#k.o. kitty

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SID MELTON

May 22, 1917 - November 2, 2011

Sid Melton (born Sidney Meltzer) played the roles of incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the CBS sitcom “Green Acres” and Uncle Charlie Halper, proprietor of the Copa Club, on “The Danny Thomas Show” and its spin-offs. He appeared in about 140 film and television projects in a career that spanned nearly 60 years. In addition to his work with Lucille Ball, he appeared in flashback on several episodes of “The Golden Girls” as Salvadore Petrillo, the long-dead husband of Sophia (played by Estelle Getty) and father of Dorothy (played by Beatrice Arthur).  His father was a Yiddish theater comedian. Sid was known for his short stature, 5′3″.  

In 1950, Melton appeared in the feature film remake The Lemon Drop Kid, also featuring “Lucy” actors William Frawley, Bob Hope, Ida Moore, Hazel Boyne, and Ben Weldon.  

In 1954, he made two appearances on the Desilu series “Our Miss Brooks” playing two different characters. He appeared alongside “Lucy” actors Eve Arden, Gale Gordon, Richard Crenna, and Hy Averback. 

Melton’s first encounter with Lucille Ball was in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse”  (LDCH S1;E4) aired on February 3, 1958. His short stature made him ideal to play one of the jockeys at Roosevelt Raceway. Although the show featured second unit footage on location, Melton’s riding sequences with Ball were filmed in Hollywood, without live horses. 

In November 1958, Melton returned to the “Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” for Lucille Ball’s only non-Lucy Ricardo performance on the anthology series, “K.O. Kitty.”  Melton played a crooked fight manager who later pulls a gun on Kitty (Lucille Ball)!  His partner in crime is played by Jesse White (above).  

Melton stayed on the Desilu lot to film two episodes of “The Ann Sothern Show” in early 1959. He played different characters in each episode and acted opposite Lucy’s pal Ann Sothern (naturally) and “Lucy” regular Charles Lane. To kick off the show’s second season in October 1959, Lucille Ball played Lucy Ricardo on a cross-over episode. 

In his second appearance on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” “Lucy Goes To Alaska” (LDCH S2;E3), Melton played a bellboy at an unprepossessing hotel in Nome, Alaska. (Was Bobby Jellison not available?) Despite the location, Melton’s scenes were filmed in Hollywood. Red Skelton guest-starred on the episode, which was timed to coincide with Alaska’s statehood. 

In his final acting appearance with Lucille Ball, Melton was again cast for his diminutive stature as a construction worker named Shorty (although the nickname appeared only in the credits) in “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (LDCH S3;E1). He asks Milton Berle to autograph a photo, giving him a list of names for the inscription, the last being ‘Ruth', which was the first name of Milton Berle’s wife. 

Two months later, Melton played a Cab Driver on Desilu’s helicopter drama, “Whirlybirds.” 

1959 was a busy year for Melton.  That year he also began playing Charlie Halper on “The Danny Thomas Show”.  He did 93 episodes of the series over four years. 

Perhaps most memorably, Sid Melton played Alf Monroe on 30 episodes of CBS’s “Green Acres.” Alf and his sister Ralph (Mary Grace Canfield) were construction workers perennially working on the Douglas’s ramshackle home, particularly their sliding bedroom door. On the series, Melton worked alongside Lucille Ball’s dear old Barbara Pepper, as well as “Lucy” actors Bea Benadaret, Shirley Mitchell, Eleanor Audley, Jerry Hausner, and Parley Baer. The show’s stars, Eddie Arnold and Eva Gabor, both guest-starred on “Here’s Lucy.” 

CROSS-OVER CRAZINESS!

“Green Acres” was one of CBS’s rural sitcoms and existed in the same ‘world’ as “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Petticoat Junction”.  It was not uncommon for characters to turn up on the other shows. During his stint on “Green Acres,” Melton did one 1968 episode of “Petticoat Junction,” although in this case he did not play Alf Monroe!

Just prior to his joining “The Danny Thomas Show,” The Ricardos and the Williams’ did a cross-over episode titled “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (LDCH S2;E2) and Lucy and Desi returned the favor with “Lucy Upsets the Williams Household” (S6;E14). In 1970, Melton returned to the role of Charlie Halper for “Make Room for Granddaddy,” a series that Lucille Ball also guest-starred on in January 1971, playing Lucy Carter, her character from “Here’s Lucy.” To add to the meta-madness, from 1966 to 1969 Melton did four episodes of “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C” as Friendly Freddy. The character of Gomer Pyle (played by Jim Nabors) turned up on “The Lucy Show” in November 1966, a month after Pyle confronted Lucy Carmichael.  

