Milk!  It does a sitcom good!

The Desilu Dairy is in business providing milk, cream, and yogurt to the Queen of Comedy!  Mooo!

At their Chatsworth Ranch, Lucy and Desi had a dairy cow named the Duchess of Devonshire. Devonshire Cream is a clotted cream dairy product produced from North Devon Cattle in Cornwall and Somerset England.

“The Elves” (1949) ~ Liz (Lucille Ball) and George (Richard Denning) arrive home from vacation to find that someone has been ordering strawberry ice cream from the milkman every day, and the pink trail leads to the doorstep of their new neighbors.

Upon arriving home, the Coopers notice that their porch has been painted white. Upon closer inspection, they realize it isn’t paint - but milk. Their ‘milk card’ has been tampered with to order strawberry ice cream while they were away - yet none is found. During the early part of the twentieth century, dairy products were usually delivered to homes, rather than shopped in a market. The milkman was part of daily life. Housewives would leave notes (or cards, as above) to request items outside their standing delivery order: Milk, eggs, yogurt, butter, and ice cream, were all offered. It was not uncommon to see back porches with milk boxes and or empty bottles ready to be returned to the dairy.  This service has all but disappeared in favor of supermarkets.

“The Sleigh Ride” (1949) ~ Mr. Negley the mailman decides to use his motorcycle to pull the holiday sleigh, but the load proves to much and the milkman’s old horse is pressed into service. Unfortunately, the horse stops at every milk stop on his route. In the days before milk truck delivery, the dairyman in rural America would deliver dairy products by horse and wagon.  

“The Gum Machine” (1949) ~ When George finds the cream for the coffee has soured, he insists Liz tell the milkman about it - stand up for her rights. The milkman arrives, delivers the milk, and then leaves. Liz chickened out. George calls him back to tell him Hogan’s Frolicking Milkmaid Cream was sour. The milkman (Hans Conried) says that Mr. Hogan will take it out on the cow!  He gives them free items instead of losing their business.

MILKMAN: “You see, we can’t afford a radio program!”

“Valentine’s Day” (1949) ~ When Mr. Negley the butcher storms off, Katie the maid (Ruth Perrott) isn’t too bothered. She has a date with the milkman instead! She’s written him a poem which she left it in an empty milk bottle.

I love you, dear, don’t be surprised.
Leave two quarts of homogenized!

“The Gossip” (1952) ~ When Lucy overhears a juicy story about Grace Foster running away with the milkman, Ricky bets her she can’t go without gossiping. To win the bet, Lucy enlists the milkman and a jealous Mr. Foster in her scheme. 

MILKMAN: “He’s after me!  All my milk’s gone sour!” 

Bobby Jellison played the milkman, the “cottage cheese Casanova” and “cow juice peddler” (as Bill Foster calls him).

MR. FOSTER: “From now on, we drink goat’s milk!”

“Lucy’s Bicycle Trip” (1956) ~ The gang bikes from Italy to France and takes shelter in a barn for the night. For breakfast, the farmer brings them bread and cheese, but the milk must come from the cow!  

Lucille Ball was able to produce one good stream of milk from the cow, but she didn’t think the lights caught the stream enough for it to show on camera. Writer Madelyn Pugh later said, 

“It was the mangiest cow I’d ever seen. I went down to the set, and Lucy said, ‘You wrote it, YOU milk it!’” 

Lucille Ball shared the cover of a March 1960 issue of “The Police Gazette” with a cover story claiming that “Milk Can be the Drink of Death”!

“Together For Christmas” (1962) ~ After trying in vain to share their holiday traditions, Lucy and Viv decide to go back to traveling to their respective relatives for the holidays. Lucy says she left a note for the milkman. 

Until the end of the 1960s or so, most suburban homes had daily milk delivery, which involved leaving milk bottles on the porch (sometimes in a milk box). If a customer did not wish to have milk (or other dairy products) delivered that day - or for a period of days - it was standard procedure to ‘leave a note for the milkman’.

“Lucy Discovers Wayne Newton” (1965) ~ Newton sings an ode to his dairy cow, “Bessie the Heifer,” a 1951 country-western novelty song.

Bessie turns up again in the final recording studio sequence - with all Newton’s other farm animals. 

“Lucy and the Countess Lose Weight” (1965) ~ On a lunch break at the health farm, Lucy and the Countess realize if they want a drink with lunch, they are going to have to milk a cow. 

To calm Bossie the cow while Lucy milks her, the Countess hums “The Blue Danube”. Lucy punctuates the downbeat with squirts of milk from the cow’s udder.  

“Guess Who Owes Lucy $23.50?” (1968) ~ Van Johnson sings “Happy Birthday to You” to Ethel - the prize dairy cow of a Texas oil tycoon. 

“Lucy the Shopping Expert” (1969) ~ Lucy teaches Kim about getting the best deals in the grocery store. In the dairy aisle, Lucy loses control of the nozzel on a can of whipped cream. 

“Lucy’s Lucky Day” (1971) ~ Lucy goes on a game show named “The Milky Way to Riches” that is sponsored by the Dover Dairy. 

When Mr. Larson the milkman (Billy Sands) rushes in with good news, Lucy teases him by guessing that Elsie the Cow had triplets. Elsie was the cartoon cow mascot of the Bordon Dairy Company from 1936 until it went out of business in the mid-1990s. Larson tells Lucy that she has won Dover Dairy’s customer of the year and will receive a free pint of raspberry apricot yogurt every week for a year.

“Lucy and the 20/20 Vision” (1971) ~ In order to pretend to be surprised by Harry at the door, Lucy acts as if she was putting out the milk bottle. At the time, rural delivery of milk and other dairy products to residential homes was common. In order to ‘recycle’ the milk bottles, homeowners would put the empty bottles on the porch at night, so the milkman could take them away early the next morning. A famous example of this was seen in the closing credits of the primetime cartoon sitcom satire “The Flintstones” (1960-66, inset photo).

“Lucy, the Other Woman” (1972) ~ Lucy’s milkman has a crush on her but his angry wife (Totie Fields) thinks Lucy is having an affair with the dairy deliveryman. Herbie Faye plays Lester Butkus the milkman. According to the insignia on his hat, he works for the Cloverleaf Dairy. This means that in the year since “Lucy’s Lucky Day” the Carter family has switched dairies. 

Mr. Butkas brings Lucy a free pint of banana fudge yogurt, adding to his wife’s conviction that he’s sweet as cream over Lucy.   

The Butkus living room. A milkman lives here! 

April 8, 1909

Maxine Semon was born on April 8, 1909 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She made her screen debut in October 1944 in one of RKO’s Edgar Kennedy short films titled “Feather Your Nest”. In 1936, Lucille Ball had appeared in one of the shorts titled “Dummy Ache”. 

In 1950 she made her television debut as Honeybee Gillis on four episodes of “The Life of Riley” starring Jackie Gleason. Two of them also featured Bobby Jellison (aka Bobby the Bellboy). Coincidentally, on radio the role was played by Shirley Mitchell aka Marion Strong) and when the series was re-booted in 1953 starring William Bendix, Honeybee was played by Gloria Blondell (aka Grace Foster). 

In August 1955, she did an episode of the “I Love Lucy” summer replacement series Desilu’s “Those Whiting Girls.”  Just prior to that she had done three episodes of “I Married Joan,” NBC’s answer to “I Love Lucy.” 

On November 3, 1955, she played a nurse on “I Love Lucy” in “Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9) which aired on December 5, 1955.

She returned to the series six months later to film “Lucy and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E10) on June 5, 1956. The episode aired on  October 1, 1956. She played a baseball fan at Yankee Stadium sitting in the box next to Hope with Dick Elliott. Semon and Elliott both order hot dogs from Lucy with Hope as the go-between.  

On a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” set in Las Vegas, Semon played a chambermaid at the Sands hotel. 

“Lucy Hunts Uranium" (1958) also featured Bobby Jellison, with whom she made her TV debut on “Life of Riley” in 1950. 

From 1962 to 1964 she played the recurring character of the heard-but-not-seen Mrs. Jillson on “The Joey Bishop Show” filmed at Desilu Studios. Her on-screen husband was played by Joe Besser. Semon appeared on camera as other characters in three of her thirteen episodes of the series. 

Back on the Desilu Studios backlot in 1966, she played nosey neighbor Tillie Kinkaid (above left) in two episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show.” 

The following year she did a day on “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.” on the Desilu backlot, playing a Marine Sergeant.  “The Lucy Show” did a cross-over episode with “Gomer Pyle” in November 1966.

Her last time on the Desilu lot was to film an episode of “My Three Sons” in 1967. She had previously done an episode in 1964 opposite William Frawley. 

Her final screen appearance was on a January 1973 episode of “Maude”.  She played a confused patient in a doctor’s office and had no dialogue. 

She died on October 18, 1985 at age 76 of undisclosed causes. 

February 10, 1951

“The Misunderstanding of the Black Eye” (aka “Liz’s Black Eye”) is episode #118 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on February 10, 1951.

This was the 20th episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 31 new episodes, with the season (and series) ending on March 31, 1951.  

Synopsis ~ When the Atterburys ask how Liz got her black eye, Liz jokingly answers “Oh, George slugged me,” and now they won’t believe any other explanation.

This radio program was the basis for the “I Love Lucy” TV episode “The Black Eye” (ILL S2;E20), filmed on  September 15, 1952 and first aired on March 9, 1953.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz (above right), a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96. 

