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“Lucy Changes Her Mind”
(S2;E21 ~ March 30, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed September 26, 1952 at General Service Studio. Rating: 65.6/89
Synopsis ~ When Lucy keeps changing her mind, Ricky demands she finish everything she starts. To get even with him, Lucy decides to complete an unfinished love letter to an old boyfriend.
The plot is nearly identical to episode #50 of Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” “Liz Changes Her Mind” aired June 24, 1949 on CBS Radio. The dialogue in the restaurant scene of the television script is nearly verbatim to the radio show with Gale Gordon and Bea Benadaret (as the Atterburys) speaking the lines given to William Frawley and Vivian Vance (as the Mertzes).
This was the last episode filmed before Lucille Ball went on pregnancy leave. It wouldn’t be aired for six months. The plot of the episode is told through flashback format.
New York City TV listings for March 30, 1953. Note that the ARB (Academy of Radio and Television Broadcasting) lists “I Love Lucy” as New York’s #1 show.
The idea for the restaurant scene was thought up when the exact same scenario happened to the writers. After each new person ordered their meal, writer Madelyn Pugh kept switching her order to what the last person had just ordered.
The episode opens with Ethel calling for Lucy and Ricky saying she took the baby down to Mrs. Jenkins. This character is never seen in any episode. Although Mrs. Trumbull (Little Ricky’s go-to babysitter) is introduced in the very next episode aired, in reality that episode was not filmed until March 1953 while this one was filmed BEFORE Ball’s pregnancy leave in late September 1952.
To demonstrate Lucy’s proclivity to change the mind, the furniture in the apartment has been rearranged, something Ethel remarks upon in this 45 second (sans Lucy) prologue. When the flashback begins, the furniture is in its traditional ‘front-facing’ position.
Oops! As the camera pulls back on Ricky sitting on the sofa at the beginning of the flashback, a distinct shadow passes over the sofa and Ricky’s legs as the shot widens.
When deciding between Italian and Chinese (“Ravioli Foo Yung or Chicken Chow Pizza”), Lucy rules out Chinese because her favorite restaurant is closed on Monday nights. “I Love Lucy” ruled the airwaves on Monday evenings, and it became common in the ‘50s for people to rearrange their schedules to be home to watch it. When Lucille Ball agreed to do “The Lucy Show” in 1962, one of her stipulations was that it would air on Monday nights. This was true of all her sitcoms.
The foursome end up at what Ricky calls ‘the Roof Garden’ (although the menus say Jubilee Club), which features steaks and chops…
…and bread sticks!
Henry, the nearsighted waiter, is played by Frank Nelson wearing thick Coke bottle eyeglasses. Nelson also played the waiter in the correlating radio show. Nelson played Freddy Fillmore and Ralph Ramsey, making him the only actor to play more than one continuing role on the series.
BONUS!!! CLICK HERE FOR A TRIBUTE TO ALL THE WAITERS WHO HAVE TRIED TO SERVE LUCY RICARDO!
Sharp-eyed viewers will recognize that the restaurant’s chairs are the same ones as used at the Tropicana. That’s because sets that were only used once (like this restaurant) were generally built ‘inside’ the roomier Tropicana set, which adjacent to the Ricardo apartment set on the soundstage.
Going through her old love letters, she finds one to a handsome boy named Tom Henderson that she never mailed. Remembering her promise to Ricky to finish everything she starts, she intends to finish it and tease Ricky. When her lie gets out of control, Ricky says if what she says is true, he’ll mail the letter for her!
While lying to Ricky about her relationship with Tom Henderson, she says she met him in college. If having a college education is part of her lie, Ricky would have known she was fibbing. If it is true, it is the only time she mentions going to college. Lucy does mention going to secretarial school.
Producer Jess Oppenheimer didn’t want to pay too much for the actor who would play Tom Henderson, a character who only says two words at the very end of the show. He wrote in the script that he wanted “the most handsome hunk of man anyone ever saw for $15.56.” He got John Hart, who had replaced Clayton Moore in the title role on “The Lone Ranger.” Hart would also play the hunky lifeguard who saves Lucy from drowning in “The Hedda Hopper Story” (S4;E20). His last TV appearance was also as the Lone Ranger, on a 1981 episode of “Happy Days."
Lucy at first thinks Harry Henderson is actually Tom (”Looks like my hunk has shrunk!”) The shorter/balder Harry is played by Phil Arnold, who later turned up on “Lucy Is Matchmaker” (S2;E27).
FAST FORWARD
Lucy’s comic pantomime with the store mannequin is similar to her antics in “Lucy and the Dummy” (S5;E3) and later in the 1974 movie Mame.
Another waiter named Henry turns up in a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy” played by Milton Frome. From
first appeared as Sam (the spider) who Lucy Ricardo tries to fix up with Dorothy (the fly) in “The Matchmaker” (ILL S4;E4). Frome is one of the few character actors to have appeared on all three of Lucille Ball’s sitcoms.
Another fur salon was featured in “Lucy Gets Amnesia” (TLS S3;E4) in 1964. This shop was run by Madame Fifi, played by Fifi D’Orsay. The mannequin wears the fur that Lucy Carmichael covets. Interestingly, the boxes later turned up in "Lucy Makes a Pinch” (TLS S3;E8), a crime caper featuring character actor Jack Kelly.