“For years I auditioned for producers and directors who would fall on the floor laughing, but then I'd never hear from them again. Go ask them why I'm not working. Believe me, there's a lot more to working steadily than being a name and delivering the laughs. There's a certain - let's call it kowtowing - that I'm not prepared to do.”

Sid Melton on “The Golden Girls” 

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BOB CARROLL JR.

August 12, 1918

Born Robert Gordon Carroll in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, his family moved to Florida when he was three years old. The family also moved to California for a time in conjunction with Carroll Sr.'s work, but eventually settled back in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Bob Carroll Jr. attended St. Petersburg College where he studied French. In 1940, he broke his hip in an accident. While recovering, he heard about a script writing contest sponsored by a local radio station and ended up winning first prize. His brother-in-law helped him get a job as the front desk clerk for CBS Radio in Hollywood, California. He eventually worked his way up to the publicity department and from there to writer. Carroll was teamed with Madelyn Pugh and the two created a partnership that lasted more than 50 years, writing approximately 400 television and 500 radio scripts. Though they briefly dated, they married other people.

While writing for Steve Allen's local radio show, the duo became interested in writing for Lucille Ball's new radio series “My Favorite Husband”. One week they paid Allen to write his own show so that they could focus their energies on creating a submission for “My Favorite Husband”. Successful, the pair wrote for Ball's popular radio program for its 2½-year duration.  

Carroll and Pugh helped develop and create a vaudeville act for Lucille Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, which became the basis for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. Together they tackled 39 episodes per season for the run of the show. 

Pugh and Carroll were nominated for three Emmys for their work on “I Love Lucy”; 

The pair also wrote episodes of Ball's subsequent series: The first five episodes of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” (acting as script consultant for the other seven);

As part of the “Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” Bob and Madelyn wrote a script for Lucille Ball - her first non-Lucy Ricardo role - “K.O. Kitty”; 

The first two seasons of “The Lucy Show”;

29 episodes of “Here's Lucy”;

and, in 1986, Ball’s final sitcom, “Life With Lucy.”

Although Carroll was not an actor, he sometimes was in front of the camera, his distinctive facial hair making him instantly identifiable.

As Lucy’s artistic great grandfather in “Lucy the Sculptress” (ILL S2;E15)...

As a passenger on the SS Constitution in “Bon Voyage” (ILL S5;E13)...

As a patron of an outdoor cafe in “Paris at Last” (ILL S5;E18)...

As a roulette player in "Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo” (ILL S5;E25)....

As a spectator in “Lucy and the Little Leauge” (TLS S1;E28).

As the final scene of “Lucy’s Last Birthday” (ILL S2;E25) opens at the Tropicana, Ricky thanks 

“Pugh and Carroll – the two greatest contortionists in America today.”  

This inside joke refers to the fact that the writers tried out all of Lucy’s stunts before they wrote them into the script.

In “Pregnant Women are Unpredictable” (ILL S2;E11), Lucy can’t decide on what to name her unborn baby.  After an episode full of male / female name possibilities (including Unique and Euphonious) the episode ends with Lucy saying,

"You don't love little Robert or Madelyn!"

In 1955, Carroll and Pugh created a summer sitcom to take the place of “I Love Lucy” titled “Those Whiting Girls” starring singing sisters Barbara and Margaret Whiting as themselves.  It returned for the summer of 1957 as well, sponsored by Max Factor. 

They created and wrote the successful Desi Arnaz-produced series “The Mothers-in-Law” (1967-69) which starred Lucille Ball's longtime MGM pals Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard.  Producer Desi did two cameos on the show. 

Just prior to that, working with Desi and not Lucy, they created "The Carol Channing Show” (1966), but the pilot was not picked up for production. 

They also wrote the story for the film (a rare non-TV endeavor) Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) based on the book “Who Gets the Drumstick” by Helen Beardsley.

Carroll and Pugh served as executive producers and did some writing for the hit television series “Alice”, starring Linda Lavin, for which the duo won a Golden Globe Award.  Desi Arnaz appeared on the sitcom in 1978. 

In 1979 Lucille Ball recruited Carroll and Davis to pen one last adventure: “Lucy Calls The President” - an hour-long special featuring many of Ball’s former co-stars. 

