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Afternoon TV - June 1971 - Search for Tomorrow 5,000 Shows Old

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LUCY AND HARRY’S TONSILS

S2;E5 ~ October 20, 1969

Directed by George Marshall ~ Written by Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer

Synopsis

When Harry gets tonsillitis, he dreads going into the hospital and wants to recuperate at home. - until a sexy night nurse (Paula Stewart) comes on duty.

Regular Cast

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

Guest Cast

Mary Wickes (Nurse Hurlow) was one of Lucille Ball’s closest friends and at one time, a neighbor. She made a memorable appearances on “I Love Lucy” as ballet mistress Madame Lamond in “The Ballet” (ILL S1;E19). In her initial “Lucy Show” appearances her characters name was Frances, but she then made four more as a variety of characters for a total of 8 episodes. This is the third of her 9 appearances on “Here’s Lucy.” Their final collaboration on screen was “Lucy Calls the President” in 1977. A wisecracking nurse is a familiar role to Wickes, who created the role of Nurse Preen on Broadway in 1939's The Man Who Came to Dinner and also did the 1942 film version (inset photo) and a 1972 TV adaptation.

The surname Hurlow was recently used as the name of the driving instructor (Jack Gilford) in “Lucy Helps Craig Get a Driver's License” (S1;E24), also written by Josefsberg and Singer.  

Jack Collins (Mr. Phillips) previously appeared in “Lucy's Impossible Mission” (S1;E6) as well as the final two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  He played Russel Slater on “Dallas” from 1982 to 1987. This is the second of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Adele Claire (Nurse Whitton) makes the first of her two appearances on the series. She will also be seen in “Lucy and Jim Bailey” (S5;E9).  

The character is never referred to by name in the dialogue.

Paula Stewart (Nurse Dean) appeared as Janie, Lucille Ball's sister, in the Broadway musical Wildcat (1960). It was the fourth of her six Broadway musicals between 1951 and 1965.  This is her only series television appearance opposite Lucille Ball. In 2017, she published a memoir titled Lucy Loved Me, about her friendship with Lucille Ball. 

This is the first multi-camera show with a studio audience of season 2, after the series' 4-part road trip shot on location.

This is the only time on “Here's Lucy” where Harry reveals his age, 51, although because Lucy and Nurse Hurlow both roll their eyes, he is probably lying.  In reality, Gale Gordon was 63.

The “Here's Lucy” crew played a prank on Gale Gordon. He expected the legs on the hospital bed to break, but instead the special effects crew rigged the bed to snap shut, forcing him to be folded in half. Although he masks his laughter, Gordon continued with the scene. Lucy and the kids look mildly amused for a moment.  

Both Kim and Craig mention that they have had their tonsils out. Tonsillitis can be more serious in adults than young people, so Harry is not completely off-base to be worried.  

Craig jokes that Uncle Harry is covered under Medicare. Medicare insurance was only a few years old at the time, having been signed into law by President Johnson in 1965.  Benefits were not available until a person was 65.  

Dr. Kurtzman is Harry's surgeon; Dr. Bodner is a psychiatrist Lucy telephones on his behalf. In real life, Dr. Sam Kurtzman was a comedy writer who worked with writer Milt Josefsberg for Bob Hope. Dr. Henry Bodner was the name of Josefsberg's urologist.  

Mr. Phillips is smoking a cigar in the hospital waiting room. Cigars were traditionally given to and smoked by new fathers. In 1991 the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) announced tobacco control standards for accredited American hospitals which mandated that they go smoke-free by the end of 1993.

In a brilliant scene of comic writing, Mr. Phillips thinks Harry is an expectant father and Harry thinks Mr. Phillips is there for a tonsillectomy.  They talk at cross purposes and confusion abounds!  

Lucille Ball loved charades and pantomime, so it makes sense that when Harry can't speak, he resorts to a bedside game of charades. Every “Lucy” sitcom has included this bit of comic fun – some more than once.

In "Lucy Plays Florence Nightingale” (TLS S2;E14) Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) was also the victim of Lucy and a tricky hospital bed.

Lucy also triggers a hospital bed to fold up with a patient (Jan Murray) inside it in “Lucy and the Soap Opera” (TLS S4;E19).

Harry acts like a bigger baby than Little Ricky when had his tonsils out in “Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9).

Harry is practically incoherent when giving the admitting nurse his information, just as Ricky Ricardo was in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). Coincidentally, that episode aired the same day Desi Jr. was born!  

Expectant father Mr. Phillips (having his third child) is similar to the character of Mr. Stanley (who is having his ninth – all girls!), also seen in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16).  Mr. Stanley was played by Charles Lane.  The scenes were inspired by one of Lucille Ball’s early films, Carnival (1935) starring Jimmy Durante.

GPS! Harry tells Nurse Hurlow his address as 4863 Valley Lawn Drive, which in future episodes Lucy will claim as her own address.

Allergy Season? Harry is supposedly allergic to flowers, but in a season one episode, Lucy brings flowers to the office to butter up Harry for a raise.  

Where The Floor Ends! When the camera pulls back in Harry's living room, viewers see where the wall to wall carpeting meets the concrete stage floor. This is a common era on all “Lucy” sitcoms.

Resume Trouble! Harry's will leaves Lucy 5,000 aspirin bottles she's caused him to empty over the past two years. At the start of the series, it was established that Lucy's worked for Harry for two years, then a few months later, it was said to be three, now it is back to two!

Capper! Nurse Dean wears a different style cap than the other two nurses, probably in order to appear more feminine and show off more of her sexy hairstyle.

Title Trouble! The title follows the usual “Lucy and ____” format, but in this case it sounds like both Lucy and Harry have tonsillitis.

“Lucy and Harry’s Tonsils” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

This episode gives Gale Gordon a lot to do, with very little of it bluster. Some of it, however, is uncharacteristic of Harry Carter. Faced with having to have his tonsils out, he behaves as if it is a death sentence, complete with the reading of his will. Later, he appears to be sexually aroused by the night nurse, in a comic way, of course. The broad comedy here takes the sting out of the usually forbidden subject matter.