When she moved to Los Angeles, Lucy Carmichael and Mary Jane also went to a swanky fur salon (this time mainly for the lunchtime refreshments) in “Lucy and Pat Collins” (TLS S5;E11). The fur model is played by Cher’s mom, Georgia Holt and the Salon Saleswoman (standing right) is played by Patricia Cutts.
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“Ricky Has Labor Pains”
(S2;E14 ~ January 5, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. It was filmed on October 31, 1952 at General Service Studios. This is the 49th episode of the series. Rating: 71.7/91
The original broadcast featured commercials for Philip-Morris cigarettes and a promo for CBS’s “My Little Margie.”
Synopsis ~ Ricky feels neglected during Lucy’s pregnancy so Fred throws a ‘daddy shower’ for him.
The episode opens with Ricky on the telephone inviting Fred, and his friends Jim and Maury, to come over to watch a game on television and drink beer. “Maury” is likely a reference to camera coordinator Maury Thompson and “Jim” probably refers to James Paisley, the show’s assistant director.
- RICKY: I’ll have the television getting warm and the beer getting cold.
In the early days, television sets frequently took a few minutes to “warm up” due to their use of a picture tube.
Fred announces that Lucy Ricardo’s ‘blessed event’ was mentioned in Walter Winchell’s column. In real life, Lucille Ball became pregnant in June 1950 while on tour and the lab doing the testing leaked the results to Winchell, who announced it immediately. Lucy and Desi heard it on the radio even before the doctor had time to call them. Sadly, Lucy miscarried the baby. Although Lucy and Desi were reluctant to hire Winchell, he was the narrator of their series “The Untouchables” and also did the same for “The Lucy Show’s” 1966 satire of the series “Lucy the Gun Moll” (TLS S4;E25).
The newspaper article says that Lucy is “infanticipating.” This is a portmanteau of “infant” and “anticipating” to avoid using the word “pregnant,” a word that CBS and Philip-Morris forbade in the scripts.
The episode gets unusually self-referential when Lucy is shown reading the January 1953 issue of McCall’s Magazine with “I Love Lucy” clearly on the cover! The article was written by Desi Arnaz himself.
At Lucy’s baby shower, a doll is prominently displayed on the sofa. Created by American Character Doll Company, the “I Love Lucy Baby Doll” was 16 inches long and included a drawer full of accessories. Because the gender of the Ricardo baby would not be announced until January 1953, the doll was not gender specific. Priced at $9.98, it turned out to be one of the best-selling toys of the 1952 Christmas season. The doll was introduced in “Pregnant Women are Unpredictable” (S2;E11), where Lucy uses it to practice diapering.
The doctor Lucy calls to examine Ricky is named Dr. Rabwin (Lou Merrill). Rabwin was the name of Lucy’s real-life friend and physician. When Ricky refuses to accept his diagnosis is psychosomatic, the doctor diagnosis him with ptomaine! Interestingly, in the 1950s doctors made house calls – and smoked cigarettes while they did them!
Ricky’s ‘Daddy Shower’ is held at the East 68th Street Athletic & Recreation Society.
Lucy’s shower guests include Hazel Pierce (who is uncredited), Lucy’s camera and lighting stand-in and a frequent extra on the show. The other women go un-credited. Jerry (Jerry Hauser), Ricky’s agent, attends the daddy shower, along with a half a dozen uncredited male actors who are members of the Desi Arnaz / Ricky Ricardo orchestra.
The corridor of the Society is decorated with an American Red Cross poster (next to the pay telephone), a frequent resource for the “I Love Lucy” set decorators.
The wild boar head on the wall turns up two years later on the wall of Richard Widmark’s home in “The Tour” (S4;E30).
Lucy and Ethel become curious and disguise themselves as newspaper reporters to see what is going on. Lucy goes by “Pete” and Ethel goes by “Sam.” They say the paper they are from is the uncommonly known New York Herald Times Tribune, a mash-up of several New York dailies.
- ETHEL: How did you see through my disguise?
- FRED: What disguise?
A decade later, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance don male drag again in “Lucy and the Little League” (TLS S1;E28).
In the Ricardo’s headboard bookcase there is a copy of Bennett Cerf’s Try and Stop Me (1944), the first of a series of joke books compiled by Cerf, founder of Random House. It also shows up behind the sofa in “The Inferiority Complex” (S2;18). Cerf is mentioned by Lucy in the dialogue of “Lucy Writes a Novel” (S3;E24): “You had your chance, Bennett Cerf!” He was a frequent panelist on “What’s My Line?” on which Lucy guest starred four times between 1955 and 1965.
The episode ends with a tag scene where Lucy has some unusual cravings:
Pistachio ice cream, hot fudge with sardines on top!
Due to the intense heat of the studio lights, the ice cream was actually mashed potatoes and the hot fudge brown gravy. The sardines, however, were the real thing! Lucille Ball hated sardines, but she choked them down for the sake of the episode. As soon as the director yelled “cut,” Lucy ran off-stage and was sick.
