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Lesser mentioned I Love Lucy episodes


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  • 2 years later...

Though Cynthia Harcourt's gotten a fair amount of coverage on other threads, I don't see "Lucy is Envious" come up that often. It's not a standout episode, but I do enjoy it. The scenes with Mary Jane are definitely the best, but the Martian routine is funny. As an aside, when I was a kid, I didn't get the Wichita joke, as I didn't know it was a city. I assumed the lady was looking for some building in New York, not her hometown in Kansas!

Several books mention this was Jess Oppenheimer's least favorite episode. I may not agree with him personally but I understand why he felt that way. Lucy and Ethel scaling the Empire State Building is definitely one of the more far fetched moments. Maybe a funnier angle would've been making the ascent the block comedy scene of the episode.

There was a short-lived NBC sitcom in 2005 called Committed. One episode featured a scene set atop the Empire State Building, and I swear the set was identical to the I Love Lucy one. 

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I enjoy "Envious" also. My mom, who is at best a casual fan, still says "It's a moo-moo" when she thinks something is strange. My favorite moment is after the "martians" leave the apartment and Ethel says to call the police and all Lucy can do is scream. It's one of those funny little moments to me.

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"Envious" has a special place in my family, because one way or another, my mother's nickname for my younger sister has always been "Moo", gleaned from this episode! I never even thought about how the martian stunt is kind of far-fetched. Nowadays, if there were two women dressed as martians flapping their arms on the roof of the Empire State Building, no one would even bat an eye! Well, they might end up going viral on Twitter or something.

Also: Mot- I remember Committed! It was such a dark, quirky show. Tom Poston as an emphysemic old clown living in the closet of your apartment is certainly something you don't forget! I remember Bob Newhart having a cameo on the show and a guest appearance from Valerie Harper:(

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6 hours ago, rickylu said:

I enjoy "Envious" also. My mom, who is at best a casual fan, still says "It's a moo-moo" when she thinks something is strange. My favorite moment is after the "martians" leave the apartment and Ethel says to call the police and all Lucy can do is scream. It's one of those funny little moments to me.

In an interview, Mary Jane also said she used "It's a moo-moo" whenever she found something strange :)

I like the Martian routine too. And it's not that crazy when you remember the kerfuffle War of the Worlds caused.  

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22 hours ago, Mot Morenzi said:

I like the Martian routine too. And it's not that crazy when you remember the kerfuffle War of the Worlds caused.  

Exactly.  Welles' War was a mere 17 years previous (I think).  From Cynthia to Evelyn to Betty Ramsey to Audrey Simmons to TLS Mary Jane to HL Mary Jane (especially those later shows), Mary Jane Croft seemed to progress in daffiness with each role.  The only further progression she could have made would have been an animated character in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.   They made cartoon versions of several series (didn't Laverne and Shirley have one?), why not a Here's Lucy cartoon with the characters as animals: Harry as a walrus, Lucy and Mary Jane as ostriches. 

 I like "Envious" .  Who else could have done that scene with Cynthia and then the Martian schtick in the same episode?  Pre-Hollywood, I would guess Jess was frustrated that they were running out of self-contained episode plots.  On paper, this would seem too outlandish to work.

The $500 they earned  is $4,700 today.  I would have kept the money and avoided Cynthia Harcourt in the future.  Imagine if Fred had found out Ethel gave away $4700!

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