I have been on an I love Lucy kick for several days and

Love you OP.

Aw thanks R1!!Right back at'cha!

Come on Rose, let's go watch I Love Lucy in the kitchen so Dorothy and her daughter can have some privacy. But that t.v is black and white!

"The Operetta", "Ethel's Hometown", "Lucy Does a Television Commercial", and "Lucy Gets Into the Movies"....since I can't say ALL OF THEM.

Desi sure wasn’t no Bill!!

Ricky Ricardo has sizemeat!

R3 The Golden Girls are my 2nd favorite feel good show for sure. I always wanted to know what Lucille thought about the Golden Girls. I knew she was friends with Betty White but I don't think she ever gave an opinion on it.

Ethel! Look what happened to your washing machine!

The candy factory job! The looks on both their faces as the conveyor belt speeds up and they have to start eating the candy…

I can’t wait for the all black version. It will make many on here heads explode.

Idk if it's my all time favorite but the one that sprung to mind 1st is Lucy trying to pass of a piece of cheese as a baby to avoid the airfare....

My BF had never sat down and actually watched the series before this summer. It's pretty much on 24/7 here. I will say that I have loved watching him discover just how fantastic this show is. It's so hard to pick just a few favorite episodes - but I think "The Operetta" is my favorite. I also love the episodes in Hollywood and their travels around the world.

The program needs a frame for frame colour remake starring our current Ball, Jenna Elfman. I wouldn’t change a thing except the schmaltzy score.

It would be easier to name my least favorite episodes: The early ones with Cousin Ernie (but the one with the two fat girls, Teensy and Teensy was good), Lucy's Bicycle Adventure, Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo. But I also loved Ethel's Hometown and Never Do Business with Friends. Some Lucy fans think it's the worst episode but I love the infamous Women From Mars episode. The episode where Lucy dances with Van Johnson still amazes me for how elegant, charming and sophisticated she was, but throughout it all, she was still Lucy Ricardo. I always enjoy when Ben Benjamin comes to town because Lucy reads Variety to find out that Ricky would be appearing with seven gorgeous Hollywood stars. Lucy excitedly reads Marilyn Monroe only to be more and more disappointed as she finds out who else was being considered for the movie. It might have mirrored what she felt in real life with Desi.

R7 I wonder if she was ever asked to do a guest appearance. That would have made for a great episode.

Watch it all day and night on the Pluto I Love Lucy channel

I think my favorite is Lucy becomes a sculptress. It’s in Season 2. Ricky brings over an art critic to see the bust of Lucy’s head, but it’s really Lucy with clay all over her, and the art critic wants to take her head.

"Ethel's Birthday," always a fan favorite, the one with the hostess pants and Ehel's "I wanted a toaster!"

Ethel: We can't do that!

Lucy: Why not?

Ethel: Well in the first place, it says they're looking for girls.

Lucy: We're girls!

Ethel: We are?

Lucy: Look, Ethel, if everyone in the world is divided up into boys and girls......we're GIRLS!

And then Herb Vigran shows up: Where are the girls?

*

Ethel’s birthday is on catchy comedy channel today

Many episodes are good, but one of my favorite moments is the cast singing California here I Come driving across the George Washington Bridge. They are all so happy and laughing and singing, it’s really delightful.

The TIME has COME!

R20- The Stephen's next door neighbor Mrs. Kravitz sees the cup on her head and says- someone was a SORE LOSA!

Watch Mame. That's end the honeymoon.

I have a softspot for all the episodes where Lucy "gets in the show," The Operetta and dancing with Van Johnson as mentioned upthread, singing By The Waters of Lake Minnetonka and Cuban Pete. Lucy's thwarted attempt to join the Barbershop quartet. The gang singing California Here I Come together in the car has to be one of the most feel-good moments of all time. If we're including the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, the Tallulah Bankhead episode makes me laugh until I cry.

I wish desi could have been filmed with modern cameras in his prime, he was smoking hot

The William Holden episode in LA is nearly perfect from beginning to end.

I first watched it in the 60s on CBS network TV Mon - Fri mornings. At least in the summer. After that and I think December Bride, Mom turned off the TV and made me go out. There were a lot of commercials for soap and washing machines. Later when I started acting in school I realized how much the show taught me about comedy timing.

Yeah, it's gotta be Return From Europe, when she tries to pass the cheese off as a baby. I still laugh so hard I pee myself when I see that one.

Chedder......I mean Chester!

My favorite from the Cheese episode is how Lucy ends up confessing to the woman next to her she never had a baby....the way she sort of winks her eye and says "I was a piece of cheese!!" very proudly....the term "comedic genius" is overused, but boy is she deserving of it.

Lucy invading the Tropicana can always be relied on for loud laughter:

"Cuban Pals" where Lucy is chased around the nightclub by a "Voodoo Man" is a classic She tries to fit into the band, and blend in with the waiter and couple at ringside... and even the way she screams in hysterical. ....

Another classic of nightclub mayhem. from season 1: "Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer" where Lucy disguises herself as a dark-haired chorus girl and interrupts Ricky serenading dancer Helen Silver (The episode is mis-titled as Silver never sings)

Other than the extremely well-known episodes, here are mine:

"Lucy Is Envious" - where the girls dress up as martians, mentioned above. Love this one "Greep! Gribbitch!" (flaps cape wings)

"Ricky Thinks He Is Getting Bald" - mustard plaster and a plunger!

"The Diner" - with competing sides between Ricky and Lucy v. Fred and Ethel

"The Great Train Robbery"

"Staten Island Ferry" - I've been on the other side of that green face

"Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress" - friendship, friendship, it's the perfect blendship.... (tosses flower off dress!)

"The Young Fans" - Keep Jiggling, Peggy!

"The Girls Go Into Business" - aka the dress shop episode

[quote]"Ricky Thinks He Is Getting Bald" - mustard plaster and a plunger!

Or was it...?

All the Lucy shows are dated, humorless dreck.

Isn't there a school bus full of children you could run off the road, r37?

You know it's true, R38, you senile old queen.

Bless your heart, r39.

r35: "The Young Fans:" is neat because Ricky thinks up the plan, not Lucy ...and Lucy enthusiastically goes along with it.

I'd never seen that one, r38. Thanks.

[quote]It's pretty much on 24/7 here.

It hasn’t been on here in NYC in about 2, maybe 3 years. Sure, you can always stream it but I just think it’s odd that no local stations here bother to broadcast it (as opposed to “The Honeymooners,” which is always on).

^^By the way, I should add that the last time “I Love Lucy” was on here, it wasn’t even a local station, it was cable — Hallmark I think. MeTV once showed it early in the mornings for about a month before replacing it with “My Three Sons.”

Natalie Schaeffer to Lucy and Ethel as the charm school instructor: "Your powder gives you a weird, unnatural look."

Lucy: "We're not wearing powder."

(Let's hear it for the incredible ILL writers.)

I love Lucy is streaming all 6 seasons on Paramount Plus. I just found out I get Paramount Plus free because I have Walmart +. Win-win!

Dear Teller:

Be a lamb and don't cash this check until next month.