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Robert ‘Bobby’ D. Jellison (Mr. Benton, Florist) will play the recurring character of Bobby the bellboy throughout the Hollywood episodes of “I Love Lucy.” Prior to that, he was the milkman in “The Gossip” (S1;E24). He made one more appearance as another luggage jockey in “Lucy Hunts Uranium,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” set at the Sands Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. He died in 1980. 

Lester Jay (Delivery Boy) was a child actor who appeared extensively on ”Let’s Pretend” for CBS-Radio. He was one of three actors to play Chester on “The Gumps” (1935-37), Robinson Brown, Jr. on “Robinson Crusoe, Jr.” (1934-35) and Terry on “Terry And Ted” (1937-48).

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers tonight, dinner is over and Liz is curled up in the living room with a good book. George enters.” 

George is looking for the book he was reading, only to find Liz is reading it. She refuses to give it up and insists that they sit close and read it together. Liz mumbles when she reads, distracting George, so she reads passages about Madge and Gordon, and their fateful love affair, aloud. 

Liz gets carried away acting out the story. 

Outside the Cooper home, the Atterbury’s are approaching the front door, but Iris is uncomfortable about not calling first. 

IRIS: “Emily Post wouldn’t do it!”

Emily Post (1872-1960) was a writer who’s name has become synonymous with proper etiquette and manners. More than half a century after her death, her name is still used in titles of etiquette books.  Her name was invoked by Kim in “Lucy’s Houseguest, Harry” (HL S3;E20) in 1971, twenty years after this mention on “My Favorite Husband”! 

Before they can ring the doorbell, Iris and Rudolph hear Liz acting out violent passages of the book and think that they are overhearing real violence between Liz and George! 

The dialogue for the television script is nearly identical to the radio version, with Fred and Ethel (William Frawley and Vivian Vance) taking the lines originally spoken by Rudolph and Iris. A few lines about Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and his hot Latin temper are added for TV. 

They decide to hurry down to the drugstore and call the Coopers to tell them they are coming over - so they are prepared.  When Liz answers the phone, she cryptically acts as if Liz might have something to tell her, but Liz is clueless. 

LIZ: “Iris, have you been nipping at the cooking sherry?”

On television, Lucy is more direct. Cooking sherry, a fortified wine for culinary use, was something housewives might have in their pantry.  To say a woman sipped cooking sherry was a polite way of saying that a woman drank, usually unbeknownst to her husband. 

IRIS: “Anything we can bring over? Ice cream? Candy? Bandages?”

On television, Ethel offers iodine in lieu of bandages! 

LIZ: “And put your shoes on!”
GEORGE: “Why? They know we have feet.” 

This exchange was used in “Men Are Messy” (ILL S1;E8) in 1951, so it was not repeated in “The Black Eye” in 1952:   

LUCY: “Put your shoes on and pick up those papers. Company is coming.”
RICKY: “It isn’t company, it’s Fred and Ethel.”
LUCY: “Well, put your shoes on.”
RICKY: “They know I have feet.”

Cleaning up, George tosses the book to Liz and it hits her in the eye. She quickly develops a black eye!  The Atterburys arrive and are dismayed to see Liz with a shiner.  Liz jokingly says that “George slugged me!” and George laughingly plays along. The Atterbury’s are appalled! 

LIZ: (laughing) “Nobody ever believes the real story of a black eye so I made one up!” 

IRIS: “Another man?”
LIZ: “No, a Shetland pony. I couldn’t tell you his name.”
IRIS: “It wouldn’t be cricket, would it?”
LIZ: “No. It’s somebody else.” 

At the bank, Mr. Atterbury calls George in to his office for a private conversation about George striking Liz. He admits that he struck Iris once. In return, she beat him to a pulp!  George finally tells Mr. Atterbury the full truth about the book.  Mr. Atterbury still doesn’t believe him.  He tells his secretary Miss Roberts that he is going down to the florists. 

At the flower shop, Mr. Atterbury orders two dozen rose from Mr. Benton, the florist (Bobby Jellison) to be delivered to Liz. Since the delivery truck is just about to depart, Mr. Atterbury rushes to fill out the card.  Mr. Benton assumes Rudolph is sending the flowers to a paramour.  To prove he is just trying to save George’s marriage, he recounts the message he just put in the box: 

“Dearest Sweetheart. Nothing that happens can dim my love for you. Signed, adoringly, Rudolph.” 

Saying it out loud, Mr. Atterbury suddenly realizes his error and rushes to the Cooper home to intercept the delivery. 

On television, the small role of the florist is played by Bennett Green, Desi Arnaz’s camera and lighting stand-in. 

Katie the maid shrieks when she sees Mr. Atterbury lurking in the bushes. Iris and Liz are about to go shopping so Katie hides Mr. Atterbury in the hall closet until they leave. The doorbell rings. It is a delivery boy (Lester Jay) with the flowers. Iris assumes they are from M.L. - Liz’s ‘Mystery Lover’.  To show her that she is being silly, Liz invites Iris to read the card for herself, fully expecting them to be from George.  When Iris reads that the roses are from Rudolph, she is aghast!

LIZ: “You think these flowers are from Rudolph Atterbury?”
IRIS: “They aren’t from Rudolph Valentino!” 

On “I Love Lucy” silent film heartthrob Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) was a favorite of Lucy’s mother, Mrs. McGillicuddy. In Hollywood, she couldn’t wait to go see the house where once Valentino lived. 

On television, however, this exchange necessitated another big name star be substituted. 

• LUCY: “Oh, now, Ethel, you certainly don’t think that these are from Fred Mertz, do you?”
• ETHEL: “Well, this card certainly wasn’t written by Fred MacMurray.”

In 1958, MacMurray would guest star on “Lucy Hunts Uranium”, an episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour.” Starting in 1960, William Frawley (Fred Mertz) would co-star with MacMurray on the family sitcom “My Three Sons.” 

Liz calls Mr. Atterbury ‘fat’ and Iris calls him ‘an old goat’!  Furious, Iris gets her coat to leave and finds her husband hiding in the closet!  

IRIS (to Rudolph): “You can explain, but there’s something I want to do first!”

END of EPISODE

December 9, 1950

“Trying To Cash The Prize Check” (aka “The ‘Everybody Wins’ Prize Check”) is episode #109 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on December 9, 1950. 

Synopsis ~ Liz goes on the radio quiz show and wins a check for $500, but she only gets to keep it if she can cash it within 25 minutes, and the banks are all closed!

This was the 15th episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 43 new episodes, with the season ending on June 25, 1950.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968. 

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) does not appear in this episode. 

GUEST CAST

Frank Nelson (’Happy’ Hal Brubaker) was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”.  Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs. His trademark was playing clerks and other working stiffs, suddenly turning to Benny with a drawn out “Yeeeeeeeeees?” Nelson appeared in 11 episodes of “I Love Lucy”, including three as quiz master Freddy Fillmore, and two as Ralph Ramsey, plus appearance on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” - making him the only actor to play two different recurring roles on “I Love Lucy.” Nelson returned to the role of the frazzled Train Conductor for an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1963. This marked his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.

Nelson adds one more quizmaster to his list of credits with ‘Happy’ Hal Brubaker. He joins Smiley Stembottom and Freddy Fillmore. 

Bobby Jellison (Mr. Uh-Uh-Uh) will play the recurring character of Bobby the bellboy throughout the Hollywood episodes of “I Love Lucy”.  Viewers may also remember him as the milkman in “The Gossip” (S1;E24). He makes one more appearance as another luggage jockey in “Lucy Hunts Uranium,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour”.

Jerry Hausner (Loan Store Clerk) was best known as Ricky Ricardo’s agent in “I Love Lucy” and as the voice of Waldo in “Mr. Magoo” and several characters such as Hemlock Holmes, The Mole, Broodles and Itchy in “The Dick Tracy Show.”  On Broadway, Hausner had the role of Sammy Schmaltz in Queer People (1934). On radio, he was a regular on such shows as “Blondie”, “The Jim Backus Show”, “The Judy Canova Show”, “Too Many Cooks”, and “Young Love”. Hausner died of heart failure on April 1, 1993. He was 83 years old. 

Wally Maher (Mr. Trimble, the Grocer) was born on August 4, 1908 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was known for Mystery Street (1950), The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) and Hollywood Hotel (1937). He was heard with Lucille Ball in the Lux Radio Theatre version of “The Dark Corner” (1947), taking the role originated on film by William Bendix. He died on December 27, 1951.

Sandra Gould (Woman in Audience) is probably best remembered as the second actor to play Gladys Kravitz on “Bewitched” (1966-71). On “I Love Lucy,” she played Nancy Johnson in “Oil Wells” (ILL S3;E18) and makes a brief appearance as an alarmed strap-hanger in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12). In 1962 she appeared in the fourth episode of “The Lucy Show” as a bank secretary.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers this morning, they’re at breakfast, and from the way Liz is looking at George, she’s either madly in love or has some ulterior motive in mind.” 

The show is called “Everybody Wins” hosted by ‘Happy’ Hal Brubaker (Frank Nelson), a local radio game show. It is sponsored by Grandma Grimes Cold Cream.  The first contestant is the woman with the reddest hair - Liz Cooper! Another woman in the audience (Sandra Gould) objects!

WOMAN: “Are you kiddin’ sister? At home, I’m a redhead. Next to you, I’m a brunette!”

