#S3 E16 Doctor's Orders

[soulerflaire]

I understand that she's not real and can't affect anything, but it's still grating that they're once again making T'Pol weak and pitiful.

[raktajino]

i am in love with dr phlox in s3 e16 "doctor's orders." he's like damn dr lucas i wish i was back on denobula having lots of group sex haha yeah you know what i'm talking about but instead i'm stuck on this scary empty space ship having terrifying hallucinations and t'pol won't come to movie night :(

[papermoonloveslucy]

LIZ HAS THE FLIMJABS

December 30, 1950

“Liz Has the Flimjabs” (aka “A Severe Case of Flimjabs”) is episode #112 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on December 30, 1950.

This was the 14th episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 31 new episodes, with the season ending on March 31, 1951.  

Synopsis ~  Liz wants a mink coat from George, so she pretends to be sick in order to get his sympathy - and the coat!  George is on to her tactics, and decides to give her the scare of her life - literally! 

Note: This program served as the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16) filmed on December 18, 1951 and first aired on January 28, 1952.  The role of the Doctor was taken by Hal March, who was actually playing an actor friend of Ricky’s named Hal March pretending to be a doctor.  On television, Lucy also adopts a psychological illness in addition to her physical ailments. There was no mention of Christmas or New Years on the television show. 

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) does not appear in this episode.

GUEST CAST

Frank Nelson (Dr. Stevenson) was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”.  Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs. His trademark was playing clerks and other working stiffs, suddenly turning to Benny with a drawn out “Yeeeeeeeeees?” Nelson appeared in 11 episodes of “I Love Lucy”, including three as quiz master Freddy Fillmore, and two as Ralph Ramsey, plus appearance on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” - making him the only actor to play two different recurring roles on “I Love Lucy.” Nelson returned to the role of the frazzled Train Conductor for an episode of “The Lucy Show” in 1963. This marks his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.

The doctor’s surname may be a reference to noted costume designer Edward Stevenson, who designed gowns for Lucille Ball in more than a dozen RKO films and would eventually become costume designer of “I Love Lucy” after the departure of Elois Jenssen in 1955.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “And now, let’s look in on the Coopers. It’s evening, and Liz and George are sitting in the living room admiring their Christmas tree."

George wonders if it is time to take the Christmas tree down but Liz doesn’t want to. They agree to put away their presents instead and start to talk about the gifts they didn’t give or get.  

Liz nearly bought George a set of matching golf clubs. George says he nearly bought her a mink jacket. He says he saw it in the window at Millers, but realized he couldn’t afford it. Liz sadly reminds him that she has never had a fur coat and wonders if they could afford it if they all their Christmas gifts to the store. George says it still wouldn’t be enough, but Liz wants to wear something special to the Atterbury’s New Year’s Eve party. 

Next morning, in the kitchen, Katie the Maid asks Liz why she is so sad. Liz tells her about her mink jacket dreams. Liz solicits Katie’s opinion on how she can’t best get George to get her a mink jacket in time for the party.  Liz decides to play sick since George always gets her what she wants when she’s ill. 

After dinner, Liz and George contemplate what to do. Liz suggests going to the movies to see Harvey starring Jimmy Stewart, which is playing at the Strand. 

Harvey is a comedy about a man whose best friend is a six-foot tall imaginary rabbit. It premiered just ten days earlier before this broadcast and starred James Stewart. The film won an Oscar for Josephine Hull. The screenplay was based on the 1944 Broadway play of the same name by Mary Chase which won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 

Before Liz can tell George the second feature, she starts to writhe in pain!  Amid moans and groans, Liz details the pain for George. She says she used to have these attacks as a child. When she says the only thing that sometimes helps is little gifts to make her happy, George gets suspicious.  He quickly leaves the room to make a phone call, which Liz thinks is to buy her a mink jacket, but he has actually called the doctor! 

End of Part One

Bob LeMond presents a live Jell-O commercial, giving a basic recipe for preparation of all delicious six flavors!