Two of the cleverest scenes in this episode were often edited out when the show went into syndication – to make time for more commercials. One found a very pregnant Lucy sitting in a chair, but unable to stand up. She ultimately pulls the coffee table over for support. A very funny “real-life” moment.
The other scene finds Ricky preparing to watch a program on television, and Lucy unwittingly moves his chair.
“We always tried to open the show with little scenes that established what was happening in these people’s lives. Many times we worked on these longer than we did the big block comedy scenes. It makes you cry when some editor comes along and clips them out.” ~ Madelyn Pugh, writer
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“Vacation from Marriage”
“Life. I’ve just been thinking about life.”
(S2;E6 ~ October 27, 1952) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed August 1, 1952 at General Service Studios. Rating: 66.8/90
Synopsis ~ The monotony of married life prompts Lucy and Ethel take a break from their husbands for a week.
The plot is based on Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband” #140, with which it shares a title. It aired November 11, 1950.
This episode was the first one filmed after a shortened summer hiatus so that Lucille Ball could do as many episodes as possible before her pregnancy leave in November.
At the time this episode was filmed Lucille Ball was three months pregnant.
This is one of the few episodes to have just the main foursome in the cast. It also does not feature any musical performances.
Vacation from Marriage was also the title of a 1945 MGM film starring Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr, which was also done on radio in 1947. The film’s story starts out similar to the episode’s, but then diverges when Kerr and Donat are separated by World War II.
ETHEL: (after predicting what Fred will do while he completes a crossword puzzle) “He hasn’t varied five minutes in 22 years.”
In the very next scene, however, Fred suggests that they’ve been married for 25 years:
FRED: (referring to a couple knowing each other like a book after so many years of marriage) “It’s the same after 25 years, only their cover gets more dog-eared.”
Oops! When Ricky enters the kitchen for his morning coffee, Fred can be seen through the kitchen window walking between the sets backstage.
This v-neck blouse with puffy sleeves and frilly collar was frequently worn by Lucy, especially when she was in an ‘artistic’ or ‘rebellious’ mood!
Lucy and Ethel went to the library!
Their week-long ‘staycation’ has the boys staying in the Ricardo apartment and the girls at the Mertzes. This is the first and only time we see the Mertz bedroom, which (not surprisingly) is outfitted with two single beds.
The ‘Home Sweet Home’ sign above the Mertzes’ beds (or one very similar to it) is seen again in the One Oak cabin near the railroad tracks during the gang’s “First Stop” (S4;E13) on their way to Hollywood. In that episode Ethel says that she and Fred have always slept in a double bed (and demonstrates their pre-bedtime ritual), but in this episode they have clearly have single beds.
ETHEL: (to Ricky) “We’ve been to 21 four times this week. That’s 84!”
To check up on the boys, Lucy and Ethel get all dolled up and pretend to have dates at 21. In the episode “Mr. and Mrs. TV Show” (S4;E24), Lucy tells Ricky she met a TV producer while having lunch at 21.
These are the exact same outfits that Lucy and Ethel wore at the end of the very first aired episode of “I Love Lucy” (above) a year earlier – right down to the jewelry.
The 21 Club first opened in 1922 and is still in business today. It is a restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy located at 21 West 52nd Street (hence the name) in NYC. Perhaps the most famous feature of 21 was the collection of painted lawn jockeys adorning the balcony above the entrance. In the 1930s, wealthy customers showed their appreciation by presenting 21 with jockeys painted with the racing colors of the stables they owned.
When they drop by for Lucy’s “good perfume” Ricky and Fred are reading the New York Chronicle (a fictional newspaper) and Ricky has a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes tucked into his rolled up sleeve.
Sitcom Logic Alert! Lucy and Ethel sneak up the back stairs to see if the boys really had dates just as the boys duck out the front to see if the girls really did. While walking toward the bedroom, Lucy’s eyes remain riveted on the coffee table (which is out of camera shot). She ducks into the bedroom and, finding them not there, assumes they had dates after all! This despite the fact that Ricky left a smoldering cigarette in the ashtray, all the lights are on, and the doors are unlocked! I imagine that Lucille Ball was distracted by the smoking cigarette, but didn’t want to stop the scene in front of a live audience. In this case, Lucy Ricardo’s powers of deduction are just as bad as Ricky’s for not immediately sensing the girls were lying about having dates.
This is the first (but not the last) time we see the rooftop of 623 East 68th Street.
If you look closely, you can see the wrinkles in the backdrop! There is also a piece of wood visible that is there to support the door frame against the backdrop / back wall!
Lucy and Ethel try to get the attention of a neighbor named Mrs. Sanders by throwing a rock against her window, but only succeed in breaking someone else’s! The unseen Mrs. Sanders will save the day by phoning Fred to tell him there is someone on the roof. This is similar to when neighbor Mrs. DeVries (a character we do see, albeit only briefly) calls to report Lucy is out on the ledge in “Lucy Cries Wolf” (S4;E3).
Sitcom Logic Alert! Once she walks safely across the plank to the other building, why does Lucy need Ethel to join her? Why couldn’t Lucy just go down (assuming their doors were not locked from the inside, like those in the Mertz building) and come up and unlock the door for Ethel?
