Hey guys

I was just watching some episodes from the first season(not really my fav. by any means but i have exhausted the other season so i needed something new) and noticed that ethel was protraied as an excellent piano player, you notice in Breaking the Lease that she is a whiz on the piano when they are all singing and ethel is playing...so why is it that in season six...Rag Time Band that ethel seems as if an piano is foreign to her? just and observation...replies would be nice.

Drew

Hi Drew,
There are alot of inconsistencies in the show. Either the writers forget about the previous writing or they just re-write history thinking the fans would never catch on. But, yes that is one of them. Another observation is that Ethel had three different middle names! Her father called her Ethel May when they stopped in New Mexico on the way to California. Lucy called her Ethel Roberta when they went to deliver Aunt Martha's salad dressing and I believe Fred called her Ethel Louise when she and Lucy bought the same dress and they both agreed to take them back. I can't recall anymore at the moment, but I'm sure there is many more. Maybe this is a good start to a new topic!

Yes, i agree, it's one of my pet peeves about I Love Lucy that they never hired someone to take care of continuity, nothing ever makes sense. Then again, they expected to do the show a year and had no idea these would be rerun for half a century afterwards.

I can think of two others. Ethel can drive in the second season in the Camping Trip episode, but says she can't in subsequent seasons.

Lucy says she only knows how to play one song on her saxaphone, 'Glow Worm." In a different episode she says she only knows how to play 'Sweet Sue."

I'm not 100% certain of this, but I think when they first changed apartments the new one was apartment 3B and in later episodes the number was 3D.

i think that part of the reason may have been that in the 6th season they got some new writers and they may have written the ep but on the other hand madalyn pugh and bob carroll jr were still involved with the show so why didn the just point out the error?

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

And, in the episode where Lucy claims to only know "Sweet Sue," Ethel says she only knows how to play "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Mrs. Mertz who was tickling the ivorys and playing "Sweet Sue," while the Ricardo's and the Mertzes were standing around the piano singing in "Breaking the Lease?"

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

:lol: that one bugs me so much! after watching my dvds so many times, it's hard not to catch all of these little inconsistencies on the show. lol.

Maybe they took the washing machine back, and that salesman told them they had good discernment, then sold them a Handy Dandy bulldozer.

I'm not 100% certain of this, but I think when they first changed apartments the new one was apartment 3B and in later episodes the number was 3D.
Again, the reason, for the comedy on the show, Lucy tells the man asking for her references in show business that she was in 3D. It was to help the comedy, not to make sense, LOL!

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

And, in the episode where Lucy claims to only know "Sweet Sue," Ethel says she only knows how to play "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Mrs. Mertz who was tickling the ivorys and playing "Sweet Sue," while the Ricardo's and the Mertzes were standing around the piano singing in "Breaking the Lease?"
Yeah, we seen how Ethel could play that piano with ease and in the Connecticut episode she claims to only know SHE'LL BE COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN. She could only play by ear...or rather, that is what Fred said abt her to Lucy.

As for Lucy and the sax, she was playing GLOW WORM (or tried to :lol:) when she wanted to go along on Ricky's tour with the band in one of the earlier episodes. All of a sudden she can play SWEET SUE in the Connecticut episode I mentioned above. :crazy: :lol:

Ethel plays the piano in "The Operetta" too and we can assume she's one of the two composers of the entire thing, according to Lucy's suggestion they do it themselves. We see Lucy banging out a couple notes while typing the lyrics but all that wonderful music I think was Ethel's creation! She (they) even READ and TRANSCRIBE music! :happyface :happyface

Here is another. I noticed this a long time ago but it came to my attention today while watching ILL in bed nursing this cold.

In the Hollywood episodes, the Mertzes have a hotel room with the door on the left side. We see this when Ricky comes searching for Lucy in the John Wayne episodes.

In the episode in Hollywood regarding the train tickets, Lucy goes into the Mertzes hotel room and she enters through a door on the RIGHT side. The furniture is still layed out the same way. You can see drapes on the left hand side where the door used to be. :lol:

Here is another. I noticed this a long time ago but it came to my attention today while watching ILL in bed nursing this cold.

