:confused: There seems to be some confusion with 2 episodes of The Lucy Show There's an episode called "Lucy & Phil Harris" and "Lucy & Phil Silvers". Lucy & Phil Harris is listed under Imdb as a season 5 episode, but not L&PS. And I think Lucy & Phil Silvers is a pd episode?? Are these 2 different episodes, or not? I'm not sure who Phil Harris is !:confused:

:confused: There seems to be some confusion with 2 episodes of The Lucy Show There's an episode called "Lucy & Phil Harris" and "Lucy & Phil Silvers". Lucy & Phil Harris is listed under Imdb as a season 5 episode, but not L&PS. And I think Lucy & Phil Silvers is a pd episode?? Are theses 2 different episodes, or not? I'm not sure who Phil Harris is !:confused:

Yes, those are definitely two different episodes, and Phil Harris is a very different person. His peak in popularity was in the '30s and '40s as a bandleader and singer, though his career endured for decades. He was also known as an actor and comedian. In the Lucy Show episode, he sort of plays a down-and-out version of himself named Phil Stanley, who hasn't had a hit in twenty years. The episode revolves around Lucy discovering Mr. Stanley playing in a piano bar and winds up trying to help him focus so he can make a comeback. It's actually an enjoyable episode and much of it revolves around a song Phil is writing and plays at the end. That song was actually a record Phil Harris released that year called "But I Loved You," and I think this episode marked the debut of that song. It's a nice, sentimental song that sort of sticks in your head. And its lyrics are used as the basis for a subplot in the episode.

Incidentally, Phil Harris had a long and successful marriage to the movie actress and singer, Alice Faye (from 1941 until his death in 1995), who had a long career herself. Later in his career he voiced Baloo the Bear in the Disney movie, The Jungle Book. Here's a sampling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ogQ0uge06o&feature=related

And here he is performing his signature song, "That's What I Like About the South": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCSWZTzJJaU&feature=related

One interesting tidbit about Phil Harris: He, along Milton Berle, Jackie Coogan and Frankie Avalon (as well as character actors Jack Collins, Vanda Barra, Rhodes Reason, Doris Singleton, Mary Wickes and Carole Cook) share a unique Lucy connection: All four made guest appearances during the sixth and final season of The Lucy Show AND during the sixth and final season of Here's Lucy.

he was also a regular on Jack Bennys radio show.

Something I didn't know until now: The Gordon Jenkins song Phil Harris sings in that episode, "But I Loved Her," was slightly reworked and re-recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1981 as "I Loved Her." Here he is singing it: http://tr-tr.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1199487783694

I know now that the episode with Phil Silvers is from Season 5, and is called Lucy, The Efficiency Expert, not Lucy & Phil Silvers.

And back to Phil Harris, I skipped over this episode, and ended up watching it last, while viewing season 6. As it turns out, I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would. That's interesting that Sinatra re-worked his song.

And back to Phil Harris, I skipped over this episode, and ended up watching it last, while viewing season 6. As it turns out, I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would.

Could this have something to do with changing tastes over time? Had you seen the episode before in the past? If you're like me, when I was younger, I didn't particularly care for this episode, although I've always liked the song. I think maybe it's because of the unique nature of the episode: even though Lucy is in the middle of every scene, rather than being the focus, she's sort of at the periphery of the storyline. Phil Harris's character, that song, and its lyrics, are the main focus of the story. It's not really a "Lucy" episode. But as I've gotten older, I find myself enjoying the episode. Maybe it's because it's a story that a middle-aged adult (such as myself) can relate to, but a younger person can't.

That's interesting that Sinatra re-worked his song.

It is. I always thought the Phil Harris version was wonderful, and I'm surprised it's not well known today; it peaked at #23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart back in April 1968 (this Lucy Show episode aired on February 5, 1968): http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=124865
http://books.google.com/books?id=rQoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=%22but+i+loved+you%22+phil+harris+1968+23&source=bl&ots=bxJN5Ttcft&sig=vEwyXw9MNL83P1Y3Y7pf6Wn1eeo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mnCWUJ7qBePV0gGSv4GQCQ&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=%22but%20i%20loved%20you%22%20phil%20harris%201968%2023&f=false

He also sang it on the March 23, 1968 broadcast of Hollywood Palace. (He got a lot more attention the year before with his Oscar-nominated "Bare Necessities" from the movie, The Jungle Book, and that song is still heard a lot today.) Even that Frank Sinatra 1981 version is not well known. According to Wikipedia, the album that included the song was not a commercial success: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Shot_Me_Down

At this point in Sinatra's career, his voice was not what it once was. Perhaps if he had recorded it years earlier, his version might be more well known?