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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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GETTING OLD

May 20, 1949

“Getting Old” (aka “Liz Is Feeling Her Age”) is episode #44 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on May 20, 1949 on the CBS radio network.

Synopsis ~ Scanning her old high school yearbook, Liz decides she's old, and everything George does to try to snap her out of it just makes things worse. George tries to convince Liz that she's as glamourous as ever. His tactics misfire so George is forced to hire a psychiatrist.

Note: This episode partly inspired the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18) aired on February 2, 1953, which also starred Gerard Mohr as a psychiatrist. In this case, however, the complex is replaced by fear of aging. There is another “My Favorite Husband” episode titled “Liz’s Inferiority Complex” (aka “Liz Develops an Inferiority Complex”) broadcast on February 3, 1951 which uses the notion of inferiority rather than aging. In that episode, the psychiatrist is played by Alan Reed.

“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.

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

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz (above right), 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.

GUEST CAST

Gerald Mohr Psychiatrist aka Charley ‘Chuck’ Stewart) also played psychiatrist Henry Molin, who masquerades as Ricky’s old friend Chuck Stewart in “The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18 ~ February 2, 1953), his only appearance on “I Love Lucy”. In return, Lucy and Desi appeared on his show “Sunday Showcase” that same year. He also made an appearance on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and Phil Harris” (TLS S6;E20 ~ February 5, 1968).

One of the few times an actor recreates his role in a television version of a radio script using the same name.

Bea Benadaret (Mrs. Annie Green) 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.

This turn as an old lady may have given Lucille Ball the idea to cast her as elderly Miss Lewis on “I Love Lucy”.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers, Liz is over by the bookcase, with books spread out all around her.”

Liz tells George her club is having an old book sale. George warns her not to sell any of his book, especially ones he hasn’t finished yet. She finds one with a bookmark and he tells her to put it back on the shelf: some books are too heavy to finish in one sitting.

GEORGE: “What’s the name of it?” LIZ: “’The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore’”

“The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore” was originally published in 1907, the third in a series of children’s books. There were 72 books in all, the first appearing in 1904 and the last in 1979. In 1953’s “The Camping Trip” (ILL S2;E29) Ethel referred to Lucy and Ricky as the Bobbsey Twins. In “No More Double Dates” (TLS S1;E21) they are mentioned again. They were authored by Laura Lee Hope, which was a pseudonym for a series of writers employed by the publisher.

Liz finds a book about how to play mahjong that George forgot to return to the library.

GEORGE: “When was it due?” LIZ: “May 13th. 1936!”

George wants to donate it to the sale, but Liz refuses to handle ‘hot’ merchandise. George sarcastically calls her Pear-Shape.

George is not referring to Liz’s figure, but to the character in the Dick Tracy comic strip named Pear-Shape Tone, who was part of the storyline from April to July 1949. He was a racketeer who would steal jewelry from his wealthier clients, then fence it to make a profit. One of his famous heists was referred to on “My Favorite Husband” in “Anniversary Presents” aired on May 13, 1949.

LIZ: “George, look! On the second shelf! ‘Little Men’ is leaning against ‘Little Women’! Oh, look, George! They’ve had a little pamphlet!”

“Little Women” (1868) and its sequel “Little Men” (1871) are books by Louisa May Alcott. A sequel was titled “Good Wives” (1869) but in America was combined with “Little Women” for publication. A third book (not a pamphlet) arrived in 1886 titled “Jo’s Boys.”

Liz finds the Arbutus, George’s old high school year book from 1929. George was a senior, Liz was a freshman. He reads some of the inscriptions from his friends. The book has a photo of Liz as a Freshman Princess - dimples in her knees.

LIZ: “I used to spend every evening kneeling on two collar buttons!”

Liz suddenly feels very old. She has turned from ‘a flower in the bloom of youth’ to ‘an old stink weed’. She starts to cry and decides to go to bed because old people need their rest.

In the morning Katie the Maid finds Liz gazing at herself in the mirror.

LIZ: “I haven’t felt so old since the day Shirley Temple got married.”

Former child star Shirley Temple married actor (and then Army Air Force Sergeant) John Agar on September 19, 1945, when she was just 17 years-old. At one time, Temple was one of Hollywood’s biggest box office stars. The marriage became troubled, and Temple divorced Agar on December 5, 1949. On December 16, 1950, Temple re-married to Charles Alden Black, a Navy intelligence officer and assistant to the President of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company.

George is concerned about Liz, so he visits a psychiatrist (Gerard Mohr). He tells her to flatter her and make her feel young again.

PSYCHIATRIST: “A few days of attention and you won’t be able to leave her alone without a sitter!”

George comes home and finds Liz in a rocking chair. He has brought her roses and candy. She begins to cry and is immediately suspicious of his motivations for bringing her gifts. She decides to go to her room - alone. George immediately starts to dial Dr. Stewart, humming while he does:

GEORGE: “Little Old Lady young and fair, you’re in everyone’s hair...”

The song “Little Old Lady” was a 1937 hit written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stanley Adams. It was also heard on stage and screen.

Dr. Stewart tells George that it is natural for a wife not to believe her husband. He suggests an outsider flattering her would be more convincing and he has just the person - himself! George reluctantly agrees and decides to say that Dr. Stewart is an old college friend. He will drop by at eight o’clock that evening.

When the doorbell rings, George announces him as Charley Stewart, who immediately takes Liz for George’s daughter. After some flattery, they decide to listen to the radio. Liz says her favorite she is “Life Begins at 80″.

“Life Begins at 80″ was a panel quiz show that aired on radio from 1948 to 1949, before making the shift to television in 1950. In it, octogenarians answered questions sent in by listeners. Jack Barry hosted.

Chuck insists that they play music and invites Liz to dance the Samba. After three hours, Chuck compliments her dancing, but George is getting impatient.

LIZ: “Treatment, George. Treatment!” GEORGE: “It looks more like a treat than a treatment.”

Chuck starts whispering amorous compliments into Liz’s ear just out of ear shot of George. He demands to know what’s going on.

LIZ: “Treatment, George! Treatment!” GEORGE: “What do you know about treatment?” LIZ: “Nothing. But whenever he says it you leave us alone.”

George finally can’t take anymore and tells Liz the truth about Chuck being a psychiatrist, telling him to leave at once. After Chuck leaves, George finds Liz back in her rocking chair lamenting her old age.

Next day the phone rings and Katie answers it. It is George, checking up on Liz, who Katie reports is making out her will.

KATIE: “She’s leaving you to me!”

George has a plan. He’s going to bring home a real old lady - seventy year-old Mrs. Green - to show Liz how young she really is. Katie finds Liz happily singing.

KATIE: “What’s happened to ya? Last night you were Grandma Moses and now you’re Junior Miss!”

Grandma Moses (1860-1961) was an American folk artist who began painting at the age of 78 and is often cited as an example of a person who successfully began a career at an advanced age. In “Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9) Lucy Ricardo is so proud of Little Ricky’s first drawing, she dubs him the next “Grandpa Moses.” The Ricardos had two framed prints by Grandma Moses next to their front door: “So Long” and “The Old Snow Roller.”

Junior Miss is a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by Sally Benson first published in The New Yorker. Between 1929 and the end of 1941, the prolific Benson published 99 stories. She had a bestseller when Doubleday published her Junior Miss collection in 1941. The stories inspired a Broadway play (1941), film (1945), radio series starring the aforementioned Shirley Temple (1942), and television show (1957).

Liz tells Katie that she got a call from the Psychiatrist asking her out on a date. Katie says that since she’s now in a more upbeat mood, she’d better call George and tell him not to go through with his plan. But Liz has other ideas. Since he tricked her by brining home a psychiatrist, Liz will trick him by pretending to be an old lady when she brings Mrs. Green home!

Liz dons a shawl, eyeglasses, a gray wig, and talks with a creaky voice. Mrs. Annie Green (Bea Benadaret) and ‘Lizzie’ sit down for a chat. Whatever question Mrs. Green asks, Liz answers “Penicillin”! Lizzie tells Annie that she can’t dance because she’s got the gout.

LIZZIE: “I can’t dance any unless I get oiled. In my joints, I mean.” ANNIE: “I’ve been oiled in few joints myself!” LIZZIE: “Oh, Annie! You’re a caution! Just cuz ya got snow on the roof don’t mean there’s no fire in the furnace.”

Annie tells Lizzie about a hot Bingo game in back of the Blue Bird Tea Shop (which just a front).

ANNIE: “Get your green eye shade and let’s go!” LIZZIE: “I’ll get my wheelchair! We can ride down.” ANNIE: “What model you got?” LIZZIE: “A real hopped-up job; I hooked it to a Mixmaster. I had some speed trials yesterday.” ANNIE: “What did ya make?” LIZZIE: “Fourteen miles an hour and a bunt cake!”

