#tim herbert

[oldshowbiz]

Comedian turned character actor Tim Herbert

[scenesandscreens]

Duel (1971)

Director - Steven Spielberg, Cinematography - Jack A. Marta

"You think that I won't? You're wrong, mister. I mean if you think you can just... just take that... that truck of yours and use it as a murder weapon and uh... killin' people on the highway... you're wrong! You got another thing comin'!"

[kwebtv]

Ellery Queen:  Don’t Look Behind You  -  NBC  -  November 19, 1971

Drama / Mystery

Running Time:  120 minutes

Stars:

Peter Lawford as Ellery Queen

Harry Morgan as Inspector Richard Queen

E.G. Marshall as Dr. Edward Cazalis

Skye Aubrey as Christy

Stefanie Powers as Celeste Phillips

Coleen Gray as Mrs. Cazalis

Morgan Sterne as Police Commissioner

Bill Zuckert as Sgt. Thomas Velie

Bob Hastings as Hal Hunter

Than Wyenn as Registrar

Buddy Lester as Policeman

William Lucking as Lt. Summers

Pat Delaney as Miss Price

Tim Herbert as Registrar

Robin Raymond as

Victoria Hale as

Billy Sands as Adrian Abbott

This is the only Ellery Queen story or film in which Inspector Richard Queen is portrayed as Ellery's uncle instead of as his father. Critics speculated that this change was made because Harry Morgan was only eight years older than Peter Lawford and because the two had different accents (American and British).

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY’S IMPOSSIBLE MISSION

S1;E6 ~ October 28, 1968

Directed by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Robert O'Brien

Synopsis

Lucy mistakenly enters a phone booth meant for a secret agent and becomes embroiled in a mission impossible: to impersonate Middle Eastern royalty!  

Regular Cast

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

Guest Cast

Richard Derr (Agent Commander Geller, right) appeared in 8 Broadway shows between 1949 and 1960. His screen career began in 1941, often appearing on televised adaptations of stage plays.  This is his only appearance opposite Lucille Ball.  

The character is named after the creator of “Mission: Impossible” Bruce Geller.

Jack Collins (Agent Johnson, left) appeared on the final two episodes of “The Lucy Show” episode earlier in 1968. He played Russel Slater on “Dallas” from 1982 to 1987. This is the first of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”  

The character is named in honor of the voice on the self-destruct tape recording heard on nearly every episode of “Mission: Impossible” Bob Johnson, who also is heard in this episode.

Raymond Kark (Newsstand Proprietor) was a character actor with a baker's dozen of TV and film credits. This is his only one with Lucille Ball.

Kark's one line of dialogue is spoken off-screen.  

John J. “Red” Fox (Policeman) was best known for playing policemen, which is what he did on five of his eight appearances on “The Lucy Show” as well as three of his five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

The policeman has no lines, but is kicked by Lucy to get his attention and says “Ouch!”

Ken Drake (Butler) had 66 film and TV credits, but rarely appeared on sitcoms. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.  

Maxine Gates (Dowager, above right with red sash) was nicknamed "250 pounds of pep and personality.” She had a pet alligator named Oscar. This is her penultimate screen credit.

The Dowager has no dialogue and is not identified. When the harem-hunting Sultan is about to dance with Kim, Lucy pulls her away and substitutes the Dowager.

Joan Carey (Party Guest, uncredited, standing next to the Dowager) was a background performer on “I Love Lucy,” “The Lucy Show,” and now on “Here’s Lucy.”  She was also Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in.

Tim Herbert (Mahuli Omar, below left) was born Herbert Timberg in 1914. In 1944 he appeared on Broadway in the Jackie Gleason revue Follow the Girls. He made three appearances on “The Lucy Show.”  This is his only time on “Here’s Lucy.” He appeared with Lucille Ball in A Guide for the Married Man in 1967.

The character's name is never spoken on screen. Lucy calls him (and others) Sahib.  