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers once again, Liz is pretending to be sick and George, who is worried about her, has called the doctor.”

The doorbell rings and George admits Dr. Stevenson (Frank Nelson). Before seeing Liz, George tips him off that Liz may have a rare disease and that the only cure is a mink coat! George asks him to give her a good scare and the Doctor agrees to play along.  

Entering the bedroom, Liz immediately tells the Doctor she feels much better.  But after a quick exam, the Doctor diagnoses Liz with a rare tropical disease from the West Indies called the ‘Flimjabs’. The only cure is to operate and remove her ‘torkle’ but warns her that she will never be able to ‘yammle’ again. The Doctor explains that ‘yammling’ is an involuntary peristalsis of the transverse clavis. 

GEORGE: “Doctor, do you have to remove the whole torkle?” DOCTOR: “Maybe we’ll be lucky and can save half of it. After all, half a torkle is better than none.” LIZ: “Well, I should say so!  I’d hate to think of never yammeling again!”

The Doctor says that they must now wait 24 hours and see if she turns green. 

DOCTOR: “If you turn green, three hours later (snaps his fingers) gone.” LIZ:  (snaps) “Gone?”  DOCTOR: (snaps) “Gone.”

For the television script, the ‘Flimjabs’ was renamed the 'Gobloots’ - a rare tropical disease that carried into America on the hind legs of the 'boo-shoo bird.’ It can necessitate a person having to undergo a 'zorchectomy’ – total or partial removal of the 'zorch’. Even if doctors are able to save half a person’s 'zorch,’ the patient will never be able to 'trummle’ again. 'Trummling’ is a mysterious involuntary internal process. Finally, if you turn green while suffering from the 'gobloots’ you will be dead in 30 minutes!  

Iris Atterbury drops by to see Liz on her way to the Bridge Club meeting. Liz tells her that she has been diagnosed with the Flimjabs. 

IRIS: “Oh, how exciting! This will make Betty Ricky’s gallstones look sick! She’ll be absolutely green.” LIZ: “She's not the only one. That’s one of the danger signs. I may turn green.”  IRIS: “With a green face and red hair, you’ll be out of this world.” LIZ: “Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

Iris is overcome with emotion at the thought of losing Liz. She doesn’t want to leave, but the ice cream for the Bridge Club meeting is in the car and it’s melting! 

That night, Doctor Stevenson returns to check on Liz. Answering the door, George confesses that he’s put a green light bulb in Liz’s bedroom light. As soon as George turns on the lights, Liz shrieks seeing her green hands! Her face and hair have turned green, too!  Liz thinks the men have Flimjabs too, because they are also green, but then the truth sets in. 

LIZ: “Oh, no!  This is the end!  I’m looking at the world through green colored eyeballs!” 

Liz dramatically declares that she’s dying. George accuses her of being over-dramatic. 

LIZ: “I’m sorry, George. But I don’t die every day and it’s new to me.”

Before her imminent demise, Liz confesses to all the car accidents she’s had and hidden by having the car fixed without telling him.  

LIZ: “In fact, the only thing left of the original car you bought is the ashtray in the back seat!”

Then Liz bravely confesses to pretending to be sick to get him to buy her a mink coat. George also needs to make a confession: it was all a trick. There is no such thing as ‘Flimjabs’ and the light is from a green light bulb!  

The phone rings and it is Iris, tearfully calling from the Bridge Club meeting. The girls have just had a memorial ceremony for Liz by turning her chair to the wall and smashing her teacup in the fireplace. Before Liz can tell Iris that it was a joke, she learns that they all chipped in and bought her a goodbye present: a mink coat!  Liz hangs up in tears. George is confused.

GEORGE: “Isn’t that what you wanted?” LIZ: “Yeah, but I have to die to get it!”