He co-authored Madelyn Pugh Davis' memoir, Laughing with Lucy, released September 2005.

Carroll died in 2007 after a brief illness. He was 88 years old. 

He was survived by a daughter, Christina Carroll, of Los Angeles.

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K.O. KITTY

“The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” ~ November 17, 1958

Produced by Bert Granet, Quinn Martin

Directed by Jerry Thorpe

Dances and Fights staged by Jack Baker

Written by Bob Carroll, Madelyn Davis, Quinn Martin (story)

Synopsis: Los Angeles dance teacher Kitty (Lucille Ball) is delighted when she learns that she has inherited a boxer from her late Uncle Charlie. But the boxer turns out not to be a canine, but a prize fighter named Harold Tibbetts (Aldo Ray), a muscle-bound country boy.

Cast

Desi Arnaz (Himself, Host) was born in Cuba in 1917 and immigrated to America as a youngster. He was a musician who married Lucille Ball in 1940 after meeting her on the set of 1939’s Too Many Girls, which he had done on stage in New York. In order to keep him ‘off the road’ Ball convinced producers to cast him as her husband in a new television project based on her radio show “My Favorite Husband.” The network was convinced. In 1951, Arnaz and Ball began playing Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, roles they would be identified with for the rest of their lives. The couple had two children together, Lucie and Desi Jr. In 1960, Ball and Arnaz divorced. Desi became a producer, responsible for such hits as “The Mothers-in-Law” (1967-69). He re-married in 1963. Desi Aranz died in 1986, just a few years before Ball.

Lucille Ball (Kitty Winslow) 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 April 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Most sources list Kitty's surname as ‘Williams.’ Her last name is clearly spoken twice in the teleplay as ‘Winslow.’ 

Aldo Ray (Harold Tibbetts, below center) was born as Aldo DeRe and nicknamed 'the Rugged Romeo'. In 1964 he worked again with Lucille Ball in Bob Hope's “Have Girls, Will Travel” (1964). His career waned in the 1970s. He died in 1991.

William Lundigan (David Pierce, above left) was a genial 'B' movie and TV actor. His career began in 1937. His last television role was in 1971. He was a good friend of William Frawley (Fred Mertz) and served as pallbearer at his funeral. Lundigan died in 1975.  

Harry Cheshire (Mr. Brubaker) did three films with Lucille Ball between 1947 and 1950. He played Sam Johnson, a Texan who sells Lucy and Ricky “Oil Wells” (ILL S3;E18) in 1954. His best-known role was as Judge Ben Wiley in the TV series “Buffalo Bill, Jr.” (1955). He died in 1968 at the age of 76.

Jesse White (Barney Snyder, below right) is probably best remembered for playing the lonely Maytag repairman on TV commercials airing from 1967 to 1988. A busy character actor, White subsequently starred opposite Lucille Ball on a 1972 episode of “Here's Lucy.” He died in 1997.

Sid Melton (Louie, above left) also appeared on the “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” as a bellboy in “Lucy Goes to Alaska” (February 1959) and as a construction worker in “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (September 1959). He played one of the jockeys in “Lucy Wins a Racehorse” (February 1958). He later played Charley Halper on "Make Room For Daddy” (filmed at Desilu) and Alf Monroe on "Green Acres” (aired on CBS).   

Frankie Van (Himself, Referee) was a stand-in and background performer whose more than 50 credits are nearly all as referees in films and television shows about boxing. Fittingly, his last screen credit was as a referee in Rocky (1976).  

In this script, Van is called by his real name.  

Freddie Beshore (Tommy Thompson, uncredited) picked up boxing while serving in the United States Navy during World War II. During his career he was the Heavyweight Champion of the Pacific Coast. During the late 1940s and early 1950s he was a top heavyweight title contender.

Norman Leavitt (Policeman, uncredited) appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1950 film A Woman of Distinction as well as The Long, Long Trailer (1953). The character actor also appeared on three episodes of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” and two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  

Chuck Hicks (stunts) was a stunt man and actor who's career began in 1953. Hicks was a long-time stunt double for Brian Dennehy. He will be seen in “Lucy the Stunt Man” (TLS S4;Et) and “Lucy and Wally Cox” (HL S2;E21).  

