| "" episode | ||||
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| Season 2, Episode #29 #64 in Series | ||||
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| Air date: | June 8, 1953 | |||
| Written by: | Bob Carroll Jr. Madelyn Pugh Jess Oppenheimer | |||
| Directed by: | William Asher | |||
| Production code: | 2-29 / 064 | |||
| Episode guide | ||||
 IMDB
|
The Camping Trip | |||
| Episode chronology | ||||
| ← Previous | Next → | |||
| "Lucy Wants New Furniture" | "Ricky's 'Life' Story" | |||
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/CaughtTrout.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/DuckTrees.jpg
The Camping Trip was the 64th episode of I Love Lucy, also the 29th episode aired in Season 2 of the series. The episode, was directed by William Asher, originally aired on CBS-TV on June 8, 1953.
Synopsis[]
Lucy develops an annoying attachment to Ricky. She finally goes too far when she decides to join him and his friends on a camping trip. Fred suggests that Ricky take Lucy into the wilderness for some "camping practice" to scare her, but Lucy and Ethel team up to thwart their husbands.
Plot[]
After playing bridge with the girls, Lucy is worried about her and Ricky maybe growing apart from one another. She wants them to be as close as ever, so she starts sticking to Ricky like glue. She wants to read the sports page with him and even go on the camping trip he's planning for the summer. Ricky doesn't want Lucy on the summer camping trip, so he pretends that he wants to take her on a practice camping trip just the two of them. He plans to make the practice trip highlight the rigors of camping so Lucy won't want to ever go again. But Lucy finds out his plan from Ethel, and she is indignant that Ricky doesn't like them spending so much time together and thinking they're like "the Bobbsey twins." She schemes to smoke Ricky at his own game and show what a success she can be at camping.
With Ethel's help, Lucy turns out to be quite the camper. She "catches" a whole slew of trout (fish Ethel bought at a store), while Ricky doesn't get a single bite. She "races" him back to camp (Ethel drives her back to the campsite), and she's back so early that she uses all of the water to wash her hair. And she's such a good shot that she "hits" the target (Ethel ringing a bell) every time. But the jig is up when Lucy says she sees a duck in the air to shoot. Ricky says that there aren't any ducks in the area, but sure enough, Lucy "shoots" at one, and Ethel throws down a skinned duck ready for eating. Lucy spills everything, saying how she knows that Ricky didn't want her on the trip in the first place. They end up agreeing that not every activity is meant to be spent together, and camping's one of them.
Trivia[]
- The beginning scene was edited for syndication. It's shown in full on the DVD. The part with Carolyn saying, "Play it while you're still young," is the part that was removed.
- Originally Ethel was supposed to say, "How'd you know I'd play hearts?" which is what Lucy was signaling to her. But the original script said "diamonds" instead of "hearts," and Lucy pointed at her wedding ring. During filming, Vivian accidentally said "diamonds," so she dubbed in "hearts" after filming. You can see her mouth moving to say "diamonds" in the scene.
- Lucy thinks the abbreviation for "technical knock-out," or TKO, is pronounced "tuh-koh."
- We learn that Fred has at least one brother, who plans to go on the summer camping trip with Ricky and Fred.
- The part about sportswriter Grantland Rice is not in the syndicated version. When Ricky says that Lucy's surely heard of Grantland Rice, she says, "I've heard of it, but I've never tasted it."
- In season 4, this episode was rerun with a new flashback intro that dealt with the then-current storyline of the Ricardos and Mertzes preparing for their trip to Hollywood. (Fred still is moping about losing the money from the old car, so this rerun must have taken place after episode #108.) Ricky says that Lucy's coming to Hollywood with him because he wants her there. He says that he always wants his "luscious redhead" by his side. Lucy says that she can think of a time when Ricky "felt differently," when he DIDN'T want her around. This leads in to the flashback of the camping trip they took together.
Starring[]
Episode credited cast:
- Lucille Ball ... as Lucy Ricardo
- Desi Arnaz ... as Ricky Ricardo
- Vivian Vance ... as Ethel Mertz
- William Frawley as Fred Mertz
Guest stars[]
- Jerry Hausner ... Jerry
- Doris Singleton ... Caroline Appleby
- June Whitley Taylor ... Clubwoman