END OF EPISODE

In the live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball and Bob LeMond play a couple of nomads lost in the desert. Lucy uses her ‘Isabella Clump’ voice as ‘Smith’. Bob is looking for his camp, near a big dune. 

LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “A dune? What’s a dune?” BOB: “What’s a dune????” LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “I dunno. What’s a-dune with you?” 

Smith sees a mirage - a big bowl of Jell-O! After describing the six delicious flavors, Bob suggests they go home. 

BOB: “Go home? We’re lost in the desert!”  LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “Why don’t we each take one of those cars.” BOB: “What cars?” LUCY / ‘SMITH’: “The ones over there. That’s a two-car mirage!” 

The same date this episode was broadcast, columnist Sid Shalit in the New York Daily News reported that a television situation comedy was being prepared starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the mold of “My Favorite Husband”.  Clearly, the radio series was winding down. This was the final episode of 1950 with only 16 episodes left. 

Meanwhile, in addition to radio and television, Ball was on the nation’s movie screens in two 1950 films: The Fuller Brush Girl and Fancy Pants. 

[starship-imzadi]

S3 E16 The Offspring

Red alert! 🖖🏻🚨 This is Jonathan Frakes' directorial debut!

"While commander Riker is away in personal leave..." Uh-huh.

When Troi says "you've never been a parent" of course she can say that with experience from "The Child" which was I'm sure was an odd parental experience. (Also, Nepenthe much!! This whole episode is an important set up in the star trek universe for Picard)

Data tries so hard to be human that he seems to forget some people will only see his end product and not his motivations.

This episode is a great follow up to "The Measure of a Man" and it seems to dance around (or circumvent) similar issues. Since we cannot prove or disprove self aware consciousness there's no real point to continuously dwelling on it in the plot. However, it remains as a central and integral part of any argument which involves synthetic life.

"and I am gender neuter. Inadequate"

This statement suggests that someone must have a gender to be "complete".

Data says "access your data bank on sexuality, level two" this immediately brings up an issues of conflating gender and sexuality, or conversely, the potential for interconnection between gender and sexuality. Would it be possible for Lal to choose a body that appeared as one sex, say female, and than "act" as a male gender? If Lal never chose a physical change would people begin to assign a gender to "it".

This brings up an additional issue since Lal is a synthetic life: even though Data is physically modeled after a male physiology Pulaski and Maddox still refered to Data as "it" not on account of his appearance but on account of being unwilling to recognise his life as more than his machinery. If we are without gender do we lose our humanity? And vise versa?

"[gender] is a decision that will affect how people will interrelate with you"

How true this is.

"I chose your sex and appearance" could Lal conceivably choose Deanna's appearance but not her sex?

I'd like to explore an idea of gender as analogous to language. There's a linguistic term "idiolect" which denotes the specific way a single person uses a language; it's the idiosyncrasies of the way a person uses language that no one, not even family members, share. I might speaks English with a specific dialect but at the most individual level my understanding of the words I use, and how I pronounce them, as a whole are part of my idiolect. Gender could be defined in the same way.

My gender, however it is categorised, is a collection of my actions. The gender I choose, (or the gender society acknowledges) is based in my behaviour, my mannerisms, and my interactions with people around me. However, there is a level of individuality within that. Troi's behavior, that is categorised as gender, is that of a woman and yet it is not exactly the same behaviour that Dr. Crusher exhibits. They are both, however, identify as women and fit within societies parameters for what constitutes "femininity". (Even take it a step from there and ask does Troi's gender as a woman manifest like Marina's gender as a woman?)

Lal however can choose not only sex but also species. I don't know what to say about that.

"Why is the sky black?"

Wait, is that another admiral?

I love that even though Picard isn't fond of children, and he doesn't understand exactly how Data sees Lal as a child, but he will still defend Data and Lal at any cost against anyone who might threaten them.

"I can give her attention, Doctor, but I am incapable of giving her love."

Well hello to Patrick's chest. I think this is the first time we see Picard in pyjamas.

