| "I Love Lucy" episode | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Season 2, Episode #21 #56 in Series | ||||
| Series: | I Love Lucy | |||
| Network: | CBS-TV | |||
| Air date: | March 30, 1953 | |||
| Written by: | Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis & Jess Oppenheimer | |||
| Guest stars: | Frank Nelson Phil Arnold John Hart | |||
| Directed by: | William Asher | |||
| Production code: | 2x21 / 056 | |||
| Episode guide | ||||
 IMDB
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Lucy Changes Her Mind | |||
| Episode chronology | ||||
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| "The Black Eye" | "No Children Allowed" | |||
Lucy Changes Her Mind was the 56th episode of I Love Lucy, also the 21st episode aired in Season 2 of the series. The episode, was directed by William Asher and co-written by Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis and Jess Oppenheimer, originally aired on CBS-TV on March 30, 1953.
| "Lucy Changes Her Mind" | ||
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| Also see: | ||
| Full Credits | Transcripts | More Images |
Synopsis[]
Whether it's getting dressed or ordering dinner at a restaurant, Lucy seems unable to finish anything without changing her mind. Ricky loses his temper, so Lucy tries to play a trick with an old, unfinished love letter to a beau from high school. Fred warns Ricky of Lucy's plot, and Lucy is soon in over her head.
Plot summary[]
Ethel enters the Ricardos' apartment to find all of the furniture changed. Ricky says that Lucy decided to move the furniture. This leads in to a flashback about a time in the past when Lucy was really bad about constantly changing her mind.
The tale begins with Lucy embarrassing everyone by her behavior at dinner one night. First, she makes everyone switch tables, because she wants a particular one that has a good view. Then, when everyone orders dinner, Lucy changes her order three times, wanting whatever the next person ordered. She then made everyone switch to yet another table, because the table with a view had a draft and made her sneeze. The waiter got so frustrated with her that he quit his job and went home.
Ricky straightens Lucy out at home, telling her that she is to start a new regime, where she finishes everything she starts. Lucy's first unfinished project is to clean out the hall closet, which she started doing 11 years ago after they first moved in. She finds an old unfinished love letter to her ex-beau, Tom Henderson, who now owns a fur salon downtown. She never finished the note because, while she was in the middle of writing it, Tom called her on the phone, they had a huge fight, and they never spoke again. Lucy decides to finish the note and have Ricky purposely find it, making him think that she's having an affair.
Fred tells Ricky Lucy's plan before Lucy ever has a chance to spring it on him. Ricky pretends like he couldn't care less about Lucy writing to Tom Henderson, and he says that he plans to mail the letter to Tom. Lucy goes downtown to Tom's fur salon the next day, hoping to explain the whole situation. When she sees a customer thank "Mr. Henderson," she realizes in horror that Tom, who used to be tall, dark, and handsome was now short, dumpy, and bald. She sees Ricky and Fred walking down the street, and she doesn't want Ricky to see that THIS is who she used to be in love with. So, Lucy hides in the fur salon and pretends that a mannequin is Tom. Her ruse is given away when she goes to dance with "Tom" and the mannequin's torso comes off. Lucy explains the truth to Ricky, and how she didn't want him to see the real Tom. Ethel then runs out and tells Lucy that the man they saw earlier was Tom Henderson's BROTHER, Harry. Ethel brings out the REAL Tom, who is just as gorgeous as ever.
Did You Know?[]
Trivia[]
- The idea for the restaurant scene was thought up when the exact scenario happened to the writers. After each new person ordered their meal, writer Madelyn Pugh kept switching her order to what the last person just ordered.
- The waiter played by Frank Nelson is named Henry. He must be legally blind, because he still has great vision problems even with his thick cokebottle glasses.
- Jess Oppenheimer made it clear that he didn't want to pay much for whoever would get the role of Tom Henderson. He wrote in the script that he specifically wanted Tom's actor to be "the most handsome hunk of man anyone ever saw for $15.56."
- Ricky orders a sirloin steak, thick and juicy; Ethel orders lamb chops; Fred orders pork chops; Lucy originally asked for roast beef, but after changing her mind three times, she ended up with Fred's order, pork chops. Ethel and Fred get coffee to drink, whereas Ricky orders milk. (We don't learn what Lucy got to drink.) The meal also had breadsticks (Ricky kept Lucy quiet with one) and shrimp cocktail.
- Lucy nixes the idea to eat Italian food because they just ate Italian a few nights ago. She nixes the idea of eating Chinese food because their favorite Chinese restaurant is closed on Monday nights.
- It's very possible that, if Tom and Harry Henderson had another brother, his name would have been Dick.
Goofs[]
- Crew or equipment visible
The shadow of the camera is clearly visible on Ricky and the sofa at the beginning of the flashback after Ricky and Ethel are talking.
=Soundtracks[]
- Soundtrack Credits
- Theme From I Love Lucy (Instrumental) - Written by Eliot Daniel and performed by Wilbur Hatch and the Desi Arnaz Orchestra
Cast (In credits order)[]
Main Cast[]
- Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo
- Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo
- Vivian Vance as Ethel Mertz
- William Frawley as Fred Mertz
Guest Stars/Recurring Cast[]
- Frank Nelson as Henry the Waiter
- Phil Arnold as Harry Henderson
- John Hart as Tom Henderson
