What episodes are you watching on "I Love Lucy"?

[Neil]

"Mr and Mrs TV Show" ran on Me-Tv this morning.

It's not one that gets mentioned much or makes most people's Top Tens, but it's a near perfect episode with not a wasted moment, a really tight script and all four at the top of their game. The satire aspect is lost today because nobody remembers that there were indeed morning TV shows like this, where a couple brought up the sponsor at every opportunity. (I saw a kinescope of one and couldn't believe how spot-on the ILL send-up was)

This is truly one of Lucy's best performances. Every facial expression, every movement: a work of art. Of particular note, both her "Oh, Girls, I want to tell you something..." monologues. Her facial expressions are priceless. And different, but equally hilarious, both times. Lucille Ball is the only actress who could pull this off.

The one extended Lucy-less scene (and other than Ricky's singing, there weren't that many of them), in Cromwell's office, shows again just what an adept comedic actor Desi had become. The actor who plays Cromwell adds a lot to the show.

I saw the script for this show somewhere where I was only able to browse through it. The part where Ethel is going to blab to Ricky that it was Cromwell and Lucy says "We don't need him....", Ethel's got that bit where she looks a Lucy, then Ricky, then Lucy again before saying she can't remember. Ethel's movements are all written out in the "black stuff".

 

I know it's hard for younger people to imagine, but before cable TV (and VHS tape) where locally we had 4, and only 4, TV stations, there were years and years where we in Portland had no I Love Lucy at all. There was this funky movie theater that would have midnight movies, usually some cult film. Every once in a while they would have "50s TV night". I Love Lucy was a part of two of them. "Mr and Mrs TV Show" was the first selection. The audience went wild. The only complaint I heard was a couple behind me grousing that the episode didn't contain enough Fred. (The other episode from a different 50s TV night was "Palm Springs"). Someone I know now (but didn't then) took his tape recorder and has that showing of "Mr and Mrs" on tape, very interesting to hear audience response.

[Mot Morenzi]

"Mr and Mrs TV Show" ran on Me-Tv this morning.It's not one that gets mentioned much or makes most people's Top Tens, but it's a near perfect episode with not a wasted moment, a really tight script and all four at the top of their game. The satire aspect is lost today because nobody remembers that there were indeed morning TV shows like this, where a couple brought up the sponsor at every opportunity. (I saw a kinescope of one and couldn't believe how spot-on the ILL send-up was)This is truly one of Lucy's best performances. Every facial expression, every movement: a work of art. Of particular note, both her "Oh, Girls, I want to tell you something..." monologues. Her facial expressions are priceless. And different, but equally hilarious, both times. Lucille Ball is the only actress who could pull this off.The one extended Lucy-less scene (and other than Ricky's singing, there weren't that many of them), in Cromwell's office, shows again just what an adept comedic actor Desi had become. The actor who plays Cromwell adds a lot to the show.I saw the script for this show somewhere where I was only able to browse through it. The part where Ethel is going to blab to Ricky that it was Cromwell and Lucy says "We don't need him....", Ethel's got that bit where she looks a Lucy, then Ricky, then Lucy again before saying she can't remember. Ethel's movements are all written out in the "black stuff".I know it's hard for younger people to imagine, but before cable TV (and VHS tape) where locally we had 4, and only 4, TV stations, there were years and years where we in Portland had no I Love Lucy at all. There was this funky movie theater that would have midnight movies, usually some cult film. Every once in a while they would have "50s TV night". I Love Lucy was a part of two of them. "Mr and Mrs TV Show" was the first selection. The audience went wild. The only complaint I heard was a couple behind me grousing that the episode didn't contain enough Fred. (The other episode from a different 50s TV night was "Palm Springs"). Someone I know now (but didn't then) took his tape recorder and has that showing of "Mr and Mrs" on tape, very interesting to hear audience response.

Grousing about not enough Fred? That's a complaint I've never heard before, but I LOL'd at the way you told it.

 

I completely agree about this episode. Max and I watched it a few weeks ago. It's easily one of my absolute favorites and does warrant more love. I first saw it on videotape, as it was included on Volume 3 of the "Best of I Love Lucy" tapes, which had 5 episodes each. Mom got me that tape just so we could have this episode, as she had strong memories of it. My dad still likes to quote Desi's "Well hallo there!" all the time. You're right that the pacing is flawless and the script builds beautifully to the final scene.