Liz wins a $500 check just for stating her name. The catch is, Liz must cash the check in 25 minutes without telling anyone it is a stunt for a radio show.  She’s assigned a man (Bobby Jellison) to watch her to be sure. Liz confesses that her husband is a banker. Brubaker reminds her that the show went on the air at 3pm when the banks close.

Liz and Iris tear out of the studio toward the bank. They bang on the door to get the guard’s attention. Liz sees George but can’t tell him why she needs to get in. Their watchdog chaperone intervenes with a warning “Uh uh uh!” every time Liz starts to explain. Mr. Atterbury comes by and Iris asks him to cash the check, but Mr. Atterbury says to come back in the morning.  Liz pleads with him, but Mr. Atterbury cites state law. Liz stages a fake stick-up to get the cash. Mr. Atterbury points out that she hasn’t got a gun.  

With twelve minutes left, Liz and Iris start out to look for somewhere else to cash the check. 

End of Part One

Bob LeMond does a Jell-O commercial that gives a recipe for a quick dessert during the holidays.  

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers again, Liz and Iris have just left the bank to try to find another place to cash the $500 check from ‘Everybody Wins’ which Liz can keep if she can cash it in the next 15 minutes. George and Mr. Atterbury have prepared to return to their work.”

Arthur Godfrey (1903-83) was a tremendously popular host and entertainer. His CBS morning radio show “Arthur Godfrey Time” aired five times a week. He also had an evening program titled “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” which soon transitioned to television. It was the lead-in to “I Love Lucy” in 1951 and promoted Godfrey did on-air promotion for “Lucy.”  Many years later Godfrey guest-starred as himself on “The Lucy Show.”  Although tremendously popular whenever he aired, Godfrey was noticeably absent from afternoons, so it is unlikely that George and Mr. Atterbury tune in to his program at 3pm. 

When the radio comes on, however, it is tuned to “Everybody Wins”, not Arthur Godfrey.  

HAPPY HAL BRUBAKER (over radio): “Thank you, Mrs. Malone for being such a good sport and jumping off the high ladder with an umbrella. You missed the mattress so you don’t get a prize. Thanks anyway, and we hope that little old leg of yours mends soon!” 

This verbal gag is brought vividly to life on television with the appearance of a heavily bandaged former winner Mrs. Peterson (Hazel Pierce) who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel!  

George and Mr. Atterbury tune in just in time to hear Hal Brubaker report that Liz Cooper has not yet returned from cashing her check!  They realize what all her secrecy was about and, after a brief disagreement, they fill their pockets with cash and race off to find her!  

Liz and Iris see a loan shop sign “Do You Need Money? Hmmm?” in neon. The clerk (Jerry Hausner) tells them he will deduct the interest and the carrying charges giving her $14.32 with $50 weekly re-payments for 36 weeks! To get $500 they need to borrow $13,000! 

They run out of the shop with only six minutes left. George and Mr. Atterbury spot them, but rather than explain and waste time, the girls duck into a taxi to go to Trimble’s Grocery, where Liz is sure Mr. Trimble will give her the cash. 

Elderly grocer Mr. Trimble (Wally Maher) is in a chatty mood, wanting to talk about a mushy eggplant he sold her. He agrees to cash the check but is slow counting out the money from the cash drawer, making Liz a nervous wreck. He finally finishes, only to misread the check and count out $5.00 instead of five hundred! 

Liz and Iris give up and go back to the radio station. Meanwhile, George and Mr. Atterbury give up chasing Liz and Iris and decide to go to the radio station.  Liz arrives with a minute and a half to go. Defeated, she tears up the check just as the boys come racing in with the $500 cash.  With 45 seconds to go they scramble to reassemble the check!  Liz finds the final piece just as time expires. 

Brubaker reveals that he tricked her. The “Uh Uh Uh” man had the money all the time and would have cashed the check had Liz just asked. George is outraged and punches Brubaker in his ‘Happy’ face!  As a consolation, George agrees to give Liz the money anyway - plus $89.50 for the new dress.

LIZ: “Oh, George!  You really are my favorite husband!” 

In the final live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball takes on the character of a famous lady novelist and Bob LeMond is her interviewer. Lucy adopts a nasal voice as Elizabeth Dopplefinger Hopenshmice. The voice is similar to the one she will do as Isabella Clump in “The Million Dollar Idea” (ILL S3;E13). Elizabeth says she first imagines a book cover and then writes a story around it.  Bob LeMond says he would like to see a bowl of Jell-O on the cover of a book, but Elizabeth prefers a more romantic cover and kisses him. LeMond still wants Jell-O on the cover.  

Bob LeMond reads the credits. There is a recorded message from Instant Sanka.  

END EPISODE

September 23, 1989

Produced & Directed by Ellen Brown

Written by Robert L. Mills, Martha Bolton, Jeffrey Barron

Lucille Ball (Archival Footage) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in April 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

TRIBUTES BY

Bob Hope (Himself, Host) was born Lesley Townes Hope in England in 1903. During his extensive career in virtually all forms of media he received five honorary Academy Awards. In 1945 Desi Arnaz was the orchestra leader on Bob Hope’s radio show. Ball and Hope did four films together. He appeared as himself on the season 6 opener of “I Love Lucy.” He did a brief cameo in a 1964 episode of “The Lucy Show.” When Lucille Ball moved to NBC in 1980, Hope appeared on her welcome special. He died in 2003 at age 100.

George Burns (Himself) was born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City in January 1896. He married Gracie Allen in 1926 and the two formed an act (Burns and Allen) that toured in vaudeville. They had their own hit show “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” first on radio then on CBS TV from 1950 to 1958, airing concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” He appeared as himself on “The Lucy Show” (S5;E1) in 1966 as well as doing a cameo on “Lucy and Jack Benny’s Biography” (HL S3;E11) in 1970. After Allen’s death in 1964, Burns reinvented himself as a solo act. In 1976 he won an Oscar for playing one of The Sunshine Boys. He was also known for playing the title role in Oh, God! (1978) and its 1984 sequel Oh, God! You Devil. Burns and Ball appeared on many TV variety and award shows together. He died at the age of 100.

Danny Thomas (Himself) was born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz in 1912. His screen career began in 1947 but he was most famous for appearing on television in the long-running show “Make Room for Daddy” (1953-64), which was shot at Desilu Studios. When the series moved from ABC to CBS in 1957, Thomas and the cast starred in a rare TV cross-over with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy Makes Room for Danny.” In return, Lucy and Desi turned up on Thomas’s show. Fifteen years later, Lucy and Danny did yet another cross-over when Lucy Carter of “Here’s Lucy” appeared on “Make Room for Granddaddy.” In addition, Thomas also played an aging artist on a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” Thomas is fondly remembered for founding St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He is also father to actress Marlo Thomas. He died in 1999.

Betty White (Herself) was born in 1922 and has the longest career of any female entertainer. She is probably best known as Rose Nylund on “The Golden Girls” and Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Although White and Ball never acted together, the two appeared several times on “Password,” one of Lucy’s favorite game shows. It was originally hosted by White’s husband, Alan Ludden. She last shared the “Password” panel with Lucy in November 1988, just six months before Ball’s death.

Kirk Cameron (Himself)was the star of ABC’s hit show “Growing Pains.” He appeared with Lucille Ball on three other Bob Hope specials from 1986 to 1988.  

Les Brown and His Band of Renown (Orchestra) were the musical guests on the 1956 “The Bob Hope Chevy Show” that satirized “I Love Lucy” with Hope playing Ricky Ricardo.

John Harlan (Announcer)

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE

• Doris Singleton (as Doris from “The Bob Hope Christmas Special” ~ December 9, 1973)
  
• Gary Morton (as Himself from “The Bob Hope Christmas Special” ~ December 9, 1973)
  
• Bobby Jellison (as a Gangster from “The Bob Hope Show” ~September 24, 1962)
  
• Desi Arnaz (as Fred Mertz from “The Bob Hope Chevy Show” ~ October 6, 1956)
  
• Vivian Vance (as Ethel Mertz from “The Bob Hope Chevy Show” ~ October 6, 1956)
  
• William Frawley (as Captain Blystone from “The Bob Hope Chevy Show” ~ October 6, 1956)
  
• Vitto Scotti (as Carlo from The Facts of Life)
  
• Peter Leeds (as Thompson from The Facts of Life)
  
• Joe Ploski (as Man at Drive-In from The Facts of Life)
  
• Mary Jane Saunders (as Martha Jane Smith from Sorrowful Jones)

This special aired on a Saturday evening at 10pm, traditionally a difficult time for television programs. Luckily, its lead-in was the season 5 premiere of the phenomenally successful “The Golden Girls” (also featuring Betty White) which led the evening with a 23.5 share. “Bob Hope’s Love Affair With Lucy” came in second, with a respectable 19.3. It was up against College Football on ABC. Because the special was 90 minutes and started on the half hour, its competition on CBS was the last half hour of “Tour of Duty” (season 3 premiere) and the series premiere of “Saturday Night With Connie Chung.”  

Because this special aired on NBC, no scenes from any of Lucille Ball’s CBS sitcoms (or “Life with Lucy” on ABC) were included. Kirk Cameron was an ABC star, but worked on several of Hope’s NBC specials. Although Betty White never acted with Lucille Ball, the pair enjoyed an off-stage friendship. White also was a perfect tie-in to keep “The Golden Girls” fans tuned after the sitcom’s season opener. Although Burns and Thomas both worked on screen with Lucy, no clips of their collaborations were used. Also conspicuously missing is Gale Gordon, who was part of Lucille Ball’s career since her days on radio.

