Corryveckan45's Replies


Perhaps, but, as I pointed out, to the best of my recollection, in his memoir, Arnaz cited Frawley as the troublemaker and praised Vance's patience in putting up with him. For example, I recall Arnaz stating in his book that Frawley would come up to him before scenes where "Ethel" was supposed to sing complaining, "Where did you get this B****? She can't sing worth a d***! You're going to have her sing again!" Arnaz would patiently explain that Vance was a wonderful actress and "Ethel Mertz" wasn't supposed to sing well. It's been a very long time since I read Desi's book, but I don't recall him pointing out any unprofessional/nasty behavior on Vance's part toward Frawley. I get the impression that Frawley treted Vance offscreen the way Fred often treated Ethel onscreen, without the comedy elements. Given how nasty Fred could be to and about Ethel onscreen, I've often wondered why she marred him, especially since she was "The Flower of Albuquerque!" In any event, to get back to my original question: how much older do you think Ethel was than Lucy? Thanks for your insights. I've always heard that the feud/animosity between Vance and Frawley started when Vance showed up for the first day's work and asked who'd be playing her husband. Someone pointed out Frawley and she said something like: "HIM?! You're kidding! He should be playing my GRANDFATHER!" Frawley overheard Vance's comment and never forgave her for it. It's been a long time since I read Arnaz's memoir, but I recall him saying that Frawley "couldn't stand" Vance, but she was "wonderful" about putting up with him. She just figured he was an old Poop" and ignored his rotten attitude. So do you think Ethel was supposed to be 10 years or more older than Lucy? Maybe there really was "a vast difference in their ages." lol What about Lucy dressing up as Superman? I've never been able to accept that even Lucy thought she could get away with this one. Did you include "Lucy's Italian Movie" in your marathon? I don't know if I'd consider Lucy's dressing as a grape stomper a "costume" on the same level as the "Superman episode, but it is a classic episode. Thanks for the clarification, Andrew. Either way, in the real world I think Phipps Dept Store and Harvey Cromwell would have been furious at Lucy for what she did. I think some sponsors might take that forgiving attitude, but I didn't get the impression that the head of Phipps Department Store would be one of them. He had such a sense of his own brilliance/wonderfulness, I think he would have been shocked and dismayed at how things turned out due to Lucy's distortion of the commercial. Hitchcock. on the other hand, was great at kidding his sponsors. I think it's likely though,, that the sponsors knew what he was up to before the shows aired, which wasn't the case here. I agree Gary. And I think that Phipps Dept. Store would have sued Lucy. I've always thought that the idea of the writers to have Ricky reset everyone's time pieces was ridiculous. Good to know I'm not alone. It probably was a good idea of the writers to leave so much to viewers' imaginations. Based on the evidence, though, I can't imagine Charlie or Carolyn ever letting it go. The Applebys were always bragging and boasting about Stevie, even before the gathering that started the whole mess. As Ethel says, "Somebody's got to take them down a peg. To hear them talk, you'd think they'd invented babies!" I can't imagine either Charlie, and certainly not Carolyn, ever letting Lucy and Ricky forget that they publicly acknowledged that Stevie was a better looking more charming and charismatic child than Little Ricky. Of course Lucy was wrong to go to Carolyn's just to show her up with Little Ricky looking his best. As anyone knows, I sometimes have a problem with how selfish and unthinking Lucy can be. But having Lucy show off "Stevie Appleby" as the most beautiful child she'd ever seen, was a real dis to Little Ricky. I'm sure Lucy's "frienemy" club members didn't let this one pass. Very possible. I hadn't considered that. I'm still surprised at Carolyn's "accent" when she insults Little Ricky. It sounds almost like a "twang" to me. On a different question related to that episode, I've never liked the ending. While Ricky had every right to be upset with Lucy for getting him fired from the variety special, I'm always a little annoyed that Ricky sacrifices defending his son from Carolyn's obnoxious behavior (carrying Little Ricky under one arm, calling him fat, a glutton", etc.) for the sake of his career. Lucille Ball, as usual, does do great work in that scene. I also remember liking Gale Gordon's performance as the judge. You're right, of course, that Lucy was usually star struck with celebrities, but it made sense to me that she'd be in competition with them in The L-D Comedy Hour. In Hollywood, the celebrities were sympathetic to her schemes, appreciative of her extreme fan worship, and "protected" her when her behavior was discovered. Of course, word ultimately got around Hollywood