Joseph Ruskin (Ambassador Korlik of the Slobtoni Embassy, above right) made his screen debut as an uncredited extra on Jackie Gleason's “The Honeymooners” in 1955. He  appeared in four of the “Star Trek” series, the first shot at Desilu. He played John Wayne's director Joe on “The Lucy Show.” Ruskin appeared as foreign operatives in six episodes of “Mission: Impossible” (two of which were two-parters).  This is his only episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

Robert Buckingham (Party Guest, uncredited) had been seen with Lucille Ball in Critic's Choice (1963).  This is his first of three appearances on the series.

George DeNormand (Party Guest, uncredited) appeared in three films with Lucille Ball from 1937 to 1963. This is the just one of his many appearances on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.” He also appeared in seven episodes of “Mission: Impossible” the final one as an uncredited party guest.

Monty O'Grady (Party Guest, uncredited) was first seen with Lucille Ball in The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and played a passenger on the S.S. Constitution in “Second Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14). He was a traveler at the airport when “The Ricardos Go to Japan” (1959). He made more than a dozen appearances on “The Lucy Show” and a half dozen more on “Here’s Lucy.” O'Grady appeared in eleven episodes of “Mission: Impossible” (often also as an uncredited party guest) including one a month before this episode first aired, and one a month after.

Bob Johnson (Voice of Self-Destruct Tape, uncredited) reprises his voice-over role from “Mission: Impossible” on which he was heard in 156 episodes. He also returned for the 1988 reboot of the show, but by this time his voice was on a disc, not a tape!  Johnson was also a voice-over heard on Desilu's “Star Trek.”

Uncredited background performers play the other embassy party guests, dancers, and the Sultan of Alzukar.  

The evening before this episode originally aired (October 27, 1968) “Mission: Impossible” aired an episode titled “The Mercenaries” guest starring Pernell Roberts (“Trapper John, M.D.”) and Vic Tayback (“Alice”).  Like “Here's Lucy,” the show was seen on CBS TV and was produced and filmed at Paramount.  It was episode number 57, the third of season four.  

This episode is a spoof of the TV series “Mission: Impossible” (1966-73) which was a Desilu / Paramount series.  Had Lucille Ball not given the nod to the series in 1966, there would be no Mission: Impossible movies today!  What would Tom Cruise do?  

The episode uses the “Mission: Impossible” theme and original underscoring by Lalo Schifrin. The theme won a Grammy Award earlier in 1968.  The instantly recognizable theme song is saved for the final chase sequence.  

Episode scribe Bob O'Brien co-wrote the screenplay for the Lucille Ball / Bob Hope film Fancy Pants (1950).  He was responsible for 54 episodes of “The Lucy Show.” This was the first of his 24 episodes of “Here's Lucy.”  He would also write the Lucy specials “Lucy Gets Lucky” (1975) and “Lucy Moves to NBC” (1980), his last screen writing credit.  He died in 2005.  

Actor Joseph Ruskin (Korlik) introduces this episode on the “Here's Lucy” DVD. He passed away shortly afterward.  

On October 28, 1968 this episode was originally followed on CBS by an episode of “Mayberry R.F.D.” that also featured George DeNormand and Monty O'Grady as uncredited extras.  

Trying to remember the recorded message, Lucy mistakes the word 'embassy' for 'NBC'.  Although Lucille Ball was a long-time CBS TV star, she briefly 'moved' to NBC in 1980.  Although her final series “Life With Lucy” was produced and distributed by CBS, it actually aired on ABC, meaning Lucille Ball was seen on all three of the major networks!  

At the episode's start, Lucille Ball wears the same light blue tweed suit she wore in the previous episode, “Lucy, the Conclusion Jumper” (S1;E5).  

Kim compares Agent Geller to James Bond, except taller and more handsome. Craig later say the idea of going in disguise is “kinda 007.” The sixth James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released in mid-December 1967 and starred George Lazenby as 007. The film would have been recently in cinemas when this episode was filmed.  

During the Embassy party the small band plays the Beatles song “Yesterday.” Released in September 1965, the song reached number one on the Billboard charts. Later in the party, the band  plays “The Sunny Side of the Street,” a 1930 song by Jimmy McHugh. It was introduced in the Broadway musical Lew Leslie's International Revue.