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Dang.. I gotta get my tv out of hock so I can watch!! Almost 3 weeks with no Lucy ahhh!!! Thanks for keeping her alive for me

[Harrison]

2016's edition of the I Love Lucy Christmas Special featuring "Lucy Gets In Pictures", and regular episodes - "The Fashion Show", & "The Hedda Hopper Story"

[Mot Morenzi]

I just watched the infamous Lucy Goes to a Rodeo for the first time in ages. The final rodeo segment is what really brings this one down. It's hardly the best work from anyone involved, and Desi just seems embarrassed to be performing "Texas Pete."

 

The scenes leading up to the rodeo aren't terrible, per se, but the whole show feels very out of place in the fifth season. This feels like a first season script that got lost and showed up four years too late.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

This feels like a first season script that got lost and showed up four years too late.

 

[Brock]

The scenes leading up to the rodeo aren't terrible, per se, but the whole show feels very out of place in the fifth season. This feels like a first season script that got lost and showed up four years too late.

 

Perfect description!

[Harrison]

Recently discovered a Lucy tape I made several years ago (surprise for me  )and watched the following episodes that were on it:

 

I Love Lucy: "Job Switching"

I Love Lucy: "Lucy's Italian Movie"

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: "Lucy Hunts Uranium"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy & Viv Install a Shower"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy and the Countess Have a Horse Guest"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy Carter Meets Lucille Ball"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy and the Used Car Dealer"

I Love Lucy: "Lucy Does a TV Commercial"

I Love Lucy: "Harpo Marx"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy Buys a Boat"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy Gets Caught In a Draft"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy Protects Her Job"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy and Harry's Memoirs"

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: "Lucy Takes a Cruise To Havanna" (the first half or so)

 

The tape was titled, "The Best of Lucy: Queen of Comedy" Volume #3.

 

What a nice treat that was!
 

[RodMcK1]

Recently discovered a Lucy tape I made several years ago (surprise for me  )and watched the following episodes that were on it:

 

I Love Lucy: "Job Switching"

I Love Lucy: "Lucy's Italian Movie"

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: "Lucy Hunts Uranium"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy & Viv Install a Shower"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy and the Countess Have a Horse Guest"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy Carter Meets Lucille Ball"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy and the Used Car Dealer"

I Love Lucy: "Lucy Does a TV Commercial"

I Love Lucy: "Harpo Marx"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy Buys a Boat"

The Lucy Show: "Lucy Gets Caught In a Draft"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy Protects Her Job"

Here's Lucy: "Lucy and Harry's Memoirs"

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: "Lucy Takes a Cruise To Havanna" (the first half or so)

 

The tape was titled, "The Best of Lucy: Queen of Comedy" Volume #3.

 

What a nice treat that was!

 

 

How did "Lucy Gets Caught in a Draft" get in there?  Otherwise, a fine collection.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

The Business Manager (S4 #1, OAD October 4, 1954)

Ricky Needs an Agent  (S4 #29, OAD May16, 1955)

 

[Mot Morenzi]

The Business Manager (S4 #1, OAD October 4, 1954)

 

 

Ricky Needs an Agent  (S4 #29, OAD May16, 1955)

 

 

Two of my faves!

[JoeySanJoaquin]

A lazy Saturday afternoon, letting the episodes available on CBS Access "run amok"; i.e., much like Netflix and I assume other streaming services, you play one and it automatically plays the next show(s) in the playlist until you pause, stop or change them.  Great means to watch several episodes in a row, especially when you're doing other things and/or indecisive about which eps you really want to see.  Upside of this is I'm more apt to just "let it run" and watch "so-so" (for lack of a better description) episodes that aren't my big favorites (e.g., "Lucy Cries Wolf") but deserve another look, nonetheless given the invariable comic genius by our fearless foursome regardless of which episode it is!  Downside:  they currently only have about 100 of the 180 available, which I don't understand at all; they've all been digitally remastered for DVD, streaming (Amazon, etc.), etc. so why they're not ALL available (nor, also inexplicably, the 13 hour-long LDCHs) I simply do not understand.

 

Today's roster included:

1. Lucy is Envious
2. Lucy Writes A Novel
3. The Black Wig
4. Tennessee Ernie Visits
5. The Golf Game
6. Sublease
7. The Business Manager
8. Lucy Cries Wolf

[Neil]

 

1. Lucy is Envious
2. Lucy Writes A Novel
3. The Black Wig
4. Tennessee Ernie Visits
5. The Golf Game
6. Sublease
7. The Business Manager
8. Lucy Cries Wolf

 

 

Sounds like a great line-up to me.  All these 3-star (out of 4) episodes are thoroughly enjoyable.    "Black Wig" is particularly clever.  Just shows how the series had matured.  (Just 2 seasons previous they were still doing shows like "Drafted"!)  "ILL" is remembered for its great physical comedy but there were more shows like "Black Wig" and "Business Manager" (another 3-star stellar ep)  than "Grape Stomping" and "VitaMeta".  