In 1930, the Sunbeam Company introduced the Mixmaster mixer, the first mechanical mixer with two detachable beaters whose blades interlocked. Several attachments were available for the Mixmaster, including a juice extractor, drink mixer, meat grinder–food chopper, and slicer–shredder. The Mixmaster became the company's flagship product for the next forty years.

George has had enough and tells Liz to stop, so she gives up the old lady act. She tells him she’s feeling better, but George lets it slip that he told Chuck to call and ask her out on a date. She’s distraught again and Annie and Lizzie toddle off to Bingo!

#My Favorite Husband #Lucille Ball #Richard Denning #Gerard Mohr #Bea Benadaret #Ruth Perrott #Mixmaster #Grandma Moses #Junior Miss #The Bobbsey Twins #Life Begins at 80 #Shirley Temple #Little Old Lady #John Agar #Gerald Mohr #Bob LeMond #Dick Tracy

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spielzeugkaiser · 3 years

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@whataboutthebard Wreck: Fuck or die

This is the third time I did this concept, oops. But even though I normally don't shy away from h/c, today we're getting something less heavy. Jaskier is sliding in there like... haha, oppsie. But why is Geralt so grumpy? Besides Jaskier never having learned that we look at things with OUR EYES, not the hands [Full version on twitter]

It's not a secret that they're fucking, but it felt like one, and now they all know (They're probably still waiting outside, playing cards or something like that.)

Not pictured: Jaskier being smug once they're done, Lambert snickering, Eskels knowing look and Yennefers eyebrows disappearing in her hairline, like. Boys-

#wreck the bard #full version on twitter i guess #dub con tw #geraskier #geralt of rivia #jaskier #geralt x jaskier #this is lemonde but no dicks are showed #suggestive content #look - Geralt fcks Jaskier from time to time (when they don't have much coin and no other company is available)#it's not like they're a... thing #he's fond of him! he's *BIG SIGH* his best friend #so of course he's gonna do this #and this is not the first time but Geralt bottoming here is a rarity #not because he doesn't enjoy it per se but #Jaskier keeps getting this dreamy- saccharine and sappy look about it (urgh) and keeps bouncing back to being an insufferable-#very smug peacock afterwards (compensating for something whomst???)#so Geralt is like >:( I SHAN'T #he still ends up doing nearly everything Jaskier begs him to do #but he will be grumpy about it!

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spielzeugkaiser · 3 years

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[Insert sweet a/b/o gangbang here; follow me on twitter I guess?]

This prompt was so much more steamy, but... they wouldn't stop bickering (and Geralt is so smitten).

I imagined it's not unheard of, but highly uncommon for a bonded alpha to "share" his omega (as if Jaskier needed an alphas permission to do what he wants; the thing that he needed from Geralt, his partner, was consent, mutual agreement and love.)

The typical a/b/o stuff has alphas going territorial over their omegas (which is why old-alpha Vesemir is here; just to look out for Jaskier, if things do get intense with these overeager pups - not to say that he won't finish last 👀) but they actually manage it quite well!

The only who gets agitated is Lambert, but Jaskier doesn't need any help with that at all, he hops on that dick, (ye olde town road is probably playing in the background), and Lambert turns docile as a lamb. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

full version NO LONGER under the cut :'(

#witchersexual!Jaskier #geraskier #this is lemonde but no dicks are showed #Geralt: my love... I wanna give him.. little kisses #Jaskier: I'm gonna TAKE your KNOT *points* AND yours - oh AND yoURS-#Jaskier: and yours? *bats his eyelashes at vesemir*#I don't really have a backstory for this 'verse in my head but I somehow imagined that at one point Eskel and Geralt did have sex #kinda young and stumbling #so smelling that much of Geralt on Jaskier is actually kind of comforting for Eskel #which is also why this works so good #It was probably Lambert who accidentally started his rut and once the pheromones were there they kinda did a hornyness #mexican wave #and there was no REAL need for them to get all off (I tend to enjoy my abo more if it's not inherently dub con-y)#but it is r e a l l y uncomfortable and Jaskier is not always super happy with being an omega but they have known each other for YEARS #and they never - not once treated him differently - especially because he punched Lambert in the face once :)

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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THE ELVES

September 2, 1949

“The Elves” is episode #52 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on September 2, 1949.

This was the first episode of the second season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND which concluded on June 25, 1950.

Synopsis ~ Liz and George arrive home from vacation to find that someone has been ordering strawberry ice cream from the milkman every day, and the pink trail leads to the doorstep of their new neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Wood, and their ten children.

MAIN CAST

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury, Liz’s Best Friend) 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.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury, George’s Boss) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on "Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) does not appear in this episode

GUEST CAST

Hans Conried (Mr. Wood, New Neighbor) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973. He died in 1982 at age 64.

Conried plays Mr. Wood in several other episodes. His first name is Benjamin, and his wife - who we never meet - is named Gertrude. They were both only children and want to make up for it by having a large family.

Frank Nelson (Mr. Stevens) 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 marked his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.

Anne Whitfield (Joanne Wood, Nearly 7) is best remembered for her signature role as the younger daughter of Phil Harris and Alice Faye on their hit radio show. Although she never appeared on screen with Lucille Ball, she did a 1962 episode of Desilu’s “The Untouchables.” She is best known for playing Susan in the 1954 film White Christmas. She was 11 years old in 1949 when this episode of “My Favorite Husband” was broadcast. As of this writing she is 82 years old and living in Washington state.

Joanne Wood is one of the many children of the Coopers neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Wood. She will also appear as Joanne Wood, without Conried, but with Nelson, in “Liz’s Superstitions” in October 1949.

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on lazy little Sheridan Falls, the hometown of the Coopers, we find many signs that summer is over. The leaves are turning red, the Coopers are turning their faces toward home after summer vacation, and Liz is hoping that all her friends will turn green when they see how she’s turned brown. Let’s pick them up as their drive into town...”

Liz is anxious for people to see her summer tan. She spots the Atterburys and wants to stop the car to talk. They also just got back from vacation at Moosehead Lodge. Every time Liz tries to talk about her sunny stay, Iris and Rudolph interrupt about their Lodge at the lake. Liz and Iris tug at her blouses and slacks to reveal their tans. Mr. Atterbury tells George that he may be getting a promotion. They say their goodbyes.

LIZ: “Goodbye, Paleface!” IRIS: “See you later, Snow White!”

The Paleface was a Bob Hope / Jane Russell film released at the very end of 1948 and still in cinemas at the time of the broadcast. The Paramount western also featured future “Lucy” cast members Iris Adrian, Iron Eyes Cody, Olin Howland, Nestor Paiva, George Chandler, Fred Aldrich, Oliver Blake, George Bruggerman, Dick Elliott, and Bert Stevens.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a 1937 animated Disney film based on the classic fairy tale. It featured the voices of future “Lucy” cast member Pinto Colvig and Moroni Olsen.

Upon arriving home, the Coopers notice that their porch has been painted white. Upon closer inspection, they realize it isn’t paint - but milk. Their ‘milk card’ has been tampered with to order strawberry ice cream while they were away - yet none is found.

During the early part of the twentieth century, dairy products were usually delivered to homes, rather than shopped in a market. The milkman was part of daily life. Housewives would leave notes (or cards, as above) to request items outside their standing delivery order: Milk, eggs, yogurt, butter, and ice cream, were all offered. It was not uncommon to see back porches with milk boxes and or empty bottles ready to be returned to the dairy. This service has all but disappeared in favor of supermarkets.

Liz and George turn into amateur sleuths to track down the trail of strawberry ice cream drippings which lead directly to... the empty house next door. Liz notices laundry on the line and surmises that the new neighbors moved in while they were away.

George angrily knocks on the door, which is opened by Mr. Wood (Hans Conried). He explains that one of his children has brought home strawberry ice cream. The elves gave it to her. Mr. Wood goes to find his daughter to explain.

LIZ (to George): “I think Mr. Wood has snapped his twig!”

Mr. Wood returns, assured that Joanna, his daughter, isn’t listening. Mr. Wood explains that he has ten children and one on the way. Liz is shocked to find out Mrs. Wood is still alive!

GEORGE: “Well, Mr. Wood, you’ve certainly got a lot of little splinters.”

The rest of the children stay with relatives in the summer. Mr. Wood calls for Joanne, who he thought was buying the ice cream from her allowance. Joanne is an imaginative child who thinks she’s a fairy queen, comes in. She has been feeding her pet dragon, Charlie, the ice cream. Liz tells her that dragons don’t eat so much ice cream, but Joanne insists that Charlie’s just a small dragon - a dragon-ette.

LIZ: “Yes. I’ve heard of her sister - Jessica.”

Jessica Dragonette (1900-80) was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort. She was voted best female singer of the country 1942 and 1943.

Much to Liz and George’s chagrin, Mr. Wood let’s her daughter off without any punishment or admonishment for her ice cream thievery. Mr. Wood offers to pay their milk bill as compensation.

End of Part One

Bob LeMond gives listeners a Jell-O ‘dreamy’ recipe for a fluffy orange tart.

