Ricky Was a Stinker Too!

[Madame X]

Lucy certainly caused her share of trouble, but there were many times when Ricky was a jerk, an idiot, mean or insensitive.

-he put the thermos of gas on the dock for anyone to pick up
-he plugged in the TV when Lucy was inside with the intent of shocking her
-he allowed Little Ricky to wander off when he was babysitting
-he flung his junk all around the apartment and didn't care
-he let Lucy remain on the ledge and purposely made comments against her
-he let Lucy believe the fur coat was hers and then made a plan to have it stolen
-he refused to be in Lucy's play, but came back and ruined it when he heard that a Hollywood producer would be the judge
-he didn't tell the truth about how he knew the answers for the radio show
-he took Lucy camping with the intent of making her life miserable
-he sold the car in Hollywood and didn't even think of how the Mertzes would get home
-he spent a lot of time with Angela Randall in England, not caring that he was ignoring Lucy and making her jealous
-he dressed Lucy in a burlap sack and feed bag and encouraged her to walk through the streets of Paris

[NOVARick]

-when Lucy was offered a contract in "Lucy and the Dummy" and she was finally about to realize her showbiz dream, he selfishly put her guilt trip so she would turn it down
-any other time she got an opportunity to appear on stage (with Bob Hope, for example), he tried to get in the way to prevent it

Originally Posted by Madame X

Lucy certainly caused her share of trouble, but there were many times when Ricky was a jerk, an idiot, mean or insensitive.

-he put the thermos of gas on the dock for anyone to pick up
-he plugged in the TV when Lucy was inside with the intent of shocking her
-he allowed Little Ricky to wander off when he was babysitting
-he flung his junk all around the apartment and didn't care
-he let Lucy remain on the ledge and purposely made comments against her
-he let Lucy believe the fur coat was hers and then made a plan to have it stolen
-he refused to be in Lucy's play, but came back and ruined it when he heard that a Hollywood producer would be the judge
-he didn't tell the truth about how he knew the answers for the radio show
-he took Lucy camping with the intent of making her life miserable
-he sold the car in Hollywood and didn't even think of how the Mertzes would get home
-he spent a lot of time with Angela Randall in England, not caring that he was ignoring Lucy and making her jealous
-he dressed Lucy in a burlap sack and feed bag and encouraged her to walk through the streets of Paris

[OH Nuts!]

Lucy & Ricky were kind of even Stephen in this area.

[Ireneparalegal]

The season one episode where Lucy did the act for Ricky's show as Boffo the Clown. She was offered a contract as well and Ricky put on the sad face there too. She said she would be happier being the mama of his children and so forth.

[Ireneparalegal]

I remembered in Equal Rights how Fred and Ricky were both stinkers. They didn't pay for their wives' meals and they were left to wash dishes. On top of that, they were scared to death when the boys pretended to be robbers.

[tdr]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I remembered in Equal Rights how Fred and Ricky were both stinkers. They didn't pay for their wives' meals and they were left to wash dishes. On top of that, they were scared to death when the boys pretended to be robbers.

My own male ego may come through on this one, but I can't place much blame on Ricky and Fred for what they did in this ep. Didn't Lucy and Ethel demand to be "treated exactly as if they were men?" Then they were shocked when the guys didn't help them on with their coats, went through the door first, took the first seats the waiter pulled out from the table, and ordered their meals first. They didn't much want to be treated as if they were men. Getting the waiter in on their plot to make them wash dishes and then pretending to be robbers may have been bad, but I think it was worse for the women to fake a robbery and assault on the telephone, and then have the cops take them to jail, giving false information to the police.

[catlover79]

Neither spouse was an angel, that's for sure.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by tdr

My own male ego may come through on this one, but I can't place much blame on Ricky and Fred for what they did in this ep. Didn't Lucy and Ethel demand to be "treated exactly as if they were men?" Then they were shocked when the guys didn't help them on with their coats, went through the door first, took the first seats the waiter pulled out from the table, and ordered their meals first. They didn't much want to be treated as if they were men. Getting the waiter in on their plot to make them wash dishes and then pretending to be robbers may have been bad, but I think it was worse for the women to fake a robbery and assault on the telephone, and then have the cops take them to jail, giving false information to the police.

Well, if you remember, the ladies called the men and pretended to be robbed, to get back at them for what they did by leaving them alone at the restaurant. The ladies didn't know the guys were going to come back for them. They assumed (rightly so) they were going to have to walk all the way back home in the dark, late night, since they didn't have any money.

When the men got to the restaurant, it was then they pretended to be robbers. Alas, when the cops got there, it was now the ladies' to seek revenge by telling the cops they didn't know who those two men were, since Ricky had told the cops they were married.

