that won’t be repeated until “Lucy Goes To Scotland” (S5;E17).
In this dream, Lucy is darning a sock while Ricky reads a magazine. The name of the magazine is Vacation, although there is no record of a magazine by that name published in the early 1950s. Perhaps the title is symbolic of Lucy thinking Ricky desires a ‘vacation’ from marriage? Lucy dreams Ricky leaves her for a castanet-playing Carlota portrayed by Lillian Molieri, a Nicaraguan-born actress who later returned to play one of Ricky’s relatives in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (S6;E9).
Oops! Little Ricky’s rabbit ears hat is on in the medium shots, but off in the close-up insert shot before falling off when Lucy picks him up.
More Oops! When Carlota dances around the apartment viewers can see where the carpet ends at the ‘fourth wall’. For a moment, the bottom of the camera comes into the frame at the lower left of the screen. The camera error was edited out of for the DVD but you can still see the plaster line of the floor.
After some tossing and turning (plus the usual wavy screen), the dream continues nine years later (1962) with Lucy and Little Ricky begging outside Ricky and Carlota’s theater. Here Little Ricky is played by an uncredited young actor who looks a lot like Jerry Mathers, who would later become known as the Beaver in “Leave it to Beaver” (1957-63). Mathers has denied being in the episode. Lucy’s dream then advances 25 years in the future (1978), where she is still begging in front of the theater, but now with a grown-up Little Ricky on her knee. Unfortunately, there is no record of who played this second dream Little Ricky. Counting the Mayer Twins, who played the real Little Ricky, this episode featured four actors playing the role! All told, by series end, there were eight actors who played Little Ricky!
There are also three un-credited “fans” of Ricky and Carlota in the sequence: two girls, and a boy with a flash camera. The the first scene they are young, but in the second (25 years later) they are senior citizens – still dressed in the same clothes.
In the show’s final scene, Jerry, Ricky’s agent (Jerry Hausner), reunites Ricky with Carlota in the flesh – literally. When Ricky asks her what she’s been doing, she replies “putting on weight mostly.”
This Carlota is played by Rosa Turich. Turich and her husband had a Spanish language comedy act called Felipin y Rosita.
Classic Costumes
This is one of more than 25 episode in which Lucy wears the now-iconic blue polka-dot dress designed by Elois Jenssen. In 1988, the dress was recreated on Hamilton Collection Lucy dolls. As an ‘in joke’ the dress turns up in a garage sale scene during a 1971 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
Similarly, Ricky / Desi wears ‘his favorite necktie’ – a wardrobe item that was repeated many times on the show.
They also wear their matching pajamas! They were sold commercially by Harwood in 1953.
Because the original telecast was just four days before Christmas, the episode concludes with the ‘four Santas’ tag created in 1951. Ricky leads them all in a chorus of “Cascabeles” (“Jingle Bells”) and says “You Americans steal all our good songs!” At the end of the verse, we notice there is a fifth St. Nick (played by Vernon Dent) – supposedly the real Santa Claus – who vanishes into thin air. This is the third and last time this holiday tag will be used until it was expanded to a full Christmas episode in season six.
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“Equal Rights”
(S3;E4 ~ October 26, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed September 24, 1953 at Ren-Mar Studios.
Rating: 60.2/84
Synopsis ~ Tired of Ricky and Fred’s attitude towards them, the girls demand equal rights. Ricky and Fred turn the tables on them when, out to dinner, they call for separate checks, and Ethel and Lucy must wash dishes to pay for their meals.
The story is based on Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” episode “Women’s Rights (part 1)” aired on March 3, 1950.
Ricky gets tired of Lucy’s lateness and constant interruptions and demands that his house be run like it was in Cuba, “where the man is the master and the woman does what she’s told.” Lucy naturally rebels and insists on equal rights, which the boys take to the extreme.
FRED: “You’ve got the vote, you wear pants, you drive buses, you wrestle, you go every place you please except the steam room in the YMCA.”