As the second half opens, Mr. Wood has rung the Cooper’s doorbell to report that little Joanne overheard them say that their were no such things as elves. Mr. Wood wants them to pretend to be elves to console her. Liz and George are reluctant, but agree when they see her awash in tears.

The Coopers will pretend to find Joanne’s lost dragon, Charlie. To prove that they are really elves, Joanne insists that Liz transform into a troll and George into a Brownie Princess. On the way out, Joanne picks up the Coopers telephone and it is Mr. Atterbury, who is bringing over an important client, Mr. Stevens. Joanne refuses to tell Liz and George who was on the phone - claiming it was the King of the Elves.

As Joanne waits outside for their transformation, Liz and George plan their outrageous outfits. As a brownie princess, George will wear his brown shoes, socks, and garters, a dried grass-skirt, water-wings, and a brown bathing cap. As a troll, Liz will wear a stocking over her face hanging down like an elephant’s trunk, red rubber gloves on her hands and feet, and will walk on all fours.

Meanwhile, Mr. Atterbury drives up with Mr. Stevens (Frank Nelson), describing Mr. Cooper as a “dignified, sober, and conservative”. On the porch is Joanne, who identifies herself as the Fairy Queen. From inside, Liz bids them open the door and come in. Liz is hopping about on all fours, spouting gibberish. Joanne describes the men as ogres “one uglier than the other.”

In retrospect, this storyline might have inspired the TV series “Bewitched” (1964-72), in which Darrin Stephens’ boss, Larry Tate, was usually bringing home an important client, describing Darrin to him in glowing terms, and then finding Darrin transformed due to a spell, sometimes involving his own daughter, Tabitha. Even the names Stevens / Stephens is the same!

Liz straightens up immediately when she sees them. Liz realizes that the ‘Brownie Princess’ is still upstairs, waiting to make his entrance. Too late! George dances on looking for his lily pad! Mr. Atterbury fires George on the spot. Mr. Stevens wants to hear George’s explanation. George stands up for himself - he was simply preserving the fantasy life of a child. Mr. Stevens takes George’s side and Mr. Atterbury immediately grants George his promotion to third vice president!

End of Episode

In the live Jell-O commercial that ends the show, Bob LeMond is singing “I’ve been working on the railroad...J-E-L-L-O!” Lucy thinks he is talking about having to take a job on the railroad, telling him that radio is a tough business and television is the future. They both sing the song with lyrics about Jell-O.

#My Favorite Husband #Lucille Ball #Gale Gordon #CBS #Jell-O #Richard Denning #Bea Benadaret #Frank Nelson #Snow White #The Paleface #Anne Whitfield #Hans Conried #Radio #Elves #Jessica Dragonette

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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TRYING TO CASH THE PRIZE CHECK

December 9, 1950

“Trying To Cash The Prize Check” (aka “The ‘Everybody Wins’ Prize Check”) is episode #109 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on December 9, 1950.

Synopsis ~ Liz goes on the radio quiz show and wins a check for $500, but she only gets to keep it if she can cash it within 25 minutes, and the banks are all closed!

This was the 15th episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 43 new episodes, with the season ending on June 25, 1950.

MAIN CAST

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

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) does not appear in this episode.

GUEST CAST

Frank Nelson (’Happy’ Hal Brubaker) 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 marked his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.

Nelson adds one more quizmaster to his list of credits with ‘Happy’ Hal Brubaker. He joins Smiley Stembottom and Freddy Fillmore.

Bobby Jellison (Mr. Uh-Uh-Uh) will play the recurring character of Bobby the bellboy throughout the Hollywood episodes of “I Love Lucy”. Viewers may also remember him as the milkman in “The Gossip” (S1;E24). He makes one more appearance as another luggage jockey in “Lucy Hunts Uranium,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour”.

Jerry Hausner (Loan Store Clerk) was best known as Ricky Ricardo’s agent in “I Love Lucy” and as the voice of Waldo in “Mr. Magoo” and several characters such as Hemlock Holmes, The Mole, Broodles and Itchy in “The Dick Tracy Show.” On Broadway, Hausner had the role of Sammy Schmaltz in Queer People (1934). On radio, he was a regular on such shows as “Blondie”, “The Jim Backus Show”, “The Judy Canova Show”, “Too Many Cooks”, and “Young Love”. Hausner died of heart failure on April 1, 1993. He was 83 years old.

Wally Maher (Mr. Trimble, the Grocer) was born on August 4, 1908 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was known for Mystery Street (1950), The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) and Hollywood Hotel (1937). He was heard with Lucille Ball in the Lux Radio Theatre version of “The Dark Corner” (1947), taking the role originated on film by William Bendix. He died on December 27, 1951.

Sandra Gould (Woman in Audience) is probably best remembered as the second actor to play Gladys Kravitz on “Bewitched” (1966-71). On “I Love Lucy,” she played Nancy Johnson in “Oil Wells” (ILL S3;E18) and makes a brief appearance as an alarmed strap-hanger in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12). In 1962 she appeared in the fourth episode of “The Lucy Show” as a bank secretary.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers this morning, they’re at breakfast, and from the way Liz is looking at George, she’s either madly in love or has some ulterior motive in mind.”

Liz wants to buy a new dress to wear to the club dance on Saturday, which costs $89.50. George won’t allow it but Liz is determined to get it by hook or by crook.

Later the doorbell rings and it is Iris Atterbury. A downbeat Liz tells Iris about the dress she wants. Iris is going to a radio broadcast and wants Liz to go along to cheer herself up - and possibly win enough money to buy the new dress.

The show is called “Everybody Wins” hosted by ‘Happy’ Hal Brubaker (Frank Nelson), a local radio game show. It is sponsored by Grandma Grimes Cold Cream. The first contestant is the woman with the reddest hair - Liz Cooper! Another woman in the audience (Sandra Gould) objects!

WOMAN: “Are you kiddin’ sister? At home, I’m a redhead. Next to you, I’m a brunette!”

Liz wins a $500 check just for stating her name. The catch is, Liz must cash the check in 25 minutes without telling anyone it is a stunt for a radio show. She’s assigned a man (Bobby Jellison) to watch her to be sure. Liz confesses that her husband is a banker. Brubaker reminds her that the show went on the air at 3pm when the banks close.

Liz and Iris tear out of the studio toward the bank. They bang on the door to get the guard’s attention. Liz sees George but can’t tell him why she needs to get in. Their watchdog chaperone intervenes with a warning “Uh uh uh!” every time Liz starts to explain. Mr. Atterbury comes by and Iris asks him to cash the check, but Mr. Atterbury says to come back in the morning. Liz pleads with him, but Mr. Atterbury cites state law. Liz stages a fake stick-up to get the cash. Mr. Atterbury points out that she hasn’t got a gun.

With twelve minutes left, Liz and Iris start out to look for somewhere else to cash the check.

End of Part One

Bob LeMond does a Jell-O commercial that gives a recipe for a quick dessert during the holidays.

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers again, Liz and Iris have just left the bank to try to find another place to cash the $500 check from ‘Everybody Wins’ which Liz can keep if she can cash it in the next 15 minutes. George and Mr. Atterbury have prepared to return to their work.”

At the bank, Mr. Atterbury and George are alone. He turns on the radio.

MR. ATTERBURY: “I wouldn’t want anyone to know that we go over the books with ‘Arthur Godfrey’”!

Arthur Godfrey (1903-83) was a tremendously popular host and entertainer. His CBS morning radio show “Arthur Godfrey Time” aired five times a week. He also had an evening program titled “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” which soon transitioned to television. It was the lead-in to “I Love Lucy” in 1951 and promoted Godfrey did on-air promotion for “Lucy.” Many years later Godfrey guest-starred as himself on “The Lucy Show.” Although tremendously popular whenever he aired, Godfrey was noticeably absent from afternoons, so it is unlikely that George and Mr. Atterbury tune in to his program at 3pm.

When the radio comes on, however, it is tuned to “Everybody Wins”, not Arthur Godfrey.

HAPPY HAL BRUBAKER (over radio): “Thank you, Mrs. Malone for being such a good sport and jumping off the high ladder with an umbrella. You missed the mattress so you don’t get a prize. Thanks anyway, and we hope that little old leg of yours mends soon!”

This verbal gag is brought vividly to life on television with the appearance of a heavily bandaged former winner Mrs. Peterson (Hazel Pierce) who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel!

George and Mr. Atterbury tune in just in time to hear Hal Brubaker report that Liz Cooper has not yet returned from cashing her check! They realize what all her secrecy was about and, after a brief disagreement, they fill their pockets with cash and race off to find her!

Liz and Iris see a loan shop sign “Do You Need Money? Hmmm?” in neon. The clerk (Jerry Hausner) tells them he will deduct the interest and the carrying charges giving her $14.32 with $50 weekly re-payments for 36 weeks! To get $500 they need to borrow $13,000!