[For more information about the clips, click on the hyperlinks, where available.]

BOB HOPE

The special opens with a montage of clips of Lucille Ball’s entrances on Bob Hope’s specials, underscored by the “I Love Lucy Theme.” After a quick commercial break, Bob Hope enters to the sounds of his theme song “Thanks for the Memory.”  

Hope:“Lucy handled the media and television like she handled everything else, with grace and style and a richness of color that didn’t need any help from the peacock.”  

The ‘peacock’ Hope is referring to is the NBC logo. Lucille Ball left CBS for NBC in 1980, but the move resulted in only one TV special (“Lucy Moves To NBC”), one failed pilot (“Bungle Abbey”) and multiple appearances on Bob Hope’s specials.

The first clip in the 90-minute tribute is from “The Bob Hope Christmas Special” (December 9, 1973). Ball and Hope play themselves in a sketch about a misunderstanding surrounding an expensive ring he’s bought for his wife, but sent to Lucy’s home for safe keeping. Naturally, Lucy thinks it’s for her. The clip features appearances by long-time Lucy character actress Doris Singleton and Lucy’s husband Gary Morton.

DANNY THOMAS

Danny Thomas calls Lucy his ‘landlady’ because “Make Room for Daddy” was shot at Desilu Studios. He tells a funny anecdote from when Ball appeared on his short-lived sitcom “The Practice” in 1976.

Thomas: “When I worked on her show, she did most of the directing. And when she did my show… she did most of the directing.”

Thomas talks about of their working relationship. He says that despite their great friendship, Lucy would not divulge her age, even to him.   

In a voice over, Bob Hope introduces a black and white clip of a sketch from “The Bob Hope Show” (October 24, 1962). In it Lucy plays a District Attorney and Bob a gangster named Bugsy Hope. The 1962 clip edits out a bit that was frighteningly prescient. A spray of gunfire comes through the window and Lucy remarks “Just what I wanted, a Jackie Kennedy hairdo.” Considering the tragic events of November 1963, this clearly could not be aired in 1989. Another change involves music royalties: in the original, Lucy makes her entrance into Bugsy’s flat to the tune of David Rose’s “The Stripper” (released in 1962) but in 1989 it is replace by a similar sounding piece of music.

Bugsy Hope:“I don’t usually go for flatfeet, but the rest of you kind of makes up for it.”
DA Lucy: “I don’t usually go for hoods, but you could use one.”

In the sketch, Hope makes Lucy laugh and drop character several times, a rarity for Ball. 

KIRK CAMERON

Kirk Cameron (who had just turned 18) says that the first time he met Lucille Ball on a May 1987 Bob Hope show at an Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. On a subsequent Hope special, Lucy needed a stand-in to take a pie in the face and chose Cameron. He was unsure if it was an honor or payback for making her wait outside her dressing room to meet him the year before.  

Cameron: “I think that I speak for a lot of people my age when I say that I love Lucy.”

The next clip is the satire of “I Love Lucy” featuring the entire original cast (plus Hope and Tommy the  trained seal). In “The Bob Hope Chevy Show” (October 6, 1956), Hope introduces the sketch as himself  wondering what it would be like if he had married Lucy instead of Desi. It is presented in its original black and white, although it was later colorized for a video release. Not coincidentally, five days earlier the sixth and final season of “I Love Lucy” began airing with “Lucy and Bob Hope” (S6;E1).  

GEORGE BURNS

George Burns affectionately recalls how Lucy was in show business 24 hours a day. He says that he was married to a comedienne (Gracie Fields) but she couldn’t have been more different than Lucy.  

Burns: “Lucy was all of show business wrapped up in this charming lady.”

He remembers an appearance with Lucy when they sang “Lazy” by Irving Berlin. He sings a few bars. Burns says that he’s booked to play the Palladium in London when he turns 100. Although he did live to 100, his health declined at age 98 and this booking never came to pass.

Bob’s voice over introduces a couple of scenes from The Facts of Life, a black and white film that Hope and Ball did for United Artists in 1960. In the scene Larry (Hope) and Kitty (Lucy) are on a fishing boat remembering old times when they realized they went to the same high school together. In the second clip, Kitty and Larry realize they can’t play cards without their glasses, but they can’t kiss with them on either. Finally, Larry and Kitty are kissing at the drive-in when they are spotted by the local dry cleaner. Lucy had just finished playing Lucy Ricardo, with the final episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” airing in April 1960.

BETTY WHITE

To the accompaniment of “Thank You for Being a Friend” Golden Girl Betty White is introduced.  She lists three-word TV titles of the '50s, “Our Miss Brooks,” “I Married Joan,” “Life with Elizabeth,” “Father Knows Best,” and “I Love Lucy.”  White remembers that she shot her second series “Date With the Angels” at Desilu Studios and that is where she first met Lucy.  

White:“I can still see her. Tall and built and she had a navy blue dress on with white polka dots and this hair that made it look like her head was on fire.”

White credits Lucille Ball with filming comedy using the three camera system and a studio audience. White’s mother Tess and Lucy’s mother Dede were great friends. Betty recalls the last time she saw Lucy, a week before she went into the hospital. She says she can still recall Lucy’s deep and abundant laughter that night. White let’s the audience know that they shoot “The Golden Girls” at the old Desilu lot.

Bob’s voice introduces a clip from the film Fancy Pants (1950) with Bob Hope as Humphrey the butler and Lucy as Agatha, the daughter of the man he works for. This movie was made just before Lucille Ball got pregnant with her daughter Lucie, and before “I Love Lucy” was in development.  At the time, Ball was starring on radio in “My Favorite Husband.”  

Next is a dramatic scene from Sorrowful Jones, a film Hope and Ball did in 1949. Ball played Gladys and Hope was Sorrowful (aka Humphrey).  

A clip from “Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC” (May 16, 1988) has Lucy singing “Comedy Ain’t No Joke” by Cy Coleman and James Lipton.  

This leads directly into Lucy as Sophie Tucker singing “Some of These Days” from “Bob Hope’s All Star Comedy Tribute to Vaudeville” (May 25, 1977).  

Lucy and Bob sing “I Remember It Well” by Frederick Loewe from “Bob Hope’s High-Flying Birthday Extravaganza” (May 25, 1987). The song (originally from the film Gigi) has special lyrics with references to their legendary partnership including Fancy Pants and Facts of Life.

Finally, a clip of Lucy and Bob’s last appearance together at the 61st  Annual Academy Awards telecast (March 29, 1989). This was also Lucille Ball’s last public appearance. 

In his final remarks, Hope works in mentions of two of Lucy’s most memorable comedy bits from “I Love Lucy”: “Hollywood at Last!” (S4;E16) and “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (S5;E23).  

Hope: “Whether her nose caught fire or she was stomping grapes, Lucy got us all to laugh. Thanks Lucille, for making life a ball.”  

The closing credits appear over stills of Lucy and Bob on TV, some of which were not included in the special.

This Date in Lucy History – September 23rd

“Mod, Mod Lucy” (HL S1;E1) – September 23, 1974

From 1951 to 1959 newspapers were the catalyst for many “I Love Lucy” plots.  Here are just a few of the times that ‘papes’ played a part!

Ricky traditionally starts his day by reading the morning paper during breakfast. In “Be a Pal” (S1;E2) Lucy tries everything and anything to get his attention! 

One of the series’ most famous gags involved a toaster.  In the same episode Ricky catches the toast without looking up from his newspaper!  

In “Job Switching” (S2;E1) the roles are reversed…

…even down to catching the toast!  

In “Men Are Messy” (S1;E9), even from underneath his sport jacket Ricky doesn’t have to look far for the ‘spor’ session’ - the New York Times headline is about college football with mentions of Navy, Columbia, Cornell, and Harvard. 

Ethel points out an item in the Daily Mirror in “Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer” (S1;E10) that causes Lucy to imagine life without Ricky!

In one shot the newspaper has small print and in the very next shot of Ethel, it is a headline page with the word HERE clearly visible. 

When Lucy flips open the paper to read the inside item, the headline reads: “CHURCHILL, HST [Harry S. Truman] TO CONFER HERE”.  Early in 1952, the newly reinstalled British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once again crossed the Atlantic to confer with a US President.

An article is conspicuously missing from Variety in “Lucy Fakes Illness” (S1;E16).  Although this is the premise of the episode, the scene is often cut in syndication!

While checking Ricky’s horoscope in “The Seance” (S1;E7), viewers get a glimpse of a giant ad for SUITS $28!

The newspaper Ethel holds in “Ricky asks for A Raise” (S1;E35) has ads for the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus and the musical Call Me Madam. 

Lucy Ricardo’s blessed event was mentioned in Walter Winchell’s column in “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (S2;E14) . In real life, Winchell announced Lucy’s 1950 pregnancy on the radio even before the doctor had time to call them. Sadly, Lucy miscarried.  

In order to spend more time with her husband, Lucy and Ricky read the sports pages together in “The Camping Trip” (S2;E29).  Lucy mistakenly thinks sportswriter Grantland Rice is a food!  The reference was cut out in syndication. 

The headline of the New York Gazette reads “Bond Issue Defeated” in “Ricky’s Old Girlfriend”  (S3;E12).  The newspaper that reports that “Carlotta Romero is playing the Opal Room” is The New York Gazette – a fictional newspaper – although the back page (the arts section) calls it The Daily Record!