It is odd from a practical stand point that Data never managed contractions.

Data clearly has some gaps on the programming he passed on to Lal... you'd think basic body language would be in there.

Poor Riker. He walks in to ten forward sees someone new (the Enterprise typically has just over 1,000 people. That's like a small town.) He opens the conversation for an introduction and this new person pulls him onto the bar and forcibly kisses him without his consent. I've seen a number of people list this amongst Riker's flirtations and I cannot abide that. You can see him push against the bar trying to get away. Of course Riker is the "adult" in the interaction but Lal is significantly strong and clearly has no understanding of social norms. Also, Riker is clearly embarrassed even before he learns Lal is Data's daughter (at which point he becomes more embarrassed and flustered).

It's interesting that Lal says holding hands is a symbolic gesture of affection. I would argue that this is largely untrue. Sure, you might hold someone's hand to signal to her that you care for her, or to the people around you that you care for her. But this doesn't account for the human physiological response to physical contact. One of the purest examples to demonstrate is "kangaroo care". New born babies, especially premies, have better health and a higher survival rate when they have regular skin to skin contact with their care provider, either men or women. The baby is unaware of the gesture and it's not just because they are being held. The benefits specifically come from skin to skin contact, barriers like cloth in between diminish the positive results. Human benefits from having positive physical contact beyond the self awareness of it.

That shot of the conference room looks new; I don't think anything like it has been done at any point in there aeries up until now.

Data doesn't really address his lack of feeling, it's just stated that he doesn't feel. But even human emotions are not really understood. Emotions present meaaurabo as physiological responses: increased heart rate, change in skin temperature, tears, etc. But science has been unable to identify clearly if 1. the emotion is the physiological response, 2. emotion is initiated by the physiological response, or, if in fact, 3. our perception of emotion is the cumulative phycological interpretation of the physiological response. In some respects it a question of where the brain ends and the mind begins.

"there are times, sir, when men of good conscious cannot blindly follow orders."

Geordi, Deanna, and Wes standing outside look like they're waiting at a hospital.

This admiral is the typical Starfleet arrogant asshole but his admiration for Data once he sees him try to save Lal's life is actually really moving.

Geordi comforting Troi is sweet; they don't typically interact that much.

Jonathan's hair looks amazingly normal at the end. i.e. more like Jonathan less like Riker.

Engage.

Jonathan is known as a director for finding the very human and emotionally authentic aspects of a story and this episode, as his first time in the director's chair, is a wonderful start for that reputation.

[soulerflaire]

There's no tension in this episode. Even if the Xindi are actually real and he's not hallucinating, they've done so many fakeout episodes like this that it's just boring.

[papermoonloveslucy]

BENNETT GREEN

October 13, 1904

Bennett Green was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on October 13, 1904. He is primarily remembered as Desi Arnaz’s camera and lighting stand-in on “I Love Lucy” but also frequently appeared on camera. 

His first screen appearance was uncredited, in the Universal serial Raiders of Ghost City (1944). 

His first appearance on TV was in the “I Love Lucy” episode, “The Audition” (ILL S1;E6), just six weeks after its premiere mid-October 1951.  He went on to appear in at least 22 episodes (probably more), nearly always as a messenger or deliveryman, and most times uncredited. Sometimes he would have a line of dialogue. Here are some notable appearances: 

In “Breaking the Lease” (ILL S1;E18) Green played a scruffy bum at Ricky’s late-night living room concert, while Hazel Pierce (Lucille Ball’s stand-in) looks over his shoulder. 

In “Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable” (ILL S2;E11), Green plays a Deliveryman bringing Lucy a heart-shaped box of chocolates. This time he wears a mustache to look slightly different.  Lucy doesn’t bother to tip!  

Green was the orderly who apprehends a wild native witch doctor (aka Ricky) when “Lucy Goes To The Hospital” (ILL S2;E16).

