The Lucy Show - Season 8 Episode Guide

[Mot Morenzi]

8.1 - The MAME Secretaries

 

Allman & Mooney officially open MAME, and Mooney grudgingly hires Lucy to be his secretary once again. Miss Allman will now need a secretary to assist with her end of business, and who should walk in Monday morning but Audrey Fields, Lucy's old rival from the Westland Bank. Lucy & Audrey are none to thrilled about sharing the same office, their desks right next to each other, but they remain professional at first. Soon, however, both women are subtly sabotaging each others work until both Allman & Mooney are fed up with the pair of them. Perhaps subconsciously, Mooney somehow locks them in the office by mistake and the two must spend the whole night trapped together, where they manage to come to an understanding by next morning.

 

(Guest Star: Ruta Lee. Elvia Allman is now a semi-regular).

[Neil]

8.1 - The MAME Secretaries

 

Elvia Allman is now a semi-regular).

 

Great addition!

Will have to see if I missed episodes in Season 7 (I may have been watching "Laugh-In") to clarify what MAME is.

[Mot Morenzi]

Great addition!

Will have to see if I missed episodes in Season 7 (I may have been watching "Laugh-In") to clarify what MAME is.

 

Yes, check out the last post in season 7 to read about the finale

[Neil]

Running out of episodes for season 8, the writers decide to go back to season 6 and draft a couple of new episodes and sequels:

"Lucy is Again Dandy in Danfield"-  Lucy takes Mary Jane along with her to attend the reunion of the Volunteers in Danfield and is thrilled to be reunited Viv, Audrey, Thelma Green and Frannie.  As the girls reminisce, clips from past episodes are shown.   But when Grandma Sutton reports her cat up a tree, the girls spring into action like old times.  Following the trail of claw marks up the tree, they discover, instead,  Flo the Manicurist trapped after testing out the bark-grabbing capabilities of her extreme-manicure nails.   Episode highlight:  Audrey and Mary Jane recreate the Marx Brothers mirror routine.

"Mary Jane Finally Gets Off You-Know-Who's Front Door Stoop", a back-door pilot for "The Mary Jane Show".

Production notes: When Gulf & Western/Paramount learns Lucy has formed Lucille Ball Productions to produce her own show, they are aghast at the prospect of losing their highest rated network show.  Impressed with Mary Jane Croft's performance in "Danfield", they cast Charles Lane and Mary Jane as the banker and his secretary with Vanda Barra as her sidekick, continuing the Emmy-nominated format.   The production runs into legal problems when Jess Oppenheimer sues, claiming Mary Jane Lewis is merely an extension of the Lucy Ricardo character he created.   (Producers claim the premise was based on the book "Life Without Lucy""). CBS and NBC pass on the pilot but ABC gives it a shot,  hoping to shore up their dreary Monday night by scheduling “The Mary Jane Show” at the same time “The Lucy Show” ran.  The premiere jumps the gun airing a week before the other network season openers and pulls in an encouraging #23.   Ratings take such a nose-dive when the show faces the new episode  competition from “Here’s Lucy” and “Laugh-In” that ABC replaces it with unaired episodes of “The Tammy Grimes Show”. 

[Mot Morenzi]

1 hour ago, Neil said:

CBS and NBC pass on the pilot but ABC gives it a shot,  hoping to shore up their dreary Monday night by scheduling “The Mary Jane Show” at the same time “The Lucy Show” ran.  The premiere jumps the gun airing a week before the other network season openers and pulls in an encouraging #23.   Ratings take such a nose-dive when the show faces the new episode  competition from “Here’s Lucy” and “Laugh-In” that ABC replaces it with unaired episodes of “The Tammy Grimes Show”. 

I'd love to see some of those unaired "Mary Jane Show" episodes:

• One Good Chocolate Chip Cookie Deserves Another
• Mary Jane and the Guard Mink
• Mary Jane Makes a Hit With Lawrence Welk
• Mary Jane's Brown Nose (where she has to suck up to John Wayne to do a sequel to the Western Lucy botched)
• Mary Jane and Vanda are Up a Tree
• World's Worst Cousin (where snooty cousin Daisy Enright locks Mary Jane up in Paul Winchell's dummy trunk and takes her place)
• Mary Jane is a Sex Symbol (a racy calendar shoot showcasing underutilized sidekicks get her noticed for all the wrong reasons, with viewers unaware she was wearing Carol Bradford's Bob Mackie bust instead of actually bearing all.)
• Mary Jane Makes Viv Bite the Dust ("No more co-star billing for you, Bagley! I'm the new girl in town!")