about her wacky behavior anyway. In the L-D Comedy Hour episodes, Lucy found herself in conflict with the celebrities, and she treated them just like she would anyone else who had done her wrong or tried to thwart her schemes. Also, in the L-D Comedy Hour, the celebrities weren't in Hollywood. Some, like Tallulah Bankhead and "Danny Williams" were on LUCY's home turf, so perhaps they lost some of their lustre in her eyes. I haven't seen it for a long time, so I probably should revisit it, but I didn't like "Lucy Makes Room For Danny" very much. Lucy is especially obnoxious in this episode (even for her), and though she was the most subdued of the six adult actors in the episode my favorite part was probably when Marjorie Lord ("Kathy Williams") finally had it with Lucy and crowned her with the snowman's head. I'll bet many viewers were hoping someone would put Lucy in her place. My favorite episode of the LDCH after the Bankhead episode is probably the one with Fred MacMurray. I like the scenes with everyone trying to beat each other to town to get in on their uranium "strike." I agree it would have been nice to have some episodes without "guest stars." I would have liked to see more of the Ramseys, especially Frank Nelson's "Ralph Ramsey," who I thought had great chemistry with the rest of the cast and only made a couple of appearances in the regular series. Hi Gary, I can understand Singleton's nose surgery changing the tone of her voice, but in "Baby Pictures" I thought she sounded like she had a definite accent, as when she refers to Little Ricky as being "funny lookin' ". I assume that in the Van Johnson episode, when Lucy is surprised (and distressed!) to find that Carolyn has remained behind to attend Lucy's "Hollywood Party," that Lucy told her the party was postponed, or some such excuse. I think you're right that Carolyn probably made the prominent participant in the Hollywood stories. She probably boasted about Harpo Marx chasing her around the room and carrying her off for months! I thought they changed her name from "Lillian" in the early episodes to "Carolyn" in the later ones pretty quickly, but I noticed in the Hollywood episode "Lucy Gets into Pictures," that Ricky is mad at Lucy for sending a postcard to "Lillian" telling her that she (Lucy) is appearing in a movie. I also noticed that in "Baby Pictures" Carolyn spoke with a bit of an accent that she didn't have in other episodes. I guess she didn't have a rivalry with Lucy in some of the episodes because she and Lucy weren't in competition. Thanks Gary, I recall Ricky mentioning the "three months" timeline in the Richard Widmark episode. He does it when he explains why he won't take Lucy to the lunch he has scheduled with Widmark, but I didn't recall anyone stating how long they were in Hollywood. As for the trip to Europe, I remember Fred mentioning at the cafe in Paris that they would be in Europe much longer than originally planned. I think it was in the Charles Boyer episode. It's made clear that the original tour of Europe was supposed to be three weeks, but I didn't recall anyone mentioning how long the actual trip was. I was thinking maybe they glossed over "the 14th year," because the show also seems to advance Little Ricky's age pretty quickly. In the "Lucy Gets Homesick," episode, set in Italy, Lucy is upset at being away from Little Ricky on his THIRD birthday, but after they get home from Europe, in "Little Ricky's School Pageant," it's mentioned he's in Kindergarten, and, of course, he's older and more active in earlier episodes like "Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums." Of course Yes, he is. He definitely had very dark brown or black hair. Gary, Interesting bit of trivia: The "hunk" is John Hart who replaced Clayton Moore for one season of THE LONE RANGER. I loved the show as a kid and I thought Hart did a good job in the title role. I think he also appeared as the real "Tom Catcherside" in the "Lucy Changes Her Mind" episode. (You probably already knew that!) Well said, Gary. That would have been a reasonable and appropriate reason for Lucys change in attitude, and a good compliment to the "Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable" episode. Given how gifted and invested in the show the writers were, I'm surprised they didn't think of it, but everyone's entitled to a "miss" now and then. Very true, PJ! How could Lucy believe that her old boyfriend had undergone such a drastic physical change, even if it was over 10 years since she'd seen him? Especially someone who went on to play "The Lone Ranger." lol It was definitely supposed to be an off-color joke, as indicated by Ethel's reaction. I've never understood this episode. It seems to me that a key element of the "Lucy Ricardo" character is her unshakable belief that her way is always THE way, and her talents are limitless. That Lucy should suddenly develop an inferiority complex because of a few reservations expressed by Ricky and the Mertzes seems to against the basic premise of the series.