Lucy, Harry, Craig and Kim impersonate the Royal Family of Capazonia.  As an Indian Prince, Craig says that in America he sees many more Nehru jackets. The Nehru jacket is a hip-length tailored coat with a mandarin collar modeled on the Indian garment worn by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. The jackets were popularized in Europe and North America by the Beatles and the mods, a fashion movement. Several villains in the James Bond film series appear wearing a Nehru jacket.

As the Maharani, Lucy must improvise a dance routine.  Although it starts off with Middle Eastern moves, Lucy turns it into a square dance. It then turns into an (American) Indian War Dance and a Charleston. It culminates with Lucy walking across hot coals and sticking her feet in a tub of champagne bottles for relief.

Although a treat for Lucy fans, the episode would be considered politically incorrect today for the use of dark make-up for Asian characters.  

As the Maharani, Lucy makes her entrance on a litter, just as Lucy Carmichael did when she played Cleopatra for the Danfield Community Players.  

Lucy's impersonation of a Middle Eastern Maharani is a direct homage to "The Publicity Agent” (ILL S1;E32) where she created the character of the Scheherazade of Franistan. Even the voice is similar!  In that episode, Lucy Ricardo initially suggests calling the character a Maharani, but Ethel informs her that a Maharani is a Maharaja's wife, so they settle on Maharincess, combining Maharani with Princess. Lucy later says she's not a Maharincess but a Henna Rinses, a joke about her hair dye.

This is not the first time Lucy went undercover!  After seeing a James Bond film, Lucy and Mr. Mooney get embroiled in a spy caper that finds her disguised as Broadway star Carol Channing in “Lucy and the Undercover Agent” (TLS S4;E10).  

Another show that was produced by Desilu, “The Untouchables,” was similarly parodied by “The Lucy Show.”  Like this episode of “Here's Lucy,” it disguised the character's names, used the original program's theme music, and employed the show's iconic voice-over artist, Walter Winchell, who, like tape voice Bob Johnson, was heard on every episode, but never seen.  In that episode, Lucy was also forced to go undercover.  

Lucy's improvised dance routine feels similar to when Lucy Ricardo had to blend in to a chorus line in “Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer” (ILL S1;E10) in 1951. Despite every move being scripted and rigorously rehearsed, Lucille Ball was able to make it look convincingly improvised.

Product Displacement! At the party, the drummer in the band has the brand name taped over. The drummer for the specialty dance plays the bongos, but it is not timed well with the music playback. In an earlier episode, Craig's drums also had the brand name taped over.

Props! When Lucy is perusing photographs of the Royal Family, Lucille Ball is actually holding a black and white photo of herself and her children used to promote “Here's Lucy.”  

Props II! The magazine rack holds the November 10, 1967 issue of Time Magazine, published a full year before this episode aired. There is another issue of Time on the rack. News agents typically only sell the issue dated that week.  

“Lucy’s Impossible Mission” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

Lucy blends her own back catalog with Desilu’s and comes up with some very funny (if improbable) stuff.  The very involved dance routine is a stand alone classic. 

[papermoonloveslucy]

Lucy and Sid Caesar

S6;E23 ~ March 4, 1968

Synopsis

A forger who looks like Sid Caesar is passing bad checks at the bank. Lucy and Mr. Mooney try to figure out how to tell the real Sid Caesar from the forger.  

Regular Cast

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

Roy Roberts (Harrison Winfield Cheever) and Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) do not appear in this episode, although Lucy does mention her 'girlfriend,' which probably refers to Mary Jane.  

Guest Cast

Sid Caesar (Himself / Frankie the Forger) is probably best remembered for “Your Show of Shows” which aired on NBC from 1950 to 1954.  He was often teamed with comedy partner Imogene Coca. Caesar was nominated for a 1963 Tony Award for appearing in the musical Little Me. He appeared with Lucille Ball (and Tim Herbert) in the 1967 film A Guide for the Married Man. He died in 2014 at the age of 91.