In order to patch things up between Lucy and Ricky (who he believes are feuding) Fred orders Lucy some flowers from Ricky with the help of Pete the florist played by Bennett Green in “The Black Eye” (ILL S2;E20).  Green is finally given a character name!  

In “Sentimental Anniversary” (ILL S3;E16), Green and Hazel Pierce (Lucy’s stand-in) are first through the door for the surprise party planned by the Mertzes. Little do they know the Ricardos are celebrating in the closet!  

In “The Matchmaker” (ILL S4;E4), Green is a Western Union messenger who delivers a telegram to announce that Dorothy 'Spider’ and Sam 'Fly’ have decided to tie the knot!  

Green and Hazel Pierce (behind Lucy) are dining in the Brown Derby booth next to William Holden in “Hollywood at Last!” (ILL S4;E16). 

During “The Fashion Show” (ILL S4;E20), Green appears in two different places at the same time: he is in front at the right of the stairs where the clothes are modeled, and he is also sitting behind Ethel at the back of the room!  Busy Bennett!

When “Ricky Sells the Car” (ILL S5;E4), Green delivers the train tickets that cause lots of confusion between the Ricardos and Mertzes. 

In “Homecoming” (ILL S5;E6), Green and Hazel Pierce are among the neighbors welcoming the Ricardos and Mertzes home from Hollywood. When their cab pulls up to 623 East 68th Street, Green is wearing one of Ricky’s jackets!  Camera and lighting stand-ins were required to be the same height and body size as the actors, even though they may not resemble them. They were not doubles, but stand-ins. 

In “Lucy Meets Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1), Lucy must convince the Yankee Stadium hot dog vendor (Green with a mustache) to swap clothes with her, which he does!  

Staying with the series to the very end, Green was in the crowd when “The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue” (ILL S6;E27) at Westport’s Yankee Doodle Dandy Day!

In 1959, when Lucy and Desi (as the Ricardos) turned up on “The Danny Thomas Show”, Bennett Green was in the background!  Needless to say, “Lucy Upsets the Williams Household” and causes chaos at Orbachs!

Having been present in the last scene of the half hour series, Bennett was also in the last scene of the hour-long series, the last time we see the Ricardos and Mertzes in April 1960, “Lucy Meets the Mustache” (LDCH S3;E3) starring Ernie Kovacs. 

In 1961, Green did two episodes of CBS’s “Angel”, a show filmed at Desilu Studios. In one, he acted opposite Doris Singleton (aka Caroline Appleby). The short-lived series was created by Jess Oppenheimer. 

In October 1962, while Lucille Ball was premiering “The Lucy Show”, Green made a single appearance on Desilu’s “Fair Exchange” starring Eddie Foy Jr. and Victor Maddern. The series was best known for the debut of Judy Carne. 

When Lucille Ball finally returned to network television with “The Lucy Show” she employed Green as a background performer in at least ten episodes, probably more.  

When “Lucy Goes To Art Class” (TLS S2;E15), one of her classmates is Bennett Green. The instructor was played by John Carradine.  

During the run of “The Lucy Show” Lucille Ball presented a 1964 special titled “The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour” aka “Mr. and Mrs.” in which Bennett Green played a member of the board of directors of Consolidated Pictures; Lucy is President. 

He was a supermarket checker in “Lucy and Joan” (TLS S4;E4), where the Joan of the title was not Crawford, but Bennett!  

It’s a reunion of sorts when both Green and Hazel Pierce turn up as guests at a dude ranch in “Lucy the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15). 

When “Lucy Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17) Green and Mrs. Carmichael both get to the sales table too late!  Sold out! 

When Lucy gets on the jury of a daytime drama (with Jane Kean) in “Lucy and the Soap Opera” (TLS S4;E19), Bennett Green is the jury foreman!  

When “Lucy Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20), Mr. Mooney went as the guest of Mr. Albertini (Bennett Green) a fellow banker.  They are interviewed on the red carpet while Lucy is disguised as an usher! 