Between the time this episode was filmed and aired, our Mexican neighbors finally granted women the right to vote. Despite the promising title, the episode turns into a familiar ‘boys against the girls’ scenario with Lucy and Ethel turning the tables on the men, who briefly end up behind bars.
At the start of the episode, Fred tells a story about some land he bought in Miami that turned out to be a scam. This is never mentioned again, even when the gang head to Florida in season 6.
Ricky tells a rather confusing story about last Fourth of July’s musicians picnic attended by Marco, Alberto, Pepin, Joe, and Ralph. All of these were actual members of the Ricky Ricardo / Desi Arnaz Orchestra who played live during filming, even when they were not part of the on camera action: Marco Rizo, Alberto Calderon, Pepin Betancourt, Joe Carioca, and Ralph Brady.
The first act of treating the girls as equals is to not help them on with their coats. Instead, Fred and Ricky toss the coats aside and indulge in a little ad lib chat about the plumber.
Oops! William Frawley’s ad lib contains a blooper.
FRED: “I phoned him this morning, he’s coming out this afternoon…”
It is already night and they are headed to dinner! Frawley doubles down on the error after Lucy’s brief interruption.
Lucy wants to go to a steak house on 45th Street, but Ricky says that he’s in the mood for spaghetti, so they go to an Italian restaurant on 39th Street near 8th Avenue.
Ricky calls the headwaiter Xavier, which gets a laugh from the studio audience. Xavier Cugat was a fellow Latin musician that once employed Desi Arnaz, but was Ricky Ricardo’s biggest rival. Lawrence Dobkin played Xavier. He was previously seen in “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (S2;E30) and would re-appear as a French counterfeiter in “Paris at Last” (S5;E18).
The large painting on the wall is titled “Peasant Dance” (1568) by Pieter Breugel the Elder. The original is held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Breugel was a Dutch artist, so it is odd to find this painting in an Italian restaurant.
We never learn the name of the restaurant just its location. The menus just say ‘Menu’ on the front. Although this is an Italian Restaurant, only the checkered table cloth and a few Chianti bottles are indicative of the cuisine. Lawrence Dobkin does not attempt an Italian accent. The part might have been better cast with Louis Nicoletti, one of the show’s regular Italian-American performers. Just a few months later, in “The Black Wig” (S3;E26), the episode will conclude at an Italian Restaurant named Tony’s with Nicoletti playing the waiter.
There are four background performers playing the other diners. Hazel Pierce, Lucy’s camera and lighting stand-in, is at the table in the back with an unidentified man.
The usual niceties accorded the fairer sex are ignored by the boys.
Ricky sits in the chair the waiter pulls out instead of allowing Lucy to sit first.
The boys then order before the girls. Ricky and Fred order meatballs, spaghetti, pizza, and coffee, with Fred ordering a green salad as well. Lucy and Ethel order steaks with spaghetti on the side. Lucy wants hers medium rare; Ethel orders hers well done.
The boys don’t offer the girls cigarettes or light them! It is hard to imagine today, but in the 1950s smoking in restaurants was typical and this one is no exception. Vivian Vance and William Frawley were not smokers, and only smoked when the script called for it, which it does here. These are Philip Morris Cigarettes, naturally.
Ricky doesn’t pick up Lucy’s dropped purse.
When the girls fix their make up at the table, the boys pull out razors!
And finally – separate checks! When the girls don’t have the money to pay their share, they are forced to wash dishes, a common TV trope of the time.
Lucille Ball was a perfectionist in all aspects of her work. During rehearsals for this episode, she spent hours trying to find the perfect paper bag to make the sound of the fake gunshot. She tested all different shapes and sizes of bags until she found one that satisfied her.
ETHEL: “Promise me you’ll donate your brain to science.”
LUCY: “Ok.”Lucy and Ethel seem to have a great deal of fun pantomiming an armed robbery for the boys over the telephone. They even skip back to the sink, hand in hand.