That's why they call them tellers, they go around blabbing everything they know.

It’s on twice each weekday on Catchy Comedy channel, one of the local substations, available on your cable or with an over-the-air antenna.

I own the series on DVD. Never have to go through all this channel searching.

Where can I stream some old episodes?

There are plenty of ways to watch I Love Lucy online. You can stream all 6 seasons on Hulu or Paramount+. If you’d like to purchase or rent the episodes, you can find the first 5 seasons on Amazon Prime Video.

Pluto TV (streaming channel) shows it on an endless loop. You can watch the first episode to the last and start all over again.

I watch it a lot. My favorite episodes are the ones where the Ricardos and the Mertzes start out being all buddy buddy but end up fighting… like when Ricky and Lucy buy Fred and Ethel a TV for their anniversary or when they sell them their old TV, or when they go into business together (dress shop, diner).

But there are a lot of episodes I don’t like. I don’t like a lot of the Hollywood ones (so ridiculous that any studio would consider Ricky for Don Juan), the Florida ones, or the Connecticut ones.

And I HATE the Tennessee Ernie Ford ones.

The Florida episode with Elsa Lancaster is brilliant. The tire changing scene is incredible because it's so much like anyone who changed a tire for the first time.

My favorite interactions were the quips between Lucy and Fred. They weren't as common as the ones between Lucy and Ethel or Ricky, but funnier. There was this underlying current of Fred and Lucy getting who each were. When allowed, no one popped Lucy's balloon like Fred.

Lucy: "There's just two things keeping me from dancing in that show."

Fred Mertz: "Your feet?”

When I was a child I really liked "Lucy is Envious"with those five & dime Martian outfits and made up language.

I also loved the Carlotta Romero episode "Ricky's Old Girlfriend" with a rare dream sequence (were there others?)

I loved the Hollywood episodes. They had some of the funniest situations and gags in the whole series.

One of the strangest things though is that the cast kept mentioning Lucy meeting Robert Taylor and him signing an orange, I think. It was mentioned in the same breath as things that we actually saw happen, like the Richard Widmark or Van Johnson meet-ups. I actually went back and watched every episode thinking I had missed the Robert Taylor episode, but there isn't one.

R56 That dream sequence is hilarious, with Lucy and Little Ricky left destitute and homeless, while Ricky and Carlotta become world famous dancers....Ricky and Carlotta stay young and beautiful and famous while Lucy continues to grow old and little Ricky becomes a big ole fat man child begging with his mother on the side of the theater....the way Ricky waltz right by her and throws some coins at her without even looking at her while she cries her eyes poor old eyes out is the best.

Stars who should have been on "I Love Lucy" in Hollywood episodes-

Judy Garland - "A Star is Born" could have been advertised and Judy could have sung any random song.

Esther Williams - just imagine Lucy screwing up one of Esther's swimming routines in the hotel pool. Hilarious.

Jimmy Durante - He just seems like he'd be funny meeting Lucy and Ethel.

[quote]The Florida episode with Elsa Lancaster is brilliant.

Lanchester, not Lancaster.

[quote]I have been on an I love Lucy kick

I usually enjoyed a good Ethel kick.

Two of Ethel's great lines in the Florida Episode: When the jack goes through the fender "Is it supposed to do that" and then she comes up with "Hey Lucy, look. It's not flat anymore" when the car is lifted up.

In the Train Robbery episode, when Frank Nelson asks "did you stop this train by pulling that cord" and Lucy says "well I didn't do it by dragging my foot."

And of course, the ultimate bitch wish: Happy Birthday and I hope you live another 75 years.

R56 There was another dream sequence in what many considered the worst episode of the series, Lucy’s visit to Scotland with a two-headed dragon

I hate the Scotland one too. But not as much as the one where they put on a play for Little Ricky's school and Lucy plays a toothless old witch because I just hate it when Lucy played a "wicked city woman," a hayseed (the one where Ricky was getting publicity in a music paper), or anything like that.

But I also hate the grape stomping one. The only Europe one I really think is funny is the Paris one where Ricky and Fred get those burlap dresses and horse bucket hats made up for Lucy and Ethel.

"Oh, didn't I tell you to pack a lunch?"

Watercress sandwiches? It's like eating grass.

After 9/11 all I wanted to do was watch I Love Lucy. It gave me great comfort

Mr. Potter: Ethel Mae is very big in Albuquerque.

Fred: She's big everywhere.

Somewhere along the line, Shrinking Violet got Sanforized.

PS, that line was stolen for the headline in Time magazine's review of Lily Tomlin's Incredible Shrinking Woman.

Ethel: Rome wasn't built in a day.

Fred: Rome wasn't built like you, either.

One of the best bits in all of comedy TV was in one of the europe episodes. The line of translation. An episode of Frasier copied it. Whether it was intentional, unintentional, or an homage I don't know.

oopsie link

Lucy's greatness, at least in ILL was her uncanny ability to bring the audiences onto her journeys. It was just Ethel she roped into her schemes, it was us and we loved it. That's a very rare gift.

At Graumann's Chinese: Lucy: My feet are smaller than Joan Crawford's. Ethel: Let me try.....mine aren't. Fred: My feet are smaller than Gary Cooper's Ethel: Mine aren't. Fred: Here's one for you to try Ethel, Trigger.

The John Wayne Footprints: Lucy: That's terrible. Fred: What's wrong? Ricky: Well for one thing, the feet are way too big. Fred: Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have used Ethel's shoes.

In the Birthday episode, I love how Lucy didn't even buy the entire outfit and then had to justify the hostess pants. You can buy a little black off the shoulder belt, a bit crushy belt and little ballet slippers and you're all set. Ethel: What for, Halloween? Since Ethel had bigger feet than John Wayne, where was she going to get little ballet slippers.

Ethel: You know Ricky's temper.

Lucy: Yeah.....we've met.

Ethel: Well you're gonna meet again and I don't wanna be here for the reunion.

[quote]Since Ethel had bigger feet than John Wayne, where was she going to get little ballet slippers.

She could've asked Peggy Hill.

"Well done, Medium Rea!"

I love Lucy being outraged by the man she considers to be a leering masher stalking her on the train in Italy. Ricky tells her that the guy didn't do anything, but Lucy ain't having it: "Well, he was thinking!"

For worst episode, I vote for the birthday party held for the absent Little Ricky held in Italy.

R73 Lucy: I saw those pants in Harper's Bazaar! Etherl: Well, they certainly are bizzare!

And the scene ending with Ethel whining "I wanted a toaster!"

Other than Eve Arden's cameo (a Desilu TV star) and Hedda Hopper (not a movie star), I wonder why all the Hollywood episodes had male stars.

Lucy didn't want to eat Marilyn's pussy.

R66, it’s like eating buttered grass.

I don't think the little Ricky birthday party while Lucy and Ricky were in Italy was the WORST episode ever, but it's certainly way up there. I never watch that one.

One the other hand I LOVE little Ricky's birthday party with Superman episode.

"You've been married for 15 years? And they call ME Superman!"

