Which is the worst episode of I Love Lucy?

"I Love Lucy" in Hollywood Episode(s)

• OK, all you kids who used to pretend to be sick so you could stay home from school and watch "I Love Lucy," this one's for you. IMPORTANT, READ CAREFULLY: This question is ONLY for a researcher totally knowledgable about "I LOVE LUCY" episodes. I need a FAN as well as a researcher because you'll need to read "between the lines" and use your memory of the show itself. I did a quick look and there ARE episode breakdowns online, so the material is available. I need an episode (or episodes) from the series when Lucy & Desi were IN HOLLYWOOD -- where there is some sort of stress or argument about their relationship / marriage relating to being in Hollywood. Not acceptable are the typical episodes where Lucy's trying to sneak on the set as an Extra or something like that. I need to illustrate the pressures on marriage in Hollywood. This could be very well be a long shot and it's possible there's nothing. But a true fan will know. Since Lucy & Desi really WERE married in Hollywood, if I can then in fact, link to an episode about this very thing, it would be great. I will need the Episode # and, if possible, a description of a specific scene. Again, I know EVERY researcher here can compile a list for me--but that's not what I want. I'm asking for MORE than the ability to track down the episode guides and print out the description. . .this question requires someone who has watched the show so many zillions of times, he or she will KNOW RIGHT AWAY whether or not the episode works BEYOND what the written plotline says. This is a "research plus judgement call" question. P.S. The reason I'm being so strict is that this is for a TV show and I will have to license footage from CBS, which is very costly. We don't have the budget to screen much. Note: You don't need to provide ordering info or a place to purchase or watch the tapes. Thanks in advance.

• Answer:

  Hi, Mary Jo. :-D Thanks for asking me to be your "Official Answerer" for this question. "I Love Lucy" is my second favorite TV show of the 1950s (right after "The Ernie Kovacs Show.") It has been fun sailing down memory lane trying to find just the right episode to illustrate a problem related to marriages in Hollywood. I am reposting my #1 suggestion, "Don Juan and the Starlets," along with three other options. ======================================================= Episode 115, "Don Juan and the Starlets" Ricky is going to be in a movie about Don Juan. For publicity purposes, he spends an evening with some beautiful starlets. Although he was only posing for photos (at the behest of the studio), Lucy mistakenly assumes that Ricky spent the night with the starlets, and she is prepared to divorce Ricky over the issue. She accuses him of not having come home overnight, because his bed looked un-slept-in; Ricky says that he came home after she fell asleep, then left early, before she awakened. Ricky is off the hook when the maid tells Lucy that she made the bed after Ricky left in the morning. The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: the possibility of infidelity that arises from exposure to attractive co-stars. ======================================================= Episode 117, "The Fashion Show" Lucy wheedles Ricky into letting her spend $100 for a designer dress, but Lucy actually buys a much more expensive dress. Lucy gets a sunburn. The fashion designer offers Lucy her dress for free if she will do a charity fashion show with the wives of movie stars (several real-life wives of movie stars appeared in this episode, including Mrs. Dean Martin, Mrs. William Holden, Mrs. Van Heflin, and Mrs. Alan Ladd.) Lucy models at the fashion show; despite her sunburn, she wears a woolen tweed suit on the runway. The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: keeping-up-with-the-Carolyn-Joneses fashion greed leads to duplicity and spousal deception. Not to mention sunburn ouchies. ======================================================= Episode 129, "Lucy and John Wayne" In the previous episode, souvenir-hunting Lucy had tried to "collect" a block of cement with John Wayne's footprints from the sidewalk in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. The cement block was dropped, and it broke. To keep Lucy out of trouble, Ricky gets John Wayne's help in making a new set of footprints to replace the broken block. The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: collector's avarice wreaks havoc and causes a husband to go to great lengths to exculpate his wife. ======================================================= Episode 133, "Homecoming" Lucy and Ricky return to New York City. Ricky is now a "star," and everyone is ignoring Lucy. A reporter tells Lucy that she is really special, since she gets to serve Ricky; this causes her to lay it on thick, acting servile and coddling Ricky. The big-headed Ricky starts making excessive demands, asking Lucy to shine shoes, answer telephones, and light cigarettes, until Lucy has had enough and she finally snaps out of it. The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: "Hollywood ego" threatens to wreck the balance of a marriage in which only one party is a star. ======================================================= A tip of the pinkfreud hat to the Lucy Library website, where I was able to obtain the episode numbers: Lucy Library http://www.lucylibrary.com/Pages/ill-guide-4a.html http://www.lucylibrary.com/Pages/ill-guide-5.html I really think "Don Juan and the Starlets" is the standout choice here. It's the best episode I can think of where a situation *unique to Hollywood* (having to share your husband's time with many attractive women) causes a marital rift between the Ricardos. "Homecoming" is another possibility, since it deals with a common situation, where one marital partner is more famous than the other. The "balcony" episode that you mentioned is probably #122, "The Star Upstairs," in which Lucy gets stuck on the balcony while trying to sneak into the hotel room of actor Cornel Wilde (a real hottie of the 1950s). I don't think any particular Hollywood marital situation is involved in this one, though. Thanks for providing me with a research challenge which was truly a pleasure. If you have any questions, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance, as needed. Best wishes, pinkfreud