LUCY AND ANDY GRIFFITH
S6;E8 ~ October 29, 1973
Directed by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O'Brien
Synopsis
When Lucy meets a charismatic man (Andy Griffith) raising money for underprivileged youth in the park, Kim decides to investigate to see if he's really who he says he is.
Regular Cast
Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter)
Guest Cast
Andy Griffith (Andy Johnson) was a former music teacher. He began his screen career in 1948 on variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen. In 1955 he was nominated for a Tony Award for his appearance on Broadway in No Time for Sergeants. He also appeared in the 1958 film version of the play. In 1960 he appeared with Danny Thomas on “Make Room for Daddy” as Sheriff Andy Taylor and the character was spun-off into his own series “The Andy Griffith Show.” He stayed with the show until 1968. That same year he appeared on “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Special” on NBC with Lucille Ball. He also appeared as Andy Taylor on two episodes of “Gomer Pyle: USMC.” In 1971 he starred in “The New Andy Griffith Show” which lasted only one season. He had another hit series in 1986 with “Matlock” which ran until 1995. Griffith died in 2012 at age 86.
Sid Gould (Policeman) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. This is one of his nearly 50 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.
Randall Carver (Henry, left) began his career in 1969 and is best remembered as John Burns on the first season of “Taxi” (1978-79). This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball. He was 27 years old when he appeared in this episode.
Rick Kellman (Jerry, above right) played Lucille Ball and Bob Hope's son in the film Critic's Choice in 1963. He started acting at age 6 and is best remembered for playing Randy in “The Dennis O'Keefe Show” (1959-60) and Tommy in “Our Man Higgins” (1962-63). A year after this appearance on “Here's Lucy” he left show business.
The character's name is not spoken aloud, just listed in the final credits.
Hank Stohl (Bill Adams) began his career in 1959 and was the voice on the radio on “The Waltons” from 1977 to 1980. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.
Bob Whitney (Stage Manager) appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). This is the second of his five appearances on the series.
The character has no lines. He tallies the donations on a chalk board at the end of the episode.
Marl Young (Conductor) was the musical director for “Here's Lucy” as well as making several on-camera appearances when the shows included live music.
Vocalists: Nancy La Mar, Rosemary O'Brien, Dave Anderson Stuart, and Marvin Robinson
The musicians and others in the park and restaurant are played by uncredited background performers.
In March 1965, Lucille Ball interviewed Andy Griffith for two installments of her CBS radio show “Let's Talk To Lucy” while he was still playing Sheriff Andy Taylor on TV.
Six Degrees of Lucy! Although none of Lucille Ball's TV incarnations ever came face to face with Sheriff Andy Taylor, they traveled in the same TV world:
In 1959, the year before Andy Taylor met Danny Williams on “Make Room for Daddy”, Danny Williams and family met Lucy Ricardo and family on a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
Keith Thibodeaux, who played Lucy Ricardo's son, Little Ricky, played Opie's pal Johnny Paul Jason in 13 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” between 1962 and 1966.
Gomer Pyle, who lived in Mayberry, joined the Marines and was spun off in his own series “Gomer Pyle USMC” when he made a brief appearance on “The Lucy Show” in 1966.
“The Andy Griffith Show” had a sequel series titled “Mayberry RFD” starring Ken Berry, a protégé of Lucille Ball's who had appeared on “The Lucy Show” in 1968.
All of these shows were filmed on the Desilu backlot (formerly RKO, later Paramount).
Don Knotts, who played Andy Griffith's bumbling sidekick Deputy Barney Fife, guest starred in “Lucy Goes on Her Last Blind Date” (S5;E6). Some other “Lucy” actors who frequently showed up in Mayberry include Hal Smith, Parley Baer, Norman Leavitt, Amzie Strickland, Dub Taylor, Stanley Farrar, Will Wright, Herbie Faye, Jonathan Hole, Byron Foulger, Tol Avery, Reta Shaw, Lurene Tuttle, Ruth McDevitt, Ruta Lee, Jay Novello, Ross Elliot, Maxine Semon, Herb Vigran, and Sid Melton.
There are some very basic similarities between “The Lucy Show” and “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Both Griffith and Ball used their own first names, which consist of four letters ending in ‘y’ and also appear in the title.
