MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > In Palm Springs

In Palm Springs

posted 4 years ago by Garyandfilm (548)
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This is one of those episodes where I love the first half much more than the second half (I was never a fan of the dull Rock Hudson, although he's okay here, certainly better than the material). But the first few scenes of this ep ARE funny.

What's interesting is the writers did their best to come up with the "annoying habits" that supposedly all four characters possessed all along. It seems to me, I've seen other episodes where Fred has his hands nervously in his pockets, even if he wasn't necessarily jangling his change. And Ricky DID nervously tap his fingers on the desk in their apartment (he does it briefly in "Ricky Minds the Baby" when he thinks he's lost Little Ricky). And it's more than believable that Ethel ate her food with "noise" (remember the guttural sounds she's making while stuffing herself as the other three are trying to place an ad for a farm hand in the country?). But it's Lucy's "bad habit" that makes no sense. Here, the writers failed. Aside from the fact that stirring her coffee repeatedly isn't the least bit funny, Lucy never did this habit before or after this ep. True, we don't know that she didn't do this off camera, but surely the writers could've concocted something funnier than this!

Thoughts?

[–] [email protected] (6082) 4 years ago

So true about Lucy! There are a number of scenes at the breakfast table and Lucy is never "banging out the Anvil chorus" in her coffee cup. "Lucy Cries Wolf" comes to mind. Her annoying habit seems to be that she always wants the section of the newspaper that Ricky is already engrossed in.

Fred does keep his hands in his pockets a lot. I read that William Frawley had tremors, very shaky hands, and he often hid his hands in his pockets to hide that fact.

The episode in question is one of my least favorite Hollywood episodes. The second half is rather dull and it's just a repeat of the first (much funnier) half. This time it's Ethel and Lucy getting on each other's nerves. And the whistling scene with Rock Hudson is unfunny and pointless.