| "I Love Lucy" episode | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Season 2, Episode #9 #44 in Series | ||||
| Series: | I Love Lucy | |||
| Network: | CBS-TV | |||
| Air date: | November 24, 1952 | |||
| Written by: | Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis & Jess Oppenheimer | |||
| Guest stars: | Barbara Pepper Gertrude Astor Helen Dickson Hazel Pierce Arthur Q. Bryan | |||
| Directed by: | William Asher | |||
| Production code: | 2x9 / 044 | |||
| Episode guide | ||||
 IMDB
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Ricky Loses His Voice | |||
| Episode chronology | ||||
| ← Previous | Next → | |||
| "Redecorating" | "Lucy Is Enceinte" | |||
Ricky Loses His Voice was the 44th overall episode of I Love Lucy, which first aired on CBS-TV on November 24, 1952; it was also the 9th episode of Season 2. It was co-written by Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis and Jess Oppenheimer and directed by William Asher.
| "Ricky Loses His Voice" | ||
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| Also see: | ||
| Full Credits | Transcripts | More Images |
Synopsis[]
Ricky catches a cold and loses his voice during rehearsals for a new show, prompting Lucy to secretly stage the show herself. Arthur Q. Bryan appears as Ricky's new boss.
Plot aummary[]
When Ricky gets a nasty throat virus before the opening of a new show at the Tropicana, Lucy and the Mertzes take advantage of Ricky's absence from the club to get in the act via the Flapper Follies of 1927/52.
Ricky is ordered to stay in bed by his doctor and not talk for a week. He's worried because he's to put together a whole new show for the new club owner, Mr. Chambers. Lucy meets up with Mr. Chambers, in Ricky's absence, and assures him that Ricky is going to put on a wonderful show. Lucy then takes the horse by the reigns and decides to stage the show herself, with the aid of the Mertzes of course and some of their old vaudevillian pals.
While Lucy and the Mertzes get the show together she convinces Ricky that Mr. Chambers is putting the show together and she is still telling Mr. Chambers that Ricky has it all under control.
The night of the opening, Ricky is all better and back at the club. The show opens with Ricky singing and all of a sudden, old flappers from the 20's start popping out around him instead of chorus girls. Ricky is dumbfounded and realizes Lucy and the Mertzes were behind it and it could cost him his job. He's even more flabbergasted when Mr. Chambers himself joins in the roaring 20's act but also relieved that his job is saved.
Repertoire:
-"Sweet and Lovely" (Ricky and Old Flapper Showgirls) http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/OldShowgirls.jpg
-"Carolina in the Morning" (Fred and Ethel) http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/EthelAndFred.jpg
-"5-Foot-2, Eyes of Blue" (Lucy and Old Flapper Showgirls) http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/FlapperLucy.jpg
-"Charleston" (Ricky, Lucy, Fred, Ethel, Old Flapper Showgirls, and Mr. Chambers) http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/Charleston.jpg
Did You Know?[]
Trivia[]
- This was the last episode filmed before the cast started filming the pregnancy and "flashback" episodes. It was a good thing, too, because Lucy is noticeably pregnant in this episode. Note how they try to hide her growing "baby bulge" with the loose flapper dress that had the big bow.
- Ironically, William Frawley was the first person to introduce "Carolina to the Morning" to the public back in the vaudeville days.
- We never learn why Mr. Chambers is now head of the Tropicana, or why Mr. Littlefield is no longer around.
- This is the first and last time we will ever see or hear of Mr. Chambers.
- It would have been amazing to have gotten to see the Flapper Follies in color. LucyEddFan imagines Ethel's blue flapper dress as having been a pale cornflower blue, and Lucy's flapper dress as having been shimmery gold and metallic green, with a red bow. LucyEddFan desperately wanted Mattel to release a doll of Flapper Lucy, but alas, no such doll will ever exist.
- The old flapper showgirls never are named, but we can imagine that they were called by the real names of the actresses who played them: Hazel (the one who cries, "I'm an angel!"), Gertrude (the sophisticated one with feathers around her neck and a striped one-shoulder dress), Helen (the really old-looking one who comes onto the stage last), and Barbara (the heavy-set one).
- One of the flubs on this episode's DVD makes a good point. Lucy supposedly won five rooms of furniture from the home show, but we only ever see two rooms worth of furniture.
- This is one of the first times an episode makes a reference requiring continuity. You have to have seen "Redecorating" to understand the new furniture that is present.
- We learn that Ethel broke her ankle the year before this episode took place.
- The actor who played Mr. Chambers, Arthur Q. Bryan, was the original voice of Elmer Fudd.
- Ricky's sore throat was very colorful, like the Carlsbad Caverns.
Scene excerpt from "Ricky Loses His Voice"[]
- Quotes
- Ricky: I think I'm getting the streptococky!
- Lucy: Does Fred always act like a child when he gets sick?
- Ethel: You mean Babysnooks? Oh, brother!
- Fred: (to Lucy) Yeah, Ricky and I will carry [the old furniture] downstairs for you.
- Ethel: Oh, Ricky isn't feeling well.
- Fred: Oh, he doesn't feel that bad, do you, Rick? Oh, come on! You're alright! Come on!
- Ricky: (in raspy Godfather-type voice) Well, if you insist, I'll take it down with you, Fred.
- Fred: Oh, never mind! I'll do it myself! Come on, Ethel! (imitates Ricky's Godfather voice)
- Ricky: Here I am lying in a bed of pain, and you're making fun with me!
- Lucy: [Your throat] is so colorful! It's like the Carlsbad Caverns!
- Ricky: Is it red?
- Lucy: Yeah, red, white, blue, pink, burnt orange!
- Ricky: (struggling to sing while sick) Babalu-u-u! Babalu-u-u-u!
- Lucy: That's pretty Baba-lousy!
- Lucy: Well, the doctor said, if he's gonna be in the show, he'd have to stay in bed a whole week and not talk.
- Ethel: Not talk at all?
- Lucy: Not a word.
- Ethel: Gee! Imagine not being able to talk for seven whole days!
- Fred: Why don't you hang around here? Maybe you can catch it!
- Old Flapper Showgirl: I'm an angel!
- Old Flappers: We'd like to have you meet a little bit of heaven, the Queen of all the Flappers, of 19...
- chorus Girl: ...27! Uh, '52!
Starring[]
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[]
- Barbara Pepper as Chorus Girl
- Gertrude Astor as 2nd Chorus Girl
- Helen Dickson as 3rd Chorus Girl
- Hazel Pierce as Flapper Chorus Girl
- Arthur Q. Bryan as Mr. Chambers