They run out of the shop with only six minutes left. George and Mr. Atterbury spot them, but rather than explain and waste time, the girls duck into a taxi to go to Trimble’s Grocery, where Liz is sure Mr. Trimble will give her the cash.

Elderly grocer Mr. Trimble (Wally Maher) is in a chatty mood, wanting to talk about a mushy eggplant he sold her. He agrees to cash the check but is slow counting out the money from the cash drawer, making Liz a nervous wreck. He finally finishes, only to misread the check and count out $5.00 instead of five hundred!

Liz and Iris give up and go back to the radio station. Meanwhile, George and Mr. Atterbury give up chasing Liz and Iris and decide to go to the radio station. Liz arrives with a minute and a half to go. Defeated, she tears up the check just as the boys come racing in with the $500 cash. With 45 seconds to go they scramble to reassemble the check! Liz finds the final piece just as time expires.

Brubaker reveals that he tricked her. The “Uh Uh Uh” man had the money all the time and would have cashed the check had Liz just asked. George is outraged and punches Brubaker in his ‘Happy’ face! As a consolation, George agrees to give Liz the money anyway - plus $89.50 for the new dress.

LIZ: “Oh, George! You really are my favorite husband!”

In the final live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball takes on the character of a famous lady novelist and Bob LeMond is her interviewer. Lucy adopts a nasal voice as Elizabeth Dopplefinger Hopenshmice. The voice is similar to the one she will do as Isabella Clump in “The Million Dollar Idea” (ILL S3;E13). Elizabeth says she first imagines a book cover and then writes a story around it. Bob LeMond says he would like to see a bowl of Jell-O on the cover of a book, but Elizabeth prefers a more romantic cover and kisses him. LeMond still wants Jell-O on the cover.

Bob LeMond reads the credits. There is a recorded message from Instant Sanka.

END EPISODE

#My Favorite Husband #Lucille Ball #Bob LeMond #Gale Gordon #Bea Benadaret #Richard Denning #Radio #I Love Lucy #Frank Nelson #Wally Maher #Jerry Hausner #Sandra Gould #Bobby Jellison

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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SECRETARIAL SCHOOL

February 18, 1949

“Secretarial School” (aka “Liz Attends Claremont Business School”) is episode #31 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on February 18, 1949 on the CBS radio network.

Synopsis ~ George needs a new secretary, so Liz enrolls in secretarial school so she can fill the position.

“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 Benadaret 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.

REGULAR CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper / “Jenny Smith”) 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 as 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.

Gale Gordon and Bea Benadaret had not yet joined the cast in the roles of Rudolph and Iris Atterbury.

GUEST CAST

Florence Halop (Ruthie aka ”The Brooklyn Blabbermouth”) was first seen on television with Lucille Ball in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) in which she reprised her role as the party line phone hog. She wouldn’t work for Lucy again until 1974, when she played a Little Old Lady on a Western-themed episode of “Here’s Lucy.” In 1985, she replaced Selma Diamond (who had died of lung cancer) as the bailiff on “Night Court.”

Frank Nelson (Mr. Allen, Bank Examiner) 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”. This is one of his 11 performances on “My Favorite Husband.” On “I Love Lucy” he holds the distinction of being the only actor to play two recurring roles: Freddie Fillmore and Ralph Ramsey, as well as six one-off characters, including the frazzled train conductor in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5), a character he repeated on “The Lucy Show.” Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs.

The roles of Miss Claremont, the Blabbermouth’s Mother, and the Secretary on the Intercom are uncredited and unidentified, but were likely played by the same performer.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “Now let’s look in on the Coopers. It’s early evening. Dinner is over. George is in the living room and Liz is helping Katie the Maid clear off the table.”

Liz is dreading talking to George about the right front fender on the car. When she finally goes into the living room she immediately confesses to the accident, even though he only wanted to talk to her about his life insurance policy. He’s doubled his policy so that she’ll get $10,000 if he should die.

In “Lucy Goes On Strike” (HL S1;E16) in 1969, Harry takes out a $100,000 double indemnity insurance policy on Lucy’s life with himself as sole beneficiary, which Lucy accidentally overhears.

Liz doesn’t want to talk about such things. She refuses to think about a life without George. She insists that there must be some dire reason for his doubling the policy. She even wonders if he’ll ever marry again should she die first. He explains his new double indemnity policy to her. If he dies by accident she will get double than if he passes away naturally.

In “The Audition” (ILL S1;E6), Ricky sends Lucy to his lawyers to see about his will, which sends Lucy into a panic about him dying - and who would go first!

LIZ: “Well, I’m going to miss you, but when you feel yourself going, try to make it an accident, huh?”

Liz tells him not to worry about the money. She will get a job and take care of herself. George cannot even begin to think of Liz set loose in the workforce. She says that she is going to prove him wrong by getting a job right away.

Later, Liz returns from a day job hunting and is exhausted. She tells Katie she is determined to go to business school and learn shorthand. Their party line is tied up again by the “Brooklyn Blabbermouth” (Florence Halop).

A party line was a local loop telephone circuit that is shared by multiple subscribers. Party lines provided no privacy and were frequently used as a source of entertainment and gossip. Objections about one party monopolizing a line were common and eavesdropping remained an ongoing concern. By the end of the 20th century, party lines had been phased out in the United States. Although we are never quite sure where Sheridan Falls is located, it would be unusual for a party line to exist outside its local area. Lucy Ricardo contends (and brilliantly dispenses) with a party line in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8, above, also starring Florence Halop, left).

The “Brooklyn Blabbermouth” calls Liz “Miss Big Ears” and explains she is talking to her mother. Liz is amazed she even has a mother.

BLABBERMOUTH: “Whaddya think? Someone built me with an Erector Set?” LIZ: “No. I thought you came in a box of Cracker Jack.”

Erector Set was a brand of metal toy construction sets which were originally sold by the Mysto Manufacturing Company in 1913, a successor to wooden Lincoln Logs and a predecessor to plastic LEGO. This gag manages to get a very loud laugh and a round of applause from the “My Favorite Husband” studio audience.

Cracker Jack is a molasses-flavored caramel-coated popcorn and peanut confection first patented in 1896. It is famous for being packaged with an inexpensive novelty item (a ‘prize’) inside the box. Food historians say it may be America’s first ‘junk food.’ It was often the punch line on “I Love Lucy.”

Liz begs the Blabbermouth (whose name is Ruthie) to allow her to make a quick call. She is updating her mother about their radio serials since her radio is broken.

LIZ: “Do you have to use the telephone?” BLABBERMOUTH: “Whaddya expect me to use? A two-way wrist radio?”

In 1946, Chester Gould’s ‘Dick Tracy’ comic strip introduced the idea that it’s detective hero could communicate through a two-way wrist radio. In 1948, that cartoon item was brought to reality, along with a myriad of other Dick Tracy-themed toys. The “Dick Tracy” radio series ran from 1934 to 1948. It then lived on in television and films.

The Blabbermouth ignores Liz’s request for telephone time and drones on about the plot of her mother’s favorite soap opera:

BLABBERMOUTH: “So mama, you remember how kindly Dr. Stevenson had to operate on Little Jimmy, who was run over by a truck, and he tried to save the life of blind Mr. Pat, who was on his way to get the doctor for grandma Smith, who broke her leg when she fell downstairs trying to help Mary Lou, who caught her hand in the ringer.” MAMA: “Oh, yeah. Which show was that?” LIZ: “’Life Can Be Beautiful’!”

After the distressing plot line described, it seems unlikely, but there really was a radio soap opera named “Life Can Be Beautiful.” it premiered September 5, 1938 on NBC and moved two months later to CBS, where it was heard from November 7, 1938 to June 21, 1946. The final run was on NBC from 1946 to 1954.

Liz is furious and hangs up. She decides to go down to the secretarial school and enroll in person.

LIZ: “If I wait for her to get off the phone I won’t need a job, I’ll be collecting Social Security.”

The United States Social Security act was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. The nation’s first Social Security card was issued in 1936 with benefits first paid out in 1940. Social Security was sometimes used as a punch line on Lucille Ball’s television programs, especially concerning age.

At the secretarial school Liz, and a gaggle of other women, are welcomed by Miss Claremont, the founder and head teacher.

MISS CLAREMONT: “When you finish our course, each of you will be completely equipped to get along with your future boss, as we teach you shorthand, typing, filing and jujitsu.”

Miss Claremont calls upon Liz to help demonstrate typing, but Liz says there are no letters on the keys. Miss Claremont explains that this is deliberate, in order to teach the touch system of typing.

Three weeks after this episode was broadcast, Lucille Ball began filming Miss Grant Takes Richmond, in which her character, Ellen Grant, went to the Woodruff Secretarial School and also had a great deal of trouble with her typewriter. The film was released later that year but Lucille Ball was seen typing in all of her television sitcoms.

Liz attempts to type her name:

LIZ: “Shake hands with Querty Uioop!”