 I love how they establish that the salon owner doesn't recognize Lucy in the wig, giving Lucy the idea that she might just possibly pull it off. Includes one of the greatest lines of the whole series "..he leered at me and called me 'honey' in a tone I haven't heard since the day before we got married."  Not a joke/laugh line in the Milt Josefsburg sense of the word, but coming out of the reality of the situation and characters and of course, delivered perfectly by the greatest comedic actress of all time.   Interesting how quickly Fred leaps at the idea of cheating on Ethel!  I wonder if Lucy (Ball, not Ricardo) winced at the line by Fred to Ricky "you've never done anything like this before". 

You've inspired me to put in this DVD and watch a few of those.

[Freddie2]

I’m doing my annual Christmas Eve viewing of Season Six, Disc One of ILL. It started several years ago when a friend gave me the season six set as a gift at a Christmas party. Now, every year when I get back from the party I watch the disc. Most people may think of Santa Claus and chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but I think of Elsa Lanchester and Watercress sandwiches.

[Mot Morenzi]

4 hours ago, Freddie2 said:

I’m doing my annual Christmas Eve viewing of Season Six, Disc One of ILL. It started several years ago when a friend gave me the season six set as a gift at a Christmas party. Now, every year when I get back from the party I watch the disc. Most people may think of Santa Claus and chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but I think of Elsa Lanchester and Watercress sandwiches.

Love it! For a few years starting in 2011, I watched Kill Bill Volume 1 on Christmas Eve, because I'd gotten it on sale earlier that day. I enjoy unorthodox traditions like that.

[Freddie2]

Apparently Hallmark Channel recently aired Lucy and John Wayne. Wayne's official Twitter account had this cute little gag to make: 

[Neil]

"Hollywood Anniversary"  may have usurped "Dancing Star" as my all-time favorite episode---which over the years has changed off and on.

It's a near perfect episode from start to finish.  It's more Desi's show than Lucy's and my nomination for his greatest performance.  I have never seen an episode of "The Phil Silvers Show/Sgt. Bilko".  I'm sure it was hilarious but of all of seasons, 1955 is the year they should have fashioned a new Emmy with a silver platter and handed it to I Love Lucy.  (For the first time, it WASN'T EVEN NOMINATED in favor of "Silvers", Sid Caesar, George Gobel, Jack Benny, Bob Cummings and Danny Thomas.)  I Love Lucy was on such a roll.  Emmys were still being given for the calendar year, so 1955 started with "Lucy Learns to Drive" and ended with "Passports".  Other than maybe "Don Juan Gets Shelved", "Ricardos are Interviewed" and "Rodeo, they're all pure gems (and these 3 aren't bad). 

"Anniversary" demonstrates what this show could do that no other could.  No "slapstick", no big comedy scene, a simple plot--Ricky forgetting their anniversary--and ending with a scene that has no laughs.  But a lot of HEART, which sets this series apart from all others.   Being married in real life certainly amplified the believability.   Plus we got a healthy dose of Mrs. McGillicuddy: "You know Mickey: despite my predictions I think you're going to turn out all right" (as close as Mrs. M got to giving a compliment to Ricky) and "Imagine a man going out nightclubbing on his anniversary leaving his POOR WIFE sitting home alone!" Yes, it's Desi's show but Lucy gets a lot of mileage out of her reading of the line "Publicity!" with indignant outrage. I love the little touch of Lucy spilling the cough syrup on Ricky's robe so later when she's getting laundry together, it's natural that she includes the robe and goes through its pocket.

Decades runs 2 back to back and the 2nd one was "Star Upstairs".  So Lucy's dangling from Cornel Wilde's balcony in one episode and then there's this change of pace. 

[HarryCarter]

10 minutes ago, Neil said:

I love the little touch of Lucy spilling the cough syrup on Ricky's robe so later when she's getting laundry together, it's natural that she includes the robe and goes through its pocket.

I never thought about that before. That is a brilliant observation. 

That year of I Love Lucy is the most Emmy worthy year in history. It is unfathomable that it was not even nominated. 