Jack Collins (Rocky) appeared with Sid Caesar on a 1953 episode of “Texaco Star Theatre” starring Milton Berle. He will also appear in the next (and final) “Lucy Show” as well as making six appearances on “Here's Lucy.”  

Rocky seems to be the manager of a restaurant but is also taking bets on horses in his office in the back.  Since he is also consorting with a known forger, we can assume he is supposed to be a criminal.

Irwin Charrone (Security Guard) makes the last of his five appearances on “The Lucy Show.” The expressive character actor also did an equal number of “Here’s Lucy” episodes. He died in January 2016 in Maplewood, New Jersey, at the age of 93.

Tim Herbert (Waiter) was born Herbert Timberg in 1914. In 1944 he appeared on Broadway in the Jackie Gleason revue Follow the Girls. This is the last of his three appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He also did one episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1968. He appeared with Lucille Ball and Sid Caesar in A Guide for the Married Man in 1967 and with Caesar in a 1985 episode of “Amazing Stories.”  

Sid Gould (Waiter) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

Carole Cook (Gladys) played Thelma Green on the series when it was set in Danfield. She was a protege of Lucille Ball’s during the Desilu Playhouse years. Although born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook also went on to appear in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Gladys is a teller in the Westland Bank.

John J. 'Red' Fox (Policeman) was best known for playing policemen, which is what he did on five of his eight appearances on “The Lucy Show” as well as three of his five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Ben Gage (Policeman) makes the second of his two appearances on the series. Gage was once married to Hollywood swimming starlet Esther Williams. His first screen appearance was as an uncredited swimmer in her 1954 film Dangerous When Wet. Their names were mentioned as attending Lucy and Ricky’s Mocambo anniversary party in “Hollywood Anniversary” (ILL S4;E23).

Remo Pisani (Bank Customer) was a stunt man and actor making the second of his two appearances on the series. He was born in New Jersey in 1919 and died there in 2004.  

Although Lucy says the customer's last name, it is unintelligible over the underscoring that opens the scene.

Don Anderson (Bank Customer) will also appear in the next (and final) “Lucy Show” as well as making three appearances on “Here's Lucy.”  

George DeNormand (Bank Extra, uncredited) appeared in three films with Lucille Ball from 1937 to 1963. This is the just one of his many appearances on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”

Joan Carey (Bank Extra, uncredited) was one of the few people (outside the principal cast) to appear on all of Lucille Ball’s sitcoms, mostly as background, but eventually taking on being Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in as well. 

Monty O'Grady (Bank Extra, uncredited) was first seen with Lucille Ball in The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and played a passenger on the S.S. Constitution in “Second Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14). He was a traveler at the airport when “The Ricardos Go to Japan”(1959). He made a dozen appearances on the series and a half dozen more on “Here’s Lucy.”

James Gonzales (Bank Extra, uncredited) was a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer. He was previously seen on the series as Stan Williams in “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2). He was seen in more than 20 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Renita Reachi (Bank Extra, undredited) was a costumer for “The Lucy Show” from 1966 to 1968. She was also Vivian Vance’s camera and lighting stand-in for “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.” She was a costumer and/or made crowd appearances on “Here’s Lucy” and the Lucille Ball films Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) and Mame (1974).  

On November 17, 1962 Lucille Ball attended the Broadway opening of Little Me starring Sid Caesar. It was the second musical written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, who had previously written Wildcat for Lucy. Based on the novel by Patrick Dennis (who also authored the book, play, and musical Auntie Mame, which Lucy would film in 1974), Little Me had a book by Neil Simon and was directed by Cy Feuer and Bob Fosse. Hedda Hopper wrote about Lucy’s attendance, 

“Her laugher rang out above the whole audience at the ‘Little Me’ opening.”

Little Me ran for 257 performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

When this episode first aired, Little Me was being produced at the Sahara in Las Vegas starring Donald O’Connor, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Paula Stewart. Paula had played Lucy’s sister in Wildcat. Lucy saw Little Me again with this cast and when Donald O’Connor co-starred in her 1980 special, “Lucy Moves to NBC”, he too serenaded her with “Real Live Girl!”