Three weeks later, Miss Claremont is chastising Liz for her non-traditional shorthand. It seems drawing a little cabbage is not satisfactory shorthand for money.

LIZ: “That’s lettuce.”

Liz brags that her typing has improved to 60 words a minute. Miss Claremont says it doesn’t count if you type the same word over and over.

At home, Liz tries to romance George out his distracted mood. When he sees her school notebook he asks about her shorthand. She’s written her shopping list in shorthand.

GEORGE: “What does this one mean: the number three, a dog, and a daisy?” LIZ: “That’s to remind me to get three heads of cauliflower.”

GEORGE: “What’s this dilly: a telescope, a doctor, and a child?” LIZ: “I want to get something in the newspaper. That means watch out for the Examiner boy.”

GEORGE: “Here’s one I can understand: a man throwing books in the air. Juggling the books, eh?” LIZ: “Just a little jug.”

GEORGE: “Now explain this last shorthand mystery to me: a circle, a ship, and laundry ticket.” LIZ: “That’s the title of a phonograph record I want to buy - 'A Slow Boat To China'.”

"On A Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1948. The enigmatic title was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. In October and November 1948, it was recorded by no less than five artists: Kay Kyser, Freddy Martin, Benny Goodman, Art Lund, and Larry Clinton.

George is distracted because there’s a bank examiner at work and his secretary is out sick. Liz wants to get into the act - literally - by becoming his substitute secretary, but George says no way! He has already arranged with the Claremont Secretarial School to send someone over. Once he goes to bed, Liz makes the decision to call the school and cancel the secretary - taking the job for herself!

On “I Love Lucy” Lucy Ricardo went to elaborate lengths to work with her husband, sometimes even resorting to kidnapping!

Later, Liz enters the living room wearing a black wig and horned rim spectacles. Katie, who doesn’t recognize her on first glance, reminds her to phone and cancel the other secretary. Naturally, Blabbermouth is on the party line, talking to her mother about soaps. She refers to Liz as “Nosey Rosie”.

BLABBERMOUTH (to Mama): “Their son, the radio actor, comes in and wants to borrow ten bucks until television blows over...”

The idea that television was just a passing fad and not a serious threat to radio was common. The motion picture industry also felt threatened by television. In hindsight, they were correct. Had it not be for television, Lucille Ball would have remained Queen of B movies and you would not be reading this right now!

Liz angrily hangs up.

LIZ: “How do you like that; a filibuster!” KATIE: “Filibuster?” LIZ: “Yeah. I’ve had my fill and I’d like to bust her.”

Liz decides to go down to the corner drug store to make the call. Katie reminds her to put on her dress first!

Later, Liz arrives at George’s office in disguise.

[As the scene opens, the voice of a sectary on the intercom announces the arrival of the new secretary. In a rare flub, Richard Denning jumps her line, momentarily talking over her.]

Liz is flustered and doesn’t even know her own name. It seems she hasn’t yet made one up!

GEORGE: “Well, how about sitting down?” LIZ: “No. That sounds too much like an Indian. How about Jenny Smith? Yeah, Jenny Smith.”

While in disguise, Liz decides to test George’s fidelity by flirting with him. Unbeknownst to Liz, George is on to her. He unmasks her pretty quickly.

This test of marital fidelity was also tried by Lucy Ricardo while also wearing a black wig. Just like George, Ricky is on to her games and plays along for a bit.

She breaks it to him that she’s canceled the other secretary. Since it is too late to get anyone else, he allows it. He dictates some responses she needs to type for him to read to the Bank Examiner. At the meeting with the Bank Examiner, Liz is still pretending to be Miss Smith. Mr. Allen, the Bank Examiner (Frank Nelson), asks George a question and George consults his notes - only to find a jumble of nonsensical typing. Liz was using the touch system and her fingers were on the wrong keys! Since Liz is the only one who can read her original shorthand notes, she must answer for him.

MR. ALLEN: “What’s the collateral for this ten million dollars?” LIZ (reading): “Three heads of cauliflower”.

MR. ALLEN: “When the amount of collateral is not commensurate with the size of the loan what is your procedure?” LIZ (reading): “Juggle the books.”

MR. ALLEN: “When Mr. Cooper found out there was to be an investigation, what instructions did he give the employees?” LIZ (reading): “Watch out for the Examiner, boy.”

MR. ALLEN: “What would have done if you had gotten away with it?” LIZ (reading): “Get a slow boat to China.”

The exchange of transposed questions and inadvertently humorous answers will be explored again in “Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio” (ILL S1;E32) which also featured Frank Nelson asking the questions!

Later at home, George says that it took six hours to prove to Mr. Allen that Liz was responsible for the whole misunderstanding. Liz promises that she’ll stop looking for a job and call the secretarial school and quit. She picks up the phone to call but...

BLABBERMOUTH: “And the doctor said ‘Ma Perkins’ you’ll never walk again.”

“Ma Perkins” was a radio soap opera heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960. Between 1942 and 1949, the show was heard simultaneously on both networks.

Liz insists that she told the phone company to change her party line. The Blabbermouth says that they did - they changed it to her mother’s! Liz faints.

END of EPISODE

#My Favorite Husband #I Love Lucy #Lucille Ball #Ma Perkins #Richard Denning #Secretarial School #Miss Grant Takes Richmond #Ruth Perrott #Frank Nelson #Florence Halop #Party Line #Life Can Be Beautiful #On A Slow Boat To China #Radio #CBS #Dick Tracy #Cracker Jack #Erector Set #Bob LeMond

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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years

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GEORGE NEEDS A RAISE

October 7, 1949

"George Needs a Raise” (aka “George Tries for a Raise”) is episode #57 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on October 7, 1949.

This was the fifth episode of the second season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 43 new episodes, with the season ending on June 25, 1950.

The script was later adapted for television as “Ricky Asks for a Raise” (ILL S1;E35) first aired on February 16, 1953.

Synopsis ~ Liz tries every trick in the book to convince Mr. Atterbury to give George a raise. To get results she even resorts to selling apples in front of the bank where he is employed.

“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

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.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on "Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Gordon also played the boss Alvin Littlefield in the television version of this script on “I Love Lucy.”

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 Ricarodo’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.

GUEST CAST

Frank Nelson (Waiter) 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 marksed his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers it is morning. Katie is singing in the kitchen.”

The song Katie is singing is “Some Enchanted Evening” written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their 1949 hit musical South Pacific, which had just opened five months earlier on Broadway and would continue until 1954. “Some Enchanted Evening” became a pop standard and was covered by many artists, including Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, who’s version hit #1 in 1949.

The stage show would be a punch line in “No Children Allowed” (ILL S2;E22). Ethel allows the Ricardos to stay in their apartment despite a clause in the lease forbidding children. She later repeatedly brags about her good deed. “My friendship with the Ricardos means more to me than all the money in the world…” She repeats the speech so often that Lucy quips: “That scene has had more performances than ‘South Pacific’!“ Authors and producers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II dominated Broadway from 1943 to 1959 and were frequently mentioned on “I Love Lucy,” often as just ‘Dick and Oscar.’

Liz enters and wants to know why Katie is so cheerful. Katie attributes it to Mr. Nagy, the mailman.

LIZ: “Katie, have you been playing post office?” KATIE: “No, but I have been giving him a cup of coffee every morning. That’s three kinds of coffee I have to make every morning. He’s Silex. I’m an old-fashioned boil drinker, and you and Mr. Cooper are drip!”

Katie is referring to a coffee brewing system marketed by the Silex Company (now Proctor Silex). The name Silex is almost synonymous with any glass vacuum pot. At the 1939 New York World's Fair, the Silex Company's exhibit was dominated by a seven-foot replica of a Silex glass coffee maker in operation. It was considered superior to boiled water, drip coffee, or metal percolators.

Liz is desperately waiting for a bill from Miller’s Department Store that is due in today’s mail. Liz has overspent on a red velvet suit she couldn’t resist. George confronts her about the $98 expense and her history of her over-spending. Both Miller’s Department Store and Mr. Nagy the Mailman are running references on “My Favorite Husband”.

Liz encourages George to ask for a raise. George says he hinted at wanting a raise from Mr. Atterbury. Liz wants George to bring it up at dinner, as they are dining with the Atterburys that night. Liz begs George not to pick up the check and let Mr. Atterbury do it.

LIZ: “Every time the check comes he’s looking down at his fingers. You’d think he just discovered Uranium under his fingernails.”

Uranium is a very heavy metal found in most rocks that can be used as a source of concentrated energy. It was first identified in 1789 and named after the planet Uranus. As early as 1949, Popular Science Magazine started highlighting uranium hunting as a hobby using a device known as the Geiger Counter. In 1958, “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” joined the scores of other television shows and films by presenting “Lucy Hunts Uranium”.

The Coopers resolve to order the most expensive items on the menu and let Mr. Atterbury pay. That night,while Rudolph and Iris are waiting for the Coopers at the restaurant, Iris laments that George never picks up the bill. They resolve to let the Coopers pay tonight’s check and to order the most expensive items on the menu.