[Neil]

Lucy and the Lost Star-part 2”-    When the Joan Crawford episode of The Lucy Show winds up being #1 for the week by a long shot and propels CBS’s entire Monday night line up into the top 5 positions in the ratings, producers quickly cobble together a sequel.  With no time for a script from scratch, Bob O’Brien offers a virtual remake of last season’s “Lucy and John Wayne” with Lucy visiting the set of Joan’s movie “Berserk” and getting carried away, thinking Joan is in actual danger.   (Imagine Lucy shoving Joan’s face side to side as she adjusts her make up between takes with her non-stop “It doesn’t seem fair.  They always gang up on you” chatter). While venting her concerns to assistant director Bryan O’Bryan, he, a veteran of the “Baby Jane” set, says “I’ve seen Miss Crawford hurt a number of times” adding fuel to Lucy’s frenzy.   Distracted with this conversation, Lucy misses the onset direction the “Berserk” director is giving dagger-wielding Diana Dors to grab the prop break-away knife before she attacks Joan.   As the scene begins with Diana lunging at Joan, Lucy goes ballistic and enters the melee, grabbing a real dagger and ripping into cast and crew Zorro-style.  When in her confusion, she spins around to attack Joan herself, Joan’s porcelain make-up shields any penetration but she is knocked to the ground.  The dull knife yields only superficial wounds, but as Lucy is being dragged away from the bloody set, still pleading for Joan to let her stay, a dazed Crawford can only wave her away with “Good-bye, BITCH!”

Again, stellar ratings create demand for a Part 3!

[Neil]

“Lucy and the Lost Star-part 3”-  (yes this one is little surreal combining elements of the original episode with the backstage goings-on between Lucille Ball and Joan).

With demand for “more Joan Crawford movies” at an all-time high, agent Lew Parker quickly options “Speakeasy Days” for Joan’s first musical since “Torch Song”.   Author Lucy Carmichael sells the rights with the provision that she be cast in her original role as Rusty, much to Crawford’s chagrin.  

Now that she’s the one in charge, Joan, still reeling from her treatment on “The Lucy Show” set, sees this as opportunity to give Lucy a taste of her own medicine:  first criticizing her dancing (“You’re too OLD to do “Mame”), cutting her number to a few brief seconds, excising most of Rusty’s lines and at one point bellowing “Get Joan Blondell!!” 

 When the studio gets the innovative idea to of doing a full-blown production of “Speakeasy Days” as a stage musical to generate publicity,  Lucy waits for the performance to create havoc, upstaging Miss Crawford, Talullah-style.  (She’s a little disappointed when one of her tricks, replacing Joan’s “ginger ale” with real 100 proof gin has no effect on Crawford).  Joan’s anxiety is reaching panic-proportions when she realizes the upcoming scene has “Rusty” shooting Joan’s character.  “Just how far will this Carmichael woman go?”  Joan wonders as she adlibs a few extra belts from the bottle of “ginger ale” and freaks out, exiting the stage mid-performance to make her getaway in a car waiting in the alley behind the theater with the motor running (driven by “good friend” gossip columnist Shirley Eder).  The show goes on and ends with a standing ovation for Joan’s understudy Gloria Swanson. 

[Neil]

A little Shirley Eder background.  As two-faced as they come, she recorded phone conversations between herself and Joan.  Then turns around and bad-mouths Joan to "Missy" Stanwyck, also recorded.  In one of the conversations with Joan, Crawford bemoans the fact that they aren't writing movie roles for women her age "now that I'm 50" (she was 64 at the time).  Joan mentions being offered a play but is reluctant because she's never had to learn a part from beginning to end.  In the movies, she would memorize the next day's scenes only.   "But", Joan says, "I'm coming out to LA next week to do a 'Lucy Show' so I can get m' feet wet with that at least."  As far as I know a Joan Crawford play never materialized.  "I was saving my feet for a rainy day, but I didn't know they were going to get THIS wet." 

We'll probably never know the true story of the back-stage goings-on during "Lucy and the Lost Star".  The basis for all the hubbub seems to stem mostly from Herb Kenwith, whom I don't find a reliable source.  But it's such irresitably JUICY stuff, it's been repeated so often that it has become fact.  

[Mot Morenzi]

Somebody's on a roll! These are all so hilarious on multiple levels.

I find it a little odd that Kenwith, for all his gosspin' ways, was so quick to blast Mommie Dearest and defend Joan from Christina's accusations. He must've been very devoted to Joan. 

[Luvsbway]

12 hours ago, Mot Morenzi said:

 

I find it a little odd that Kenwith, for all his gosspin' ways, was so quick to blast Mommie Dearest and defend Joan from Christina's accusations. He must've been very devoted to Joan. 

Or Joan had a pile of dirt on him. Maybe he was in an illicit affair with Maury Thompson.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Eww, now there's a visual I didn't need!