The evening this episode first aired (March 4, 1968) Sid Caesar's former TV comedy partner Imogene Coca appeared on “The Carol Burnett Show.”  

Much of the comedy in this episode is left to Sid Caesar. Unfortunately, Caesar is struggling with alcoholism which he will eventually overcome in the 1970s. Consequentially, the comedy feels sluggish and Caesar has little success in differentiating the two characters except by their wardrobe.

Lucy (Carter) mentions that she saw Sid Caesar in Little Me and convinces him to sing “Real Live Girl” from the show.  

Striving to stay thin to resemble Sid Caesar, Frankie the Forger wishes he looked like Jackie Gleason instead. TV star comedian Jackie Gleason was known for his corpulent frame. He will make a wordless cameo appearance on “Here's Lucy” in the fall of 1968.  

Mr. Mooney takes Lucy and 'Sid Caesar' to lunch at the Lafayette Men's Club.  

After turning himself in to the police via telephone, a starving Frankie the Forger orders pork chops, a squab stuffed with oyster dressing, a turkey, lasagna, black-eyed peas, candied yams, corn pone, Virginia hams, hot bread, turnip beans, fat back, and Lima beans!  He is paraphrasing the lyrics to the song “That's What I Like About the South” written by Andy Razlaf in 1942. The song was notably covered by Phil Harris in 1947. Harris was a recent guest star on “The Lucy Show.” 

Callbacks!

Celebrity guests playing their own look-alikes was previously done in “Lucy and Robert Goulet” (S6;E8) and “Lucy Dates Dean Martin” (S4;E21) where both stars did double duty.  Lucille Ball will play herself and Lucy Carter in a 1974 episode of “Here's Lucy.”

Blooper Alerts!

Jane of All Trades! Lucy is still doing double duty as Mr. Mooney's secretary and a bank teller. Lucy was also cashing checks in “Lucy Helps Ken Berry” (S6;E21).  

Out of Print! Because she fears doing math, Lucy wants to cash Sid Caesar's check by giving him a single $1,000 bill. The US stopped printing the $1,000 bill by 1946, but they continued in circulation until the Federal Reserve recalled them in 1969. It is highly unlikely that a bank would be distributing them in 1968. 

Counting Conundrum! In this episode, Lucy suddenly cannot do simple math. Although Lucy's education is sketchy, we saw her at a college reunion and getting her high school diploma (in that order!), so basic addition should not be all that difficult. Lucy refuses to use the tabulator (aka adding machine) because she fears being replaced by a machine.

Playbill Problem! Lucy says the song “Real Live Girl” is from Act Two of Little Me, but in fact the song is in Act One.

“Lucy and Sid Caesar” rates 2 Paper Hearts out of 5

[papermoonloveslucy]

Lucy and Phil Harris

S6;E20 ~ February 5, 1968

Synopsis

When Lucy and Mr. Mooney go to a piano bar for dinner, Lucy decides to bring a drunken lounge singer (Phil Harris) home and encourage him to finish a song she hopes will be a big hit.

Regular Cast

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

Roy Roberts (Harrison Winfield Cheever) and Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) do not appear in this episode.

Guest Cast

Phil Harris (Phil Stanley) was a bandleader who became a comic radio star as a Jack Benny sidekick in the 1930s. Although his fondness for booze was largely a creation of the Benny’s writers, Harris played the part to the hilt. Harris was mentioned in “Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account” (S6;E6) when Benny made a reference to Harris’ persona as a lush. In “Lucy and Joan” (S4;E4) Joan (Joan Blondell) says she’s been in pictures so long she saw Phil Harris take his first drink.  Harris plays himself again on a 1974 episode of “Here's Lucy.”

Phil Stanley was a celebrated song writer of the 1940s.  

Lew Parker (Jack Murray) is probably best remembered as the restaurateur father of Ann Marie, Marlo Thomas’ character on TV’s “That Girl” (1966-71). This is the fourth of his five appearances on “The Lucy Show” and he will return for two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” 

Jack Murray is a music publisher.