Initially, someone in production suggested there be a POV (point of view) shot of what Lucy would see when crossing the plank. Desi vetoed the suggestion. Interestingly, when Lucy is on the ledge in “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13), this type of shot was inserted to show how far Lucy might fall. In 1952, Desi might have nixxed the shot fearing audiences might worry about Lucy’s safety during a funny scene, thereby reducing the laughs. He might also have had no way to quickly and efficiently obtain the shot: a city alleyway at night.
Semantics: Standing on the roof, Ethel says they are five flights up. Technically, if the apartment house is four stories high (and it must be because the Ricardos live on the fourth floor and Ricky and Fred are sitting on the steps to the roof within eyeshot of Lucy) then shouldn’t it be four flights up? But what’s a flight or two between friends?
This episode is the epitome of “I Love Lucy.” The foursome are the only characters and the plot concentrates on marriage and the battle of the sexes: the series in a nutshell. What it lacks in wild physical comedy, it more than makes up for in verbal wit and its ability to skillfully, yet humorously, address relationship issues.
FAST FORWARD!
Lucy and Ethel once again find themselves on the roof in “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (S2;30). Not surprisingly, the roof is differently configured than it was earlier in the season. This will be the last time we see ‘Lucy on the Roof’!
The couples take another ‘vacation from marriage’ during “In Palm Springs” (S4;E26). Once again, they can’t stay away from each other for very long!
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“Ricky Asks for a Raise”
(S1;E35 ~ June 9, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed on May 2, 1952 at General Service Studios. Rating: 54.2/83
Synopsis ~
At Lucy’s urging, Ricky tries to pressure his boss into giving him a raise…only to get him fired. To make things right, Lucy and the Mertzes book every table at the Tropicana and don various disguises only to storm out when they hear Ricky Ricardo is not playing there any more.
This episode is based on “George Tries for a Raise” (#57) from Lucille Ball’s radio series “My Favorite Husband” broadcast October 7, 1949.
This was the final episode of the first season of “I Love Lucy.” Season one contained 35 episodes, more than any other season of a “Lucy” sitcom, although it did not last longer than season two, which broadcast its last new episode on June 29th. The season ended #3 in the ratings, with a 50.9 share.
While rehearsing this episode, Lucy found out she was pregnant again. At first they thought this would mean the end of the show, especially since this was the last episode of the season. It was writer Jess Oppenheimer who came up with the idea that Lucy should be pregnant both on TV and off. Due to Lucy’s pregnancy, they filmed four more episodes before the summer hiatus began. Then they came back in early August to film as many episodes as possible before Lucy’s due date.
In their bedroom preparing for the Littlefields to arrive for dinner, Lucy coaches Ricky on how to ask for a pay increase. As a side note, Lucille Ball wears her hair in a fuller style than in most other episodes.
To visually evoke the fact that Ricky needs a raise, Lucy wears an old house dress and tries sucking in her cheeks to look hungry.
LUCY: “Maybe I ought to suck in my cheeks so he’ll think we don’t get enough to eat.”
The newspaper Ethel holds has an ad for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. A few months before this episode was filmed, The Greatest Show on Earth, a Cecil B. DeMille film set at the Ringling Circus, premiered. Lucille Ball was offered a role in this film, which she had to turn down due to her first pregnancy. She did, however, appear in the television version of the film in 1963.
Next to the circus ad is the logo for the Broadway musical Call Me Madam by Irving Berlin – a caricature of its star Ethel Merman. At the time of filming, the show was closing its nearly two-year run on Broadway before launching a national tour at the National Theatre in Washington DC. Vivian Vance was in two Broadway musicals with Merman and the big-voiced star would make two appearances on “The Lucy Show.” It is said that the character of Ethel Mertz was named after Merman.
Jamming the Tropicana’s reservation line, Lucy gets to do her ‘darling’ Tallulah Bankhead voice, something she did (with costumes) in “Lucy Fakes Illness” (S1;E16). The real Tallulah Bankhead would guest star on “The Celebrity Next Door,” the second episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” in 1957 and would prove to be one of Lucy’s most difficult co-stars.
Lucy also gets to do her southern accent when reserving for Scarlet Culpepper. In reality, Lucille Ball did a screen test for the role of Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With The Wind (1939). She didn’t get it – nor does Scarlet Culpepper get a reservation. She was beat out by President and First Lady, Harry and Bess Truman, who naturally remain off-screen.
Others who also remain off-camera include Mrs. Ackerman, Mrs. Thompson, and Mrs. Bennett. All of these names were taken from real life. Harry Ackerman was a CBS vice-president and producer who even appeared in “The Audition” (S1;E6) as a sponsor. Maury Thompson was the show’s camera coordinator and he also appeared on camera once in “Lucy Writes a Play” (S1;E17) as the stage manager. Mrs. Bennett is probably a reference to Desi’s camera and lighting stand-in Bennett Green.
The Mertzes enlist the help of Hal King, a quick change artist friend, to supply their get-ups. His name is stenciled on the trunk. In reality Hal King was the show’s make-up artist and brother-in-law of the real Max Factor!
Lucy and the Mertzes change outfits in front of a door reading “Green Supply Company,” in honor of Bennett Green, Desi’s stand-in. The alley wall is decorated with a Red Cross poster. These were common set decoration in the series’ early years. In fact, this same brick wall “flat” with the same poster was seen outside the butcher shop set in “The Freezer” (S2;E29) several weeks earlier.