Both characters have spouses that died before the series' begins.
Both have children and faithful sidekicks.
Both started filming in black and white and eventually aired in color.
Both shows ended in early 1968 only to be re-born in the fall as newly-titled shows: “Here's Lucy” and “Mayberry RFD.”
The Christian overtones in this episode are unusual for this series. A few weeks earlier Kim jokingly said that they missed church on Sunday!
When Lucy and Andy are in the same shot together it becomes visibly clear that Lucille Ball is being filmed by a camera with a filtered lens to soften her look, while the other camera remains unfiltered. The contrast is especially noticeable when Lucy is standing next to Andy in the motel room and goes in and out of soft focus depending on which camera angle is used.
The show opens with Andy and his back-up singers performing “I'll Fly Away” by Albert E. Brumley. First published in 1932 it has been called the most recorded Gospel song of all time. Andy passes the hat for donations for his Right Path Youth Camp in Northern California – only getting thirty eight cents.
At a local restaurant, Andy Johnson tells Lucy that after he came out of the service he became a Sheriff. Lucy responds with disbelief: “A Sheriff!” Although he had left the role of Sheriff Taylor in 1969, Griffith would play him again in the 1986 TV movie “Return to Mayberry.” He would play another Sheriff on “Adams of Eagle Lake,” a 1975 police drama that lasted just two episodes on ABC. The two episodes were later issued on DVD under the titles “Deadly Game” and “Winter Kill.”
Andy tells Lucy his fiancee Alice ran off with his best man Charlie.
Dressed in her downmarket blue jeans, Kim says “What do I look like? Jackie Onassis.” Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-94) was first mentioned in “Lucy Visits the White House” (TLS S1;E25) in 1963, when she was First Lady of the United States. She married Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis in 1968.
On Bill Adams' TV show, Andy and his singers perform “I'm Gonna Write a Song” by Jerry Reed and released in 1973. They raise $464.00 for the Right Path Youth Camp – quite a step up from their initial take of thirty eight cents!
The TV camera is labeled ‘KBEX COLOR.’ KBEX were the call letters for fictional TV and radio stations. They were used in many TV shows and films, including in Desilu’s “Mannix” and “Mission: Impossible.” They were first used on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy Is Really in a Pickle” (S5;E15) and most recently in "Lucy, the Wealthy Widow" (S6;E4). Starting in 2005, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) started using KBEX for actual broadcast stations. Similarly, the 555 telephone exchange is used exclusively for fictional numbers seen in films and television. Here, the telethon number on the chalkboard is 555-8732.
Lucy Ricardo also meet a charity organization in a public park in “Lucy's Last Birthday” (ILL S2;E25). They were called The Friends of the Friendless.
Recycling! The exterior plaza where Andy sings in the first scene is the same one used for the gallery courtyard in “Lucy and Danny Thomas” (S6;E1). The red booth in the restaurant also makes the rounds. It has been seen many different restaurants throughout the series.
Character Consistency! Lucy says that Kim works for a talent agency. In “Kim Cuts You-Know-Whose Apron String” (S3;E24) she said she worked for a Public Relations firm.
“Lucy and Andy Griffith” rates 1 Paper Heart out of 5
This is an unusual and awkward episode – not funny or serious. The chemistry between Andy and Lucy is given short shrift in favor of Kim's suspicions about his veracity. When she allows Andy (an older, single man from out of town) to bring her to his run-down motel room things just get weird. Then he turns her over his knee and spanks her with his slipper, and things turn from weird to uncomfortable. This sort of thing might have passed for funny in 1953, but not in 1973. She leaves the room through a window (luckily they were on the first floor) after writing on the mirror in shaving cream “You are a nice man.” Huh? There's also an undertone of religion (gospel songs, mentions of 'the Lord'), something that Lucy meticulously avoided throughout her television career. The only exception to this unpleasantness is the brief scene where Lucy schools Andy in how to relax on television. This must have been something that Lucille Ball did when coaching young actors as part of the Desilu Playhouse. There are so many ways Andy Griffith could have been used on “Here's Lucy,” but this seems the least satisfactory showcase for his talents.