When Ricky and Fred disguise themselves as bandits, Lucy and Ethel are carrying tall stacks of plates – which they will drop in surprise. It is rather apparent that the plates are rigged to stay together and are made of lightweight plastic. When they crash to the floor, a sound effect is added in to complete the moment and mask the sound of the plastic hitting the hard floor. When the policemen finally arrive, a wide shot reveals the stacked plates still connected lying horizontally on the floor!
The arresting officers are played by Fred Aldrich (left), who appeared in four other episodes, and Louis Nicoletti, who was a veteran of 15 episodes. Nicoletti later served as assistant director of “The Lucy Show,” The Long, Long Trailer and “Here’s Lucy,” in all of which he also made cameo appearances.
The police officer in the final scene is Richard Reeves, who played Bill Foster for two episodes, but was last seen as the tall Indian in “The Indian Show” (S2;24).
ETHEL: “I guess this shriveled up one is his father. I wonder how grandpa kisses?”
As usual, the episode ends with a kiss, but Fred and Ethel’s smooch is an obviously fake air kiss, confirming the fact that William Frawley and Vivian Vance didn’t like one another off camera.
FAST FORWARD!
The bank of ice boxes behind Lucy and Ethel in the restaurant kitchen will later be used in “The Diner” (S3;E27) and “The Black Wig” (S3;E26).
Balancing secretly connected plates was a vaudeville gag that Lucy Carmichael performed in “Ethel Merman and the Boy Scout Show” (TLS S2;E19) in 1964.
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Top: On “I Love Lucy,” Lucy goes duck hunting with husband Ricky (Desi Arnaz) in 1953.
Bottom: On “The Lucy Show,” Lucy goes duck hunting with boyfriend Bill (Keith Andes) in 1963.
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“The Camping Trip”
(S2;E29 ~ June 8, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed May 8, 1953 at General Service Studio. Rating: 51.5/58
Synopsis ~ Lucy is afraid that she and Ricky no longer have anything in common, so she plans to tag along on the boys’ camping trip next summer. In order to dissuade her, Ricky takes her on a ‘trial’ camping trip, which he plans to make as tough as possible. Naturally, Lucy finds out about his plan and (with Ethel’s help) turns the tables!
This episode is based on Lucy’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband” #93, “Be a Pal” broadcast June 18, 1950. This is also the name of a similarly themed TV episode that has Lucy wondering how to spend more time with her husband.
During season 4, this episode was rerun with a new flashback intro.
The night this episode was filmed, Danny Thomas and representatives of the William Morris talent agency were in the audience. Thomas’s new sitcom Make Room for Daddy had just been sold to ABC, and Desilu would be handling the production chores.
In the ‘First Time / Last Time’ Department…
- We hear of Fred’s brother, who will accompany them on next summer’s big camping trip.
- Ethel knows how to drive – but only a year and a half later, she claims she’s never learned.
- Ethel tells Fred she’ll be visiting her mother – a character we never meet or even talk about when the gang passes through Albuquerque on their way to Hollywood.
The show opens with the girls playing cards. The fourth player with Caroline, Lucy, and Ethel is named Sally played by June Whitley Taylor, who briefly appeared on “No Children Allowed” (S2;E22) and would go on to appear in two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” The opening also features Doris Singleton in her third of ten appearances as Caroline Appleby. In the original broadcast, while waiting for Lucy to make her move during the card game, she quipped “Play it while you’re still young,” a line that was cut for syndication.
The girls discuss the break-up of the marriage of Joanne and Gregg, which just happens to also be the name of head writer Jess Oppenheimer’s children.
Trying to make conversation, Ricky asks Lucy “What do you think of the new tax law?” In 1952, President Eisenhower proposed reorganization of tax laws, including re-naming the Bureau of the Internal Revenue the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Most importantly, starting in 1954, he changed the date tax returns were due from March 15th to April 15th. Both of these facts were part of “Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio” (S1;E32) during Freddy Filmore’s “Mr. & Mrs. Quiz” program.