This is the first and only time in which we see the entrance of the Topicana. Sharp-eyed viewers will note that when Lucy and the Mertzes sashay down the hall, one of the photos on the wall is of glamorous Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Those who do show up do not disappoint!
- Eccentric Countess Blublitzki with Hazel and her escort Fredrika
- Stuffy Mrs. Worthington Proudfoot & Party
- ‘Veddy’ English Mr & Mrs. Miriam Chumley
- Miss McGillicuddy, a gum-chewing, Runyon-esque floozy
Ricky’s replacement is Xavier Valdez, who is billed as ‘King of the Konga.’
Valdez’s first name is the same as Desi Arnaz’s former employer and colleague, Xavier Cugat. His surname is a tribute to Cuban conga artist Miguelito Valdés, a former singer with Cugat’s band who was known as ‘Mr. Babalu’ even before Desi Arnaz’s popularity soared.
This is perhaps the only time we see the Tropicana menu (left). The artwork depicts a tree with Spanish moss hanging off of it, which isn’t especially keeping with the club’s Havana Cuba inspiration (right, from 1951). The menus were probably from the props department storage and not specially made for “I Love Lucy”.
This is the second and final appearance of Alvin and Phoebe Littlefield, who were introduced two episodes prior in “Lucy’s Schedule” (S1;E33). They were played by Gale Gordon and Edith Meisner, respectively. Gale Gordon played Mr. Atterbury on Lucy’s “My Favorite Husband” and was a front-runner for the role of Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” In addition to Mr. Littlefield, he played a Judge in “Lucy Makes Room for Danny,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” He went on to play Theodore J. Mooney on “The Lucy Show,” Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy,” Omar Whittaker in “Lucy Calls The President,” and Curtis McGibbon in “Life with Lucy.”
Edith Meisner made her Broadway debut in 1923 and appeared in more than 20 shows, including The Garrick Gaieties, Sabrina Fair, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. In 1941 she appeared in the musical Let’s Face It! co-starring Vivian Vance.
The exasperated Maurice, the Tropicana Maitre D’, is played by Maurice Marsac. Born in France in 1915, it was only natural that he return as the waiter who serves Lucy snails in “Paris at Last” (S5;E18). Marsac earns a spontaneous round of applause from the studio audience after his skillfully juggling of the Tropicana’s two-line reservation system.
Oops! Announcer Roy Rowan’s voice-over credits state that “the role William was played by Maurice Marsac.“ According to the original script, the character portrayed by was actually supposed to be named ‘William’ but Gale Gordon addressed him as ‘Maurice’.
Uncredited background artist William H. O’Brien, who plays the Tropicana waiter. O’Brien had done six films with Lucille Ball between 1934 and 1949. A second waiter goes unidentified and uncredited.
When originally broadcast there was an epilogue featuring Lucy and Desi appearing as themselves to directly address the audience. They sit on a packed trunk and announce they’re leaving on summer vacation. They encourage the audience to watch the summer replacement series “My Little Margie” and to smoke the cigarettes of their sponsor, Philip Morris. This tag scene was only shown in its original broadcast but is included as a special feature on the DVD set. When “I Love Lucy” returned for season two in the fall, “Margie” moved to Saturday nights for a second season. That first episode of season two starred Kathryn Card, who would go on to play Lucy Ricardo’s mother, Mrs. McGillicuddy. "My Little Margie” moved to NBC for its final two seasons, ending in May 1955.
FAST FORWARD
The humor of seeing Fred in female drag was only matched by seeing Ricky’s entire band dressed as women in “Lucy’s Club Dance” (S3;E25).
Lucy also tried to help Ricky’s career (but got him fired instead) by disguising herself as Miss McGillicuddy in “Ricky Needs an Agent” (S4;E29). Like this 1952 episode, she is successful, until the twist ending!
Two years later, in “The French Revue” (S3;E7), Lucy tries to sneak into the Tropicana, so she adopts a disguise that look very much like Mrs. Worthington Proudfoot!
In a 1967 episode of “The Lucy Show,” Lucy Carmichael tries to earn a raise by foiling a bank robbery. Unfortunately, she only ends up getting Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) wet!
In 1969, Harry refuses to give Lucy a raise so she goes on strike, along with all the other secretaries in the building, including Mary Wickes!
In 1971, Lucy Carter fainted when Harry (Gale Gordon) told her she was getting a $50 raise in “Lucy’s Bonus Bounces” (S4;E16).
1952, Desi Arnaz, Edith Meisner, Ethel, Fred Mertz, Gale Gordon, Hal King, I love lucy, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, Maurice Marsac, Max Factor, Miguelito Valdes, Quick Change, Ricky Asks For A Raise, Ricky Ricardo, Scarlett, Tallulah Bankhead, Tropicana, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Xavier Cugat -
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“The Publicity Agent”
(S1;E31 ~ May 12, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed April 4, 1952 at General Service Studios. Rating: 64.7/89
Synopsis ~ To get Ricky’s name in the papers, Lucy poses as Shaherizadi, the Maharincess of Franistan, Ricky Ricardo’s #1 fan!