Can't speak to their younger days when they were more likely in their "prime", but based upon brief interactions witnessed at one of the Lucy conventions here in Burbank they both attended, they struck me as cordial colleagues, perhaps friends but I'm not sure; what struck me was the (lasting) impression I got from both was that while they were supposedly there "in support" of and to discuss working with The Lady, they both came off as bitter and emboldened to share their dismay having worked for her, despite their long respective association(s).... perhaps because Maury was fired after the rumor of wanting a raise? I don't recall whether Kenwith and she departed on good terms or not but that's not the impression I got.... An aside but sort of related, as most of you (ir)regulars here are aware, am a huge Shirley ("Busty Ingels") Jones fan and reportedly after working with Kenwith on a particular episode of "The Partridge Family" (I think the one where the Laurie character (Susan Dey) gets braces), Shirley was so upset at how badly he "directed" the kids on the set that she went to the producers and told them if they ever had him back to direct, she'd walk.... and she was not one to "throw her weight around" so... he must have been pretty heinous. 😲

 

[Luvsbway]

17 hours ago, JoeySoCal said:

Eww, now there's a visual I didn't need!

 while they were supposedly there "in support" of and to discuss working with The Lady, they both came off as bitter and emboldened to share their dismay having worked for her, despite their long respective association(s).... perhaps because Maury was fired after the rumor of wanting a raise? I don't recall whether Kenwith and she departed on good terms or not but that's not the impression I got.... 

 

There is that Joan Rivers Show from the 90s where Maury and Herb just bitched about Lucy. To the point that Joan asked them pretty much, did you like her? It was a show to share memories and all those 2 jerks were doing was having a bitch fest. 

[JoeySanJoaquin]

On 2/26/2020 at 8:17 AM, Luvsbway said:

There is that Joan Rivers Show from the 90s where Maury and Herb just bitched about Lucy. To the point that Joan asked them pretty much, did you like her? It was a show to share memories and all those 2 jerks were doing was having a bitch fest. 

Dang, never saw it! Sorry I missed it!

[Luvsbway]

2 hours ago, JoeySoCal said:

Dang, never saw it! Sorry I missed it!

I almost feel tempted to make a clip of this for my Instagram. Carole Cook and Bob Osborne are on too. I think it was for the Desilu book launch. 

[Neil]

"Lucy is Her Own Aunt"

When Phil Stanley moves out to marry "BB",  Lucy insists on singing at the wedding.  Her "I Love You Truly" vocals send groom Phil on another bender.   Back at home, Lucy's Glenhall apartment seems so empty.  So she signs up with the "Big Sister" organization, a group that takes in wayward teenager girls abandoned by their  families.....and ends up with her own daughter Chris, whom she doesn't recognize  

"You remind me of someone I used to know"

Lucy must hide "Candy" (as she calls her) from downstairs crank Mrs. Golddapper because children are a violation of her lease and Candy is 'spectin' with the child of another Danfield-to-LA transplanted youth gone bad.    All of this related in a postcard to her son Jimmy which is returned "not known in this platoon"....with postage due.

Guest stars: Candy Moore, Phil Harris, Kasey Rogers.   "Itchy" Mooney: Michael J. Pollard.   Big Sister supervisor: Elvia Allman.  Mrs. Golddapper: Bella Bruck. 

[JoeySanJoaquin]

22 hours ago, Luvsbway said:

I almost feel tempted to make a clip of this for my Instagram. Carole Cook and Bob Osborne are on too. I think it was for the Desilu book launch. 

By all means, if you have it, please let us see it! Thanks! 😎

[Luvsbway]

2 hours ago, JoeySoCal said:

By all means, if you have it, please let us see it! Thanks! 😎

I couldn't find exactly where Joan yells at them but the Maury Herb team and the Carole Bob team have very different views of Lucy.  I am going to be posting 2 clips tomorrow on the gram featuring Bob Osborne from this JR and one other show. 

[Mot Morenzi]

15 hours ago, Neil said:

"Lucy is Her Own Aunt"

When Phil Stanley moves out to marry "BB",  Lucy insists on singing at the wedding.  Her "I Love You Truly" vocals send groom Phil on another bender.   Back at home, Lucy's Glenhall apartment seems so empty.  So she signs up with the "Big Sister" organization, a group that takes in wayward teenager girls abandoned by their  families.....and ends up with her own daughter Chris, whom she doesn't recognize  

"You remind me of someone I used to know"

Lucy must hide "Candy" (as she calls her) from downstairs crank Mrs. Golddapper because children are a violation of her lease and Candy is 'spectin' with the child of another Danfield-to-LA transplanted youth gone bad.    All of this related in a postcard to her son Jimmy which is returned "not known in this platoon"....with postage due.

Guest stars: Candy Moore, Phil Harris, Kasey Rogers.   "Itchy" Mooney: Michael J. Pollard.   Big Sister supervisor: Elvia Allman.  Mrs. Golddapper: Bella Bruck. 

 Thanks, Neil. I needed that after this hellish week!