R74 Yeah that sounds like domestic abuse to me. Just hilarious!

Most of the time Ricky treated Lucy like a brain dead 4 year old, someone who should fear him. It was gross. Even for the 1950s it was regressive.

Somebody’round here’s been acting a hog!

R84 thats not what it was. People dont have to get physical to get angry....take the bug out of your ass.

R86 There’s more than one scene where Ricky spanks Lucy. That’s him getting physical with her. She feared his temper because it could lead to him hitting her. The show is, at best, dated as fuck.

I wonder if Desi got hard when he was spanking Lucy.

R87 oh that was just their foreplay

R89 I wish it was a kinkster thing instead of some sort of attempt to reflect on an ideal heterosexual marriage.

Of course in real life, Lucy was a bossy, controlling bitch and Desi was her 2nd banana, and cheated on her constantly, so there’s that.

And maybe I like bugs up my ass!

TV in the 50s was rife with domestic abuse passing as comedy. Look at The Honeymooners.

I love how NYC-centric the early seasons were. The store references ("Macys...Gimbels!") the landmarks, the Staten Island Ferry , and especially the Broadway references: "Ethel, that scene has had more performances than "South Pacific"!

When Ricky is showing his career scrapbooks he points out he was in "a Broadway play - "Too Many Girls" " the Rodgers & Hart musical of 1939 which featured Desi.

r87 my favorite episode!

Stop cackling, Marion, I've been waiting 10 years for you to lay that egg.

Video I saw on youtube...break out the hankies bitches

And fuck me was Desi hot af pre I love Lucy (he was pretty handsome in ILL but youth brought out his looks even more....just check out the last shot of the video)

Also for those that don't know, this song was sung in the series finale by Edie Adams....apparently everyone broke out in tears, outwardly because it was the end of an era, inwardly because that was the end of Lucille and Dezi's marriage..she filed for divorce the day after the finale was taped.....Mary!!!

The. Check. Is. Good. The. Check. Is. Good."

The episode where Eddie Grant thinks Lucy is after him has a great guest starring appearance. Bob Jellison who also played the porter in the Hollywood episodes pops up. When they're outside Eddie's hotel room, he comes by and tells them that if Eddie won't let them into his room, he would. Jellison also appears in the Liar episode when he runs into the Ricardo's bedroom because he's being chased by Grace Foster's husband.

Ricky: “Lucy! You, here, dressed in that. You must be out of your mind.”

Fred: “Ethel! You, here, dressed in that- HE must be out of his mind!”

R97 I also love Bob Jellison but that wasn’t him in the Eddie Grant episode, it was Phil Arnold, who was in two ILL episodes, this one and Harry Henderson (the plain, short furrier brother) in Lucy Changes her Mind.

I always found punching more effective than spanking.

And I'm sorry you're so fat you sat on my glasses and broke 'em.

[quote] I love Lucy kick

Ouch! Ricky, who's kicking me?

Eddy Grant really transformed himself for the second act of his career.

Interesting, OP as I've been watching it a lot lately on Pluto and have a new found appreciation for it. I remember watching it as a kid and enjoying it, but watching it now as an adult I can see how truly brilliant and ground breaking it was. The writing, acting, comedy, etc are all on point. And I love that she fought for Desi to be her on TV husband because the network didn't want him. He playing her foil is really what gave the show it's charm. Their chemistry was so obvious and it's sad, really that he was such a womanizer as I do believe Lucy truly had his heart.

I'm amazed at how much of the show I don't remember. It still feels fresh and funny. A work of genius, really. No one can even come close to Lucy and Desi. I think Carol Burnett was really the only other comedienne who came close. Although if you go watch some of the sitcom "Ellen" from the 80's it also had that charm that I Love Lucy had.

I’ve only seen this show once, but the episode was really good. Lucy had some crazy idea that she thought would impress her husband, but she screwed it up royalty and her husband found out. Wish I could remember the title of that particular episode

I also want to watch more episodes. I know it was on the air for a long time so I want to see all the different directions they took with the show.

R105 well that premise would repeat itself pretty often but that played up LB's incredible talent, and if you do something so well, people want to see it more often.

Also I noticed in the later seasons the show became a bit more balanced and it was more of an ensemble comedy more than Lucy being the butt of the joke.

"Sit down and I'll sing you my song. MY SONG!"

"Lots of ale and stout are on my shelf/And I take a drop or two myself!

A drop he says/The squire's got the gout

The stout makes him ail/And the ale makes him stout!

That's all there is and leaves no doubt/That the squire's in his inn

And his inn's on the Oudt"

Genius

It was impressive they went through the whole episode on show night and covered if they made a mistake. It wasn’t like sitcoms being filmed in later years, where they had so many outtakes from stopping and starting over and over. Lucy and Desi wanted to film the whole episode all the way through whenever possible. I love the Hollywood episode where Lucy wants to dance with Van Johnson and Lucy messes up her line and Desi covers saying something like “Vance with dance? She’s gone!” And you can see Lucy’s stomach shaking as she tries to hold in the laugh.

In Ethel's Hometown Viv breaks up several times when singing Shortnin Bread

"Ethel Mae Potter/We never forgot her!"

Lucy's description of Ethel's eating "with relish": Like a cow pulling its foot out of the mud.

"You made a U-turn in the Holland Tunnel??!!"

Ethel to Fred in the back of the car en route to LA: "Sing it, Daddy!"

I can't go on the subway! I'm in my dungarees.

"I'd like to speak to Mr. Ricky Ricardo, the star of 'Don Juan.' This is Mrs. Ricardo, the star's wife....oh he isn't? Well would you please tell him that I have been detained at the salon of Mr. Don Loper. Thank you very much."

"Well.....that was a subtle performance."

Lucy is dying to be nominated for President of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League. After Ethel gets the nomination, Lucy responds by giving her a very weak pat on the shoulders.

It was a very wise idea after returning to NYC from Hollywood that Ricky's Don Juan movie gets shelved and he does not become any more famous than he was to start with.

That was not where the show was headed and his return to the nightclub was just fine.

[quote]In Ethel's Hometown Viv breaks up several times when singing Shortnin Bread

No, she doesn't.

Viv is definitely laughing @ 0:22, 0:59, 1:59.

Gone With the Cuban Wind?

Seven Brides for Seven Cubans?

The Ricardos of Wimpole Street?

Arsenic and Old Ricky?

“Say, Your name ain't Kinsey, is it?”

Although someone didn't like the Little Ricky Birthday episode in Italy (with Bart Braverman), there are some interesting moments. When Bart tells Lucy that it wasn't his birthday nor any of the others, she doesn't seem surprised or angry. It's as if she knew all along (especially when every kid in the town seemed to have a birthday on Little Ricky's birthday) but didn't care. She also didn't care when warned that Bart wouldn't return to shine her shoes after she paid. Later when she talks to Little Ricky on the phone, her reaction seems genuine and loving.

The episode I think is an absolute masterpiece of both acting and timing is the one at the chocolate factory.

In fact, if you watch that, there's no reason to watch any other episode.

Some shows hit their high note so high the rest of it is just meh.