About “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse”

After the end of the half-hour “I Love Lucy” episodes, Desi Arnaz convinced CBS to purchase an anthology series titled “Desilu Playhouse” which would feature different hour-long dramas every week along with monthly stories of the Ricardos and the Mertzes, something begun a year before. 

Thirteen hour-long “I Love Lucy” adventures were eventually made and sold to syndication as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” ten of which were produced under the Westinghouse sponsorship. The appliance company paid a then-record 12 million dollars to sponsor the show. 

Desi Arnaz hosted the show and introduced the stories. Desi, Lucy, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, were often involved in the lengthy studio-filmed commercials, with Betty Furness spokesperson for the Westinghouse products. Although it wasn't around long, the show gave birth to pilots for “The Untouchables” and “The Twilight Zone.”

In the summer of 1958, in anticipation of their partnership, the cast of “I Love Lucy” played themselves in an industrial film (known as “Lucy Buys Westinghouse”) that toured the Desilu Studios, promoted “Lucy Goes to Mexico”, and highlighted Westinghouse appliances. The film was never in theatrical release or broadcast, but only shown Westinghouse dealers and corporate clients.

The Desilu Playhouse was also an actual little theatre on the Desilu backlot which hosted classes for actors and put on workshop shows for agents and industry insiders. When Lucille Ball joined RKO in the 1930s, the program was headed by Ginger Rogers' mother, Lela. Lucy wanted to continue the tradition. It was depicted in both “The Desilu Revue” (December 25, 1959) and “Hedda Hopper's Hollywood” (January 10, 1960).  

About “K.O. Kitty”

In the title, “K.O” is boxing term short for “Knock Out,” when a fighter has hit his opponent so hard that he hits the mat and cannot get up again.

This is the first time that Lucille Ball acted on television not playing Lucy Ricardo. Lucille Ball was supposed to do several more non-Lucy Ricardo roles on the series, but this was the only one that ever materialized. The series ended in 1960, along with the Arnaz marriage. “The Desilu Playhouse” went into syndication, minus the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours. In 1962, Desilu sold those 13 shows back to CBS for $750,000.

Quinn Martin (Producer / Story) was married to “Lucy” writer Madelyn Pugh Davis from 1955 to 1960. His production company was later responsible for such hits as “The Streets of San Francisco” (1972-77), “The Fugitive” (1963-67), and “Barnaby Jones” (1973-78) earning him four Emmy nominations. He also produced nine other episodes of “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse.”

Like “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” the episode uses a laugh track. Unlike most of those shows, there was no studio audience. “K.O. Kitty” followed “Lucy Goes to Mexico” (October) and was followed by “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” (December), a cross-over episode with “Make Room for Daddy.”  

Earlier in 1958, boxing made the cover of Life Magazine when Sugar Ray Leonard beat Carmen Basilio.  

Boxing had been a major attraction on television, the highlight being the “Playhouse 90” presentation of “Requiem for a Heavyweight” in 1956 on CBS. It was directed by Rod Serling (”The Twilight Zone”) and starred Jack Palance.  

A country boy out of his element, Harold Tibbetts (Aldo Ray) is reminiscent of when Tennessee Ernie Ford visited the Ricardos on “I Love Lucy.” Like Cousin Ernie, Harold has an enormous appetite and can't return home because he has no money. He also tends to speak with homespun wit.

Harold also resembles another visitor to the Ricardo apartment, Mario (Jay Novello), the “Visitor From Italy” (ILL S6;E5). Like Harold, Mario had no cash to and had to go to work – in his case making pizza.

But “K.O. Kitty” most closely resembles a 1967 episode of “The Lucy Show” titled “Lucy, the Fight Manager” (TLS S5;E20) starring Don Rickles as a washed-up boxer named Eddie who Lucy Carmichael decides to train at home. Lucy dubs herself 'Killer Carmichael' and even jumps rope in tandem with Eddie, a stunt she learned to do for “K.O. Kitty.”  Despite being by different writers, both scripts contain characters named Louie.  

Lucille Ball also played characters named Kitty in the films Follow the Fleet (1936), Without Love (1945), and The Facts of Life (1960). A name featuring two-syllables ending with 'y' made reminded the listener of 'Lucy'.

Eight months later “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” did another story about prizefighting titled “The Killer Instinct” starring Rory Calhoun and Janice Rule. It was based on the career of ex-boxer Joe Barnum.

The Episode

Desi Arnaz introduces the program, noting that it is a special episode because it stars “his favorite redhead” Lucille Ball.  

