I Love Lucy - General Discussion

[HyeChaps]

The loving cup episode is one of my least favorites.  So random. Why would they ask a bandleader to give an award to a jockey?

[BogoGog24]

I actually like the loving cup episode a lot. It's just funny to see Lucy walking around with a giant trophy on her head. 

[LucyEth]

The loving cup episode is one of my least favorites.  So random. Why would they ask a bandleader to give an award to a jockey?

I agree, don't care for that episode.  Why would you take the subway instead of a cab!

[Charlie Baker]

Because as Ethel said, it would be faster to get downtown.

 

Also, so Lucy can get lost and wander around a Brooklyn subway platform. ;-)

 

Ethel's line about not wanting to go on the subway in her blue jeans is completely hilarious in the 2010s.

[GreekGeek]

"Auf Wiedersehen" where Lucy's only word is "Auf!"

The same gag in reverse, where Ricky dances for two seconds followed by a huge long dance for Lucy--designed to show her how exhausting being The Star can be.

Lucy trying to sing "Humoresque"/"Down by the Old Mill Stream" in counterpoint.

The brassy number that Ricky's band played to "dying" Lucy in "Lucy's Fake Illness" instead of the gentle dirge she was expecting. (Even though this was a horribly cruel prank for Ricky to play!)

The Borden Twins ("Teensy" and "Weensy") singing "Ricochet Romance."

[GreekGeek]

I liked the "loving cup" episode because I'm fascinated by the history of the New York subways, and this is a neat look at them in the 1950's. It also had some cool lines, like Ethel saying to people staring at Lucy with her head veiled, "Haven't you ever seen a beekeeper on the subway before?" and Lucy lost on the platform asking a man, "Where am I?" and him replying, "Earth!"

 

Two of my all-time favorites involve road trips:

1) The one with the rickety cabin outside Cincinnati. So many great moments: Lucy trying to eat the stale cheese sandwich, Mr. Skinner charging them for "entertainment tax" and singing "Baby Dear" on the banjo, Ethel tying Fred to the side of the bed, Ricky tumbling out of the top bunk when Lucy takes yowling cats for the baby's crying, the bed sliding across the floor as the train rumbles by.

2) Lucy and Ethel's trip to Florida with Elsa Lanchester as Mrs. Grundy. Loved how Lucy and Ethel thought Mrs. Grundy was an escaped hatchet murderess, and she thought the same about Lucy. They tried to signal their fears to a waiter in a diner, only to have him say, "Ya'll must be from up north!"

[Badger]

"Down by the Old Mill Stream" is the number Ricky, Lucy, Fred and Ethel did at the rodeo show with bells.  I believe "Old Folks at Home" was the counterpoint to "Humoresque."

[ElleryAnne]

2) Lucy and Ethel's trip to Florida with Elsa Lanchester as Mrs. Grundy. Loved how Lucy and Ethel thought Mrs. Grundy was an escaped hatchet murderess, and she thought the same about Lucy. They tried to signal their fears to a waiter in a diner, only to have him say, "Ya'll must be from up north!"

 

 

Heh.  "Notice how gray her hair is?"

[HyeChaps]

"I'll have another HELPing."

[Charlie Baker]

Ethel: You're so smart!

 

Lucy: I'm not smart, I'm just observant.

 

Before they change the tire wrong, of course. But love little moments like that, in addition to the bigger ones.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I know it was mentioned above, but it bears repeating because it's just so hilarious:

 

"Do you pop out at parties? Are you unpoopular? Well? ARE you? The answer to all your problems is in this lil' ole bottle. Vitameatavegimen. Yep. That's what is says alright. It's got vitamins, meat, megetables and vinerals."

[GHScorpiosRule]

I would say I love about 90% of the episodes of the entire run.  But "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" and "The Brown Derby" are my top two favorites. Those and the one in CT where Lucy hides all those eggs in her shirt and they get smashed when doing the Tango with Ricky, always, and I mean ALWAYS make me laugh so hard I give myself a tummy ache.

 

I LOVE Lucy. And I love this show. I get it on MeTV, which  don't think gets as chopped up as TVLand and Hallmark does.

[BooksRule]

Aside from The Walking Dead, ILL is my all time fave show.

 

This is from a while back, but it made me laugh.  What a combination!  (I like TWD, too)

 

Technically, not 'I love Lucy', but I saw today that CoziTV (I get the lineup of shows through one of my local Fox stations) will be airing 'The Lucy Show' beginning in August.  I haven't seen those (good ones and bad ones) in decades.  Maybe I'll ask for a show topic when it begins airing, if anyone else will be watching and wants to post with me.