In the Hollywood episodes, the Mertzes have a hotel room with the door on the left side. We see this when Ricky comes searching for Lucy in the John Wayne episodes.

In the episode in Hollywood regarding the train tickets, Lucy goes into the Mertzes hotel room and she enters through a door on the RIGHT side. The furniture is still layed out the same way. You can see drapes on the left hand side where the door used to be. :lol:

Hi Irene,

I just watched this episode last night and may be able to splain thins. In the scene when Ricky first comes home before we see the Mertz's room, Lucy convinced Ricky to buy the train tickets for them, picked up the phone to talk to Ethel and asked the hotel operator for room 317. She is told the Mertzes have checked out. After the motorcycle incident and things are straightened out the Mertzes are back in the hotel. When we then see Lucy enter the Mertzes hotel room they are in room 372, so when Fred and Ethel checked back in they apparrently are given a different room.

Even if the writers didn't pay close attention, or there was a change in writers, the actors themselves could have helped. For example, Vivian Vance could have stated that she played the piano well in a previous episode. Just a thought.

Even if the writers didn't pay close attention, or there was a change in writers, the actors themselves could have helped. For example, Vivian Vance could have stated that she played the piano well in a previous episode. Just a thought.
Hello!!!!! Good answer Janice!!!! Why on earth didn't the actors speak up? And not just on ILL but any show where there was some obvious discrepancy?

Let me see, as for ILL, maybe, just maybe they did catch the obvious goofs or errors, but were told since it is a situation comedy that either the viewers would NOT notice (they never anticipated the million reruns) OR the actors were just told, "it is just a tv show" and there is no need for consistency, we need to write stories." Just my opinion.

Hi Irene,

I just watched this episode last night and may be able to splain thins. In the scene when Ricky first comes home before we see the Mertz's room, Lucy convinced Ricky to buy the train tickets for them, picked up the phone to talk to Ethel and asked the hotel operator for room 317. She is told the Mertzes have checked out. After the motorcycle incident and things are straightened out the Mertzes are back in the hotel. When we then see Lucy enter the Mertzes hotel room they are in room 372, so when Fred and Ethel checked back in they apparrently are given a different room.
Interesting. I never thought of that. Good point. ;)

Also, let's say that did occur, why didn't Fred then demand reimbursement from Ricky for the one night rate he paid? Before, MGM and Ricky paid for the hotel stay. Obviously when Fred and Ethel checked back in after leaving, Fred would be the one paying, I assume. Then again, Ricky could have paid for that one more night. :crazy:

It still happens today, frankly, the job of actors is to repeat the lines the writers give them, contradictory, or not. (Except in cases of certain shows, like Family Ties, where the actors were encouraged to give as much imput (and even ad lib lines) as they could.)

after hearing everyones input...thanks for finally responding by the way...i started thinking. Was this a show where is was suppose to be continuous? Meaning that what happened in the eps. before is carried over? I know this is done on a few occasions such as the reff. to all the mishaps lucy had with the stars in hollywood, or in europe etc. So this could explain the differences. One episode ethel can play well, then a year or so later, she cant play at all. in that case, each episode is a seperate entity and anything that happened in prev. episodes is irrelavant. obvisouly us hardcore ILL fans would catch it but the the normal viewer who watches it on tvland and such would not remeber? What do you all think?

obvisouly us hardcore ILL fans would catch it but the the normal viewer who watches it on tvland and such would not remeber? What do you all think?
I think most people don't really mind, so long as the show is funny.

after hearing everyones input...thanks for finally responding by the way...i started thinking. Was this a show where is was suppose to be continuous? Meaning that what happened in the eps. before is carried over? I know this is done on a few occasions such as the reff. to all the mishaps lucy had with the stars in hollywood, or in europe etc. So this could explain the differences. One episode ethel can play well, then a year or so later, she cant play at all. in that case, each episode is a seperate entity and anything that happened in prev. episodes is irrelavant. obvisouly us hardcore ILL fans would catch it but the the normal viewer who watches it on tvland and such would not remeber? What do you all think?
Like I said above, I guess they pretty much wrote the stories as they came along, without any regard to what was said or done before. ILL came from a radio show. Their feeling must have been "it doesn't matter."