[Neil]

Well at least Lucy got her well-deserved 2nd Emmy for 1955.   But ILL was not nominated in 1956 either which started with "Staten Island Ferry", at one time: my favorite episode and ended with the Christmas Show.   Granted those first 10 episodes (ending with Xmas) of the 6th season are, as they say, "uneven".  But the Europe thread was hot, albeit not as hot as Hollywood.  I like "Loving Cup" but the 6th season's best start with "Wants to Move to Country" (both in 1957) IMO of course.   1956: In the category now entitled "Best Series-Half Hour or Less", I Love Lucy was passed over in favor of comedies "Phil Silvers", the 2nd of its 3 consecutive wins, Jack Benny and Father Knows Best; plus  these two "Alfred Hitchcock" and, of all things "Person to Person"!   Robert Young of FKB won in the category Actor-Continuing Performance-DRAMATIC series.   Lucy lost "Best Comedienne" to Nannette Fabray for Caesar's Hour.  (I wonder if Nan brought her Emmy to the set of Happy Anniversary and Good-by).  There was no category for Actress in a Comedy Series.   

Nor was ILL nominated for the calendar year of 1957.  After that, Emmys went by season starting in 58-59.  Sort of surprising the high-profile "Lucy Goes to Havana" didn't get a "Program of the Year" nomination.   So I Love Lucy was nominated four times....for its first 4 seasons (actual 2 and 2 halves)...51, 52, 53, 54 winning 2, but after that: zip for the series. 

Off this topic, but I wonder if there's some reason the colorized episodes don't replace the b/w versions in the syndication package.

[Neil]

"Fan Magazine Interview"---an underrated gem.  Probably because there's no big comedy scene.  but I'm still AMAZED that this Kathryn Card is the same one who played Mrs. McGillicuddy.  Before we had reference books and wide-spread access to the shows, I had no idea this was Kathryn.  Just shows what an untapped range she had.  Every other sitcom performance of hers ("Burns and Allen", "Dennis the Menace") she's much more like the prim and proper Mrs. M.

For Minnie Finch, she seems to be toothless!  Only 2 line readings give her away her ties to Mrs. M (inflections in CAPS )"...and Ricky Ricardo came over n' kissed me. and today FIVE YEARS LATER, I get a card asking me for a date."  and "(referring to her jealous husband Joe)....he ran out of here FIT TO KILL".  

(And I like the way Ricky pronounces "Elly-a-nor")

[Mot Morenzi]

6 hours ago, Neil said:

"Fan Magazine Interview"---an underrated gem.  Probably because there's no big comedy scene.  but I'm still AMAZED that this Kathryn Card is the same one who played Mrs. McGillicuddy.  Before we had reference books and wide-spread access to the shows, I had no idea this was Kathryn.  Just shows what an untapped range she had.  Every other sitcom performance of hers ("Burns and Allen", "Dennis the Menace") she's much more like the prim and proper Mrs. M.

For Minnie Finch, she seems to be toothless!  Only 2 line readings give her away her ties to Mrs. M (inflections in CAPS )"...and Ricky Ricardo came over n' kissed me. and today FIVE YEARS LATER, I get a card asking me for a date."  and "(referring to her jealous husband Joe)....he ran out of here FIT TO KILL".  

(And I like the way Ricky pronounces "Elly-a-nor")

This is one of my favorite episodes, one that I re-watch frequently. To me, it perfectly encapsulates how the series had evolved from the first season. Lucy and co. didn't always need a block comedy scene and slapstick, they were equally adept at performing eloquent, sophisticated humor. For a '50s sitcom, I Love Lucy certainly had a number of episodes about suspected marital infidelity.

I've always loved the morning routine sequence - the slovenly take 1, and the perfectly rehearsed take 2. So well executed. To this day, I still refer to it as "Hahlf & Hahlf".

[HarryCarter]

I was watching The Million Dollar Idea last night and never noticed before that the scene in the morning following Lucy eating all the pastries begins with Lucy holding her stomach and drinking a glass of water. 😃

[Neil]

On 12/25/2017 at 1:28 AM, Mot Morenzi said:

Love it! For a few years starting in 2011, I watched Kill Bill Volume 1 on Christmas Eve, because I'd gotten it on sale earlier that day. I enjoy unorthodox traditions like that.

(a little late on my response)  "Kill Bill" may have been a phrase Vivian Vance used along with "Fry Frawley".

[Luvsbway]

On 10/30/2018 at 0:41 PM, HarryCarter said:

I was watching The Million Dollar Idea last night and never noticed before that the scene in the morning following Lucy eating all the pastries begins with Lucy holding her stomach and drinking a glass of water. 😃

Watched this the other night just to see this. That was quick, good eyes. 

[Mot Morenzi]

Lucy Misses the Mertzes - A touching episode, but rather slow in pace. It's rare to see such a quiet episode with so little action. I do like how it cements the closeness of their friendships, though.

Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors - A good introduction to the Ramseys, and (IMO) the best of the new furniture episodes. I wish Frank Nelson had made more appearances as Ralph, he was quite good in the part. Lucy did have a point - their NYC furniture did not suit that house.