 

Rereading some of the posts, I need to get back to watching some 'I love Lucy' episodes.  It's been a while since I've seen any.

Edited July 22, 2014 by BooksRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

I feel totally gypped, y'all!

 

We go from Season one, with "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" and the few episodes after that, to the end of Season two, which are clip shows, I think, after Lucy has given birth to little Ricky. EXCEPT, MeTV didn't air ANY of the episodes starting from "We're Having a Baby" (I think that's the episode title) to when Lucy tells Ricky she's pregnant to all the pregnancy episodes leading to the birth. No, it starts with episode 18, right after she's given birth, and Ricky talks about remember how...and we get "The Black Eye" episode, the one where she's pregnant but can't tell a joke, so Ricky gets her a Feesikiatrist, played by a guy who almost always was a bad guy in Perry Mason episodes...durnit.

[Maverick]

 They may be showing them in production number instead of air date order.  I think a bunch of those were filmed out of order.

[BogoGog24]

This is from a while back, but it made me laugh.  What a combination!  (I like TWD, too)

 

Technically, not 'I love Lucy', but I saw today that CoziTV (I get the lineup of shows through one of my local Fox stations) will be airing 'The Lucy Show' beginning in August.  I haven't seen those (good ones and bad ones) in decades.  Maybe I'll ask for a show topic when it begins airing, if anyone else will be watching and wants to post with me.

 

Rereading some of the posts, I need to get back to watching some 'I love Lucy' episodes.  It's been a while since I've seen any.

 

I would definitely be on board with a Lucy Show forum. I haven't seen very many episodes of it but I have enjoyed the ones I've seen. Lucy is still Lucy.

[GHScorpiosRule]

It goes without saying that I suck, and I mean SUCK at witty titles...

 

I wasn't sure if this should go in the quote thread or have its own, so I opted for the latter.

 

Do any of you find yourselves using words or phrases that Lucy, Ricky, Fred or Ethel used? I know I do.

 

I constantly find myself saying "I dun't" and "wha' happ'n?" A lot. And "feezikiatrist" you know, the head doctor!

 

And sometimes I'll say "I've got a brilliant idea!" And when it comes to certain drinks...of the alcoholic variety, my friends will find me saying "It taste just like candy! Honest!" and give me the side eye.

 

 

[HyeChaps]

I have been known to use, "Are you wet?"

[ElleryAnne]

I've been known to offer people a drink after they've had a hard day and say, "The answer to all your problems is in this bittle ottle."    I should probably be embarrassed about that for any number of reasons.

[fernsehen]

Birthday greetings to Lucille Ball, who was born on this date in 1911.  In the 1955-56 episode "The Passports," Lucy Ricardo (nee McGillicuddy) was said to have been born in 1921.  Will there be a surprise party at the Tropicana?

[TudorQueen]

Don't forget to invite the Friends of the Friendless!

 

Actually, it's not an episode I love or hate, it's fine, but that's all, with one exception - Ricky singing "I Love Lucy" to her. A perfect meta moment that is not played for an ounce of meta. "I have a present for you, too. Do you want to hear it?"

[dustylil]

It's a quote from the show I have been known to use  - but not from any of the four principals.

"When I kiss them, they stay kissed" - followed by a wild cackle of laughter.

Minnie Finch - later Mrs. McGillicuddy (played the wonderful character actress Kathryn Card)

[BogoGog24]

I just thought about this today but did anyone else ever notice that the Season 1 episode "Lucy Is Jealous of Girl Singer" is erroneously titled? Technically the girl Lucy is jealous of was a dancer in the episode, not a singer. I always wondered why they titled it that way. I just thought it was interesting and wondered if anybody else had ever noticed that.

[Gemma Violet]

I just thought about this today but did anyone else ever notice that the Season 1 episode "Lucy Is Jealous of Girl Singer" is erroneously titled? Technically the girl Lucy is jealous of was a dancer in the episode, not a singer. I always wondered why they titled it that way. I just thought it was interesting and wondered if anybody else had ever noticed that.

 

LOL-I hadn't noticed that.  I did notice that the the twin actors who play the nasty twins Lucy babysits have two different last names. What's up with that, I wonder?  Maybe their parents thought they'd each have a separate career in show biz and so gave them stage names. 

[LucyEth]

Whenever something is really enjoyable, like a night out.  I always quote Fred from the Gossip episode when the girls serve them breakfast in bed "We're living like kings"!  

[Charlie Baker]

LOL-I hadn't noticed that.  I did notice that the the twin actors who play the nasty twins Lucy babysits have two different last names. What's up with that, I wonder?  Maybe their parents thought they'd each have a separate career in show biz and so gave them stage names. 