The waiter (Frank Nelson) comes by and they start with four bottles of imported Champagne. [Note: All Champagne is imported. Domestic is called sparkling wine.] Liz orders a Porterhouse steak and Iris orders a double lobster thermidor. The waiter feigns excitement about waiting on such big spenders.

Of all the roles Frank Nelson played on “I Love Lucy,” only once did he play a waiter: in "Lucy Changes Her Mind” (ILL S2;E21), repeating the role he created in “Liz Changes Her Mind”, episode 50 of “My Favorite Husband.”

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy mixture of cooked lobster meat and brandy stuffed into a lobster shell with a mustard sauce. Due to expensive ingredients, it is usually considered a dish primarily served on special occasions. Porterhouse Steak is a T-bone cut of beef. The origin of the term "porterhouse" is disputed, with several cities and establishments claiming to have coined it. Owing to its large size and the fact that it is one of the most prized cuts of beef, Porterhouse are generally considered one of the highest quality steaks, and prices at are accordingly high.

After dinner, everyone is stuffed and the waiter wants to know who will pay.

WAITER: “Will this be cash or do you want to finance it?”

Rudolph drops his fork and George claims he left his wallet in his other suit, fulfilling Liz and Iris’s predictions about how the men will avoid paying the bill.

Next day, Liz preps George on asking for a raise. Liz role plays with George giving him the bravery he needs to ask for a salary increase.

In Mr. Atterbury’s office, George can’t get out the words. Mr. Atterbury tells George he just fired Joe Ridgley for asking for a raise. Instead, George sheepishly asks for the key to the washroom! At home, Liz is dismayed to hear that George didn’t have the guts to ask, and vows to Katie to do her utmost to campaign on his behalf with Mr. Atterbury.

LIZ (about George): “Oh, he’s so wishy-washy. And if he doesn’t stop being so wishy I’ll have to take in washy.”

Later, Mr. Atterbury calls George in to his office and tells him of Liz’s ‘campaign' consisting of four anonymous phone calls, and three telegrams, one of which said:

“I think you should give my brother a raise - signed Gary.”

Gary Cooper (1901-1961) was one of the most popular and successful actors in Hollywood. In 1949 he could be seen in the Warner Brothers picture It’s a Great Feeling. Cooper was mentioned in two episode of “I Love Lucy” but never acted opposite Lucille Ball. She did, however, impersonate him in “Lucy and Harpo Marx” (ILL S4;E28) in 1955.

As George and Rudolph are leaving for lunch, a rock comes crashing through the window with a note tied to it:

“Dear Mr. Atterbury - George Cooper deserves a raise. Signed, an important depositor. PS: Sorry, I thought the window was open.”

When the men go to lunch, Liz is on the street disguised as an apple seller!

LIZ (in a trembling voice): “Apples! Apples! Buy an apple, Mister. Buy an apple and help a starving vice president and his wife!”

Liz’s apple seller was inspired by the Damon Runyon story “Madame La Gimp” which was made into the 1933 Frank Capra film Lady for a Day, starring May Robson as Apple Annie. It was remade in 1966 as Pocketful of Miracles starring Bette Davis. In 1972, Lucy Carter went undercover as “Dirty Gertie” (HL S5;E10), a direct nod to the story and films.

Later George phones home to tell Liz he’s been fired! It seems Liz sent 10 rag-tag children to his office yelling “Daddy I’m hungry!” Liz says she borrowed them from Mr. Wood next door.

In “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15), Lucy Ricardo suddenly invents ten children, to dissuade an amorous butcher (Edward Everett Horton) and push him toward an elderly spinster (Bea Benadaret) who is sweet on him! Coincidentally, Bea Benadaret played the spinster, and plays Iris Atterbury in this radio episode. Liz says her ten were borrowed from Mr. Wood who was usually played by Hans Conried. In other episodes he had 11 children, so one is either too young or otherwise engaged!

Katie reminds Liz to cancel her sky-writing order. Liz gets an idea. Instead of writing out “George Cooper Needs A Raise” she will send a new message. She phones the skywriter:

LIZ: “Hello. This is Mrs. George Cooper. What? No, I didn’t order ‘She’s lovely. She’s engaged. She uses Pond’s’.”

As the skin-care business became more competitive in the 1920s, Pond’s tried to boost sales through an extensive advertising campaign based on testimonials. The new campaign, which began in 1924, attempted to give Pond’s cold and vanishing creams more cachet by having them endorsed by socialites and members of aristocracy. Pond’s continued to use testimonials through the ‘She’s Engaged, She’s Lovely, She Uses Pond’s’ campaign of the 1940s and beyond. [For plot purposes only apparent at the very end, the writers reverse the order of the slogan, putting “she’s lovely” before “she’s engaged.”]

Liz tells the skywriter to spell out “MR. ATTERBURY IS A STINKER” in letters a mile high! Liz goes down to the bank to assure Mr. Atterbury sees it.

At the same time, Mr. Atterbury tells George that instead of being fired, he’s being promoted; from third vice president to executive third vice president. Liz arrives and at first refuses to acknowledge Mr. Atterbury.

LIZ: “Come on, George. Get your things and let’s leave this marble sweatshop!”

George breaks the good news to Liz of his promotion and all three go off for a celebratory drink. Outside on the street, Mr. Atterbury sees some skywriting starting and stops to see what it will spell out. A shocked Liz let’s out an “Aye-yia-yai-yai-yai!”

Coincidentally, this a Spanish exclamation of surprise often let out by Ricky Ricardo on “I Love Lucy,” so it is odd to hear patrician Elizabeth Elliott Cooper use it. In real-life, Lucille Ball had been married to Desi Arnaz for nearly nine years, so she was quite used to it!

The skywriting starts with “MR”...

LIZ: “It’s probably just an ad for that show, ‘Mr. Roberts’. Come on, let’s go.”

The show Liz is referring to is the Broadway adaption of the 1946 book Mr. Roberts by Thomas Heggen. The play opened in February 1948 and went on to win a Tony Award for Best Play (the first ever) and closed in August 1950. Henry Fonda, who dated Lucille Ball briefly when she first got to Hollywood, played the lead and got a Tony as well. The play opened at the Alvin Theatre, where Lucille Ball would star in Wildcat a dozen years later. Fonda repeated his role in the 1955 film. There was also a radio adaptation in 1953, and a short-lived NBC television series in 1965.

The skywriting continues: “MR. ATT...” Liz asks Mr. Atterbury to tie her shoelaces. George points out that she is wearing pumps.

More skywriting: “ATTERB...

LIZ: “It’s probably an ad for that piano player, José Atterby.”

Liz is referring to José Iturbi (1895-1980), who was a Spanish conductor, pianist and harpsichordist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the musicals Thousands Cheer (1943) with Lucille Ball, his first big role.

The final letters of the name are spelled out: “ATTERBURY”. Liz still tries to convince him the skywriting has nothing to do with him.

LIZ: “It’s that soft drink. (Liz sings) ‘Atterbury hits the spot! Five full ounces, that’s a lot!”

Liz is paraphrasing the Pepsi-Cola jingle written for radio in the 1930s by Austen Croom-Johnson and Aland Kent. Liz says “Five full ounces” instead of “12 full ounces”. Most soft drinks sold a 6 ounce bottle for a nickel. Pepsi sold 12 ounce bottles for the same price. It was recorded in 55 languages, played in Symphony Hall, and more than one million records were released to jukeboxes.

Finally, the full message appears in the sky: “MR. ATTERBURY IS LOVELY!” Mr. Atterbury is touched and Liz is (to say the least) surprised. They all go off happily for a drink! End of episode.

[Although it isn’t overtly stated, we must assume that the skywriters got the Pond’s ad mixed up with the Cooper ad, explaining the sudden message change!]

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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LIZ IN THE HOSPITAL

May 27, 1949

“Liz in the Hospital” (aka “Liz Goes To The Hospital”) is episode #45 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on May 27, 1949 on the CBS radio network.

Synopsis ~ The doctor pays a house call to see what's wrong with George, and discovers that Liz needs to have her tonsils removed!

MAIN CAST

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

GUEST CAST

Florence Halop (The Brooklyn Blabbermouth on the Party Line / Maternity Nurse) was cast to replace Bea Benadaret in a radio show moving to CBS TV called “Meet Millie” when she was hired to play on of the two women on Lucy Ricardo’s party line in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) also featuring Hans Conried. She wouldn’t work for Lucy again until 1974, when she played a Little Old Lady on a Western-themed episode of “Here’s Lucy.” In 1985, she replaced Selma Diamond (who had died of lung cancer) as the bailiff on “Night Court.” Coincidentally, Halop, also a heavy smoker, died less than a year later of the same disease.