Kasey Rogers (Miss Carroll) is best remembered for playing Louise Tate on “Bewitched” from 1966 to 1972.  She previously played Miss Cavanaugh in “Lucy and Carol Burnett: Part 1 (S6;E14) and “Lucy and Carol Burnett: Part 2” (S6;E15).  This is her last appearance on the series.

Miss Carroll works with Jack Murray.  Phil Stanley affectionately nicknamed her ‘BB’ for blue blood because she went to a fancy finishing school.  

Gerald Mohr (Ruby) has played the Psychiatrist in “The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18).  This is his last appearance with Lucille Ball.

Ruby is the proprietor of Ruby's Restaurant and Piano Bar. 

Tim Herbert (Mario, Headwaiter) was born Herbert Timberg in 1914. In 1944 he appeared on Broadway in the Jackie Gleason revue Follow the Girls. This is the second of his three appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He also did one episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1968.

Vanda Barra (Agnes, Waitress) was married to Sid Gould so is Lucille Ball’s cousin-in-law. She will also make 23 appearances on “Here’s Lucy” as well as appearing in Ball’s two 1975 TV movies “Lucy Gets Lucky” (with Dean Martin) and “Three for Two” (with Jackie Gleason). This is her final appearance on the series, which she began by also playing a waitress.

Sid Gould (Piano Delivery Man, uncredited) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton. Gould and Vanda Barra were married in real life. 

The Delivery Man has a partner who has no lines and leaves before Gould. He is uncredited and unidentified.

Ruby's Piano Bar Patrons (all uncredited) are played by:

Carole Cook played Thelma Green on the series when it was set in Danfield. She was a protege of Lucille Ball’s during the Desilu Playhouse years. Although born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook also went on to appear in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

George DeNormand (with Cook above) appeared in three films with Lucille Ball from 1937 to 1963. This is the just one of his many appearances on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”

Perhaps in deference to Cook's history with the show, the camera cuts to a reaction shot of Cook and DeNormand during Phil Stanley's act. Neither have any dialogue.

James Gonzales was a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer. He was previously seen on the series as Stan Williams in “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2). He was seen in more than 20 episodes of “The Lucy Show” and 3 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Robert Hitchcock appeared as a bar / club patron on many TV series' including on “Bewitched” with Kasey Rogers and ”That Girl” with Lew Parker.  This is his only “Lucy Show” appearance but he will do four episodes of “Here's Lucy.”

Jerry Rush makes the last of his nine (mostly uncredited) appearances on the series. He also did two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” 

Jerry Rush’s date goes unnamed and uncredited. 

Joan Carey was seen in the background of all three of Lucille Ball’s sitcoms. She also served as Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in during “The Lucy Show”.  Carey can be glimpsed over Jerry Rush’s shoulder (see above) wearing a powder blue jacket, likely one belonging to Lucille Ball! 

Other Piano Bar patrons and Mr. Murray's receptionist go unidentified and uncredited.

“Lucy Show” script consultant Milt Josefsberg was a writer for “The Jack Benny Program” and was probably the reason that Harris was recruited as a guest star. The series had already featured guest appearances by Benny and Dennis Day. 

Lucy revives her bad singing voice shtick, although she was able to sing on key in several previous episodes.

At the piano, Phil Stanley opens with “Cabaret” written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the title song of the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name. The show won the 1967 Tony for Best Musical and it was also honored for Best Score.  

Phil Stanley next performs “But Beautiful” written by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen for the film Road to Rio (1947). 

He winds up with "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?" written by Irving Caesar, Sammy Lerner, and Gerald Marks in 1936.

Lucy tries to get Phil Stanley to perform “Night and Day” written by Cole Porter for the 1932 Broadway musical Gay Divorce. Lucy mistakenly says the song is called “You Are the One.”  She then sings a bar of “In Other Words” (aka “Fly Me to the Moon”) written in 1954 by Bart Howard for Kaye Ballard.

The song that Phil Stanley is trying to write throughout the episode is called "I Loved Her," and was really written by Gordon Jenkins. After being introduced by Harris in this episode, was recorded by Jack Jones and Frank Sinatra. During the final performance of the song Phil Harris actually seems to shed a tear.  