I finally figured out where vaudeville went to die!

Funny, I think the chocolate factory episode is only kind of funny and overrated. It was funny once where dozens of other episodes are deeply funny every time I watch them.

[quote]The episode I think is an absolute masterpiece of both acting and timing is the one at the chocolate factory.

Speed it up a little!

Mrs. Mcgillicuddy was genuinely horrible. Thus, I enjoyed this: You didn't think I could write. Ricky: I didn't even know you could re....(Lucy cuts in).

And this same episode has her saying that Ricky can take her screen play to Dory Schary but when Ricky gets Don Juan shelved, she squawks, "who's Dory Schary, who's Dory Schary?"

I don't think Viv is breaking character in r119. The laughter is part of the ebullience of the performance itself. She's giddy.

Lucille (I think?) once said that whenever she feared breaking character, she would look at Viv, because of the four, Viv never broke character.

R28 Is that the same episode where they climb the fence to steal oranges?

r130 no, that's the Richard Widmark episode.

So what WAS the story of the Robert Taylor orange?

And Viv's best episode is the Cornel Wilde one where Lucy is hanging from the balcony and she has to distract Ricky. She's brilliant in it.

I agree, r132. Viv deserved another Emmy for this scene alone.

As a kid I had no idea Dore Schary was a real person.

Having filmed the smash hit comedy "The Long, Long Trailer" for MGM just after the series became a big hit on tv, Lucy and Desi of course knew Dore Schary, the new head of MGM studios personally. Schary had committed to play himself in one episode, but backed out for some reason, maybe just stagefright of acting opposite Lucy and Desi. Instead he was played by Vivian's husband, Phil Ober.

And I was a smashing success, r134!

A little research shows that Viv had four Emmy nominations but won only once, beaten in the other three by Ann B. Davis, Audrey Meadows, and Pat Carroll. All noteworthy actresses, but none are as revered as Ms. Vance. At least on DL.

Or as well-remembered.

r130 r131 GRAPEFRUIT.

As R132 pointed out, the orange was autographed by Robert Taylor. Of course, he never appeared on the show, but I think Lucy supposedly ran into him at the Farmer's Market and had him sign the fruit there.

R118 But the show was dull when they got back to New York. That’s why they turned around and took another trip - to Europe. Then later they moved to Connecticut. The NYC story ideas were played out.

Personally I think even if Don Juan was shelved Ricky probably should have gotten a nightclub gig in LA, which would have given the show more access to plotlines with Hollywood stars, which the audience had gotten used to and which gave the show a big lift in season 4.

I think Dore Schary was sick the week he was supposed to appear on the show. Not sure. Incidentally, Walter Reilly (in the episode where Lucy pretends to be Ricky’s agent) was also a the real name of an MGM executive. Played by Parley Baer in the episode, I think.

[quote]I think Dore Schary was sick the week he was supposed to appear on the show.

Yes. "Sick."

Can’t you watch something else for a change? It’s been weeks of this latest ILL binge. Change the channel. There are others.

R142 Yes! The Lucy Show!

You could always watch Lucille's drunken Password Plus appearances.

^^I saw it. It was sad.

[quote]Personally I think even if Don Juan was shelved Ricky probably should have gotten a nightclub gig in LA, which would have given the show more access to plotlines with Hollywood stars, which the audience had gotten used to and which gave the show a big lift in season 4.

They had Hollywood stars on when they were back in NY: Orson Welles, Bob Hope. And in Europe: Charles Boyer.

Oddly, Ginger Rogers never appeared during the period the Ricardos were in Hollywood and she was perhaps Lucy's oldest and best Hollywood friend from her RKO days. Perhaps Ginger, even with her rapidly winding-down movie career, thought herself too good for television?

By the time she finally appeared on an episode of Here's Lucy, I bet Ginger needed Lucy a lot more than Lucy needed her.

In an interview with Viv, I remember her saying that she never had to pay for a tab in a restaurant again. Either other diners picked up the check or it was on the house. I thought that was pretty sweet.

I definitely would have paid for her lunch if she was around R148...though I'd hope she didn't eat as much as dear old Ethel.

[quote]though I'd hope she didn't eat as much as dear old Ethel.

... or make as much noise.

Loved the Paris gown episode.

I wonder if Vivian or Lucy carried a Diners Club card?

I think they were first among other popular credit cards, no? Can you still get a Diners Club card?

Lucy Writes a Novel is one of my favorite episodes. I think the series peaked around Season 3.

"Don't let this happen to you!"

"We'll just have to pretend we don't know how ANY of it happened."

"Oh that will never work."

"It better work or Fred and Ricky will be planting their footprints somewhere and it won't be Grumann's Chinese!"

Peggy: Ricky's middle aged. He must be pushing 23. Lucy Ricardo: Yeah he's pushing 23 alright. He's pushed it all the way to 35.

Ever since we said "I do", there are so many things we don't.

Lucy: I'm revolting!

Ethel: Oh, wouldn't say that.

*I wouldn't

Mary Margaret McMertz

Hilarious

r160 The original

Of course we must note that our very own Cher has a connection to the Paris fashion episode. Her Mother is one of the models.

Did Cher or her mother ever wear a Don Loper original?

Loper doesn't know any other numbers but Five Oh Oh!

Or in the case of Mrs. Richard Carlson -- K-9.

I love the Phil Ober trolls

The Don Loper episode is memorable for how flamboyant Don is at times.

I always assumed Don Loper was a fictional character created by the Lucy writers!

Don Loper was a proto-DLer

Don Loper is responsible for Liza Minnelli.

[quote]Loper is also known for introducing Judy Garland to her future husband, director Vincente Minnelli (Meet Me in St. Louis).

Oh ... and he was MARRIED. To a WOMAN.

Reshponshible.

When Loper makes his appearance, listen for the guy who leads the audience in applause. You later actually see him during the fashion show.

It's interesting because Loper comes off as quite pissy when he finds out that one of the celebrity wives can't come. However, you can see he really turns on the charm when he talks to Lucy, even before he knows who she is. And he does call Mrs. Bow Wow "the very lovely Mrs. Richard Carlson".

Don Loper was originally a dancer, he and his female partner danced in some movies I think.

Best scene ever, when Viv & Lucy playing cards with the girls during Lucy Tells the Truth.

Pure DL catnip.

"He's choking because a hundred dollars is all I've spent on clothes since we were married!"

That much, r176?

Why weren't the studios and Graumann's smarter about John Wayne's footprints. All they needed to do is have him do the footprints again during the premier of Blood Alley. Think about what publicity it would have been.

Yes, of course. That would have been hilarious!

R178 thinks that "I Love Lucy" was a documentary.

I love the look Lucy gives when she has to give John Wayne a massage. She gives his backside a not bad sort of look. It was funny as hell. Especially for the times. The audience loved it.

Maybe she was thinking of charging extra for the happy ending r181

One thing I noticed, the more I Love Lucy I watched, was how often Desi had to shake his leg after he had come to a stop, to adjust how his pants fell over his elevator shoes. The shoes had a heel plus a lift inside at the heel, then they were higher on the sides to hide this fact, so the pants would always get caught on them.

