... 'splained by Mental Floss. (http://mentalfloss.com/us/go/71122) :)

Thanks for posting this. I knew some of them because I'm a big Lucy fan, but I didn't know all of them.

... 'splained by Mental Floss. (http://mentalfloss.com/us/go/71122) :)


This sentence from #12 is inaccurate: "Every slurred word of her drunken Vitameatavegamin pitch was in the script."

This was one rare occasion where Lucy messed up her lines. The book "Laughs, Luck and Lucy" explains in detail where she messed up and how brilliantly she recovered from her slip-up, but it's there. Co-author Gregg Oppenheimer has the actual script, so the book is able to detail what she said versus what she was supposed to say. But her recovery from her blooper is so flawless, nobody every notices.

#20: It is not certain that the "uh-oh lady" is Dede Ball. I'm not sure but I think it was again Gregg Oppenheimer, in an online discussion many years ago, who was able to debunk that.

Re: #7, just a piece of interesting trivia, but Mary Wickes, who was a close friend of Lucille's, thought she would be offered the role of Ethel Mertz. I don't know if she was actually ever considered, but Mary (according to her bio) felt she would be offered the part and was disappointed that she wasn't. But she probably never mentioned her disappointment to Lucy.

Re: #7, just a piece of interesting trivia, but Mary Wickes, who was a close friend of Lucille's, thought she would be offered the role of Ethel Mertz. I don't know if she was actually ever considered, but Mary (according to her bio) felt she would be offered the part and was disappointed that she wasn't. But she probably never mentioned her disappointment to Lucy.

What's the title of the Mary Wickes bio you mentioned? I would like to read it. Thanks!

What's the title of the Mary Wickes bio you mentioned? I would like to read it. Thanks!


Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604739053?keywords=Mary%20Wickes&qid=1447561374&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

"The writers had allowed other characters to make remarks, but in each case the “joke” was met with stony silence from the studio audience. For some reason, it seemed cruel when anyone other than Lucy “mucked” Ricky’s English."

I don't recall that being the case. It seems there was audience laughter, for instance, in the diner episode when Ethel repeated Ricky's line as "For the last time, are YOU two going to get behind that counter or nut?" and when Ricky found Lucy's casino winnings in Ethel's suitcase Fred mocked his line, 'You have not caught me red-hannit!" And there was also the scenes such as the English tutor shaking his ear after Ricky's "...want no part of it" speech and he derisively asked "WHAT did he say?" And the laundry attendant (with a different foreign accent) did something similar after another of Ricky's 'slpanations. The reactions were not "stony silence."

Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604739053?keywords=Mary%20Wickes&qid=1447561374&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

I'm just seeing this post. Thank you for the book title!! :wave:

I think Mary Wickes was smart to keep playing recurring character parts in Lucy's shows rather than becoming a permanent cast member because I can't imagine even their friendship wouldn't have wound up becoming rather frayed due to Lucy having to be the boss more than others would have liked. As it was, they stayed good friends to the end of Lucy's life and was considered a de facto member of the family by both Lucy's offspring.