After hearing Lucy's strained sing-along, Mr. Mooney longs for Kate Smith. Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (1907–86), was a singer best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." She had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.

Callbacks!

Lucy Carmichael also played talent agent for musicians like Wayne Newton (above), Tommy Cheever (Frankie Avalon), and her neighbor Mel Tinker (Mel Torme).  

Blooper Alerts!

Playback Problems! When Phil Stanley finally sits down at the piano to perform “I Loved Her” for Mr. Murray and Miss Carroll, the soundtrack swells with a full orchestra and a lot of studio echo making the lip sync very unconvincing.

“Lucy and Phil Harris” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

[papermoonloveslucy]

Lucy Gets the Bird

S3;E12 ~ December 7, 1964

Synopsis

When Mr. Mooney's home is being painted, he lets Lucy and Viv birdsit with his prize cockatiel.  When the bird flies away, they climb to the roof to find him. When that fails, they try to replace it with a similar bird, but Mr. Mooney is on to their scheme.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney), Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael)

Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley) and Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael) do not appear in this episode.

Guest Cast

Tim Herbert (Sam) was born Herbert Timberg in 1914.  In 1944 he appeared on Broadway in the Jackie Gleason revue Follow the Girls. This is the first of his three appearances on “The Lucy Show.” He also did one episode of “Here's Lucy” in 1968.  

John J. 'Red' Fox (Charlie) makes his second appearance on the series.  He was best known for playing policemen, which is what he did on five of his eight appearances on “The Lucy Show” as well as three of his five episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Ginny Tyler (Bird Voices) previously voiced Clementine the sheep in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (S1;E5).  She did the voice of the sheep in Disney’s 1964 hit Mary Poppins. She started out on radio before hosting a children’s TV show in Seattle. By the late 1950s, she had moved to Hollywood and was narrating record albums for Disney, including “Bambi” and “Babes in Toyland.” She returned to do a 1974 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”  Although she died in 2012, her voice can still be heard in the chorus of birds outside The Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Mr. Mooney's cockatiel (and all the other budgies in the pet shop) are played by live birds.

Sid Gould (Voice on the Telephone) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton. Gould was married to Vanda Barra, who also appeared on “The Lucy Show” starting in 1967, as well as on “Here’s Lucy.”

The title puns on the slang expression “give/get the bird,” meaning to make a rude gesture by raising your middle finger to show that you are angry with someone.

In real life, Lucille Ball is said to have had a bird phobia.  When she was four years old her father died of typhoid fever.  That same day, a bird got trapped inside their home.  Other recollections say that the wallpaper in her room was of a bird pattern. 

The episode opens with Lucy and Viv collecting trading stamps.  Viv wonders if they have enough to get to Hawaii.  Lucy says they have enough to get to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Trading Stamps were small paper coupons given to customers by merchants in loyalty marketing programs. When a customer accumulated a number of them, they could be exchanged for premiums, such as toys, personal items, housewares, furniture and appliances. The stamps were generally pasted into a booklet by licking the back, much like a postage stamp.  Although they were first introduced in 1891, they were most popular in the USA between 1930 and 1980.  Today they have been replaced by digital customer loyalty cards. There were several companies responsible for sponsoring trading stamps, the most popular being Blue Chip, S&H Green Stamps, and Plaid Stamps.

Mr. Mooney's pet bird is a female cockatiel named Greenback for its coloration. “Greenback” is also a slang word for US paper currency due to its dark green color; an ideal name for a miserly banker's bird!  

Mr. Mooney has taught the bird to say “E pluribus unum” (latin for “out of many, one”), the de facto motto of the United States of America, appearing on the presidential seal and on many denominations of US currency.  Lucy teaches it to say, "Give Lucy more money." Greenback calls Mr. Mooney “Poppsy-Whoppsy.” 