I think the Richard Widmark grapefruit and the chopsticks from The Beachcomber are great souvenirs - but my favorite is the tin can that was squashed by Cary Grant's left rear wheel.

The Secret Fury featuring Our Viv is coming on TCM at midnight Eastern time.

And DL villain Phil Ober!

The John Wayne episode is an underrated gem, the whole thing is very funny.

One thing I find kind of funny is how utterly unsophisticated the eating habits were then. Anytime they discussed wanting to eat something or going out to eat or delicious food in general, it was always some variation of pot roast/steak/lamb chops etc. Spaghetti was probably the most exotic thing I saw them eat....though I think ONE time they discussed the possibility of getting chinese but they ended up opting for steak. It was just very meat and potatoes culture, and I have to say, a little boring.

r188 = Greg

[quote]It was just very meat and potatoes culture, and I have to say, a little boring.

It was a vastly different era with vastly different ideas about healthy eating. A look at 1950s cookbooks and magazines shows that having meat every day was considered essential to good health, so any main meal was expected to be centered around it.

[quote] [R188] = Greg

[bold] FALSE [/bold]

I sign my posts.

R188, I notice that too! And they can never make up their mind what to order. And it's always the same old thing.

They were always talking about arroz con pollo.

[quote]I notice that too! And they can never make up their mind what to order.

"I know what I'm having!"

Well, they weren't very successful when cooking at home. Especially bread, rice, and soup.

Lucy orders escargot in France!

No mention of pot roast there!

DL has gone stale

I have a Don Loper shirt.

As long as they took their Vitameatavegamin daily they didn’t need to worry about nutrition.

Who was Richard Carlson? Was his wife the one with the unflattering poodle cut or whatever they called that cut?

Favorite episodes:

“Lucy Wants New Furniture”

“The Girls Go Into Business”

“The Charm School”

“Fan Magazine Interview”

“Oil Wells”

“Bonus Bucks”

“The Diner”

“The Business Manager”

“Mr. and Mrs. TV Show”

“L. A. at Last”

“The Fashion Show”

“Bon Voyage”

“Lucy Wants to Move to the Country”

“Lucy Misses the Mertzes”

“Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors”

“Lucy’s Night in Town”

“Housewarming”

“Country Club Dance”

R183, In long shots, especially when performing at The Tropicana, Desi’s Cuban heels are evident.

Desi often said in interviews that the “Bon Voyage” episode was the single most expensive episode of the series to produce.

R147, According to Lucie Arnaz, Ginger Rogers and Lucy were distant cousins.

R147, I’m surprised they couldn’t get Clark Gable on one of the Hollywood episodes, since he was a personal friend of Lucy and Desi.

[quote]Who was Richard Carlson?

Richard Carlson was an actor in fine movies like this one.

Lucy raising chickens is another winner.

The kid who played Little Ricky was a very good child actor.

I see Keith Thibodeaux has discovered DL

It Came From Outer Space was one of the better early-50s science fiction movies (with an original story by Ray Bradbury). Carlson was also in The Little Foxes (1941) and King Solomon’s Mines (1950) (2nd highest-grossing film of that year).

Recently I saw Carlson in a TV version of The Philadelphia Story (the play) on YouTube - an episode of The Best Of Broadway anthology series. He played Mike Connor. Dorothy McGuire played Tracy, it was an all-star cast directed by Sidney Lumet.

r188 and r190 : A lot of that mindset was conditioned by war rationing when beef was a rare luxury and America consisted on a largely vegetable diet . Remember Victory gardens?

After the war, Beef and Meat were synonymous with "WE WON" - That belief lasted all through the '60s.

That's a good point but beef also happened/happens to be delicious. Also at the time it was considered a healthy food by the establishment.

I found Vivian funnier. Her delivery here is perfect.

R212 Beef and meat is delicious but I feel like if that's all I ever had, it would get boring fast, no matter how much of a "Meat means we won" mentality.

R214 The post was about what they ordered in restaurants. No, people didn't eat steak all the time. Actually meat prices were high in the early 50s and a lot of people couldn't afford it. Here's a menu from the Oak Room of the Plaza in NYC, 1954.

I'm guessing the Mertzes and Ricardos ate what the writers liked, or what the writers observed that the cast liked.

Not just what they ordered in restaurants.....Lucy and Ricky would have the Mertzes over for dinner fairly frequently and it was always a heavy meat dish. Anytime they montioned food, 90% of the time is was red meat based. ALWAYS. I will say Ricky did try to cook arroz con pollo that one time but it didn't end well.

R216 Yes, meat was often the center of a meal in the 50s. I don't think this is news.

Richard Carlson was the poor man's Hugh Marlowe. Or vice versa.

R217 no it's not.....I was just giving my opinion on it....why does it seem like people are weirdly getting defensive about this?

The exchange of this information is pretty interesting since it was a 50s show being viewed in 2020s.

R216, When they purchased and ran the diner together, hamburgers were their main fare.

I'll take "Dining Habits of Fictional Television Characters from Seventy Years Ago" for $600, Alex!

Was there a Hollywood episode with Robert Taylor planned that for some reason never happened?

Lucy returned home with a Robert Taylor orange and a Richard Widmark grapefruit, but there was only a Richard Widmark episode.

Desi and Lucy should have asked Ann Miller to do an episode and try to teach Lucy to tap. They all knew each other from RKO's "Too Many Girls" and Ann claimed to have introduced them.

I'm full of good ideas.

Op

I have been on an I love Lucy kick for several months.

I thought it was weird that when they ate out they never ordered wine but coffee. In fact, it rarely showed them drinking any alcohol. One episode had wine when Ricky's Cuban friends came and a beer for Ricky and Fred during some boxing match. Never, a gin and tonic.

R226, But, Lucy and Ricky smoked in many of the earlier episodes, when they were sponsored by Philip Morris.

I remember them smoking a lot but never drinking. Weird.

It makes the program more interesting to listen closely enough where you can distinguish the pro-Stalinist propaganda and general anti-American messages hidden in the scrips

Lavrenty Beria would equire Luch to make her reports on her knees under his desk in the Lubyanka

Luch was innocent!!

R208 in his earliest appearances, the adults had to repeat his lines so we'd understand them. He had some kind of weird lisp/Cajun accent going on.

R231, Yes, the adults would repeat Little Ricky’s lines, but I think it was a matter of him not speaking loud enough.

R226 in the beginning of the episode where they try to get the Mertz to evict them, when they are all singing "Sweet Sue" round the piano, I believe they're all drinking beer, they have those German stein beer mugs. And I think I remember a couple of other times they drunk beer too.

But I agree about the coffee...ugh..black coffee with every meal sounds gross.

R233, It might have been that alcohol consumption on a sitcom in the 1950s was frowned upon by CBS and networks in general.

Just about every breakfast Lucy made for Ricky consisted of eggs, pancakes, bacon or sausages.

r233 My parents, who were of roughly the same generation as the Ricardos and Mertzes, always drank coffee with every meal. It was very common until recently. Every restaurant served coffee -- even when they didn't have soft drinks.

