S4;E21 ~ January 31, 1972
Directed by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by George Balzin and Sam Perrin
Harry is losing money so a loan officer instructs him to put Lucy in charge! Her first act as boss is to lease office space to an eccentric toy salesman (Wally Cox) turning the Unique Employment Agency into a playground.
Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter)
Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter) does not appear in this episode, although her name does appear in the opening credits. Lucy is on the phone with Kim as the episode opens. Despite not being in the episode, Lucie Arnaz does the introduction on the series DVD.
Wally Cox (Tommy Tucker, Toy Tycoon) was one of Lucille Ball’s favorite character actors and best remembered for being a panelist on TV’s “The Hollywood Squares” (1965-73) as well as his hit series “Mr. Peepers” (1953-55). He played a nervous musician on “Lucy Conducts the Symphony” (TLS S2;E13) and a reformed safe cracker in “Lucy and the Ex-Con” (S1;E15). This is his fourth and final appearance on “Here’s Lucy.” Cox died of a heart attack in 1973 at age 48.
Tommy Tucker was the name of the cue card man on “Here’s Lucy.” Lucille Ball and Tucker would often play word games together.
Richard Deacon (Elmer Zellerbach, Loan Officer) is probably best remembered as Mel Cooley on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66). He appeared as Tallulah Bankhead’s butler in “The Celebrity Next Door,” a 1957 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” He was employed again by Desi Sr. as a regular on “The Mothers-in-Law” (1968). This is the second of his two appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”
Mr. Zellerbach has two college-age children. His first name is never used in the dialogue and the final credits only list him as “Loan Officer.”
The date this show was originally aired, Time Magazine published a cover story on Flip Wilson, TV’s first black superstar. Wilson was a guest-star on “Here’s Lucy” on September 13, 1971.
This episode was originally sponsored by Lipton Tea, Wesson Oil, and Whirlpool. On the DVD, commercials for each are included.
Lucy tells Mr. Zellerbach that she has two children, Kim and Craig, who are both in college. Craig has been mentioned consistently over the past four episodes after not being mentioned for more than 3 months.
Harry slides down the sliding board into the kiddie pool, getting soaking wet. Getting Harry wet was part of most all episodes of the series.
One of the three inflatable punching bags in the office is Bozo the Clown. The character first appeared on television in 1949 starring Pinto Colvig. Colvig did all the dog barks and howls in “Lucy is Her Own Lawyer” (TLS S2;E23) in 1964. After the creative rights to Bozo were purchased by Larry Harmon in 1956, the character became a common franchise across the United States, with local television stations producing their own Bozo shows featuring the character. Harmon bought out his business partners in 1965 and produced “Bozo’s Big Top” for syndication to local television markets not producing their own Bozo shows in 1966, while Chicago's “Bozo’s Circus,” which premiered in 1960, went national via cable and satellite in 1978.
The Unique Employment Agency over-flowing with toys looked very similar to the Ricardo living room when Lucy wanted to convince Ricky that their tiny apartment was not longer big enough for their growing family in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (ILL S2;E26).
Both shows featured inflatable punch toys, plush animals, and a sliding board that is the only entrance into the room.
When Tommy Tucker is demonstrating the remote control dog, there is a wind-up drumming bear on the desk that does not get demonstrated. This toy is very similar to the one used in “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (ILL S6;E4). To help his son overcome his fear of drumming in public, Ricky wound up the drumming bear to show him he had nothing to be afraid of. Although very similar, the toys are different models.
Toys were also an integral part of “Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” (TLS S5;E13) in which Lucy Carmichael works the assembly line at the Grantland Toy Factory.
Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Bagley played with some super-sized toys as part of an age-regression experiment in “Lucy the Stockholder” (TLS S3;E25).
Miss-Take! Mr. Zellerbach calls Lucy “Miss Carter” despite noting that she has two dependent children.
Line? Richard Deacon often glances off at the teleprompter.
Gag Gift! This episode features a new desk for Harry in order to accomplish the novelty hand in a box gag. In order to hide the “hand” actor, the desk goes all the way to the floor, where Harry’s usual desk had dowel legs.
Edit Room! Tommy Tucker is never show re-setting the Rube Goldberg-like “Tantrum Breaker.” In order for the machine to work again with Harry at the show’s finale, the entire mechanism would need to be re-set.
“Lucy Sublets the Office” rates 2 Paper Hearts out of 5
Two things about this episode save it from being bland. First, Lucy running the Employment Agency gives us a bit of a glimpse into the sort of no-nonsense executive Lucille Ball really was. Second, Lucy’s child-like joy playing with the toys with Wally Cox. The range is worth a watch!
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