It was the end of an era, the end of Lucy's reign on CBS (in the sitcom arena) and she gave the whole thing to Lucie. Make no mistakes, I'm not bashing Lucie (or Lucy, or Here's Lucy, LOL), I just feel the final episode should've been all Lucy...Not Lucie!


Anyone share this opinion?



I do like the undertone of the episode. IMO, it says "I'm leaving, and there will be imitators, but they won't touch what I've done"

Am I alone in this observation as well? :lol:

What happened on the final episode???

Keep in mind that while "Lucy Fights the System" was the final episode aired, it was "Meanwhile, Back at the Office" that was the final episode that was filmed. I imagine it was the networks decision which ep to air last...

I believe that Gale Gordon's last line summed it up perfectly for the end show. For those who haven't seen it, it goes something like this. A mad patron has grabbed a pie and is threatening to throw it at the manager of the restaurant. Of course, the pie gets thrown, the manager ducks and hits Gale right in the face. When the pie hits him, he doesn't go ballistic. He just quietly wipes the pie from his eyes, waits a few seconds and says "I knew it would end like this!" A perfect way to end the show, in my opinion.

Originally posted by bb25
Keep in mind that while "Lucy Fights the System" was the final episode aired, it was "Meanwhile, Back at the Office" that was the final episode that was filmed. I imagine it was the networks decision which ep to air last...

Yes, the episodes were filmed out of sequence, but nothing points to "Lucy Fights The System" not being the choice for all involved to be the final episode aired.


If that makes any sense whatsoever!:lol:

Yeah, i loved Gale's line, but probably i was too sad to appreciate any comedy here, it was indeed the end of a great era!

I think Gale Gordon was a great character actor. I had the honor to receive 2 letters from him in the late 1980's. He was telling me he tried out for a part on the TV show and didn't get it. He didn't mention what program it, but I am sure it would have been better with Gale.

:eek: Somebody turned Gale down?! Let me at the dirty rat! :mad:

Well, the man did have his share of projects over the years, do you know how many series the man acted in in his varied career Brock?

That's true, and also, when an actor is as old as Gale was in the late 80s, it is very hard for them to get regular jobs on sitcoms or TV, because of the infamous insurance physical, not because they didn't want Gale...remember, it is rumored that Viv was to have become a permanent character on Rhoda, but she was not in good health at the time...

Originally posted by SPLAIN
do you know how many series the man acted in in his varied career Brock?

Of course I do! ;)

Can you list them? Also, I remember a TV special with Gale. The only thing I can remember is the announcer announces his name and he come walking out on the stage (he was one of many people introduced) I don't know if this is a Lucy special or not...but it was the mid to late 70's.

I knew you did Brock, i thought you would at least list them as you are the only person in the world to have a Gale Gordon website.

Since this is SitcomsOnline just a selection of series he's been had a recurring role in are:

The Adventures of Ozzy and Harriet
I Love Lucy
Our Miss Brooks
Sally
Pete and Gladys
Dennis the Menace
The Lucy Show
Here's Lucy
Bungle Abbey
Life With Lucy
...and a number of other pilots.

Radio (off the top of my head):
The Wonder Show
Our Miss Brooks
Burns and Allen
My Favorite Husband
The Great Gildersleeve
Fibber McGee and Molly
...and TONS more!


And I think that special you may be referring to is Lucy Moves to NBC

How old was he Brock, the last time he did a cartwheel on the air?

I'm not sure. I've seen very little of Gale's television appearances between the end of Here's Lucy and the start of Life With Lucy. But apparently he was still able to do the cartwheel in 1986 but they wouldn't let him. :(

Yeah, i remember that, insurance concerns i bet! Good for him for being in such great shape at his age!

Some really good information about Gale Gordon. I have just one burning question...

What happened on the final episode??????

The only thing i remember is what was mentionned, a pie fight and Gale says, I JUST KNEW IT WOULD END THIS WAY! I will look up that show in the Lucy book at lunch and see if i have the show tonight.

In this episode, a woman is fired from a restaurant she has worked in for years in an effort to get all new YOUNG staff. THe woman goes to the Unique Employment Agency to get a new job and Lucy is shocked at her story. To prove that a good waitress is hard to find, Lucy sends Kim to the restaurant to take the waitressing job and be completely incompetant with the job. When the boss has had enough of Kim bungling the job, Lucy, Harry and the woman walk in and the boss immediately rehires her.

The pie is thrown by one of the customers that had their order screwed up by Kim, I think.

Oh, THAT was the one? Good show. But certainly they could have done better. Lucy in bed with Desi and she tells him she had a dream about working as a secretary? She turns out the lights at the end and sings It's a long way to Tippararee, nah, i guess that's been done. :lol:

Thanks, bweir.