[quote]It Came From Outer Space was one of the better early-50s science fiction movies (with an original story by Ray Bradbury). Carlson was also in The Little Foxes (1941) and King Solomon’s Mines (1950) (2nd highest-grossing film of that year).

Richard Carlson also starred in the original "Creature From the Black Lagoon."

I think they also had coffee when they ordered pizza at an Italian restaurant. Conversely, Lucy, Ethel nor Fred ordered beverages at the Brown Derby - not even water. William Holden ordered coffee with his cobb salad - which, to me, is a weird combination.

I'm amazed that none of you eagle-eyed eldergays remember that Lucy sips wine with her escargots in Paris.

I think one of your American cousins ate my geranium.

R239, And don’t the Mertzes spring for a bottle of champagne when they plan a surprise anniversary party for Lucy and Ricky?

[quote] Was there a Hollywood episode with Robert Taylor planned that for some reason never happened? Lucy returned home with a Robert Taylor orange and a Richard Widmark grapefruit, but there was only a Richard Widmark episode.

The Robert Taylor orange was explained in the episode "The Star Upstairs" (the one with Cornel Wilde.) Lucy and Ethel are counting up how many movie stars they've met so far on this trip and realize they've made it to 99. As part of that discussion, Lucy recounts finding Robert Taylor squeezing oranges at the Farmer's Market and that she got him to autograph one.

R242, I would have preferred a Robert Taylor episode rather than that silly Cornel Wilde episode.

Never understood Cornel Wilde’s appeal or popularity.

The Hollywood episodes spanned two seasons. Season 4 ended with the Richard Widmark episode and Season 5 began with the two-part John Wayne episodes.

The actor playing the hunky lifeguard in the Hedda Hopper episode was smoking hot, especially when he kept tugging at his swim trunks.

The actor’s name was John Hart, who also appeared in another “ILL” episode.

R236 - I always drink coffee with restaurant / diner meals, usually 2 cups during and one after, and only recently realized it's no longer very common.

Do you leave lipstick on your coffee cup?

Cornel Wilde was a good actor who was also handsome and had a great body, as seen when he takes off his shirt in that episode

The living room set of the Beverly Palms Hotel where the Ricardos stayed while in Hollywood was really swanky to me as a kid. I'd live in a suite like that in a heartbeat!

I love the Cornel Wilde episode if only for Ethel's reactions while Lucy's dangling on a palm frond and she's trying to distract Ricky from noticing.

r249 are you also r132?

When the Lucy episodes first ran the world poulation was three billion.

Then Lucy got pregnent and now the world population is over eight billion.

The power of television.

R247, He’s totally forgotten today. Mention his name to almost anyone under the age of 50 and you’d get a blank stare. There’s no classic film in his filmography.

I don't care if he's forgotten, you said you didn't understand his appeal.

I'm not sure what your criterion is for a classic film but he was in High Sierra (early supporting role), Leave Her to Heaven, Forever Amber, Road House (good film noir w/ Ida Lupino, Richard Widmark), The Greatest Show on Earth (Best Picture winner) and The Big Combo (well known film noir).

Wilde will always have The Naked Prey in his filmography, which would be impossible to make these days. That movie is often noted in gay history books because of Wilde's nearly nude appearance. The movie was also mentioned in "Where's Poppa" when Ron Liebman is stripped naked in Central Park.

R253, Wilde behaved like an asshole on this Merv Griffin Show appearance, beginning at 37:05.

He was brought on because of Gene Tierney and proceeded to bad mouth the making of “Leave Her to Heaven”.

You can tell that Gene was pissed at him.

^Here it is . . .

I’m not sure if anyone has posted this but this is my all time favorite scene. She is a master physical comedian here.

Pluto aired two of my favorite Hollywood episodes this morning, the Don Loper and the Hedda Hopper shows.

Catchy Comedy had the Rock Hudson and Van Johnson episodes today. Doubly gay!

You can add the episode of Lucy having to tell the truth as an example of her physical comedy prowess. In the last half of that show, Lucy has to interact with an Italian magician who needs a partner for his act. She is absolutely fucking brilliant as she heroically struggles to help the man out.

[quote]He’s totally forgotten today. Mention his name to almost anyone under the age of 50 and you’d get a blank stare. There’s no classic film in his filmography.

More like most people under 80.

However . . . No classic film in his filmography? What about "The Greatest Show on Earth," Cecil B, DeMille's camp classic that is often cited as the worst movie ever to win the Oscar as best picture? Cornel Wilde is unforgettable as a star aerialist competing with grating Betty Hutton for the center ring, only to be injured in a fall and reduced to selling popcorn. The whole movie is a laff riot.

r261 I've never seen it, but your post sold me.

"Leave Her to Heaven" is a classic film with Cornel Wilde.

R263, More cult than classic.

If you say so, R264.

R265, Well, you won’t find it, or any other film starring Cornel Wilde, on the AFI list of 100 greatest American films of all time.

Whoa......I almost said 'Martha.'

R264 Well, it’s in the Criterion Collection. Also Song of Love may not be great but it was a bit hit in its day. I mean why pick on Cornel Wilde? Who under 40 remembers Robert Walker, Dick Powell, Ray Milland, Victor Mature or many other successful male leading men of that era? Wilde starred above the title and was a movie star.

*big hit

R268, I found Wilde to be the weak link among the celebrities featured on the Hollywood episodes.

“I Love Lucy” was the #1 rated show in America each week for years.

I would have liked to see Gable, Cooper, Bogart, etc. rather than Cornel Wilde.

R270 The Richard Widmark episode was written for Clark Gable. He couldn’t do it so they got Widmark. Likewise the Van Johnson episode was written for Ray Bolger. RB was a dancer who would have possibly been appearing in the club at the hotel. Van Johnson could dance and was in the occasional movie musical but would not have had a dance act at an LA hotel nightclub at that time. Van was originally supposed to be “The Star Upstairs” but was switched out for Cornel Wilde so he could take Ray Bolger’s place.

Several of the stars who appeared. On the show were friends of Lucy and Desi. Vn Johnson was n Too Many Girls (1940), the film where L and D met, and was in movies with Lucy (Easy To Wed). Bill Holden had also been in a movie with Lucy, Eve Arden was on a Desilu show.

Lucy and Eve Arden were both in the RKO film "Stage Door".

R271, Hedda Hopper and Lucy were very close friends. After Hedda died in 1966, Lucy purchased her beloved Rolls Royce from her estate as a memento.

Wilde had a Best Actor Academy Award nom, for Song Of Love (huge hit), was in Leave Her To Heaven (another huge hit) and The Greatest Show On Earth (the #1 film at the box office in 1952, albeit an ensemble cast), in which he did a credible French accent and was very charming in the first half and dramatic in the second half. He turned down the role of Joshua in The Ten Commandments (which went to John Derek), because it was a small role and didn’t pay enough (DeMille - an independent producer within Paramount - rarely paid actors their usual salary, arguing that being in a DeMille picture was good for their careers and worth the lower pay). He later said he regretted turning down this massive hit film.