The story opens with Kitty at work, teaching dance. She is trying to get Mr. Brubaker (Harry Cheshire) to do the Cha-Cha.

Kitty: “Your feet are doing the cha-cha-cha but your hips are back in the rumba class.”

During the dance lesson, we learn that Kitty is engaged to an up-and-coming lawyer named David (William Lundigan) who won't marry her until he gets a partnership in his law firm, Abbott Parker and Jones. She tells Mr. Brubaker that he is dancing with an 'heiress' due to her Uncle Charlie dying and leaving her a diamond stick-pin, a gold pocket watch, and a dog – a boxer, to be precise.

David (William Lundigan) tells Kitty he is going away on a business trip to San Francisco for a week. During their romantic dinner, there is a knock on the door and the boxer arrives – Harold Tibbetts, professional prize fighter. Tibbetts admits he's not really from Ogalala, Nebraska, but from Crockett – just “a hoot and holler” away.

Harold: “I'm so hungry, my stomach's a-growlin' like hound dog's just smelled a weasel in a hen house.”

Overcome with a sense of loyalty to her Uncle Charlie, Kitty agrees to manage Harold. She arranges for Harold to fight the impressive Tommy Thompson, a powerhouse that no one wants to go up against. Kitty cannot afford the gym fees so trains him at her apartment.  

The name Tommy Thompson was also the name of a producer who worked extensively with Lucille Ball starting in 1964. In 1958 he was on the Desilu lot working as assistant director on “The Danny Thomas Show” 

Kitty sends Harold off to the store to buy training supplies while she stays behind at the gym to observe and pick up some pointers on boxing. First, she indulges in a little shadow boxing. Next she tries to use a punching bag, but it punches back – right in her face. Remembering how to jump rope from her childhood, she jumps into a boxer's reps keeping time with a schoolyard rhyme. These are all prime opportunities for Lucille Ball to indulge in some of her well-hone physical comedy skills.

Back at the apartment, there is a montage of scenes of Kitty training Harold. He knocks the punching bag out the window, shatters a mirror while shadow boxing, and crashes to the floor while jumping rope. Kitty decides that the best training for klutzy Harold would be dancing lessons.  

They begin lessons by dancing to “I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby” by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced on Broadway in Blackbirds of 1928. 

The dance lesson scene is nearly identical to when Lucy Ricardo taught awkward Arthur Morton (Richard Crenna) to dance in “The Young Fans” (ILL S1;E20) in 1952. 

David returns unexpectedly from San Francisco to find Kitty and Harold in a carefree clinch. Kitty attempts to explain what is going on but it devolves into an argument and David storms out.  

Using Kitty's dance steps and her singing “I Can't Give You Anything But Love” from ringside as inspiration, Harold surprisingly wins his bout against Tommy Thompson.  

He then wins a second fight.

And a third!

With a fourth K.O. under his belt thanks to Kitty, he eyes the title!  

Barney Snyder (Jesse White) and David conspire to get Kitty out of the fight game – for both their sake. Snyder and Louie (Sid Melton) show up at Kitty's apartment, guns drawn, to convince Lucy that they are crooks, and that the fight is fixed.  

Meanwhile, back at the gym, 'Two Step Tibbetts' (as he's now called) is waiting for Kitty to arrive knowing he can't win the fight without her singing ringside while he spars. David arrives to tell Harold the bad news that Kitty will be detained. He learns from Harold that earlier that day they decided that this would be his last fight. David offers to sing instead of Kitty, but Harold can't remember the name of the song – except that the word 'love' was in the title.

Still at gunpoint, Kitty watches the match from home on TV. When Barney and Louis become engrossed in the fight, Kitty hides in the closet. This is very reminiscent of “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (ILL S2;E30) where Lucy and Ethel manage to evade the police when they can't take their eyes off a televised boxing match. 

Meanwhile, back at the ring, Harold is taking a beating while David rattles off the title of every 'love' song he can think of, including a few bars of “I Love You Truly,” a traditional wedding song.

Barney and Louis confess to Kitty that they made up their story about being mobsters. Their guns are actually cigarette lighters! They spill the beans to Kitty about their plans. In order to get to the stadium as fast as possible, Kitty pretends she's going to have a baby and gets a police escort. Kitty and David rush to the ringside in time to sing the song, which everyone in the stadium joins in.  At the final moment, Harold lands a knock out punch and wins the fight. David and Kitty make-up with a kiss as the program ends. 

