Who was right? Should Ricky and Fred have won the bet for not gossiping first, or should Lucy and Ethel? Do you agree with Ricky's explanation that since he and Fred deliberately made up the story about Grace Foster and the milkman, that they were not gossiping? but that since Lucy and Ethel thought there was some truth to it they were gossiping?

Keep in mind that when Ricky and Fred were discussing their scheme that they agreed they could not just tell their wives the story, or they would be gossiping. But later, after they caught them retelling the story (and adding to it), and their fake sleeptalking (one of the silliest scenes in ILL) became obvious, that part became immaterial. Why is a story not gossip just becaue the originators know it's not true, then it is gossip if someone else repeats it?

Then the whole thing came down to whether there was any truth to the story. But whether a story is gossip does not depend on whether the story is true or not. That's [supposedly] why gossip is a bad thing; that it is impossible to keep the facts straight, and the more derogatory or embarrassing it is to the subject, it becomes even more difficult, and almost impossible to disprove, so their reputation is shot down.

It's hard to see how the men or the women could be winners in their bet.

The men won. They weren't gossiping. If you plant a story as a joke like that, it's not gossiping, but what Lucy and Ethel were doing is. I can see why you might think that it's a grey area, but when you really think about it, it isn't, especially taking into consideration the definition of gossiping. Fred and Ricky weren't spreading a story, or chatting about a story - they were deliberately planting one. They were being sneaky though, that's for sure!

:wave:

Ricky and Fred ultimately got there comuppance becuz they deserved to. They should not have pulled such an underhanded trick. I don't blame Lucy or Ethel at all in this regard and hope they really did end up serving the girls in bed for a month. Sure Lucy and Ethel gossiped after hearing what they did. I don't care. I'm just glad Lucy worked it out at the end and the girls switched places with the boys.

Hmm...thats a hard question!!
I dunno..I favor the girls, because the boys made it up, but then again I favor the boys because they got the girls to do what they wanted--GOSSIP! But they cheated..so I guess they won, but not for long, because the girls figured it out.

I think the guys won because they made up up the story and Lucy and Ethel gossiped about it to each other. I don't think what the guys did was right though, it was a very low trick, so I'm glad the girls found out a way to "win" in the end.

There must be a missing moment to this ep for the time afterward, when the guys found out that was only a ploy between Foster and the milkman [who I call that miniature Jackie Gleason]. If that is what Lucy was depending on for the women to win the bet afterall, I don't think it could last. Between Lucy, Ethel, Foster, the milkman, and Foster's wife, at least one would let it slip before a month was over. If nothing else, it would look quite suspicious when the milkman still delivered milk to the building without fear. So then, do the guys win breakfast in bed for a full month?

I like that proformance in the beginning!