SPLAIN, I agree. It would have been cool to see Lucy and Desi in bed together one last time.

I think the only thing we can get is watching the home movies of Lucie Arnaz which showed Desi and Lucy swimming in the pool together with their first grandchild. When I saw that it sent chills up my spine. This was in the early 1980's from the way they looked.
CHRIS

That's VERY true, one of the best all time scenes ever of Lucy, the same thing would have happened if he had lived to present HER with the Kennedy Center honors or even if she had shown up as a surprise guest when he hosted Saturday Night Live or at her induction into the TV Hall of Fame, they had many opportunities but i guess Gary was a factor also. And the bit about the bed, i was joking about he end of Bob Newhart where they actually referred to a pevious series in their scene.

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Oh, THAT was the one? Good show. But certainly they could have done better. Lucy in bed with Desi and she tells him she had a dream about working as a secretary? She turns out the lights at the end and sings It's a long way to Tippararee, nah, i guess that's been done. :lol:

Yeah, but had Lucy done it she would've been first and it would have gone down history. :lol:

I doubt Lucy would have did though, even if some type of suggestion like that was brought up to her.

Ex:

Gary: Hey Luce, what do you think about asking Desi to be in the final episode?

(Lucy stares at Gary blankly)

Gary: I'll take that as a no...

:p

I'll go one further, due to her feelings towards Desi, she propbably wouldn't have wanted to hurt Gary that way. As much as i don't like the man, i have to say, it must have been hard for him to constantly hear about him and his accomplishments and know that he was her true love all her life.

And you're right, Lucy never would have done something as drastic as the BED routine, too modern and it would have been quite a shock to her fans, although i watch her in Facts of Life and hear her on talk shows and she sure was ahead of her time her whole life with a very broadminded attitude about most things.

Originally posted by SPLAIN
I'll go one further, due to her feelings towards Desi, she propbably wouldn't have wanted to hurt Gary that way. As much as i don't like the man, i have to say, it must have been hard for him to constantly hear about him and his accomplishments and know that he was her true love all her life.

I don't think it was anything like that (at the most, maybe some part of it, but not the entire reason). Gary realized his place in Lucy's life and having learned a thing or two about the industry and what the public wants (from Lucy) he would have known that ratings would have been through the roof with Desi in the final episode, or Desi appearing in any of the later episodes.

I just think Lucy didn't want to revisit that aspect of her life. They were friends and became very close after the divorce, but maybe it was too much for both of them to actually perform together again.

Then again, perhaps it just never crossed anyone's mind (which would be surprising if that's the case).

Gary learning anything??? I dunno about that! Just finished reading this article about Life with Lucy by Michael Stern and two others and they mention how Gary was watching the editing and was furious about Lucy NOT getting a laugh from the audience, and the editor had to tell him that the scene was a THIRD take, so the audience had already heard the joke three times, but that would mean a laugh track answered Gary, no, we can use the real laugh from the first time the audience heard it was the reply, so Gary finally understood only to repeat the exact same scenerio afew minutes later with another scene.

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Gary learning anything??? I dunno about that! Just finished reading this article about Life with Lucy by Michael Stern and two others and they mention how Gary was watching the editing and was furious about Lucy NOT getting a laugh from the audience, and the editor had to tell him that the scene was a THIRD take, so the audience had already heard the joke three times, but that would mean a laugh track answered Gary, no, we can use the real laugh from the first time the audience heard it was the reply, so Gary finally understood only to repeat the exact same scenerio afew minutes later with another scene.

I think your feelings against Gary is effecting this conversation.

It would have been fairly obvious to anyone with any type of "power" on a Lucy set (not only just Gary) that Desi on screen with Lucy in one of the later shows (especially during the HL years) was a guranteed ratings winner (bigger ratings than the Taylor/Burton episode). Even Lucy would've known that, the point is the reason it never happened most likely had little to do with Lucy sparing Gary's feelings (as we do have stories about Desi being on the set probably a few times out each season to see the kids work...and Lucy always called Desi for advice, as we both know) and probably more to do with the fact that neither wanted to share the stage again....though they were close, maybe working together again (in that type of capcity) was alittle to much for both of them.

Well, i certainly CAN understand that both would have to remember the last time they shared the screen together, and that HAD to be a factor in their not wanting to go through any of that unpleasantness again.

After watching all five shows of Lucille Ball, I believe sincerely that actor Gale Gordon was the only one that appeared in ALL of them.

Here's a rundown:

ILL: episodes #33 & #35 (as Mr. Littlefield)
TLDCH: episode #7 (as the judge)
TLS: various episodes (as Mr. Mooney)
HL: various episodes (as Uncle Harry)
LWL: all episodes (as Curtis McGibbon)