Ringside With Lucy

Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz ended up at the fights in the last scene of 1951’s “The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1), the very first “I Love Lucy” episode ever aired.

Everyone but Lucy and Ethel seem to be watching the fights on television in “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (ILL S2;E30).

This Date in Lucy History ~ November 17

"Lucy and the Used Car Dealer" (HL S2;E9) ~ November 17, 1969

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Lucy the Fight Manager

 S5;E20 ~ February 20, 1967

Synopsis

When Mr. Mooney has an argument with his wife, he orders flowers that are delivered by ex-prize fighter Eddie Rickles (Don Rickles). Eddie wants to buy a flower shop that will cost $3,000. When Mr. Mooney won't loan it to him, Lucy is determined to get him back in the ring to earn it.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)

Roy Roberts (Mr. Cheever) and Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) do not appear in this episode, although Lucy does have a phone conversation with Mary Jane. 

Guest Cast

Don Rickles (Eddie Rickles) worked as a stand-up comic in nightclubs for nearly 20 years before making his film debut in 1958. Rickles was known as an insult comic and became a staple of Hollywood roasts. This is his first and last acting appearance with Lucille Ball, but would be seen with her on variety shows and specials through 1988. Rickles was the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the animated Toy Story franchise.  e died in April 2017 at age 90.  

Eddie is a former boxer now working as a delivery boy for Finley's Florist, which he wants to buy from Mr. Finley.  

Cliff Norton (Ike, Sonny Shaw's Manager) makes the second of his two appearances on “The Lucy Show,” returning for three episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He did a 1972 episode of “The Don Rickles Show.”  

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

Lewis Charles (Nick, above left) was seen in eleven Broadway plays between 1939 and 1947.  In Hollywood, he is credited with over 160 films and TV shows. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

The character is obviously supposed to be a mobster. He bets on Sonny Shaw and tells his trainer that he'd better win.  

Stanley Adams (Louie, Sonny Shaw's Trainer, above right) makes the first of his three appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He was also seen with Lucille Ball in Critic's Choice (1963). In 1960, he was seen with Don Rickles in the film The Rat Race. 

Bruce Mars (Sonny Shaw, a Young Prize Fighter) makes his only appearance on the series but returns the following year for an episode of “Here's Lucy.”

Mars has no dialogue, but he looks good in his boxing trunks!  He shows more skin than has been seen before on “The Lucy Show.”  

Sonny's ‘Tomato’ and others at the gym go uncredited.

This is the only episode written by Ronald Axe and Les Roberts. The pair also wrote an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” (filmed at Desilu) that aired earlier in February 1967. “The Lucy Show” was the lead-in to “The Andy Griffith Show” on CBS's Monday night primetime schedule.

This is one of more than 30 episodes of “The Lucy Show” that is in the public domain and not under copyright.  Because of this, it appears on many low-quality, low-priced videos. 

While most actors got to use their own first names on the series (Lucy, Mary Jane, Mel Torme, Joan Blondell) Don Rickles is called Eddie, but uses his real surname.  This is a rare example of Rickles doing scripted comedy NOT based on his brand of insult humor.  

Stand-up comic Don Rickles made quite a name for himself as a sitcom guest star at this time. Lucille Ball reportedly had a hard time working with him because she never knew when he was kidding and when he wasn't.

The episode opens with Mr. Mooney on the telephone with his wife Irma.  The character is often mentioned on the series, but never seen. Later in the episode, we learn that Irma is in charge of the Flower Show and wants to hire Eddie. The name ‘Irma’ was doubtless chosen for its association with the film, radio and television series “My Friend Irma” which starred Gale Gordon’s mother, Gloria Gordon, who died in 1962, the same year “The Lucy Show” began. 

Lucy says she likes flowers because she used to live over a funeral parlor, although where and when we never find out!   

Mr. Mooney says he saw Eddie Rickles knock out Joey Mitchell at Madison Square Garden in 1962.  Although there was a real professional boxer named Joey Mitchell, his career began and ended in 1923 and ever got anywhere near Madison Square Garden!  But Lucy Ricardo did, when she performed in “Lucy Goes to a Rodeo” (ILL S5;E8) in 1955.