When the episode opens, Lucy and Ricky are spending a dull evening at home. Ricky is playing solitaire. Lucy jokingly mentions Tiddlywinks.
LUCY: “Play your black tiddly on your red wink.”
Tiddlywinks is a game played on a felt mat with small discs called “winks”, a pot (the target) and a collection of “squidgers”, which are also discs. Players use a squidger to propel a wink into the air. The objective of the game is to score points by getting your winks into the pot.
At first Lucy thinks a jewel theft might get him in the headlines, but after a quick inventory her jewels are only worth $43.
LUCY: “You know how those Hollywood stars get their name in the paper when their jewels are stolen.”
This actually happened to Lucille Ball when on tour with Desi in 1950. Their Chicago hotel room was robbed and nearly all Lucy’s jewelry was stolen. Real or imagined jewelry thefts were part of the plot in “The Great Train Robbery” (S5;E5), “The Lucy-Desi Milton Berle Special” (1959) and “A Date for Lucy” (HL S1;E19).
After ruling out having Ricky win Miss America, Lucy reads that the Shah of Persia has a standing order for all of Benny Goodman’s records, an idea is born. In 1952, Goodman’s latest record was “Easy Does It” on Capitol.
While thinking up what to call their phony royal, Ethel pipes up that her aunt was “Queen for a Day” once. “Queen for a Day” was one of the most popular television shows of the ‘50s and ‘60s, airing five days a week. The premise had women competing for prizes by disclosing their hardships for an audience vote. It began as a radio program in 1945 and moved to television in 1947. Its final queen was crowned in 1964.
But the real Queen of that day was Juliana of the Netherlands, who was making her first official visit to the US on April 4, 1952 – the very same day this episode was filmed.
Lucy and Ethel finally land on calling their faux royal The Maharincess of Franistan.
LUCY: “I’m not a Maharincess! I’m a Henna-Rinsess!”
Oops! Technically, the daughter of a Maharaja is a Maharaj Kumari, not a Maharincess, as Lucy and Ethel assume.
Ricky thinks that Franistan is “tucked right in between Switzerland and Persia."
To add veracity to their already far-fetched scheme, Lucy and Ethel book a room at the swanky Waldorf-Astoria located at 301 Park Avenue, an appropriate place for a rich, foreign dignitary to stay. From its opening in 1931, the Waldorf- Astoria was famous for lavish dinner parties and galas featuring the rich and famous. After World War II it played a significant role in world politics and the Cold War, culminating in the World Peace Conference of March 1949. The hotel is still in business today.
Lucy’s interview with the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (S1;E25) is supposed to take place at the Waldorf. Two years later, Lucy’s well-to-do school chum Cynthia Harcourt (Mary Jane Croft, above) took digs at the Waldorf while canvassing for donations in 1954′s “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23).
The Waldorf hotel room is decorated with a print of
“The Blue Boy” (1779), a full-length portrait in oil by Thomas Gainsborough.
Kenny Morgan, the “Publicity Agent” of the title, is not a character in the script but did appear in “Men Are Messy” (S1;E8, above). Morgan used his own name on camera and was actually the Arnaz Publicity Agent in real life. In addition, he was Lucy and Desi’s cousin-in-law, having married Lucy’s cousin Cleo.
With Ethel as her lady in waiting, the Maharincess ‘holds court’ at the Tropicana, listening to Ricky sing “Babalu” and “I Get Ideas.” “Babalu” was Ricky Ricardo’s (and Desi Arnaz’s) signature song. In season one it was first heard in full in “The Audition” (S1;E6), and then briefly sung for laughs when Ricky plays old in “The Young Fans” (S1;E20). In season two it is crooned by Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires a English Tutor” (S2;E13), and then as the fade-out of “Ricky’s Life Story” (S3;E1), where Ricky uses Lucy’s bottom as a conga drum! It was perhaps most memorably performed by Ricky and Little Ricky in “The Ricardos Visit Cuba” (S6;E9).
“I Get Ideas” was later sung by Lucy (solo) in “Lucy and the Dummy” (S5;E3).
The Maharincess also grants a brief interview with a reporter, played by Peter Leeds. Leeds was born in Bayonne, NJ, and starred with Lucy in the films The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and The Facts of Life (1960) with Bob Hope. Coincidentally, he also later appeared in “Lucy and Bob Hope” (S6;E1) as well as an episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1971. Bennett Green, Desi’s stand-in and frequent bit player, was his photographer.
In the last act, Ricky gets wise to Lucy’s masquerade and plots a little revenge of his own, recruiting Fred, his friend Joe, and Bill Foster to teach Lucy and Ethel a lesson. When Ricky enters the Waldorf suite as Tiger (“Hail, Tiger!”) he is wearing special platform shoes that elevate him more than six inches. Fred disguises himself with a full black beard that would rival a cough drop box!
Richard J. Reeves (Bill Foster / Assassin) makes his third of eight appearances on “I Love Lucy,” having also appeared as Bill Foster in “The Gossip” (S1;E24). His last association with Lucy was in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show” playing a policeman. Gil Herman (Joe / Assassin) was an actor who eventually became a CBS executive. Herman also served as a Major General in the Air Force Reserve. He appeared on Broadway in Winged Victor (1943), as well as the film version the following year.