In the "French Revue" it was said that Ethel could speak French. She took French in high school. When the fab four were discussing languages prior to leaving for Europe, Ethel was told to try and learn Italian for when they visited Italy. What happened? Did Ethel forget she spoke French? :lol:

In the "French Revue" it was said that Ethel could speak French. She took French in high school. When the fab four were discussing languages prior to leaving for Europe, Ethel was told to try and learn Italian for when they visited Italy. What happened? Did Ethel forget she spoke French? :lol:
Well, just knowing French doesnt mean you know Italian, I mean, there are some words that are very similar (both languages are latin-based, as is Spanish), and I can understand the odd word, or meaning, in Italian, but, even fluency in French does not make one an expert (or anything close to that), in Italian .

Well, just knowing French doesnt mean you know Italian, I mean, there are some words that are very similar (both languages are latin-based, as is Spanish), and I can understand the odd word, or meaning, in Italian, but, even fluency in French does not make one an expert (or anything close to that), in Italian .
No, what I mean is that each person was to learn something whether it was french or italian. Rather than have Fred study french, why not have Ethel do the french speaking since it was said she already knew high school french? It was as if all of a sudden she didn't remember saying it before that she knew some french. Just like her piano playing, she knew how to play beautifully in one episode and in another, she could barely play one song.

It was said Ethel could speak some French in "The French Revue?" I thought when they got that waiter [an aspiring entertainer] to give them French lessons, French was brand new to both Lucy and Ethel. Ethel arrives a little late and asks Lucy, "Have you learned anything yet?" and Lucy repeats the terms for 'the pencil' and 'the pen,' and then the guy tells them 'the table,' and Ethel didn't even know about the definite articles. How could anyone who doesn't even recognize 'el' and 'la' be considered to speak some Spanish? That would be comparable.

BTW, for dinner tonight I think I will have a Closed-on-Sunday.

It was said Ethel could speak some French in "The French Revue?" I thought when they got that waiter [an aspiring entertainer] to give them French lessons, French was brand new to both Lucy and Ethel. Ethel arrives a little late and asks Lucy, "Have you learned anything yet?" and Lucy repeats the terms for 'the pencil' and 'the pen,' and then the guy tells them 'the table,' and Ethel didn't even know about the definite articles. How could anyone who doesn't even recognize 'el' and 'la' be considered to speak some Spanish? That would be comparable.

BTW, for dinner tonight I think I will have a Closed-on-Sunday.
It was Lucy who mentioned the definite articles. She, of all people, should have known abt that considering Ricky spoke spanish. :lol:

Ok in the episode where the fab four stayed in that rickety cabin, Fred said he can't stand heights because it causes his nose to bleed. It sure didn't stop him from climbing those Swiss Alps did it? :lol:

Ok in the episode where the fab four stayed in that rickety cabin, Fred said he can't stand heights because it causes his nose to bleed. It sure didn't stop him from climbing those Swiss Alps did it? :lol:
Good one Irene! What made you remember that?

Good one Irene! What made you remember that?
I was watching ILL yesterday and it was the episode when they were at that rickety old place. :lol: I was like, "Huh? his nose would bleed?" :crazy: He said this to Ethel when he told her he wanted to lay in the lower bunk.

Yeah, we seen how Ethel could play that piano with ease and in the Connecticut episode she claims to only know SHE'LL BE COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN. She could only play by ear...or rather, that is what Fred said abt her to Lucy.

As for Lucy and the sax, she was playing GLOW WORM (or tried to :lol:) when she wanted to go along on Ricky's tour with the band in one of the earlier episodes. All of a sudden she can play SWEET SUE in the Connecticut episode I mentioned above. :crazy: :lol:



And in the episode about the all-girls band, Lucy is asking for her sheet music
for that song they were attempting to play. Yet later, when Ricky is trying to
help them, she admits she isn't sure about which note was the F sharp. And
in the episode "The Operetta," they show Lucy at the piano PLAYING and
WRITING the music. Come on! I'm a huge Lucy fan, but there needed to
be some consistency there!