Mr. Mooney says former baseball players generally open bowling alleys and boxers open saloons. Eddie wants to open a flower shop.  Mr. Mooney may have been thinking of Jackie Tavener (1897-1969), who was a professional baseball player from 1921 to 1934 and later was the proprietor of a bowling alley in Fort Worth known as Tavener's Playdium. In 1935, former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey opened Jack Dempsey’s Bar in midtown Manhattan.  It closed in 1975, but was seen in many movies and television shows. 

Lucy mistakenly thinks Sandy Koufax is a boxer. Sanford Koufax is a former American Major League Baseball player who pitched 12 seasons for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Koufax was first mentioned on the series in “Lucy and Viv Play Softball” (S2;E3). 

More than once, the episode mentions ‘the Manassa Mauler’ Jack Dempsy. William Harrison Dempsey (1895–1983) was a professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. He was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” several times, mostly by Fred Mertz, who was a boxing fan and former Golden Gloves champion. 

When asked if Eddie Rickles is training at Lefty Lattimer’s Gym, Lucy replies that he training at Killer Carmichael’s!  She decorates her apartment with boxing posters, sets up a make-shift ring in the kitchen, fills her laundry bag up for sparring practice, replaces her lampshade with a bell, hangs a volleyball as a punching bag, and puts a mattress on the floor for calisthenics.  She lies to Mr. Mooney about being sick, saying she has the mumps!  

When putting Eddie on the bathroom scales she makes him hold two big books: “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and “Aunt Fanny's Cookbook” because the scales are off and that is the only way to get an accurate reading. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was written by English historian Edward Gibbon, which traces the trajectory of Western civilization from the height of the Roman Empire to the fall of Byzantium. It was published in six volumes from 1776 to 1889. Hardly reading one associates with Lucy Carmichael. Aunt Fannie's Cookbook, on the other hand...

Ball and Rickles get a round of applause from the studio audience when they jump rope in tandem.  

At the end, Lucy knocks Eddie out with one punch and he realizes he has a glass jaw. This is a boxing expression for one who can easily be knocked out by punches to the jaw, a major drawback for a prize fighter. 

Callbacks!

Lucy played a fight manager named Kitty Williams in a November 1958 episode of the “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” titled “K.O. Kitty” starring Matt Lundigan and Aldo Ray as the prize fighter. The anthology series (hosted by Desi Arnaz) also presented episodes of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Lucille Ball was supposed to play several more non-Lucy Ricardo roles on the series, but this was the only one that ever materialized. It was produced by Quinn Martin, who also came up with the story. It was written by Martin's wife, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll Jr., the “I Love Lucy” writers who also worked on the first few seasons of “The Lucy Show.”  

Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz ended up at the fights in the last scene of 1951's “The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1), the very first “I Love Lucy” episode ever aired.  

Everyone but Lucy and Ethel seem to be watching the fights on television in “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (ILL S2;E30).  

FAST FORWARD

Two years after this “Lucy Show” episode, Don Rickles played himself on the Desi Arnaz sitcom “The Mothers-in-Law” (S2;E24) produced and directed by Elliott Lewis, husband of Mary Jane Croft and was written by original “Lucy” writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis. 

Rickles was mentioned on “Lucy and Sammy Davis Jr.” (HL S3;E3) in 1970, jokingly saying her grouchy neighbor writes fan letters to Don Rickles.   

Rickles is mentioned again in 1974′s “Milton Berle Is The Life of the Party” (HL S6;E19) when Berle calls him “the merchant of venom” on a telethon! 

In February 1975, Rickles was on the dais to roast Lucille Ball on “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.” “Lucy Show” cast mates Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, Dick Martin, Dan Rowan, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Gary Morton, and Jack Benny (in his final TV appearance) were also on hand.  

In 1976, both Rickles and Ball were part of “Bob Hope’s World of Comedy” although the two did not share any screen time. 

Blooper Alerts!

Where the Floor Ends! When the camera pulls back for a long shot of Lucy's living room, the point where Lucy's wall-to-wall carpeting meets the cement floor of the soundstage can be seen.  

Super Hearing? Lucy hears the timer buzzer on the washing machine and says her laundry is done. In “Lucy and Joan” (S4;E4) it was established that Lucy's apartment complex has a laundry room.  

Shoeless Joe!  After throwing an air punch at Eddie and twirling to the ground, Lucy’s left shoe goes flying off her foot into the living room!  A few moments later, Lucy steps out of her other shoe to finish the scene. 

“Lucy the Fight Manager” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

[bathtubginjazz]

William Lundigan, Aldo Ray, Lucille Ball