ASSASSIN: “You have red and black hair of Franistan royalty. What is secret?”
LUCY: “Alright, I’ll give you the secret. Every two weeks a cup of henna to a gallon of water.”
Hail, Tiger!
FAST FORWARD
Lucy Carter played a fake Middle Eastern Maharani that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Maharincess of Franistan in “Lucy’s Impossible Mission” (HL S1;E6). Even the voice is similar!
Babalu, Bennett Green, Desi Arnaz, Ethel, Franistan, Fred Mertz, Gainsborough, Gil Herman, I Get Ideas, I love lucy, Kenny Morgan, Lucille Ball, Lucy, Lucy Ricardo, Marc Daniels, Peter Leeds, Queen for a Day, Queen Juliana, Richard J. Reeves, Ricky Ricardo, Solotaire, The Blue Boy, The Publicity Agent, Tiddlywinks, Vivian Vance, Waldorf-Astoria, William Frawley -
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“The Gossip”
(S1;E24 ~ March 24, 1952) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by
Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed on February 15, 1952 at General Service Studio.
Synopsis ~ Lucy and Ethel bet Ricky and Fred breakfast in bed for a month that they can’t stop gossiping. Just to be sure they’ll win, the boys plant a juicy story about neighbor Grace Foster running away with the milkman.
This plot closely follows “Gossip” (broadcast September 9, 1950), episode #96 of Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband,” except that the bet is $25, not breakfast in bed.
The same evening this episode first aired (March 24, 1952), Lucille Ball’s good friend Mary Wickes appeared in the “Studio One” presentation “Miss Hargreaves” on CBS. Six weeks earlier, Wickes had played ballet mistress Madame LaMond on “I Love Lucy.”
The date this episode was filmed (February 15, 1952), Hollywood character actress Ethel Wales died at age 73. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, her final screen credit was the Lucille Ball film Fancy Pants (1950).
At the start of the episode, Lucy is gossiping on the telephone with her girlfriend Marge, a character we meet in “No Children Allowed” (S2;E22) and “The Homecoming” (S5;E6) where she is played by Charlotte Lawrence.
The pendant Lucy wears in the first scene was one of Lucille Ball’s favorite pieces of jewelry.
In order to keep from gossiping, Lucy tapes her mouth shut and has to communicate through pantomime, something at which Lucille Ball was very adept. In many future episodes of her television series’ Lucy would play charades for comic effect. Lucille Ball would also go on the game show “Body Language” and promote a box game by the same name.
With her mouth taped shut, Ethel guesses that the gossip is about Betty and Jack. This should not be interpreted to be Betty Ramsey, who’s husband was named Ralph. Before guessing Betty, Ethel guesses it may be Blanche, Dorothy, or Luanne. The name Luann will be given to Luann Hall (Vivvi Jannis) in “The Charm School” (S3;E15). The name Dorothy is given to Lucy and Ethel’s single friend Dorothy Cook (Sarah Selby) in “The Matchmaker” (S4;E4). There was never a character named Blanche on “I Love Lucy” mainly because Blanche Morton, played by Lucy’s friend Bea Benadaret, was a famous character on “The George Burns and Gracie Allan Show,” which preceded “I Love Lucy” on the CBS Monday night line-up.
The story that Lucy pantomimes is then verbally translated by Ethel for Ricky and Fred – and the viewing audience, too!
Betty and Jack had a fight over another woman.
Betty went in a club and saw Jack with the other woman.
The two of them were caught kissing and drinking.
Betty was so angry that she went over and started yelling at Jack.
Betty got into a fight with the other woman.
Jack tried to stop the two women from fighting, but a policeman came in and separated the two women.
The policeman put the women in the Black Mariah, threw Jack in, too, and they went driving away with the siren on.
Black Mariah is a slang term for a police ‘paddy wagon’ a vehicle designed to transport several criminals at one time.
In the bedroom scene, the show unusually makes use of voice over so that the audience can hear what Lucy and Ricky are thinking.
When Lucy hears Ricky and Fred indulging in idle chatter about the goings on at the Tropicana, Lucy refers to them as “Hedda and Lolly” – the first of many references to gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and her rival Louella Parsons. Hopper famously played herself in an episode in season five as well as on the first episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
Ricky’s gossip centers on how Marco, Ricky’s pianist, was talking about Joe the trombone player being a wolf (aka womanizer).
RICKY: “This week it’s Nancy the harpist, last week was one of the girls in the trio, the week before that was the hat check girl.”
The names refer to real members of the Desi Arnaz / Ricky Ricardo Orchestra, but not their actual personal lives. Marco Rizo, pianist, was seen and heard on many episodes. Joe Miller was a brass player and Nancy the Harpist was played by Maryce R. Pickering.
This is the second of three times the corner drugstore set is used, conspicuously decorated with advertising for the show’s main sponsor, Philip Morris, including their ‘living mascot’ Johnny Roventini and their slogan “Call for Philip Morris!” The set was first used two weeks earlier when “Fred and Ethel Fight” (S1;E22) and again in “Redecorating” (S2;E8).
Philip Morris took out a comic book-style print media ad based on the ‘breakfast in bed’ ending of “The Gossip”.