A New York newspaper runs a “Bonus Bucks” (S3;E21) contest that makes Lucy go to extreme lengths to win $100.  Such contests were common in the 1950s, but were usually named Lucky Bucks.  The word “Lucky” was forbidden on “I Love Lucy” because sponsor Phillip Morris didn’t want viewers to think of their competitor, Lucky Strike cigarettes.  

“Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23) opens with Lucy and Ricky reading the papers in bed.  

When Lucy and Ethel need to fulfill their pledges to Cynthia Harcourt’s charity, they find a job ad in Billboard for “Two Women With Courage” and end up dressed like women from Mars atop the Empire State Building!  

When a publicity article about Ricky forming an all-girl band with her club members hits the papers before Lucy has time to broach the subject with him, she has to go to extreme lengths to prevent Ricky from seeing the newspaper in “Lucy’s Club Dance” (S3;E25).  

The “Bond Issue Defeated” headline turns up again!  

Lucy even tries to intercept all the papers at a corner newsstand!

In “Hollywood Anniversary” (S4;E23) Lucy reads a list of celebrities supposedly coming to her anniversary party.  She later learns that the article was just publicity, and that “none of those peoples are coming.”  

When looking for a movie to see in “In Palm Springs” (S4;E26), the back page of the newspaper has an ad for the new film Hit The Deck (1955). 

Variety turns up again in “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (S3;E30).  The headline “Parker Preps Prod for Pitts Preem” is translated as “Parker Prepares Production for Pittsburgh Premiere.”  Variety began publishing in 1905 and is still around today. It has long been known for its industry jargon.

In “Lucy Cries Wolf” (S4;E3) Lucy feels ignored when Ricky gets engrossed in the New York Bulletin.  She later gets his attention by pretending to be abducted! 

In “Ethel’s Hometown” (S4;E15) the Albuquerque local paper does an article on Ethel Mae Potter (”We Never Forgot Her”). 

Ethel’s old beau Billy Hackett is a reporter for the paper, and takes a photo of Ethel that crops out her friends and family!  Note that the insert shot of Vivian Vance has her hands in a different position than the actual episode!  

Before Lucy gets embroiled in “The Fashion Show” (S4;E19), Ricky hides from her request for a Don Loper dress by burying his head in Variety.  

When not ignoring Lucy by pretending to read Variety, he tries The Hollywood Reporter in “The Bullfight Dance” (S4;E22).  

A jewel thief (Harry Bartell) finds a newspaper is the perfect way to hide in plain sight during “The Great Train Robbery” (S5;E5).  

In England, Lucy reads about film producer Sir Clive Richardson in the venerable Times of London in “The Fox Hunt” (S5;E16).  

When “Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums” (S6;E2), Fred’s copy of the New York Herald Tribune (a real newspaper) was  five months old at the time of the filming!  

In Connecticut, “Lucy Misses the Mertzes” (S6;E17) while back in New York, Fred reads The Sporting News.  A back page ad for L&M Cigarettes indicates the episode was filmed around the holidays.  Note that Phillip Morris was no longer a sponsor, so there was no need to cover up the ad.  

A Las Vegas novelty shop prints souvenir newspapers in “Lucy Hunts Uranium” (a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”).  Fred gets one made for Little Ricky. 

This gives Lucy the idea of how to encourage big Ricky to allow her to go Uranium hunting!  

But when the bellboy (Bobby Jellison) and maid (Maxine Semon) find the discarded newspaper, a city-wide Uranium panic is created!  

In “Lucy Wants a Career” (1958) Ricky reads in Variety that Danny Kaye is returning to London to give another command performance for Queen Elizabeth.  

Later in the same episode, guest star Paul Douglas encounters a newspaper-reading ‘kibitzer’ (Sam Hearn) at a Grand Central Station newsstand.  Hearn previously played Lucy’s childhood doctor in “The Passports” (S5;E11).  

Before “Lucy Goes to Japan” (a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”), she reads about their upcoming trip in Variety.   

(S4;E22 ~ March 21, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed on February 10, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studios. It was the 119th episode filmed. Rating: 51.5/69

Synopsis ~ MGM gives Ricky the gate (or “the door in the fence,” as he puts it) when they cancel Don Juan. Naturally, Lucy has a scheme to make studio head Dore Schary see the error of his ways!

The day after this episode was filmed, actress Ona Munson committed suicide at age 48. She is most remembered as Belle Watling in MGM’s Gone With The Wind, a role intended for Mae West and turned down by Tallulah Bankhead. Munson’s first husband was Edward Buzzell, who directed Lucille Ball in three films. 

Forgetful Mrs. MacGillicuddy (Kathryn Card) keeps asking “Who’s Dore Schary?” despite the fact that in “California, Here We Come!” (S4;E12, above) she mentioned how she plans to show him the book she’s written about her family.

MRS. MCGILLICUDDY (about Dore Schary): “Well, just what does he do?”
FRED: “Oh, he’s the guy who twists the lion’s tail when they want him to roar!”

Fred is sarcastically referring to Leo the Lion, the MGM mascot and corporate trademark that appeared before every MGM film. The Latin phrase “Ars Gratia Artis” translates to “Art for Art’s Sake”.  

When they think the Hollywood trip is over, Ethel is sad that she hasn’t seen Palm Springs and Fred is even sadder that he hasn’t seen Lana Turner! 

A month later, Ethel is “In Palm Springs” (S4;E26) lounging by the pool and by the trip’s end Fred has Lana Turner’s lipstick print on his handkerchief, a souvenir we see in “Lucy Visits Grauman's” (S5;E1).

Lucy has the idea to flood the studio with Ricky Ricardo fan mail. She organizes an assembly line in her hotel room to turn out 500 letters. This is similar to the tactic Lucy used in “Ricky Asks For A Raise” (S1;E35) to convince Mr. Littlefield to re-hire Ricky.  In that episode, the gang disguised themselves as Ricky Ricardo fans. 

In this, and many previous episodes, Lucy’s writing implement of choice was Paper-Mate’s Deluxe Ballpoint Pen with retractable tip. It first came out in 1951 and was patented by the Frawley Corporation (no relation). 

When Ricky learns that his picture has been canceled, he sarcastically says that the studio might use him one of the Marx Brothers’ pictures: “You know, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Floppo.” Just a few episodes later, “Lucy and Harpo Marx” (S4;E27, above) will feature the real Harpo, with Ricky dressing up as Groucho, and Fred as Chico.

Ricky wonders aloud if he could “borrow a couple hundred bobby-soxers from Sinatra.” Although he never actually guest starred on “I Love Lucy,” Frank Sinatra inadvertently appeared in “Lucy and the Dummy” (S5;E3) when a short clip of his new MGM musical Guys and Dolls was shown just before Lucy sings “I Get Ideas” with dummy Ricky during the MGM Executive Show.  The clip was not included in the syndication or the DVD releases.  

While posing as a member of Ricky’s fan club, Lucy plays the ukulele. The DVD calls this “Lucy’s Ukulele Song.” Lucy first played the ukulele in “Ricky Loses His Voice” (S2;E9) and will do so again in “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (S6;E4). She is idly playing the accompaniment to “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?,” the very same song she plays and sings in the other two episodes. It is possible, like “Sweet Sue” on the sax, this is the only song Lucy knows on the ukulele. Lucille Ball could actually play the instrument and would do so again with her daughter Lucie Arnaz in an episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Oops! Ricky phones the studio using the number TExas 0-3311. TE was the alpha phone exchange for 83, numbers from Culver City area. In “Hollywood at Last!” (S4;E16), however, Ricky dialed HOllywood 3-3349 (463-3349) to reach the studio.  

While trying to hide his identity from Lucy and Ethel, Dore Schary (Phil Ober) says his name is George Spelvin, the pseudonym traditionally used in theater credits when an actor (for one reason or another) wishes to hide their true identity.

Dore Schary (inset photo) was born Isadore Schary in Newark, New Jersey, in 1905. After working on Broadway he went to Hollywood were he eventually became head of MGM in 1948, ousting its founder Louis B. Mayer. He would helm the studio until 1956 and was in charge during Lucy and Desi’s filming of The Long, Long Trailer and Forever, Darling. Shary’s last film as director and screenwriter was a 1963 adaptation of Moss Hart’s Act One in which he also figures as a character. He returned to Broadway where he added a Tony Award to his 1939 Oscar.

DORE SCHARY: “I don’t usually work this cheap, but things are tough, what with television and all.” 

Schary was supposed to play himself in this episode, but he backed out at the last minute claiming an acute kidney infection. Some sources say he may have had second thoughts about appearing on camera, especially on television, a rival medium. Vivian Vance’s husband, Phil Ober, took over the role. Schary said that Ober would do a better job playing him than he could himself. Although Schary playing himself would have added an interesting dimension to the episode, the switch works because few people actually knew what Schary really looked like. This is reinforced when Bobby the bellboy says he’s never even seen Dore Schary!

Philip Ober (Dore Schary) was the real-life husband of Vivian Vance for nearly the entire time she played Ethel Mertz. The two met in May 1940 while doing a short-lived Broadway play directed by Antoinette Perry, for whom the Tony Awards were named eight years later. Ober would do a dozen Broadway shows in all before coming to Hollywood with Vance to begin a film career. He was featured in “The Quiz Show” (S1;E5) and was hired when the real Schary withdrew. According the book Hollywood Babble-On, Ober physically abused Vivian Vance, and when Vance came to the set with a black eye, Lucille Ball told her that if she wouldn’t divorce him, then she [Lucy] would! Vance and Ober divorced in 1959. He had already filmed a small role in Lucy’s film The Facts of Life (1960) but that was the last time he would work with Ball. He died in 1982.