The Lucy threads usually devolve into Vivian Vance or the "uh oh" lady therads. Cornel Wilde is a change.

By the way, Lucy herself was originally cast in he Greatest Show On Earth and had to bow out due to pregnancy (replaced by Gloria Grahame, who has reddish hair in the film).

R275, The “uh oh” lady was Lucy’s mother, Dede, who attended every taping of her daughter’s shows.

What I’ve been calling Song Of Love was actually A Song To Remember. A fictionalized biography of Chopin, co-starring Merle Oberon and Paul Muni. Song of Love was a biography of Schumann, starring Katharine Hepburn and Paul Henreid.

[quote]Bill Holden had also been in a movie with Lucy

I love Miss Grant Takes Richmond.

r244...

I couldn't imagine Bolger over Johnson in the Dancing Star episode. Johnson was very suave and debonaire and made Lucy's initial stagestruck persona so appealing.

An episode with Ricardo Montalban, or Fernando Lamas, both of whom Lucy probably knew from her time at MGM, could have been very funny. The more established Hollywood Latins might have been curious to see if they were being replaced by the upstart Ricky Ricardo!

Fernando was in a "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" episode. And of course, so was Cesar Romero.

If the rumors are true about both Desi and Fernando, then there is a plethora of pendulous meat in that pic with Lucy.

R284, In his autobiography, Lorenzo Lamas devoted two pages to the impressive size of his father’s cock.

R284, Not to mention, Lucy reportedly had a fling with Milton Berle many years ago.

R281 Wasn’t she just trying to impress Carolyn Appleby that she was rubbing elbows with a Hollywood celebrity? The dance with Van Johnson worked perfectly as did the episode. I totally agree with you. On the other hand the writers probably would never have written an episode called The Dancing Star for Van Johnson, since he wasn’t a dancing star. Ray Bolger was.

There was sexual electricity between Lucy and Van (despite his being gay.) Surely wouldn't have been with Bolger.

In The Dancing Star, ILL uses the concept of showing the number twice, the same way they did with "Friendship". Lucy does such a wonderful job in the rehearsal as the older, blasé woman but she's an ingenue in the actual show. Listen to her say Greta Garbo in the rehearsal but then she makes her voice higher in the performance and she's suddenly a young girl. Just wonderful and you're rooting for Lucy Ricardo all the way. With Bolger, it would have had to have been a comedy number and wouldn't have had anywhere near the impact.

In the Connecticut episode where they all go to the theatre to see The Most Happy Fella, Desilu was a major financial backer of the show.

That is one of the funniest, best written and best acted episodes of the series.

I just watched that a few days ago and the way they were all licking that musical's a hole I just knew Desilu had to have money behind it.

[quote]I just watched that a few days ago and the way they were all licking that musical's a hole I just knew Desilu had to have money behind it.

It's a great musical with an amazing score.

R292, Julie and Carol performed a musical number from it on their 1962 Carnegie Hall television special.

The Most Happy Fella episode was where Lucy introduced the world to the illegal practice of Second Acting.

R294, On the episode, they rave about what a smash hit it was, yet it only ran for a year and a half/676 performances.

[quote]I just watched that a few days ago and the way they were all licking that musical's a hole I just knew Desilu had to have money behind it.

It was no "Over the Teacups."

Can we talk about how many times Lucy broke the law on the show? Seriously, she commited all sorts of fraud, stole shit (the footprints), unlawfully switched with her friends to watch the second act of a musical, tried to pass of a cheese as a baby on a flight to not pay for it....now they played her as mostly clueless but some stuff she had to have known lol...I love her but irl she would have gotten the law up her ass many many times.

I learned about second acting from this show, and I have done it many times over the years, but now I think they want to check your ticket stub on the way back in. I’m not sure how often they enforce that, though.

r297 Not to mention breaking into my house!

Or my hotel room!

One episode was going to have Ricky audited by the IRS only to have him admit he cheats on his taxes. Desi Arnaz refused to do the scene and had the writers rewrite the script because he said that as a proud Cuban immigrant, Ricky never would have cheated on his taxes. I also remember the Passport episode where Lucy tries to take her oath while under the influence of sleeping pills. When he realizes that she can't do it, he notes that it's a very important oath and if she's unaware of what she's saying, she can't do it.

Don't forget she sold gallons of Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Salad Dressing by buying jars from the store and putting a fake label on it.

And what about the fake raffle for the Ladies Overseas Aid Society?

One episode of Crazy Ex Girlfriend had Rebecca and her friend digging up a grave for some reason. As I viewed that the thought occurred this was a Lucy and Ethel caper for the 21st century.

R303, And let’s not forget what she did to Betty Ramsey’s tulips.

How about her calling the Tropicana and making all those fake reservations.

And impersonating Ricky's agent to try to get him a better deal.

She pretended to be a chair in someone's apartment! (And got away with it.)

She illegally tape recorded a chubby little oilman who only wanted to help people get rich.

Is she going with us, r303?

Think harder, we can be nastier than that.

I can't be responsible for what Billy Hackett puts in the paper......

Two of the writers, the two Bobs, are interviewed on YouTube and admit that they were running out of ideas at the end.

They cite the tulips and statue dedication episodes as weak.

I actually like the tulip episode!

Betty put her tulips on my organ.

OOPS. Meant for the Turning Point chat. But both still about Lucy, so . . .

I still die laughing when Lucy goes back and forth, on the lawn mower, in front of the picture window.

It’s fun to see a young Aaron Spelling as the bumpkin gas station attendant as they’re traveling through Tennessee on the way to California.

Kathryn Card was hilarious as slovenly Minnie Finch in the episode where Ricky’s publicity agent mailed out hundreds of postcards to women, prior to her being cast as Lucy’s mother.

“Your name ain’t Kinsey, is it?”

Several actors had multiple roles on "ILL." Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumbull) originally played the woman who sang "O Promise Me" in "The Marriage License." Mary Jane Croft played Evelyn Bigsby and Cynthia Harcourt before she settled in as Betty Ramsey. Lots of other examples.

R318, Frank Nelson appeared in numerous episodes before being cast as Ralph Ramsey.

R318, she sang I Love You Truly. It was a definite highlight of that episode.

Without looking them up, you can pretty much tell the episodes from the first season because the "Lucy Ricardo Hairdo" hasn't been perfected and Lucy doesn't look quite her 1950s self yet without it.

R321, And the quality of the filming was cruder than in future seasons.

In several episodes, Fred mentions that the Ricardo’s rent was $125.00/month.

Isn’t that a bit high even for NYC in the early/mid 1950s?

Plus Lucy looked much younger in the first season. She really aged during the series. I actually never noticed that so much until I started watching it on Pluto.

Barbara Pepper, the original choice for Ethel, appeared a lot in the show too. She stole Lucy's seat on the Hollywood tour bus. I like how they used the same extras over and over again. Lucy's stand-in Hazel Pierce appeared many times. I remember in one of the Hollywood episodes she's an extra but later upon the return to New York they have her playing one of the Ricardos' close friends. I also saw Bess Flowers "Queen of the Extras" a lot. She was good at playing a concerned looking bystander.