Just wanted to clarify the actual scene.

[Adamantium]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Well, if you remember, the ladies called the men and pretended to be robbed, to get back at them for what they did by leaving them alone at the restaurant. The ladies didn't know the guys were going to come back for them. They assumed (rightly so) they were going to have to walk all the way back home in the dark, late night, since they didn't have any money.

When the men got to the restaurant, it was then they pretended to be robbers. Alas, when the cops got there, it was now the ladies' to seek revenge by telling the cops they didn't know who those two men were, since Ricky had told the cops they were married.

Just wanted to clarify the actual scene.

I'm gonna have to side with tdr, Ricky and Fred on this one, lol.

[tdr]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Just wanted to clarify the actual scene.

I think we both know the actual scenes, and neither of us have the events wrong; it's just a matter of who we tend to side with. The whole thing began, of course, with Lucy holding the other 3 up while she was still getting dressed, and then waiting for ner nails to dry, then she interrupts Ricky's story, then she ups and decides where they are all going to eat. Nothing so far is a matter of women's rights, just Lucy being a pushy hindrance. Then Ricky comes on strong-- yes, too strong-- and puts Lucy down, and she at first lets herself be put down, but then suddenly she, with Ethel's strong approval, gets on a campaign to be treated exactly as if they were men.

I suppose we diverge here. I think it's obvious they didn't mean that, or they wouldn't have expected their coats to be put on them, or to be given first steps through the door or the first seats at the restaurant. The funniest moment in the ep-- the men shaving at the table-- is not about 'equal rights' but equivalent propriety.

Anyway, my view is that Lucy and Ethel made a claim they showed that they didn't mean, so they shouldn't have been surprised when Ricky and Fred took advantage to let them either eat their words or face the consequences of what they claimed.

PS: I am aware that a half century is plenty of time for meanings of certain ideals to have changed... today a woman demanding to be treated like a man definitely would entail paying for her own dinner and not expecting a coat to be put on her back. Ricky and Fred were perhaps ahead of their time in that way .

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by tdr

My own male ego may come through on this one, but I can't place much blame on Ricky and Fred for what they did in this ep. Didn't Lucy and Ethel demand to be "treated exactly as if they were men?" Then they were shocked when the guys didn't help them on with their coats, went through the door first, took the first seats the waiter pulled out from the table, and ordered their meals first.

I think Ricky was being a jerk by taking things too literally. Basically, Lucy just wanted to be treated with some dignity and not second class to Ricky and Fred. Then Ricky set out to punish her for basically just wanting to be treated like a person. Not helping her with her coat, not pulling out the chair for her, etc., was enough of a joke. But abandoning Lucy and Ethel with no money was beyond a joke. That was mean. Given Lucy's position as a housewife and mother, obviously she depended on him to bring home the bacon. And we all know he would have put his foot down if she ever went out and started working full time to earn her own spending money. So his taking advantage of her situation for this "joke" was insensitive and obnoxious. He deserved being put in jail, and Lucy shouldn't have let him off the hook so easily.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

I think Ricky was being a jerk by taking things too literally. Basically, Lucy just wanted to be treated with some dignity and not second class to Ricky and Fred. Then Ricky set out to punish her for basically just wanting to be treated like a person. Not helping her with her coat, not pulling out the chair for her, etc., was enough of a joke. But abandoning Lucy and Ethel with no money was beyond a joke. That was mean. Given Lucy's position as a housewife and mother, obviously she depended on him to bring home the bacon. And we all know he would have put his foot down if she ever went out and started working full time to earn her own spending money. So his taking advantage of her situation for this "joke" was insensitive and obnoxious. He deserved being put in jail, and Lucy shouldn't have let him off the hook so easily.

You said it very well. Nothing I can say could add to an already great response.

Lucy was asking to be treated as an equal. The way Ricky told her it should be like it is in Cuba where the man is a man and the woman is a woman means he didn't hear what Lucy was saying. She just didn't want to be talked to in the manner in which Ricky had done. She wanted to "walk with Ricky" not "walk behind him." And knowing Ricky, he would have taken that statement literally, rather than understand the underlying message.

[SPLAIN]

Hey, if either had not behaved badly all the time, we would have had nothing to watch!

[tdr]

I don't intend to run this in the ground, but the women's demand was to be treated exactly as if they were men. Honestly, would you make such a demand on your husband, or any man, and then still expect him to put your coat on you and pay for your dinner?

[Ireneparalegal]

And would Ricky still have expected breakfast and dinner to be ready when he was home? Have his home cleaned by Lucy? Have everything done for him at home? YES! I seriously doubt Ricky would have done any of those things for himself had he kept up that charade much longer.