John Hart (Jim Stevens) makes his third and final appearance on the series, having first appeared as handsome furrier Tom Henderson in “Lucy Changes Her Mind” (S2;E21). He had just played the lifeguard at the Beverly Palms Hotel in “The Hedda Hopper Story.” Because he plays two different characters in back-to-back episodes, he was made to look noticeably different, wearing glasses, a suit and tie, and even a touch of gray in his hair!  Two years earlier, Hart had played the title role on TV’s “The Lone Ranger” for 54 episodes when star Clayton Moore was absent due to a pay dispute. 

At the poolside is Vivian’s stand-in Renita Reachi, who often appeared on camera in crowd scenes.

Jody Drew plays Miss Ballantine, Dore Schary’s secretary. This is one of only two screen credits for Drew.

Recurring performers Kathryn Card (Mrs. McGillicuddy), Bob Jellison (Bobby the bellboy) also appear in the episode. Although Lucy is seen picking up Little Ricky’s toys (including his famous Teddy Bear), the baby remains off-screen throughout the episode.  

Blooper Alert!  In the last scene, as Dore Schary is saying goodbye, a shadow can been seen quickly moving across the small high window as if a stagehand is carrying a long pole from one side of the set to another. Don’t blink!

(LDCH S1;E3 ~ January 3, 1958) Directed by Jerry Thorpe. Written by Madelyn Davis, Bob Carroll Jr., and Bob Schiller. Studio portions filmed November 15, 1957 at Ren-Mar Studios. 

This is the third episode of the first season of “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show” (aka “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” in syndication) and the first to venture outside the studio for location shooting. This is the very first time Lucy and Desi have gone on location as the Ricardos, although the Bill and Vivian were sent to a local railroad station during season six of “I Love Lucy” to film location segments on the Union Pacific Domeliner for “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5). The footage was eventually discarded. Previously, Lucy and Desi used actor doubles when the characters appeared to be on location.

The special guest stars (playing themselves) are Fred MacMurray and June Haver. The location is Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert.  This episode does not feature any special musical moments. 

By January 1958, “Lucy” was late to the Uranium craze, which was the theme of many films and television shows, including a few produced by Desilu: 

• Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm ~ feature film (June 1951)
• “Sky King” ~ “Wings of Justice” (November 1952)
  
• “Foreign Intrigue” ~ “The Uranium Mine” (December 1952) 
• “The Life of Riley” ~ “Riley’s Uranium Mine” (January 1954)
• “The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show” ~ “Uranium Mine” (1955)
  
• “December Bride” ~ “The Uranium Show” (January 1955)
• “My Little Margie” ~ “Mr. Uranium” (March 1955)
  
• “Topper” ~ “Topper’s Uranium Pile” (April 1955)
  
• Canyon Crossroads ~ feature film (April 1955)
• “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” ~ “The Uranium Caper” (May 1955)
  
• Uranium Fever ~ short film (July 1955)
• “Tales of the Texas Rangers” ~ “Uranium Pete” (October 1955)
  
• “The Jack Benny Program” ~ “Jack Hunts for Uranium” (December 1955)
  
• Dig That Uranium ~ Bowery Boys film (December 1955)
• “Sky King” ~ “The Crystal Trap” (January 1956)
  
• Uranium Blues ~ short film (February 1956)
• “The Phil Silvers Show” ~ “The Big Uranium Strike” (March 1956)
  
• Uranium Boom ~ feature film (1956)
• “Crusader Rabbit” ~ “The Great Uranium Hunt” (1957)
  
• “State Trooper” ~ “Trail of the Dead” (January 1957)
  
• Hot Angel ~ feature film (December 1958)
• “Bozo: The World’s Most Famous Clown” ~ “Yoo-Hoo Uranium” (1959)
  
• “Popeye The Sailor” ~ “Uranium on the Cranium” (1960)
  
• “Felix the Cat” ~ “The Uranium Discovery” (1961)
  
• “King Leonardo and His Short Subjects” ~ “Uranium Cranium” (June 1961)
  
• “The Munsters” ~ “Knock Wood, Here Comes Charlie” (November 1964)

As with the previous two episodes, Desi (this time joined by Lucille) steps in front of the curtain to welcome the audience and remind them that the show is sponsored by Ford. He does the same at the show’s conclusion. While these scenes were cut for syndication to make room for more commercials, they have been restored for the DVD release. 

One of the Ford commercials aired during the original broadcast of this episode featured three-time "I Love Lucy” guest star Tennessee Ernie Ford (no relation to Henry).

The episode opens in a train car headed to Las Vegas, where Ricky’s band is booked to perform at the Sands Hotel and Casino. The gang previously traveled by train in Italy during “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (ILL S5;E23) and on the way home from Hollywood in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5).  Like that trip, this is also by Union Pacific Rail.  In reality, getting to Las Vegas by train from Connecticut would have meant many transfers and route changes.  

Lucy relaxes in her hotel room ‘pretending’ to read the September 2, 1957 edition of Newsweek. On the cover is J. Edgar Hoover, who wrote Lucille Ball a ‘fan’ letter after hearing his name mentioned in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5). Lucille Ball was on the cover of the news magazine in 1953.  

Lucille Ball changed her hairstyle beginning with this episode to something called a 'layered artichoke look,’ similar to what she would wear for the rest of her TV career. In fact, in one scene, when Lucy Ricardo reaches for a hatbox (in which she’s hidden her Geiger counter) Ethel mistakenly guesses: “Oh, you’ve bought a new hat to go with your new hairdo?”

Going off to rehearsal, Ricky doubles back for his conga drum and catches Lucy with her Geiger counter.  He then leaves the room again - still without his drum!

A map of the gang’s trip to Hollywood included a stop in Las Vegas, although this (like several other stops) was not seen on screen. Ricky told Orson Welles that he caught his act while he was in Las Vegas, but that, too, was not dramatized. 

A few exterior shots were filmed at the Sands, which opened in 1952 with a performance by Danny Thomas. Thomas would appear in a season two episode of the “Comedy Hour” as Danny Williams, the character he played on the Desilu sitcom “Make Room for Daddy” aka "The Danny Thomas Show.” 

Although Las Vegas is famous for its casinos, none of the action of the episode takes place in a casino. Lucy and Ethel gambled their way into a fortune while visiting a casino in Monte Carlo during season 5. 

For the filming, the Sands supplied various items to Desilu, including bedspreads featuring their logo. The Ricardos are staying in Room 236.

Ricky mentions rehearsing in their Copa Room, named after New York’s Copacabana, which is the nightclub Lucy and Ethel want to visit in the very first aired episode of “I Love Lucy” in 1951. The tie-in was not doubt due to the Sands’ General Manager Jack Entratter (1914-71), who was previously the manager of the Copacabana. Known as “Mr. Entertainment,” his name is mentioned by Ricky in the dialogue and is also on the marquee outside the hotel. 

The marquee announces Ricky Ricardo’s appearance, as well as the Kingpins, the Frankie Moore Four, Ernie Ross, and Tommy Doyle. A Sands billboard in the desert also announces Jerry Lewis.

Lewis, Thomas, and Lucille Ball were in attendance at the Sands fourth anniversary party in December 1956.

Ricky ‘runs into himself’ in the lobby of the Sands. Although there was exterior footage of the actual hotel, the interiors were shot on the Desilu soundstage in Hollywood. 

The prop newspapers (which in this case were actually supposed to be fakes), were likely supplied by Hayes Press, Hollywood’s go-to supplier of screen newspapers and printed props.

RICKY: “Is that a Geiger counter?”
LUCY: “Have you ever seen a Geiger counter?”
RICKY: “No.”
LUCY: “Well, this is an electronic Popsicle.”

The main tool in prospecting for uranium was the Geiger counter, which emitted a loud clicking noise when in proximity of the element. Lucy demonstrates one in the episode’s opening scene. Radium dials on wristwatches could also trigger the clicking noise of the Geiger Counter, which results in some comic moments when Fred MacMurray goes to tie his shoe near where Lucy has hidden her Geiger counter from Ricky. Geiger counter kits also sometimes came with a sample to test the Geiger counter.  Both facts play a pivotal part in the plot of “Lucy Hunts Uranium.” 

As early as 1949, Popular Science Magazine started highlighting uranium prospecting as a hobby. Uranium is a very heavy metal found in most rocks. It can be used as a source of concentrated energy. It was first identified in 1789 and named after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years earlier. During the 1950s the U.S. Atomic Energy Agency would analyze rock samples for uranium free of charge. As is mentioned in this episode, the government paid $10,000 bonuses for uranium discoveries. During 1955 alone over $2,000,000 was paid out. No special license or permit was needed to prospect for uranium on public or private lands. 

Time Warp?  In the lobby before the Uranium rush caused by Lucy’s fake newspaper, she says it is after 8:15pm. In the next scene set in the desert 40 miles away, Ricky says they have cancelled his show and it will be getting dark soon. Even on the longest day of the year, the sun sets in Las Vegas by 8pm.  

Fred MacMurray (1908-91) appeared in over 100 films in his career. He is perhaps best remembered for the film Double Indemnity (1944), which Lucy references in this episode. He also played single dad Steve Douglas on the long-running sitcom "My Three Sons” (1960-1972). After his run as Fred Mertz, William Frawley played MacMurray’s father-in-law on “My Three Sons.” MacMurray’s name was first mentioned by Ethel in 1953 in “The Black Eye” (ILL S2;E20) when flowers arrive for Lucy mistakenly signed “Eternally yours, Fred.” 