Bennett is ‘behind the camera’ when “Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (TLS S5;E18). 

When “Lucy Sues Mooney” (TLS S6;E12) Bennett Green appears as the Medical Attendant who wheels Lucy into court. 

Ironically, Green’s final appearance on “The Lucy Show” in “Mooney’s Other Wife” (TLS S6;E18) is as a Western Union telegram messenger, just as he was 15 years earlier on “I Love Lucy.”

After “The Lucy Show” Green retired from show business, never appearing in “Here’s Lucy” or any other show.  He died on September 8, 1982 at age 77.  

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY AND THE 20-20 VISION

S3;E18 ~ January 11, 1971

Directed by Jack Carter ~ Written by Phil Leslie & George Balzer

Synopsis

Lucy wants to take the kids to Tijuana for a long weekend, but first must get grouchy Harry to give her two days off.  Lucy thinks the cause of his moodiness is due to vision problems and goes to outrageous lengths to get him to go see an eye doctor.  

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter)

Guest Cast

Jack Collins (Doctor Collins / 'Carl Baker') appeared on the final two episodes of “The Lucy Show.” He played Russel Slater on “Dallas” from 1982 to 1987. This is the fourth of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

The final credits of the episode list the character as Doctor Proctor, when he clearly answers the telephone “Doctor Collins.”  The name might have been left over from an earlier draft of the script.

Morreen and Colleen Gemini (The Conklin Twins aka 'Jane Conklin') make their only screen appearance in this episode.  

Their surname would lead one to believe that these are not their real names! 

Tippy the Invisible Dog (Himself) makes his only (dis)appearance in the Carter living room!

Tippy belongs to the Watsons, who live next door. 

This episode was rerun by CBS on June 21, 1971. It was up against a major league baseball game on NBC. 

The final draft of the script was submitted on June 12, 1970 and read by Lucille Ball in July of that year. 

This is the first of only two directing credits for comedian Jack Carter, both on “Here's Lucy.”  Carter was a friend of Lucille Ball and Gary Morton's having served as best man at their wedding in 1961.  A few weeks later he married Paula Stewart, who played Lucy's sister Janie in Broadway's Wildcat. He acted in “Lucy Sues Mooney” (TLS S6;E12). He will direct one more episode of “Here's Lucy” later in 1971 starring Carol Burnett.

This is the second episode in a row where Lucy wants a vacation and tries to convince Harry to let her have the time off by using unusual tactics.  

Kim and Craig had a grouchy math teacher named Mr. Ridgeway (”the terror”) who had vision problems rectified by glasses.

Harry shouts that if he really yelled at Lucy he'd “shatter every piece of glass from here to Pismo Beach!” This isn't the first time that Pismo Beach has been used for a punchline on the series. Harry offered Lucy “three days in glamorous Pismo Beach” as a bargaining chip in “Lucy Goes on Strike” (S1;E16). The California beach town was a favorite destination of Bugs Bunny in the Warner Brothers cartoons. 

When Harry yells at Lucy from the open door, we see that there is a fallout shelter sign in the hallway. These signs were introduced by the Office of Civil Defense on December 1, 1961 (during the height of the Cold War) to designate federally approved public shelters in the event of a nuclear explosion. This particular sign indicates that the fallout shelter is in the basement. The capacity of the shelter was also sometimes indicated. The Office of Civil Defense was dissolved in 1970, but many of these signs remain on buildings to this day. 

Lucy has the Doctor make-up some nonsense signs and bring them over in disguise as a painter.

Sign #1: “Carter’s for Jobs” (in Latvian)

Sign #2: “Carter’s Gets Best Results” (in Rumakian...where they make rumaki!)

Lucy says “If there were free meals on the moon, Harry would have been there three days before Neil Armstrong.”  US Astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) was the first human to step foot on the surface of the moon on July 21, 1969. The food on Apollo 11 was freeze dried and the menu consisted of pineapple fruitcake, peaches, beef with vegetables, beef hash, chocolate pudding, brownies, and spiced fruit cereal for breakfast!  Interestingly, in “Lucy Becomes an Astronaut” (TLS S1;E6, abouve), Lucy Carmichael is seen eating space foods when in a simulator.