Jerry Hausner (Policeman / Baby) was a radio and television actor, best known as Ricky Ricardo’s agent in “I Love Lucy” and as the voice of Waldo in “Mr. Magoo” and several characters such as Hemlock Holmes, The Mole, Broodles and Itchy in “The Dick Tracy Show.” On Broadway, Hausner had the role of Sammy Schmaltz in Queer People (1934). On radio, he was a regular on such shows as “Blondie”, “The Jim Backus Show”, “The Judy Canova Show”, “Too Many Cooks”, and “Young Love”. Hausner died of heart failure on April 1, 1993. He was 83 years old.

William Johnstone (Dr. Stevenson) replaced Orson Wells in "The Shadow” series and performed on a number of radio soaps. His exposure on “The Shadow” led him to become one of the busiest actors in the radio business. He was practically a regular on “The Cavalcade of America” and “The Lux Radio Theatre”, and later continued his association with Orson Welles with appearances on his radio shows.

The surname Stevenson may be a tribute to Lucille Ball’s favorite designer, Edward Stevenson.

Bea Benadaret (Admitting Nurse / Mrs. Benson) 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.

This turn as elderly Mrs. Benson (her second old lady in as many weeks) may have given Lucille Ball the idea to cast her as elderly Miss Lewis on “I Love Lucy”. Benson was also the surname given to the neighbor that switches apartments with the Ricardos on “I Love Lucy.”

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers, it’s early morning and the more delicate member of the family is still in bed tucked under the covers, and the strong one has just gotten up, closed the window, turned up the heat, and is now standing at the foot of the bed.”

That strong one is Liz. We tells George that it is time to get up and go to work. George says he feels sick. A sharp pain in his back turns out to be one of the curlers Liz lost in the night.

LIZ: “Tell me, George, which vertebrae has the Toni?”

Liz is jokingly referring to a series of print ads for Toni Home Permanent that depicted two twins with identical hairstyles and asked which one had the Toni, and which one had the more expensive salon perm. The promotion was so popular that the slogan “Which Twin Has The Toni?” became a part of common parlance. In addition, the Toni name itself became the name for a generic home permanent.

George says that his throat is sore and Liz wonders if he needs to have breakfast in bed. He thinks he may be able to eat some dry toast and warm milk. Liz tells Katie the Maid that George has a little cold.

LIZ: “You know how George is. One sniffle he’s got the flu, two sniffles he's got pneumonia, and three sniffles he’s going to leave his body to science.”

Katie says her first husband Clarence was the same way. George calls down from the bedroom that he could swallow a little coffee... and force down a little bacon... four slices... and buttered toast.

LIZ (shouting upstairs): “How do you want your eggs? Sunny-side up or scrambled?”

This same back and forth was later used in “Ricky Loses His Voice” (ILL S2;E9), an episode that finds Ricky sick in bed when there’s a brand new show to produce. This episode has the distinction of being the highest rated episode of the half-hour series.

After breakfast, Liz checks on George, who gives a hacking cough after Liz suggests he go to work.

LIZ: “Alright, Camille. I believe you.”

Camille is a 1936 MGM film based on the 1848 novel and 1852 play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, is about a woman (Greta Garbo in the film) dying from consumption, a wasting disease that caused the coughing up of blood. The film starred Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, and Lionel Barrymore. In “The Dancing Star” (ILL S4;E27) during the song “How About You?” Van Johnson sings about “Greta Garbo’s looks” to which Lucy ad libs “Did you see ‘Camille’?” In “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E19), Ricky tells the director “She thinks she’s playing Camille. She’s been practicing dying all day long!”

Liz says she’s going to call Dr. Stevenson, but George says there’s no need to waste money on a doctor.

LIZ: “What would Uncle Whoa Bill say?”

The "Uncle Whoa-Bill Radio Club” was an afternoon children's program that aired on KFAC radio station in Los Angeles, California in the 1940s. It was sponsored by the Bullock's department stores. This reference would have been lost on the national listeners, but gets a reaction from the studio audience.

Liz decides to call the Doctor, but the phone is being used by the party line. Naturally, it is the same old Brooklyn Blabber Mouth on the line, who calls Liz ‘Mrs. Big Ears’. In the past, Liz has tried to get the woman to hang up by telling her it was an emergency with her husband. But she has tried that before.

Liz gives up and goes next door to use the phone.

Later, Dr. Stevenson (William Johnstone) arrives, but George is resistant to being examined so Liz demonstrates how easy it is. When she says “ahh” the doctor sees that Liz’s tonsils are inflamed. She has to have them out first thing in the morning!

Next morning, Liz is is stalling because she hasn’t a thing to wear. She insists that George call Dr. Stevenson to confirm the hospital room. Naturally, the Blabbermouth is on the line. She wants to know how he’s feeling considering all his illness and injury Liz claims he’s had. Much to Liz’s dismay, she graciously hangs up so George can make the call.

In the car, George speeds toward the hospital. Naturally, a cop (Jerry Hausner) pulls them over. Liz thinks that if she gets arrested she can’t go to the hospital so she tells the officer that they are driving a stolen car. When George tries to interrupt, she calls him Pear-Shape.

Liz is not referring to George’s waistline, but to the character in the Dick Tracy comic strip named Pear-Shape Tone, who was part of the storyline from April to July 1949. He was a racketeer who would steal jewelry from his wealthier clients, then fence it to make a profit. He must have been quite popular at the time, because this is the third consecutive episodes of “My Favorite Husband” where he is mentioned!

Liz presses her luck by calling the cop a ‘dumb flat-foot’. The cop surprisingly agrees with her! He’s been a rookie for 30 years.

LIZ: “Just my luck! Of all the bulls on the force, I had to get Ferdinand.”

The Story of Ferdinand (1936) is a children's book that tells the story of Ferdinand, a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. Coincidentally, a plushie of Ferdinand plays a significant role in the 1940 Lucille Ball film Dance, Girl, Dance. The toy is passed between various characters, having been originally purchased as a memento of a visit to a nightclub called Ferdinand's. The nightclub has a large statue of Ferdinand at the rear of the bandstand.

It is likely that Lucy used Ferdinand as the model for her costume in the “I Love Lucy” episode “Bullfight Dance” (ILL S4;E23) aired on March 28, 1955.

They finally arrive at the hospital, where a nurse (Bea Benadaret) admits Liz, who claims she is ‘just browsing’ as if she’s at the dress department of Miller’s Department Store.

GEORGE (to Nurse): “Dr. Stevenson made the arrangements. Cooper.” NURSE: “Oh, yes. Tonsillectomy?” LIZ: “No. Elizabeth.”

Liz has settled into her hospital room. She has a nice roommate, elderly Mrs. Benson (Bea Benadaret, doing the old lady voice she used as Granny in the Tweety Bird cartoons.).

MRS. BENSON: “Don’t worry, I’ll keep her spirits up, until she goes.” LIZ: “Until I go???” MRS. BENSON: “To the operating room. And I’ll be waiting for her if she comes back.” LIZ: “Tell me, Mrs. O’Dell, how’s Digger these days?”

Digger O’Dell was a character from the radio (later feature film and TV series), “The Life of Riley”. Digby ‘Digger' O'Dell (John Brown), was known as "the friendly undertaker." Coincidentally, the very first episode of the first television version was titled “Tonsils” and had Riley (Jackie Gleason) also accidentally diagnosed with tonsillitis. After playing Digger O’Dell, Brown also played Harry Morton on “Burns and Allen”, playing opposite Bea Benadaret as Blanche. Brown was featured on “I Love Lucy” as Mr. Murdoch, the talent agent, in “The Mustache” (ILL S1;E23) which aired on March 17,1952.

After George over-cranks Liz’s hospital bed, he goes to look for the doctor. Mrs. Benson says she is there for her yearly six-month check up. A nurse pops in to the room and pumps a spray atomizer a few times and leaves. Mrs. Benson says that’s a special scent to keep the place smelling like a hospital.

Mrs. Benson urges Liz to get a second opinion. Liz would rather try to make a run for it - when she encounters another nurse (Florence Halop, not using her Brooklyn accent) who thinks she is a patient named Mrs. Johnson. The nurse brings ‘Mrs. Johnson’ a visitor - her gurgling newborn baby boy (Jerry Hausner)!

Hausner had a knack for doing baby sounds and voices, and in addition to playing Jerry the Agent, also did the off-camera gurgles of Little Ricky Ricardo on “I Love Lucy.”

The nurse tells Liz to hold him, but Liz wants no part of it!

NURSE: “He’s been lying in the nursery all day and wants to come to you for a change.” LIZ: “Well, why didn’t they do that before he left the nursery?”

The nurse won’t take no for an answer and gives the baby to Liz and leaves. The baby cries.

LIZ (to the Baby): “You think you’ve got trouble. I have to convince George that you’re a tonsil.”

George comes in and sees her holding the baby. Before she can explain he faints. After George comes to, Dr. Stevenson is there - to take Liz to get her tonsils out! End of Episode

FOOTNOTES

On television, it was Little Ricky who was diagnosed with tonsillitis in “Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9) first aired on December 5, 1955.