Speaking of gossip, here’s a juicy story that might have made Hedda’s column:
During rehearsals Lucy got into an argument with director Marc Daniels. He wanted the milkman to crawl on the bed, while Lucy wanted the him to walk around it. Lucy didn’t see the logic and reasoned that if it didn’t make sense, it wouldn’t be funny. Daniels couldn’t supply a good reason for the milkman to walk on the bed, so Producer Jess Oppenheimer sided with Lucy, and the milkman walked around the bed.
Lucy and Ethel independently come up with the idea to “borrow a cup of sugar / flour” as an excuse to see each other. This was a common comedy trope of the time for introducing characters into a scene. Here, both Lucy and Ethel are playing on this trope, revealing that neither really needs flour or sugar!
Just as Ethel is leaving, Lucy blurts out the gossip that Ricky has planted!
Lucy and Ethel hear ghostly voices chiding them for gossiping. The voices are coming from the air vent next to the fireplace. The girls teach them a lesson!
This is the second use of the furnace pipe (aka ‘the snooper’s friend’) as a source of information.
When the boys come upstairs covered in soot, Lucy dubs them the “Coal Dust Twins,” a play on the Gold Dust Twins, the logo of a popular washing powder of the time. The twins (Goldy and Dusty) were two comically portrayed African-American children whose slogan was “Let us do the work for you.” The brand was phased out by the mid-’50s as competition grew and national sensibilities changed.
Lucy uses a brass clad fireplace bellows, with an old English pub design.
Lucy and Ethel cannot keep from gossiping and blurt out Ricky and Fred’s contrived story that Grace and the milkman are going to Mexico for a quickie divorce before settling in Steubenville (Ohio). Ethel should have known that this was a made-up story because her husband Fred was born in Steubenville!
In this episode, the Fosters are said to live in apartment 3B, which is the original number of the apartment the Ricardos get from switching with the Bensons (above) at the end of season two. In “The Anniversary Present” (S2;E3), the Fosters live in apartment 2A!
Bobby Jellison played the milkman, the “cottage cheese Casanova” and “cow juice peddler” (as Bill Foster calls him). The actor would memorably return in season five to play Bobby the Bellboy at the Beverly Palms Hotel for a half dozen episodes. He played a bellhop again on a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” set in Las Vegas.
Richard Reeves (Bill Foster) here makes his second of eight appearances on “I Love Lucy.” Although he appeared in five episodes of “The Adventures of Superman” and did a failed pilot for a Superboy spin-off, he is not related to George Reeves, who later guest starred on “I Love Lucy” as the Man of Steel. A physically imposing actor, he often appeared in comic book-themed TV shows. His last association with Lucy was in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show” playing a policeman.
Ironically, the next time we hear of the Fosters it is Grace (Gloria Blondell) who gets the camera time, while Bill is away on business. In “The Gossip” Grace is said to be a blonde, but when she we see her in “The Anniversary Present” (S2;E3, above), she is a brunette.
Oops! When Ethel brings the breakfast to Fred (who is in Ricky’s bed) the tray features the Ricardo’s Franciscan Ivy dinnerware. If Ethel had really brought breakfast from her kitchen it would have been served on different plates.
FAST FORWARD!
In 2001, a Polish remake loosely based on “I Love Lucy” titled “Kocham Klara” (”I Love Clara”), presented “Rumor” loosely based on this episode and co-written with the cooperation of the original “I Love Lucy” writers.
Kuba and Jan accuse their wives of being the world’s greatest gossipers. Klara and Hanna say the opposite is true; their husbands love to gossip. A bet is established who will be caught gossiping sooner. The winner will receive breakfast in bed. Meanwhile, time goes by, and neither Klara nor Hanna intend to gossip. Kuba and Jan decide to inspire them to do so.
1952, Adventures of Superman, Bellboy, Bobby Jellison, Bobby the Bellboy, charades, Desi Arnaz, Ethel, Fred Mertz, Gold Dust Twins, Gossip, Grace Foster, Hedda Hopper, I love lucy, Lucille Ball, Lucy, milkman, pantomime, Philip Morris, Richard Reeves, Ricky Ricardo, The Critic’s Choice, The Gossip, tv, Vivian Vance, William Frawley -
Six Degrees of Lucy
While at Stacey’s Department Store in
“Lucy Bags a Bargain” (THE LUCY SHOW 1966), Lucy has a run in
with an irate shopper played by Barbara Morrison, who also plays an
irate shopper in “Lucy’s Working Daughter” (HERE’S LUCY 1968).
While furniture shopping at Stacey’s, Lucy mistakes the price and can’t afford her purchases, just like “Lucy Gets Chummy With The Neighbors” (I LOVE LUCY 1957)…
So Lucy has to take a job at Stacey’s,
where she is moved from department to department, just as she was in
at Kramer’s Kandy Kitchen in “Job Switching” (I LOVE LUCY 1952),
where Elvia Allman plays the foreman of the wrapping department. At
Stacey’s, Elvia Allman plays a customer in the hat department.
Lucy is transferred to the sporting
goods department, where she wreaks havoc, just as she did while
working at Macy’s Department Store in MAME (1974).
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