Lucy finds a "Vote for Dewey" button under her couch and says she needs to clean more often. Thomas P. Dewey, was a Republican who lost the US presidential election of 1948 to Democrat  Harry S. Truman. This episode was broadcast right after the 1964 election. Dewey was a Republican, while Lucille Ball was a liberal Democrat. This discovery also implies that Lucy may have lived there (or owned the sofa) at least 16 years, ten years longer than she and Viv have lived together.

When Lucy is on the telephone man's zip line, Greenback says “It's the only way to fly!” This was the advertising slogan for Western Airlines, a US carrier that was in operation from 1926 to 1987, before merging with Delta Airlines. In 1965 R&B singer Jewel Akens (“The Birds and the Bees”) released a song titled “It's the Only Way to Fly.”  

Mr. Mooney says that leaving his precious Greenback with Lucy was like leaving General Custer with Sitting Bull. George Armstrong Custer (1839-76) was a United States cavalry commander in the Civil War and the American Indian Wars.  Sitting Bull was a Sioux chief who rallied his tribe to defeat Custer and his men at the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876), known as “Custer's Last Stand.” Jerry celebrates Sitting Bull's birthday in “Lucy and the Good Skate” (S3;E1).  

A working phone on top of a telephone pole was also a running gag on the TV series “Green Acres” (1965-71).  

Sam at the pet shop refers Mr. Mooney to pet psychiatrist Dr. Marshall Belson PhD (parrots, horses and dogs). The doctor's name is a combination of the name of the two writers of this episode, Gary Marshall (right) and Jerry Belson (left).

Sam tries to sell Lucy a mynah bird that says “rat fink.”  “The Rat Finks” was the name of Jerry and Sherman's group at camp in “Lucy, the Camp Cook” (S3;E6).  

Viv guesses that Greenback is “halfway to Capistrano.” This is a reference to San Juan Mission in Capistrano, southern California.  It is there that the American cliff swallow migrates to every year from its winters in Argentina, making the 6,000-mile trek in springtime. The Mission's location near two rivers made it an ideal location for the swallows to nest.  The expression “when the swallows return to Capistrano” has entered common usage.  

Speaking of Hawaii and birds!  (The red one is Lucy, naturally!)

Callbacks!

Little Ricky had two parakeets Alice and Phil (“molting buzzards” to Fred Mertz) in “Little Ricky Gets a Dog” (ILL S6;E14), who were named for husband and wife performers Alice Faye and Phil Harris. In that episode, voice artist June Foray did the bark of Fred the dog, much the same way Ginny Tyler voices the birds here.  

Lucy Ricardo contended with pigeons on the ledge outside her apartment in “Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13), one of the ten colorized episodes, and....

...500 baby chicks loose in her Connecticut living room in “Lucy Raises Chickens” (ILL S6;E19).  

Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz wanted to go to Hawaii on “I Love Lucy” (inset) but never got any further than the Ricardo living room!  

While on the roof, Viv mentions that the last time she was up there was when the two put up the TV antenna in “Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna” (S1;E9).  This is one of the most direct callbacks to a previous episode thus far in the series. Lucy and Mr. Mooney were also on the home's roof to break into Viv's bedroom in “The Loophole in the Lease” (S2;E12).  

Fast Forward!

In “Lucy is a Bird Sitter” a 1974 episode of “Here's Lucy” Lucy Carter is enlisted by Harry (Gale Gordon) to care for a rare Tongan Weewawk, a fictional creature made up by the writers. That bird looks a lot like a common white pigeon, which makes finding him difficult when he flies away.

On a rare two-part episode of “Here's Lucy” (1971) Lucy Carter and Vivian Jones cruise to Hawaii.  Hawaii was a favorite get-away destination for the Arnaz family (inset).  

Blooper Alerts!

Logistics! Even though it's the same house as in “Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna” (S1;E9), in “Lucy Gets the Bird” the antenna is in a different location, the background landscape has more buildings, and the design of the roof is slightly different.

Too Close for Comfort? Close-ups of Greenback sitting on the electrical wire reveal that the wire is not metal, but rope. Stray threads of hemp can be seen.  

“Lucy Gets the Bird” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

[peter-ash]

(Duel)