i heard that when Lucy set her fake nose on fire it was an accident...is that true?

She loved to say that it was, but it really wasn't. It was scripted....there was even a wick in the putty!

Plus, if her nose did catch on fire accidentally, I think people would've been a little more concerned for her safety. Lucy herself was even a little wary of having her nose catch on fire. According to Jess Oppenheimer, she was nervous that her hair would catch on fire.

Sorry for rambling on, but to simply answer your question, although Lucille Ball loved to say that was adlibed, it was in the script all along. ;)

The part where she dunks the nose in her coffee was ad-libbed though. She was supposed to rip it off and then put it in the coffee, but she did it while it was still attached to her face. I've also heard that the part where she butters her hand in the Brown Derby scene was ad-libbed too, but I'm not sure if that was really in the script or not.

Well, that's the thing, if she did something brilliant in rehearsal, the writers would add it in! I don't know why she kept telling the story as if the nose on fire was an accident, did she tend to just believe it over the years, or did she think it made a better story? And why didn't anyone confront her on that? Oh, i think i know the answer to that one! LOL!

She must have told that story ALOT about the nose being accidently set on fire because it's even in some books. I bet it pissed Bob and Madelyn off.:mad:

Well, those books also say that everybody thought she made it all up as she went along, which she thought was great vindication as an actress. AND, she paid back those great writers in spades over the years, always giving them credit for everything and thanking them and all, do the two Bobs or anyone else for that matter get any credit for writing All in the Family, no, Jean and Carol got the glory. But Lucy thanked her writers her whole life for their great contribution to her legacy.

Well, I KNOW THAT! I was just making a comment. It would have bugged me. I would have said something to her if it was me.:)

Oh yeah, i keep forgetting you're like me, we're not afraid to stand up to someone like her and give her both barrels, LOL!

When Madelyn went over this episode in 'The Lucy Book', it seemed to me that she was happy to set the record straight for posterity (re these bits being in the actual script) but had cheerfully gone along with Lucy telling the 'ad lib stories' because it probably was funnier to think that Lucy's version was what had actually happened!: :lol:

Well, you know, i think Madelyn has to be one of the nicest people around, she never has anything bad to say about Lucy even though she was fired in a misunderstanding once. The worst i ever heard her say was that Lucy lacked TACT and we know that's true. Madelyn's work became world reknowned because of Lucy, and she became a multimillionnaire because of her association with her, so maybe she feels, hey, if it makes her happy, what the heck! BUT, BOTH SHE AND BOB SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN EMMY AWARDS THOUGH, THAT WAS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE INEPTITUDE OF THE TV ACADEMY!