"I Love Lucy" Housewarming (1957)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

William Asher

Writers:

Bob Carroll Jr. (writer)
Madelyn Davis (writer)

TV Series:

"I Love Lucy" (1951)

Original Air Date:

1 April 1957 (Season 6, Episode 23)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

When Lucy tries to warm Ethel to an aloof Betty Ramsey, Lucy is left out in the cold.

Plot Keywords:

Bandleader | Friendship Between Men | Product Placement | Cult TV | Friendship Between Women

Cast

Lucille Ball	...	Lucy Ricardo
Desi Arnaz	...	Ricky Ricardo
Vivian Vance	...	Ethel Mertz
William Frawley	...	Fred Mertz
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Jane Croft	...	Betty Ramsey
Ray Ferrell	...	Bruce Ramsey
Richard Keith	...	Little Ricky Ricardo (as Little Ricky)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Ren-Mar Studios - 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

First Part Funnier Than Second Part

Bob Carroll and Madelyn Pugh, the writers for the show, said they would think of the stunt first, then build up to it, how to get it to happen.

Lucy on the mower, Lucy with the eggs in her shirt, Lucy clucking like a chicken with baby chicks all around, Lucy drunk in a commercial, Lucy stomping grapes in Italy, and so on.

In this instance, I suppose the joke was how to get Lucy at a surprise party with her in her robe and with curlers in her hair.

I suppose the misunderstanding about the friendship between Ethel Mertz and Betty Ramsey was a good one.

But what makes this episode so memorable to me was the actual beginning of the episode. Lucy is trying to get Ethel and Betty to be friends. Betty is a bit of a snob, and Ethel feels like Betty is looking down on her, so Ethel is very reluctant for any kind of friendship.

At the start, it is Ethel who is hostile toward Betty. Vain Betty seems to be unaware of Ethel's behavior.

These little exchanges (Ethel saying she wears the same bathrobe every evening to what evening gowns Lucy and Betty would wear, Ethel saying her half of the egg business is the shells, Ethel going 'mm-hmm' from behind her coffee cup to answer Betty's question) are amusing on their own.

Lucy then says that Ethel has always lived on a farm since she was a little girl in Alberqueque.

"Albequeque?" Betty asks. "Are you from Albequeque?"

"mm-hmm."

"Well, I'm from Albequeque."

"You are?"

Betty and Ethel (reads like Archie in Riverdale characters) then realize they attended the same grammar school and their fathers were lodge brothers.

The mood turns on an incredible dime, but the saga isn't finished yet.

As the two women continue to recollect about Albaqueque, we suddenly hear "I'm from Jamestown" from left-out Lucy.

Later "I lived in Jamestown until I was sixteen." This then led to Lucy feeling mistreated.

Yet that breakfast table incident, of Lucy trying to bring them together and being left out herself, is a gem in and of its own.