In a 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” another one of Lucy’s relatives gets his tonsils out - her brother-in-law Harry (Gale Gordon). Coincidentally, Gordon was also a regular on “My Favorite Husband,” although he does not appear in this episode.

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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THE FOOTBALL GAME

October 28, 1950

“The Football Game” (aka “The Homecoming Football Game”) is episode #103 [some sources say #102] of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on October 281, 1950.

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

Synopsis ~ Liz and Iris are determined not to go to the annual State University homecoming football game with the boys, until the boys tell them they aren't planning to take them along this time.

The plot bears some similarities to 1954′s “The Golf Game” (ILL S3;E30), in which Lucy and Ethel are tired of being left out of the boys’ sporting pursuits. They first turn the living room into a basketball court and then want to learn golf so they can spend more time with Ricky and Fred.

MAIN CAST

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury / Police Announcer) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on "Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Ruth Perrott (Katie the Maid) does not appear in this episode.

GUEST CAST

Frank Nelson (Tom Nelson, Sportscaster / Irate Fan) 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 marked his final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom.

James Bernard Hausner (Stadium Ticket Seller), known professionally as Jerry Hausner, was a radio and television actor, best known as Ricky Ricardo’s agent in “I Love Lucy” and as the voice of Waldo in “Mr. Magoo” and several characters such as Hemlock Holmes, The Mole, Broodles and Itchy in “The Dick Tracy Show.” On Broadway, Hausner had the role of Sammy Schmaltz in Queer People (1934). On radio, he was a regular on such shows as “Blondie”, “The Jim Backus Show”, “The Judy Canova Show”, “Too Many Cooks”, and “Young Love”. Hausner died of heart failure on April 1, 1993. He was 83 years old.

GeGe Pearson (Pretty Female Fan) did two other episodes of “My Favorite Husband.” She will play a New York City tourist in “Lucy Visits Grauman’s” (ILL S5;E1) in 1955. She did the episode with her husband, Hal Gerard. The two actors were married in real-life. In 1956 the couple returned to CBS to appear in the same episode of “Damon Runyon Theatre.” She is perhaps best remembered as the voice of Crusader Rabbit. The couple died just a year apart in 1975 and 1976.

There is a second Female Fan who does not have any lines.

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the town of Sheridan Falls, it’s morning, and Iris Atterbury is coming up the walk of the Cooper family home at 321 Bundy Drive. Suddenly she gets a horrified look on her face and starts running up the steps!”

Iris repeatedly rings the Cooper’s doorbell and when Liz answers she tells her to call the police! There’s a bear in the Cooper’s backyard. Liz says it isn’t a bear, but George’s raccoon coat. Liz is airing it out in time for football season. Rudolph Atterbury is also a football fan and Iris, too, is dreading it.

LIZ: “I just got a mental picture of them in their official costumes: raccoon coat, rooters cap, cowbells, and ukulele.”

Full-length raccoon skin coats became all the rage with men, especially Ivy League collegiate types, in the 1920s and ‘30s. In 1935, the leading men’s fashion magazine Men’s Wear reported: “The raccoon coat is back in fashion. More were seen at the climax football games in the East this season than at any time in the past ten years.” When the Great Depression hit however, the fur fad quickly disappeared. The trend also heavily influenced jazz musicians. Fred Mertz wore one to be cool in “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (ILL S3;E11) in 1953, and Craig Carter wore won in “Lucy and The Co-Ed” (HL S3;E6) in 1970. Both times the men were trying to evoke a roaring ‘20s atmosphere. Crooner Rudy Vallee wore one in real life, so he also did so again when he guest starred as himself on “Here’s Lucy” in 1970.

A rooters cap was a hat worn to a ‘root’ for the team at a sports event. It was generally in the team colors and sometimes had other identifying marks on it.

Ukuleles were also associated with the 1920s and college life. A raccoon coat and a ukulele were standard at Ivy League football games of the ‘20s and ‘30s. Lucy Carmichael plays the ukulele at her college reunion in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show.” Not surprisingly, Rudy Vallee was also associated with the ukulele. Lucille Ball had a rudimentary knowledge of the instrument and played it in several sitcoms. On “My Favorite Husband” Liz and George get trapped in “The Attic” looking for his college ukulele.

Cowbells were originally made to keep track of grazing cattle, but became associated with football fans as noisemakers in the ‘20s and ‘30s. They were so ubiquitous that the bells were even banned at some stadiums.

Liz and Iris vow that she is not going to go this year, even though they have gone every year of their marriage.

GEORGE & RUDOLPH (chanting): “Rickety-Rax! Rickety-Rax! Come on State! Give ‘em the axe! Yayyyy!!!”

Liz and Iris decide to break the news to the boys that they aren’t going - when the boys tell them they aren’t taking them! Liz and Iris are indignant! They suddenly reverse their previous position on homecoming. The girls think the boys want to ogle the co-eds without their disapproving eyes.

IRIS: “I can hardly wait to get to the game and watch that old quarterback make a home run.” LIZ: “Iris, it’s not a home run, it’s a touchdown. And isn’t a quarterback, it’s a second baseman.” RUDOLPH: “It’s a shame not to take them along, George. Wouldn’t they love to see the jockey run 65 yards to a knockout?”

The boys agree that if the girls can learn all about football by game day, they can go along. Liz says that Rudolph has a book on it in the attic. They find the book in an old trunk. It is dated 1906.

IRIS: “Who wrote the book, Liz? Red Grange? Ty Cobb?” LIZ: “No, it must be the guy whose name is written on the cover: Rugby.”

Harold Edward "Red" Grange (1903-91) was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees football teams. He wrote his autobiography in 1953. Tyrus “Ty” Raymond Cobb (1886-1961) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. Both athletes had candy named after them in the 1920s.

The girls argue whether it is called a scrimmage or a scrummage, as it says in the book. They think the boys have been using the wrong terms all along!

Iris and Liz have mistaken American Football for Rugby Football, an earlier form of football that originated in British schools. In 1880, the US College Football Rules Convention proposed that the “scrummage” be replaced with a "line of scrimmage" where the team with the ball started with uncontested possession. This change effectively started the evolution of the modern game of American football away from its rugby origins.

Liz reads out the rules as Iris listens intensely. End of Act One.

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers once again it’s two evenings later and we find Liz and Iris getting ready to impress George and Mr. Atterbury with their knowledge of football.”

Liz and Iris sprinkle their conversation with their newly-learned Rugby terms, much to the confusion of the boys. The talk about State’s players.

LIZ: “Of course, we can’t expect any Rawson Robertshaws.” RUDOLPH: “Rawson Robertshaw? Who’s he?” LIZ: “Ha! He was only the first free quarterback to disengage himself from the scrummage in order to assist the side hooker in getting the ball out of the scrum.”

Albert Rawson Robertshaw (1861-1920, left, with his brothers) was an English rugby footballer who played in the 1880s. Robertshaw won caps for England while at Bradford FC in 1886 against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, and in 1887 against Wales, and Scotland.

Rudolph realizes that they have learned from the book in his attic about Rugby, not American football. The boys tell the girls to stay home and watch the game on television.

At the game, Rudolph is winded from climbing so high to get to their seats, especially in their bulky raccoon coats. They discover that there are two attractive girls (GeGe Pearson) sitting in their seats who refuse to move! The boys decide just to sit next to them, even though they are not together.

Watching from the Atterbury home on television, the play-by-play is provided by sportscaster Tom Nelson (Frank Nelson), who turns the camera on a quaint pair of oddly-dressed men high in the stands. It is George and Rudolph! Liz and Iris see their husbands sitting next to the two young girls! Iris is so mad she throws something at the TV screen and it shatters. They grab their coats and head for the stadium to confront them. The stadium ticket seller (Jerry Hausner) says the game is sold out so Liz and Iris get an idea. They will disguise themselves as hot dog vendors to get in!

In the 1956 season six opener of “I Love Lucy,” Lucy Ricardo disguises herself as a hot dog vendor to get closer to Bob Hope at Yankee Stadium.

George and Rudolph immediately recognize their wives.

LIZ: “Red hots! Get yer red hots!” IRIS: “Ice cold pop! I don’t know where mom is, but I’ve go pop on ice!”

Red Hots were another name for hot dogs or frankfurters. Pop is a regional term for a carbonated beverage, known in other parts of the US as soda or coke. Here the writers skillfully play on the double meaning of pop, which is another term for father and ice, which can also mean “in trouble” or “detained”.

George and Rudolph make a run for it - right onto the playing field. Sportscaster Tom Nelson reports that two the two men in the raccoon coats are being pursued by two hot dog vendors. They tackle the men, and the police storm the field to break up the melee.

Back at home, Liz is comforting a groggy George. The phone rings. Someone who saw Liz on television has offered her a job playing tackle for the Los Angeles Rams!

End of Episode!

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