Actually, I don't think they were related.  They resembled each other closely enough that with costuming, they could pass for twins.  I could be wrong, but I heard and or read that somewhere, I'm relatively sure.

[Gemma Violet]

Actually, I don't think they were related.  They resembled each other closely enough that with costuming, they could pass for twins.  I could be wrong, but I heard and or read that somewhere, I'm relatively sure.

 

Oh OK, I had no idea.  I'll have to try and notice next time I see that episode.  

And I think it coincidentally played on Hallmark this morning and I missed it.  Oh well, it'll be there again in a couple of months. :-)

[BogoGog24]

Yes I think the twins were actually played by actors who were unrelated. 

[dustylil]

One of the twins - Timmy - played by David Stollery went on to become a  stalwart of the Disney studio in the fifties. Most notably, he played Marty Markham of the  Adventures of Spin and Marty and its various sequels. He later became a noted automotive designer.

[Gemma Violet]

One of the twins - Timmy - played by David Stollery went on to become a  stalwart of the Disney studio in the fifties. Most notably, he played Marty Markham of the  Adventures of Spin and Marty and its various sequels. He later became a noted automotive designer.

 

Interesting--I had no idea.

 

The Vitameatavegimin episode aired this morning.  At the beginning of the episode, they make a big deal that Lucy removed the entire works of the TV and yet still almost got electrocuted when Ricky plugged the set in.  Funny how the electrical cord was connected to the empty TV shell. :-)  

Edited August 14, 2014 by Gemma Violet

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I had a buuuunch of episodes queued up on my dvr and I spent this weekend watching them all. I stand corrected.  There are two more episodes that have me laughing deep in my gut, uncontrollably, besides the William Holden one:

 

"Home Movies" and "Lucy's Club Dance."

 

The way Lucy totally messed up Ricky's boring "Vaya Con dios" song with a guitar for that television dude, and interspliced it with the "cowboy" drama she, Ethel and Fred made, as well as the home movies with Lucy and Little Ricky, were nothing short of HILARIOUS.

 

Then Lucy and her club attempting to play 12th Ragtime? I think it was? And TOTALLY massacring and murdering it...with Ricky doing the boppy a one and a two...then having his guys show the ladies how to play it....but no dice. I'd forgotten how this ended and I thought they were going to do an "Andy Griffith" having the real orchestra behind the curtain while the ladies played their instruments (in Andy, they had a baritone sing over Barney in the choir since poor Barney couldn't sing).

 

But to see Ricky's orchestra, dressed in wigs, dresses AND make-up, with sour looking faces was beyond hysterical.

 

Now for the uncomfortable. For me. Knowing NOW how much Desi cheated on Lucille, it is really uncomfortable or me to watch those episodes where Ricky's supposed infidelity is brought up. It pains me to think how Lucille made it through those episodes.

 

And then the Anniversary one, celebrating 13 years, where Lucy just wanted her and Ricky alone, but Ethel and Fred wanted to throw a party...I smiled like a groupie and loon at what was their real life pictures as Desi and Lucille.

 

And binge watching, God, was Lucille a beautiful woman. And I loved her belly laugh.

[dustylil]

Another episode that is incorrectly titled is Season 3's Ricky's Hawaiian Vacation. Ricky wasn't going to Hawaii for a holiday, it was a gig. He had been hired to bring a troupe of Latin American performers to appear at some function.

 

I too have wondered  over the years about the number of episodes that had  Lucy suspecting Ricky of infidelity, given the problematic personal history of the couple. Were they not awkward and painful to rehearse and film? But then I thought surely if the subject was that troubling to Miss Ball, those kinds of plots on the  could have been avoided or greatly minimized.  She wasn't exactly a minor player in the show. If I recall correctly,  she expressed her opinions when she thought "bits" or scenes wouldn't work. And her views were accommodated and changes made.

 

The song that Lucy and her friends (as well as  the world's homeliest all girl orchestra) played was "Twelfth Street Rag".

Edited September 27, 2014 by dustylil

[Gemma Violet]

I was rewatching the Dore Schary episode a couple of days ago where it's stated that Ricky's option will be picked up (after Don Juan is shelved) and he'll be put in another movie, and it reminded me that that story line was never followed up on.  I know there was an episode of Ricky coming back to NY as the big Hollywood star, but nothing was ever mentioned again of the movie, the premier, how the movie did at the box office, etc.  I assume it did poorly and Ricky's contract was dropped.  Otherwise, they would have had to move back to Hollywood.

[oceanblue]

I read somewhere that people thought Don Juan was a real movie that Desi Arnaz was actually in, and that's why they wrote that the movie was shelved and the new movie was not discussed in any detail.  