Although Little Ricky is heard crying in the next room, he does not appear on screen. His cry was likely supplied by Jerry Hausner, who also played Jerry the agent.
The Sports Page
While reading the sports pages together, Ricky refers to Grantland Rice. Lucy says “Sure, I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never tasted it.” Grantland Rice (1880–1954) was a sportswriter known for his elegant prose.
His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. He died a year after this episode aired. These lines, too, were cut for syndication, either for time, or feeling that Rice’s name was no longer recognizable enough for the joke to be funny.
When Lucy reads that they’re racing ‘maidens’ at Churchill Downs, she is upset about racing three year-old little girls. Ricky corrects her that these are horses. Churchill Downs is the racetrack that has served as the site of the Kentucky Derby since 1875. The 1953 race was just six days before filming of this episode. Horse racing was a favorite pastime of Desi Arnaz, who was a regular visitor at Del Mar Racetrack. Episodes dealing with horse racing include “The Loving Cup,” “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” “Lucy and the Countess Have a Horse Guest”.
Also in the sports pages, Lucy reads about a boxing match where “Williams won in a TKO”, which she pronounces as “tuh-koh” until Ricky corrects her. A year earlier, a B-movie titled Breakdown starred William Bishop as prizefighter Terry Williams. Boxing was also the subject of “The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub”, “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans”,
“Lucy, the Fight Manager”, and “K.O. Kitty.” In 1961, Lucille Ball presented boxer Floyd Patterson with a Sports Award on television.
When Ethel first sees Lucy in her full camping regalia, she says:
LUCY: “Well, do I look like I stepped out of ‘Field & Stream’?”
ETHEL: “You look more like you fell in.”Field & Stream magazine was founded in 1895. Depending on the season and the availability of information, the magazine may offer advice on bass, birds, deer, trout, rifles, and shotguns. The magazine also offers tricks, survival tips, miscellaneous facts, and wild game recipes.
In January 2017, owing to financial woes, publishing frequency was scaled back from nine issues a year to six, and several longtime members of its staff were let go,
For More About the Magazines of “I Love Lucy” Click Here!
When Ethel tells Lucy that the real purpose of their camping trip, she says that “He’s sick and tired of you and him being 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. There was also a separate series of 30 books paperbacks published from 1987 through 1992.
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. At the time this episode aired, the 47th book The Bobbsey Twins at Big Bear Pond had just been published. While camping, Ricky warns Lucy to “look out for bears”!
Lucy “catches” fish, tossed to her buy Ethel, who bought them at the market. She realizes that she has to “hook” them for the fib to be convincing.
RICKY: “You know, that’s pretty good shooting. You not only shoot the duck, but you knocked the feathers off, and you cleaned it, too!”
FAST FORWARD!
Lucy and Desi (as Susan and Lorenzo Vega) also went camping in the feature film Forever Darling (1956).
On a “The Lucy Show,” Lucy Carmichael goes duck hunting with boyfriend Bill (Keith Andes) in 1963 just as Lucy and Ricky did a decade earlier.
In 1964, Lucy Carmichael, Viv, and Mr. Mooney chaperone a cub scout camping trip on “The Lucy Show.”
Also in 1964,
when Lucy and Viv’s sons Jerry and Sherman went to camp, their mothers followed them and became the camp cooks!
The great outdoors was quite popular in 1964, when Lucy Carmichael accompanies her son Jerry on a father / son camping trip, she really does encounter bears – just like Ricky warned Lucy Ricardo about in 1953. The premise of Mr. Mooney scheming to make Lucy regret coming on the camping trip is the same as this “I Love Lucy” episode.
Traveling to the Air Force Academy in a camper in 1969, Lucy and Harry Carter camp out in the Colorado wilderness.
In the next episode, the Carters end up camping out on the shores of the Colorado River in “Lucy Runs the Rapids” (HL S2;E4).
Speaking of bears…
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