Lucille Ball later said that MacMurray was “fine enough” in this episode, but she really had to work with him on his comic timing, especially in the telephone booth scene. Ball and MacMurray clearly had different styles.

During the location footage and the extensive automobile chase scenes in the episode’s second half, the Ricardos drive a Custom Cab Ford pickup truck and Fred MacMurray drives a 1957 Ford Thunderbird.  The show was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. 

Fred and Ethel are still driving the same 1922 Cadillac roadster that Fred bought for the trip to California in 1955. However, in “Lucy Learns to Drive” (ILL S4;E11), Ricky states that he used it as a trade in to buy the new Pontiac. 

Also in that episode, Ethel claims that she never learned how to drive, and she still apparently hasn’t - she stops the car by crashing it into a cactus. Interestingly, she was quite capable of driving during “The Camping Trip” (ILL S2;E29).

During the exterior prospecting scene, the actors actually fall asleep on a Hollywood sound stage and wake up on location in the Nevada desert! 

Although they were present for the scene work, stunt doubles did most of the car chase and action sequences. Except for one…

While shooting in the Mojave Desert, the crew had difficulty making one of the cars come to a skidding stop to complete the scene. Frustrated, Desi Arnaz finally got into the car himself and performed the stunt perfectly. After receiving applause from the cast and crew, it was discovered that the camera had no film in it! Desi went ballistic while the rest of the crew got hysterical.

From 1954, Fred MacMurray was married to actress June Haver, who makes an uncredited guest appearance in this episode. It was the second marriage for both. They were introduced by another “I Love Lucy” celebrity guest star, John Wayne. She was nicknamed the 'Pocket Betty Grable’ after appearing with the star in The Dolly Sisters (1945). This episode of the “Comedy Hour” was her final screen appearance. She died in 2005 at the age of 79.

Keith Thibodeaux (aka Richard Keith) plays Little Ricky. He appeared in all but one of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours”.  As usual, the pint-sized actor is simply billed as “Little Ricky.” Here he gets his turn on the donkey during the photo shoot with Lucille and June Haver.

In the opening scene on the train, Little Ricky says he ran into a classmate named Scotty Lawrence, a character we never see. To get the boy ‘out of the way’ for the main plot, the writers have Scotty Lawrence’s mother take him with them to see Boulder Dam.  

William Fawcett (Prospector) was an especially busy character actor who specialized in Westerns. He had appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1951 film The Magic Carpet. He would make one more appearance on the “Comedy Hour” in 1959. 

Everyone’s favorite bellboy Bob Jellison returns to Desilu to play yet another hotel bell hop, this time named Henry. As Bobby the Bellboy, he was a recurring character during the Hollywood episodes of “I Love Lucy,” but made his series debut as the milkman in “The Gossip” (ILL S1;E24). 

Maxine Semon (the Maid) had played Honeybee Gillis in the 1950 Jackie Gleason version of "The Life of Riley.” Her role was taken by Gloria Blondell (Grace Foster in “The Anniversary Present” ILL S2;E3) in the 1953 re-boot starring William Bendix. Semon made two appearances on "I Love Lucy.”

Charles Lane returns to play the Claims Office Clerk. This is his fifth interaction with the Ricardos and the Mertzes, and he would return to play a customs officer in when “Lucy Goes to Mexico” in a 1958 “Comedy Hour.” 

Norman Leavitt (Service Station Attendant) never appeared on “I Love Lucy” but did appear with Lucille Ball in the films A Woman of Distinction (1950) and The Long, Long Trailer (1953). This is one of three appearances on the “Comedy Hour” after which he was in The Facts of Life (1960) and two episodes of "The Lucy Show.” 

Hanging outside the Wagon Wheel service station is a sign for Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. The brand name, however, is just outside of the top edge of the frame. 

The episode garnered huge ratings again, topping “The Celebrity Next Door” (starring Tallulah Bankhead) aired the previous month. It was the second highest rated show of that week, only behind "Gunsmoke.”

Extra! Extra! 

• Stuntman / extra Rick Warwick played the Sands Desk Clerk, but it is possible he also did some of the stunts in the desert chase sequences.  
• Paul Powers played the Maitre ‘d. 
• Richard King plays the Busboy. 
• Series regular Louis Nicoletti played Prospector #2.
• Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in Hazel Pierce plays one of the patrons of the Sands. She enters the lobby just behind Lucy reading a magazine. 
• Joan Carey, a frequent series background actor and Ball’s future stand-in on “The Lucy Show”, is also seen in the Sands lobby. 
• The cast includes several live donkeys and horses!

FAST FORWARD!

This was the first, but not the last time Lucy and Ricky Ricardo were in Las Vegas. On November 1, 1959, they joined Milton Berle at the El Rancho Vegas as part of an NBC “Sunday Showcase: Milton Berle Special”.  

1961 Dell Comic Book.  

Lucy Carmichael and Viv Bagley went to Las Vegas in a 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.”

In 1970, the exterior of the Sands was glimpsed again in a montage that opens “Lucy and Wayne Newton” (HL S2;E22). The Sands would be razed in 1996 to make way for the The Venetian Resort and Casino. 

Prospecting - although for Gold, not Uranium - was also the subject of a 1968 episode of “Here’s Lucy”…

…and then again in 1973!

Although it did not premiere until five years after this episode first aired, viewers have remarked upon its similarities to the film It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). The cast was comprised of virtually every comedy performer in Hollywood (except Lucille Ball, who was busy with “The Lucy Show”): Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Edie Adams, Jim Bakus, Ben Blue, Joe E. Brown, Barrie Chase, Selma Diamond, Edward Everett Horton, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Charles Lane (who is also in “Lucy Hunts Uranium”), Marvin Kaplan, Roy Roberts, Jesse White, Jimmy Durante, Phil Arnold, Jack Benny, Allen Jenkins, Tyler McVey, Jerry Lewis (whose name is on the Sands marquee with Ricky’s), Monty O’Grady, Barbara Pepper, and Elliott Reid.  ALL of whom had worked or would work with Lucille Ball!  

(S4;E24 ~ April 4, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed on February 24, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 51.1/72

Synopsis ~ Ricky has forgotten the date of their anniversary, but he has a scheme to convince Lucy that he knew it all along.

The idea for this episode came from the fact that Desi Arnaz threw a surprise anniversary party for Lucy at the Mocambo on November 30, 1953. After a huge cake was served, a TV set was wheeled out and the guests watched the “I Love Lucy” episode “Too Many Crooks” (S3;E9). It was a Monday night, after all!

Ricky and Lucy’s anniversary is said to be the 7th of the month but in “The Anniversary Present” (S2;E3) their anniversary was on the 19th. While Ricky forgot his anniversary date in “The Fur Coat” (S1;E9), he remembered the date in both seasons 2 and 3. Here in season 4 he suddenly develops a case of ‘selective amnesia.’

To find out the anniversary date, Ricky sends a wire to the Greenwich, Connecticut, Hall of Records. Just like Lucy and Desi, Lucy and Ricky were married there at the Byram River Beagle Club in 1940. “The Marriage License” (S1;E26) is partly set there. 

RICKY: [on telephone] “Hello, give me Western Union, please. Western Union? I want to send a wire to Green-wich Connecticut, to the head of the license, uh, bureau. That’s right. Look, here’s the message: Wire me the information of the date of the marriage of Lucille McGillicuddy, and Ricardo Alberto Fernando Ricardo y Acha. Ricardo. Yeah, yeah, as in Montalban. Yeah. Alberto. Alberto - A.L., you know, like Albert - put an O at the end. Alberto, yeah. Fernando. Yes, as in Lamas, yes. Ricardo y Acha. Acha, Acha. Thank you, but I’m not sneezing. It’s a name. Well, it’s not funny to me.”

Two years later in “Lucy Raises Tulips” (S6;E26), Lucy calls her husband by a slightly different name: Enrique Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha III. Desi Arnaz’s real-life full name is Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III.

Fernando Lamas would guest-star with Lucy and Desi in “Lucy Goes To Sun Valley” (1958). Ricardo Montalban guest-starred in “Lucy and Her Prince Charming” (HL S5;E12) in 1972. It was once said that Lucille Ball had performed with all of Hollywood’s Latin heartthrobs! 

The list of celebrity guests supposedly coming to Lucy’s Mocambo party includes these real-life Hollywood couples: 

• Esther Williams and Ben Gage 
• Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding 
• Robert Taylor and Ursula Thiess 
• Van and Evie Johnson 
• Cary and Betsy Grant
• June Allyson and Dick Powell

Of these, Lucy only meets Robert Taylor and Van Johnson, and only the latter actually guest stars - in “The Dancing Star” (S4;E27). Johnson had done the stage version of Too Many Girls with Desi in 1939, and the film with both in 1940. 

Lucy Ricardo met Robert Taylor at the farmer’s market where he autographed on orange for her. At the time, he was married to Ursula Thiess, who was then under contract to RKO (soon to become Desilu Studios). 

June Allyson had worked with Lucille Ball in two movie musicals in 1943: Best Foot Forward and Thousands Cheer. The following year they did Meet the People together, in which her husband Dick Powell also starred. 

Lucy Ricardo caught sight of Cary Grant at the Brown Derby, but it is never mentioned if she actually met him. In 1984, Grant attended “All-Star Party for Lucille Ball” reading a tribute letter from the President of the United States. 