[Gemma Violet]

I read somewhere that people thought Don Juan was a real movie that Desi Arnaz was actually in, and that's why they wrote that the movie was shelved and the new movie was not discussed in any detail.  

 

That makes sense.  TV viewers were pretty naive back then (although some viewers like that still exist today).  I remember reading a story once that a famous soap star was walking down the street and a viewer of her soap came up and slapped her because she (her character) was so mean on the show.  

 

I rewatched the Lucy Wants to Go to Europe episode this morning.  I love the part where the D.A. tells Lucy she's committed fraud and the penalty is ten years in the Federal Pen, and Lucy says, "But I'm going to Europe!  I can't spend ten years in the Federal Pen!"  

Edited October 1, 2014 by Gemma Violet

[marsha]

"Phipps are a great big bunch of gyps!"

[TudorQueen]

TudorPrince and I both use "You've got some 'splainin to do" surprisingly often, as well as "What thin' do you mean?"

 

And I have actually found occasion to use "I'm not a Maharincess! I'm a henna rinsess!"

[TudorQueen]

Some of the songs from "The Operetta" were strangely prescient. When Ricky criticizes the lyrics, citing "I am the good Prince Lancelot. I love to sing and dance a lot." (Lucy gets out of it by asking if he's ever heard of Sigmund Romberg, and he says of course, and she says "Well, then!", convincing him of the worth of the lyrics without actually lying.)

 

Decades later, the Broadway musical "Spamalot" featured a big production number in which the chorus serenades the brave, ultraviolent Sir Lancelot (just outed) with "His name is Lancelot, he loves to dance a lot"

 

Well, then!

[TudorQueen]

I learned that a movie called "Bitter Grapes" is not necessarily about the wine industry.

[henrysmom]

But to see Ricky's orchestra, dressed in wigs, dresses AND make-up, with sour looking faces was beyond hysterical.

 

For some reason the fact that they didn't even try to make these guys even remotely believable as women made it more hysterical to me. 

 

I think my favorite ILL moment was in one of the John Wayne episodes, where Lucy wants to steal Wayne's footprints from Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  And Ethel, understandably, demurs, leading Lucy to say "If you aren't going to help on a routine souvenir hunt.." and Ethel shoots back "Routine?!?!"  Nowhere near the funniest lines on ILL, but it just says so much about the characters, and of course both Lucy and Vivian deliver their lines perfectly.

[dustylil]

Respectfully, it was Victor Herbert, not Sigmund Romberg.

[TudorQueen]

Dustylil, it really is you! How awesome to run into you. And yes, I stand corrected.

 

Are you wet?

[One Tough Cookie]

I com out with "I have sufficient" during lunch  {Ethel--when she is hurt by Lucy and Betty Ramsey's friendship after they move to the country}

                                                                                            and

I also occasionally see a fisiokeeatrist  to help with depression.

Edited October 17, 2014 by One More Time

[One Tough Cookie]

Lucy:  Thanks Ethel, this is 's what friends are for.

Ether: If I had known this is what friends are for, I'd have signed up as an enemy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe you need to see a fioskeeatrist {Ricky}

Ok, Unique if it's a boy, Euphonious if its a girl {Ricky}

Edited October 17, 2014 by One More Time

[blaase]

Anything by Vivian Vance. From Short'nin' Bread" to "Lily of the Valley" loved that woman's voice.

[blaase]

My favorite episode is the one where Ethel and Lucy both think each other is the burglar Madame X. Always have to stick around and watch that one whenever it's on.

I just love Ethel's frantic " Fred, Fred Fred!!!"

 

Second favorite is the one where Lucy and Ethel  catch a ride to Florida and they have to change a flat tire and Lucy screams in spanish gibberish and kicks the tire like Ricky would have ..

[VanillaBear85]

This is one of my favorites. So simple and sweet. 

 

[BogoGog24]

You know what another erroneous episode title I just thought of? Well I actually thought of it a while ago but just remembered it again now. Back when the pregnancy episodes aired, they weren't allowed to say the word pregnant on TV right? So the episode where Lucy learns she's pregnant was titled Lucy Is Enceinte. However, the episode following just after that is called Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable. Did it become okay to use the word pregnant by then, or was it just an error? 

[dustylil]

And Desi Arnaz wrote the lyrics to it.

 

TudorQueen apologies for the delay in responding. Yes it is I Oh lovely one.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Call me silly, but I really love the music "number" they all did on the way to Hollywood, and drove through Bent Fork, and in order to get out of jail, had to perform!

 

Don't know the name of the song, but loved and always laugh at the refrain:

 

"Y'all Come."