In order to pretend to be surprised by Harry at the door, Lucy acts as if she was putting out the milk bottle.  At the time, rural delivery of milk and other dairy products to residential homes was commonplace.  In order to ‘recycle’ the milk bottles, homeowners would put the empty bottles on the porch at night, so the milkman could take them away early the next morning.  A famous example of this was seen in the closing credits of the primetime cartoon sitcom satire “The Flintstones” (1960-66, inset photo). 

Some of the ways Lucy, Kim, and Craig plan to convince Harry his vision is bad include:

Disconnecting the doorbell and telling him he missed the button

Employing a retractable hat hook so his hat falls to the floor

Pulling the chair out from under him as he goes to sit

Asking twin girls to drop by and pretending they are only one girl

Claiming to see an invisible dog

Asking him to sign a contract on the dotted line that has no dotted line

Polishing an invisible magnifying glass to help him find said dotted line

In the twist ending, Harry (now happily bespectacled) exits quoting Romeo and Juliet with a Mexican twist:

HARRY: “Ah, Senorita. Parting is such sweet sorrow. That I could say adios till it be morrow.” 

In a 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Harry says that he was in Romeo and Juliet in college. Because it was an all-men’s college, he played Juliet. 

Harry offers to take Kim and Craig to Lake Arrowhead for a swim, or to San Diego to visit the zoo. They (coincidentally) settle on Tijuana for the bullfights. Lake Arrowhead stood in for the 49th state during the location shots for “Lucy Goes to Alaska,” a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” 

The famous San Diego Zoo was suggested as a possible stop-over in “Lucy and Viv Visit Tijuana” (S2;E19). Finally, Lucy Ricardo went to Tijuana in “Lucy Goes To Mexico,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” which featured second unit footage of a now-demolished Tijuana bull ring where Lucy disguises herself as a matador and takes on a bull!

Although “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (ILL S3;E11) ended with Lucy being seen by the optometrist, it was originally Ricky who had the headaches that Lucy believed were caused by vision problems.  

Set Change! This episode features some changes to the office set including panels in place of the shaded glass in the office doors plus a time clock next to the door. The clock is necessary for the finale of the episode, but there seems no explanation for the sudden replacement of the glass. The next time we see the office, the glass panes will be back and the time clock is gone.

Timeline Troubles! In this episode, Harry ends up wearing glasses, which he wore extensively in the previous episode, “Lucy's Vacation” (S3;E17). It is likely that this episode was filmed first and aired out of sequence.

Sound Defects! When Lucy shows Craig the contract without the dotted line, her lips don't move when she says “Here, see?” This is either a really bad case of ADR overdubbing due to studio noise or something Lucy actually said on set that needed to be changed. A few moments later, as Harry says “Something smells delicious” there is an audible squeak on the soundtrack. If this had occurred earlier (and louder) it could have necessitated the sloppy overdub.

Time Check! Just before Harry bursts cheerfully through the door wearing his new glasses, Lucy says “He's at his worst in the morning.” The time clock next to the door, however, reads 1:55!

When Harry bursts through the door shouting “Good Morning!” (although it is clearly afternoon) Kim moves back startled and nearly knocks Craig over when he backs into the side table behind him!  He steadies himself just in time. 

“Lucy and the 20-20 Vision” rates 2 Paper Hearts out of 5

The premise of this episode relies on faulty logic that Harry's new glasses will make him happy enough to give Lucy two days off – a real stretch.  Suppose Harry believed (thanks to Lucy's tricks) that he was going insane and having hallucinations? Although the elaborate mind-games she plays with Harry are humorous in and of themselves, the episode doesn't really go anywhere and is fraught with odd inconsistencies and errors.