Lucille Ball starred with Esther Williams in Easy to Wed (1946) and Ziegfeld Follies (1945). 

The swim star’s husband Ben Gage and Lucy finally worked together on two episodes of “The Lucy Show." 

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding were husband and wife at the time of this episode, but she would later appear with her fifth (and sixth!) husband Richard Burton on a 1970 episode of "Here’s Lucy.”

Interestingly, while Ricky is frantically trying to set up the Mocambo party with many phone calls, he nervously taps his fingers on the desk chair. This is foreshadowing to “In Palm Springs” (S4;E26), where Ricky’s finger-tapping gets on Lucy’s nerves. Ross Elliott makes his second and final appearance as Ross, Ricky’s publicist. 

The Mocambo night club opened in 1941 on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were frequent guests and friends of the owner. 

The club’s main stage was the inspiration for the Tropicana set. The Mocambo was recreated on the “I Love Lucy” soundstage. The club was previously mentioned in “Don Juan and the Starlets” (S4;E17). The Mocambo closed for good on June 30, 1958. Vivian’s stand-in Renita Reachi sits in the background at the table against the wall. The woman with her back to the camera in the foreground is Joan Carey, who was a frequent background player and later became Lucille Ball’s stand-in during “The Lucy Show.”

The dress worn by Lucy for the Macambo scene was designed by Elois Jenssen and features an elegant, sheer black gown with glamorous applique bodice, rose-tinted underlining and crinoline petticoat.  Mattel made a Lucy Barbie doll dressed in this outfit.

This gown was later worn by Lucy in the episode "Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo” (S5;E25). 

It is also the dress she wears on the US postage stamp made in her honor. 

“The Anniversary Waltz” was written by Dave Franklin and Al Dubin in 1941. The arrangement called for violins, and as the Ricky Ricardo / Desi Arnaz orchestra did not have a string section, Harold Stern and His Violins appeared through the courtesy of the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. As Lucy enters the club, the orchestra and Stern’s violinists are playing “La Vie en Rose.” It was the signature song of French songstress Edith Piaf, who wrote the melody and the lyrics (which we don’t hear) in 1945. Piaf was a regular performer at the Macambo during the mid-1950s, including the year this episode was filmed.

The episode also features series regulars Kathryn Card as Mrs. McGillicuddy, Bob Jellison as Bobby the bellboy, and the Mayer Twins as Little Ricky. 

This is the first episode for the show’s new sponsor, Procter and Gamble’s Lilt Home Permanent.

ANNIVERSARY SCHMALTZ

Wedding Anniversaries were a go-to storyline on “I Love Lucy.” 

1951 - “The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub” (S1;E1) Mertz Anniversary

1951 - “The Fur Coat” (S1;E9) Ricardo Anniversary

1952 - "The Anniversary Present” (S2;E3) Ricardo Anniversary

1954 - “Sentimental Anniversary” (S3;E16) Ricardo Anniversary

(S4;E25 ~ April 18, 1955) Directed by William Asher. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed March 3, 1955 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 47.5/67 

Synopsis ~ Lucy figures out that she has seen 99 movie stars since arriving in Hollywood, and when she hears that Cornel Wilde is staying in the penthouse above her, she targets him as #100. She enlists the help of Bobby the Bellboy to get a glimpse of ‘the star upstairs.’

During season 6, this episode was shown as a re-run with a new flashback opening featuring Lucy and Ricky showing Little Ricky their Hollywood scrapbook.  Since re-runs were not usual at the time, it was felt the audience wouldn’t accept them unless they were in flashback format.  

This star upstairs was originally scheduled to be Van Johnson, but he was unable to appear because of a conflict with Philip Morris’s competitor Lucky Strike. After the conflict was worked out, Johnson ended up starring as “The Dancing Star” (S4;E27).

The date this episode first aired (April 18, 1955), theoretical physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76. Both Einstein and Lucille Ball died from aortic disease. His name will be mentioned two weeks later by Ethel in  “The Dancing Star” (S4;E27). That episode was filmed on March 30, 1955. 

Cornel Wilde was born Kornél Lajos Weisz in 1912 in Hungary. He came to the US at the age of 7. He qualified for the US fencing team prior to the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, but quit the team to take a part in a play. In 1940 he played Tybalt opposite Laurence Olivier’s Romeo on Broadway and acted as Olivier’s fencing instructor. His first credited screen role was in High Sierra (1941) starring Humphrey Bogart. 

He was nominated for an Oscar for A Song To Remember in 1945. In 1952, he starred in The Greatest Show On Earth which Lucille Ball was supposed to be in as well, had she not become pregnant. In the episode, Ricky manages to get in a plug for Wilde’s new movie The Big Combo, which had opened in February, two weeks before the episode was filmed. Wilde died of leukemia in 1989, three days after his 77th birthday and just six months after the death of Lucille Ball. 

This marks the last of Bob Jellison’s six appearances as Bobby the bellboy although he’d also tote bags for Mrs. Ricardo in “Lucy Hunts Uranium,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour."  

This episode is one of six episodes that not featuring William Frawley as Fred Mertz.  

In the opening scene, Lucy and Ethel discuss her autographed orange signed by Robert Taylor. It is proudly displayed on the desk. This was an offscreen event and Taylor never appeared on “I Love Lucy.” Perhaps it was considered as the plot for an episode, but Taylor proved unavailble

Giimpsed on the coffee table is the December 6, 1954 issue of Time Magazine with Brazil’s President Joao Café Filho on the cover. 

Ethel reads aloud from Sheilah Graham’s column about a star hiding in a hotel named ‘Beverly’. Sheilah Graham was satirized as Nancy Graham (Elvia Allman), the reporter who interviews Lucy Ricardo after her return from Hollywood, in “The Homecoming” (ILL S5;E6) later in 1955.

Although the Beverly Palms Hotel where the foursome stay is fictional, Ricky mentions the mystery celebrity might also be staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, both of which are real life hotels that are still in operation today.  After inadvertently saying the name of the star upstairs, Bobby says he could always get a job at the new Beverly Hilton Hotel (above), which opened its doors in August 1955. It, too, is still open today. 

On the newspaper is an ad for the new Jane Russell film Underwater!, which premiered on February 5, 1955. It was made by RKO, the studio Lucy and Desi would soon purchase.  

When Lucy tosses Cornel Wilde’s newspaper to him while he is in the bathtub, it gets soaking wet and the pages become virtually translucent. 

WILDE: “I thought President Eisenhower was playing golf with Little Orphan Annie.” 

The fact that First Lady Mamie Eisenhower didn’t play golf was mentioned in “The Golf Game” (S3;E30). Lucy was unfavorably compared to comic strip character Little Orphan Annie when her home perm and handmade dress are a failure in “Lucy Wants New Furniture” (S2;E28). 

Oops! Close-up shots reveals that the backdrops of Hollywood outside of the fictional Beverly Palms Hotel are only still photographs; a truck is caught in the middle of a street and flags are captured fully extended by the wind. Also, Lucy’s hotel room has a completely different view than Cornel Wilde’s, even though his is only one flight up. 

From his room, the marquee for the Mirror Theatre can be seen. The real-life Hollywood cinema was located at 1615 Vine Street, first opening in 1927 as the Vine Street Theatre and then as the Studio. 

Unsurprisingly, it was owned by CBS until 1954, when it re-opened as the Huntington Hartford Theater, which it still is today.

“I’m not funny. What I am is brave.” ~ Lucille Ball

This episode is a prime example of bravery and Lucy’s dedication to physical comedy. 

It is also a showcase for Vivian Vance’s wonderful comic timing, as she tries to cover for Lucy who is “hanging around” the hotel.  

When Lucy climbs onto the balcony after falling from the penthouse, her right foot has no shoe on it.  Someone in the studio audience can be heard over the laughter saying, "She lost her shoe” followed by “she threw her shoe down”, referring to an earlier scene when Lucy throws her shoe from the penthouse balcony onto the balcony of her suite, to get Ethel’s attention.

In the final scene, the Band-Aid on Lucy’s face after she falls off the balcony wasn’t just for comic effect. It was due to a real injury sustained while doing the stunt. 

BELLHOP TO THE FRONT DESK!!!

This episode is later referenced in “The Tour” (S4;E30), five weeks later, when Ricky says that people he meets ask about Lucy’s antics and say, “Is it true that she sneaked into Cornel Wilde’s hotel room disguised as a bellhop?”

Lucy first disguised herself as a bellhop when she pretended to be the Philip-Morris living mascot Johnny Roventini in “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (S1;E30).

So did Bert Willoughby (Irving Bacon) in “The Marriage License” (S1;E26). 

Sam Edwards plays the bellboy at London’s (fictional) Wimbelshire Hotel in “Lucy Meets the Queen” (S5;E15).

A bellboy played by Saverio LoMedico translates an Italian magazine article for Lucy when they stay in Rome during “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (S5;E23). 

Sid Melton plays a Nome bellboy when “Lucy Goes To Alaska” (LDCH 1959). 

When “Lucy Meets the Mustache” (LDCH 1960), the bellboy is played by Dick Kallman, a young actor who was taking acting classes from Lucille Ball on the Desilu / RKO lot.

Bringing things full circle, Bob Jellison dons the bellboy’s uniform again when the gang stays at the Las Vegas Sands Hotel in “Lucy Hunts Uranium” (LDCH 1958). 

In May 1959, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, little Lucie and Desi Jr. pose in front of a row of bellboys aboard the SS Liberte. One of them holds her expensive fur coat!