[quote]Plus Lucy looked much younger in the first season. She really aged during the series

She aged from 40 to 46, r324, so...

R326, Desi aged more dramatically than Lucy.

R325, Barbara Pepper was also one of the hospital nurses when Little Ricky was born.

And he was six years younger, r327.

[quote]I think I love this show even more now than when I watched it as a kid on TBS in the early 90s

OP: You were a kid in the early '90s?

Verna Felton killed as the bossy house keeper that Ricky hired to be Lucy's maid. (Mrs. Porter.)

She also was the victim of Lucy trying to unload that Handy Dandy vacuum cleaner that Sheldon Leonard talked her into buying.

Verna's real life son (Lee Millar) showed up as the show runner for the "Breakfast With Desi and Lucy" episode.

I had only heard that Bea Benaderet was the first choice to play Ethel Mertz. I know that Lucy was friends with Barbara Pepper from her early RKO days, but I don't think she was really considered to play Ethel. They got so lucky casting Vivian Vance.

Barbara Pepper was one of the chorus cuties from the Mertz and Kurtz 1920's revue as well. And of course, Mary Jane Croft was Lucy's seat mate on the flight back to NY with the cheese.

R323 not really, according to the inflation calculator, the same apartment would now be worth1.5k a month, which, considering the actual prices, would be ridiculously cheap, now.

r332: and thank god Gale Gordon was unavailable to play Fred Mertz.

Benaderet and Gordon would have sunk I LOVE LUCY.

It sounds silly but Gale Gordon is the actor I loathe the most.

Bea might have been quite good. Gordon proved his ineffectiveness in every other Lucy incarnation.

He couldn't do a *lovable* carmudgeon, r337...it wasn't in his skill set.

[quote][R323] not really, according to the inflation calculator, the same apartment would now be worth1.5k a month, which, considering the actual prices, would be ridiculously cheap, now.

Seems overpriced for something at the bottom of the East River.

There was only one ILL episode that I really didn't like Lucy at all. Nor love her. It was such an odd script. When Lucy wouldn't just let Ethel be the club president. She bribed Lilian Applebee with her sweater. Yes she was Lilian before Caroline. I'm surprised Lucy approved that script. She was really unsympathetic in that episode.

One of the only episodes I dislike is Lucy Cries Wolf.

R341, The episode where Lucy and Ethel dressed as outer space creatures to raise money for Cynthia Harcourt was one I could have lived without.

I love that episode, r342! My sister and I still quote it all the time, lol.

The only episode I never cared for is one where the Mertzes do not appear, when Lucy and Ricky pretend to be old and have younger teen admirers they can't shake off. "Keep jiggling, Peggy!"

It's just weird and not funny at all, imo, but I think someone above said they really liked it. Go figure.

r343 But that one had Walter Denton and Judy Jetson!

We’re Lucy and Desi big fans of Tennessee Ernie Ford?

Wasn’t he on three episodes?

His brand of humor never appealed to me.

Lucy and Ricky were big in Bent Fork.

Yeah, I really disliked the Tennessee Ernie episodes, with the exception of Teensy and Weensy...

Believe it or not, Ernie Ford was incredibly popular for a time, both as a comic and a singer. His appearances on ILL were undoubtedly audience grabbers. His "Sixteen Tons" single was unavoidable in 1956 and beyond.

Yeah, America had an infatuation with hillbillies during that era. In the 60s it was Hawaii.

R350, Lucy was a hillbilly in the premier episode of ILL and Judy Canova made a career of it. And remember those stupid Tammy movies. R349 to tie them both together, Lucy, Fred and Ethel played somewhat hillbillies in their attempt to get to Hawaii. Lucy was pretty good at doing the hillbilly schtick.

I sort of remember Lucy trying to get to Hawaii but I'm surprised they didn't have then do a few episodes of them there. Maybe it was too hard to make the set look Hawaiian.

Ernie was a war hero B-29 pilot who made music that grabbed America. And the sophisticates loved him.

Hony-lulu! Land-o-goshen!

in the late 1950s, the very first Peanuts animations were on Tennessee Ernie Fords color TV show on NBC.

Ford automotive sponsored the show and Charlie Brown and his friends also appeared is the Ford car commercials.

Yeah the Tennessee Ford episodes I could have lived without.

Another episode I wasnt keen on was a later episode, after the Connecticut move, where Lucy gets bored of staying at home and gets a job at a tv station spokesperson or something. It's not bad per se and from a more feministic perspective it's interesting, especially because this time Lucy's actually succesfull, and it had nothing to do with Ricky....but there's no real joy in it, not much humour, idk if its the cracks between Lucy and Desi beginning to show but there's something missing there between them, chemistry wise. Also I think Ethel pops up but only for a couple of minutes.....

Ultimately Lucy and Ricky never see each other anymore so she quits, but she doesnt appear all that happy either. The overall energy of the show is just very blah.

R355, That was one of the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours”, with Paul Douglas.

Yes I just checked, it was in the very last season, shot in 1959, so I definitely think the backstage stuff had taken a toll on the show and on Desi/Lucy.

R357 was meant for R356

Ernie and Our Tab.

It didn't help that Paul Douglas was a laugh vacuum. Not even Lucy could make him funny.

Paul Douglas suffered a fatal heart attack just five(5) months after that “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” first aired in 1959 at the age of 52.

He seemed far older than 52.

Funny, the Paul Douglas “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” is one of the only ones I like, it has a bittersweet quality to it. It's not the usual Ricardo dynamics, but I think it still works.

Has anybody see the "Make Room for Daddy" where "Lucy Ricardo" appears as a guest star? I can't stand Danny Thomas, even as a kid I thought he stank.

" it has a bittersweet quality"

Exactly why I didn't like it. ILL is not a show that I watch for bittersweetness.

I know it wasn't ILL, or at least I think it wasn't, but the Tallulah Bankhead episode is comedy gold. From start to finish.

And Ethel is classic with Tallu.

R365, The dinner scene is perfection.

R363 . . .

[quote] I can't stand Danny Thomas, even as a kid I thought he stank.

Uncle Tanoose made up for it

I saw the episode of the Danny Thomas show with the Ricardos in it, and it was so bizarre because the characters in the Danny Thomas show seemed like actual human beings, but when Lucy and Ricky descended on their apartment, it was like cartoon characters had suddenly invaded the real world.

It was not a good fit.

I appreciate that so many mistakes were left in the episodes.

They just powered through, often correcting each other’s flubbed line(s).

Unlike today’s sitcoms, where if a mistake is made the taping is stopped and the line or scene is restarted.

Desi Arnaz was a surprisingly very good comedic actor.

And a pretty good top!

You're telling ME!

Whether it was slightly put on or not, I loved how Desi as Ricky pronounced "The Merssez" referring to Fred and Ethel.

Desi more than held his own with his far more seasoned in the acting department co-stars, and was a fine ensemble actor when he could have been a true scene stealer.

Did Vivian really come to work with a black eye? Which episode was that?