How is it that...

[drewfussclass101]

Hey guys

I was just watching some episodes from the first season(not really my fav. by any means but i have exhausted the other season so i needed something new) and noticed that ethel was protraied as an excellent piano player, you notice in Breaking the Lease that she is a whiz on the piano when they are all singing and ethel is playing...so why is it that in season six...Rag Time Band that ethel seems as if an piano is foreign to her? just and observation...replies would be nice.

Drew

[desilu #1]

Hi Drew,
There are alot of inconsistencies in the show. Either the writers forget about the previous writing or they just re-write history thinking the fans would never catch on. But, yes that is one of them. Another observation is that Ethel had three different middle names! Her father called her Ethel May when they stopped in New Mexico on the way to California. Lucy called her Ethel Roberta when they went to deliver Aunt Martha's salad dressing and I believe Fred called her Ethel Louise when she and Lucy bought the same dress and they both agreed to take them back. I can't recall anymore at the moment, but I'm sure there is many more. Maybe this is a good start to a new topic!

[SPLAIN]

Yes, i agree, it's one of my pet peeves about I Love Lucy that they never hired someone to take care of continuity, nothing ever makes sense. Then again, they expected to do the show a year and had no idea these would be rerun for half a century afterwards.

[White Rabbit]

I can think of two others. Ethel can drive in the second season in the Camping Trip episode, but says she can't in subsequent seasons.

Lucy says she only knows how to play one song on her saxaphone, 'Glow Worm." In a different episode she says she only knows how to play 'Sweet Sue."

[Larry Surrell]

I'm not 100% certain of this, but I think when they first changed apartments the new one was apartment 3B and in later episodes the number was 3D.

[snl 70s show fan]

i think that part of the reason may have been that in the 6th season they got some new writers and they may have written the ep but on the other hand madalyn pugh and bob carroll jr were still involved with the show so why didn the just point out the error?

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

And, in the episode where Lucy claims to only know "Sweet Sue," Ethel says she only knows how to play "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Mrs. Mertz who was tickling the ivorys and playing "Sweet Sue," while the Ricardo's and the Mertzes were standing around the piano singing in "Breaking the Lease?"

[InspectorExstead]

Originally Posted by PolarCub75@aol.com

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

that one bugs me so much! after watching my dvds so many times, it's hard not to catch all of these little inconsistencies on the show. lol.

[tdr]

Maybe they took the washing machine back, and that salesman told them they had good discernment, then sold them a Handy Dandy bulldozer.

[SPLAIN]

Originally Posted by Larry Surrell

I'm not 100% certain of this, but I think when they first changed apartments the new one was apartment 3B and in later episodes the number was 3D.

Again, the reason, for the comedy on the show, Lucy tells the man asking for her references in show business that she was in 3D. It was to help the comedy, not to make sense, LOL!

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by PolarCub75@aol.com

Here's yet another one:

At the end of the "Sales Resistance" episode, Fred bought Ethel a "Handy-Dandy" washing machine." Well, a few episodes later in "Never Do Busines With Friends," Ethel says that her washing machine is so old that she thinks it's the first one ever made and that it should be donated to the Smithsonian Institute. How can that be when she got a new washing machine just a few episodes prior?

And, in the episode where Lucy claims to only know "Sweet Sue," Ethel says she only knows how to play "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Mrs. Mertz who was tickling the ivorys and playing "Sweet Sue," while the Ricardo's and the Mertzes were standing around the piano singing in "Breaking the Lease?"

Yeah, we seen how Ethel could play that piano with ease and in the Connecticut episode she claims to only know SHE'LL BE COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN. She could only play by ear...or rather, that is what Fred said abt her to Lucy.

As for Lucy and the sax, she was playing GLOW WORM (or tried to ) when she wanted to go along on Ricky's tour with the band in one of the earlier episodes. All of a sudden she can play SWEET SUE in the Connecticut episode I mentioned above.

[Haunted_Armoire]

Ethel plays the piano in "The Operetta" too and we can assume she's one of the two composers of the entire thing, according to Lucy's suggestion they do it themselves. We see Lucy banging out a couple notes while typing the lyrics but all that wonderful music I think was Ethel's creation! She (they) even READ and TRANSCRIBE music!

[Ireneparalegal]

Here is another. I noticed this a long time ago but it came to my attention today while watching ILL in bed nursing this cold.

In the Hollywood episodes, the Mertzes have a hotel room with the door on the left side. We see this when Ricky comes searching for Lucy in the John Wayne episodes.

In the episode in Hollywood regarding the train tickets, Lucy goes into the Mertzes hotel room and she enters through a door on the RIGHT side. The furniture is still layed out the same way. You can see drapes on the left hand side where the door used to be.

[Larry Surrell]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Here is another. I noticed this a long time ago but it came to my attention today while watching ILL in bed nursing this cold.

In the Hollywood episodes, the Mertzes have a hotel room with the door on the left side. We see this when Ricky comes searching for Lucy in the John Wayne episodes.

In the episode in Hollywood regarding the train tickets, Lucy goes into the Mertzes hotel room and she enters through a door on the RIGHT side. The furniture is still layed out the same way. You can see drapes on the left hand side where the door used to be.

Hi Irene,

I just watched this episode last night and may be able to splain thins. In the scene when Ricky first comes home before we see the Mertz's room, Lucy convinced Ricky to buy the train tickets for them, picked up the phone to talk to Ethel and asked the hotel operator for room 317. She is told the Mertzes have checked out. After the motorcycle incident and things are straightened out the Mertzes are back in the hotel. When we then see Lucy enter the Mertzes hotel room they are in room 372, so when Fred and Ethel checked back in they apparrently are given a different room.