And in the episode about the all-girls band, Lucy is asking for her sheet music
for that song they were attempting to play. Yet later, when Ricky is trying to
help them, she admits she isn't sure about which note was the F sharp. And
in the episode "The Operetta," they show Lucy at the piano PLAYING and
WRITING the music. Come on! I'm a huge Lucy fan, but there needed to
be some consistency there!
:rofl: Thank you for that info. That didn't even dawn on me abt Lucy's writing music skills. Good catch. ;)

That is a good catch. I didn't notice that either. :lol:

in the episode "The Operetta," they show Lucy at the piano PLAYING and
WRITING the music. Come on! I'm a huge Lucy fan, but there needed to
be some consistency there!

Hey! Great minds post alike! :p I posted something like this earlier in this thread:



Ethel plays the piano in "The Operetta" too and we can assume she's one of the two composers of the entire thing, according to Lucy's suggestion they do it themselves. We see Lucy banging out a couple notes while typing the lyrics but all that wonderful music I think was Ethel's creation! She (they) even READ and TRANSCRIBE music! :happyface :happyface

How is it that Lucy assumed that Little Renita would still be a young girl when apparently Ricky danced with her when he was back in Cuba, before he met Lucy? If he and Lucy had been married at least 11 years at this point, and Lucy didn't meet Ricky until he was in the U.S that would at least make it 12 or 13 years had gone by. Lucy should have at least known to add those years to what she assumed was Little Renita's age and figure out a young girl was not going to be walking through her front door. :crazy:

One thing that bothered me was in the episode where the Ricardos sell the Mertzes their washing machine, the two couples are NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS! I always thought the Mertzes lived on a different floor from the Ricardos. :)

If I'm wrong, correct me.

If I recall correctly, in "The Seance" and "Breaking the Lease" the Mertzes lived directly below the Ricardos. But after the baby came and they "swished aparments" they lived on the same level (3rd, apparently), which should mean the Mertzes were always (in the series span) on the 3rd level. But there are non-sequitors to this; for instance, the Ricardos should have been on the 2nd level in "Vacation From Marriage," but the flight of stairs directly outside their apartment leads to the roof-- meaning there is no 3rd level; and also that after LR is born and Mrs. Trumbull pounds from above, she must live on the roof :lol: .

Actually, I know from photos that NY apartment buildings like that [tenements] often-- if not generally-- have more than 3 levels, in spite of being built without elevators; so maybe it also doesn't follow that they were almost shocked about having to climb 4 floors in the Italian hotel.

Also, imagine the stairway at the bottom of the steps, you must walk up a few steps before you make an immediate right turn. How was it Ethel and Lucy were able to see Ricky and Fred sitting at the bottom of the steps through the keyhole while they were stuck on the roof? Looking through a keyhole would give you limited vision on the sides.


Also in one of the Hollywood episodes, why is it that Colonel Wilde had a penthouse suite YET his suite was smaller than the Ricardos who lived directly below?

Not to mention the view from the window was completely different. :lol:

Not to mention the view from the window was completely different. :lol:
:lol:

Irene I LOVE your avatar!!!! :lol:

:lol: thanx. :wave:
Brandon aka BruceWillisfan made it for me. He knows I call Tvland CRAPland. :lol:

How is it that...

Ricky stayed married to Lucy after what she has done to him and put him through? :crazy: My boyfriend said the other day after watching a particular episode, "Man, I would have divorced Lucy a long time ago." :lol:

Ricky sure did put up with a lot. But as he said:

"Lucy, being married to you isn't easy. But it sure is A LOT OF FUN!!"


;)

Ricky sure did put up with a lot. But as he said:

"Lucy, being married to you isn't easy. But it sure is A LOT OF FUN!!"


;)
Awwwww...not to mention, it is fun to watch too. :lol:
THAT my dear, belongs in the "very special episode" thread. ;)

Maybe they took the washing machine back, and that salesman told them they had good discernment, then sold them a Handy Dandy bulldozer.

I think you're on the right track. But I'm guessing that the Handy Dandy washing machine worked as well the other junk they sold, and Fred ended up taking it back and then found a "great deal" on a cheap used one (remember his eye for buying cars) and Ethel wound up with the old machine that she later mentions.