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(More customer reviews)This videotape has the second half of the celebrated Hollywood episodes from "I Love Lucy," including classic guest performances by John Wayne and Harpo Marx. Episodes 121-127 are from the fourth season of the show, and were written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. The others are from the fifth season, when Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf were added to the show's writing staff:
Episode 121, "Hollywood Anniversary" (April 4, 1955), has Ricky forgetting his anniversary and lying to Lucy about having planned a big party with lots of celebrities at the Mocambo. She refuses to attend the party he comes up with instead and Ricky has to get her there so he can sing the "Anniversary Waltz" to her.
Episode 122, "The Star Upstairs" (April 18, 1955) is Cornel Wilde, who has made the mistake of staying in the suite over the one Lucy is in at the Beverly Palms Hotel. Lucy has to meet him, so she dresses up as a bellboy and gets to see more of the movie star than she bargained for.
Episode 123, "In Palm Springs" (April 25, 1955) has Lucy and Ethel taking Mrs. McGillicuddy (Kathryn Card) to Palm Springs to take a break from the boys. Ironically, after a couple of days away the girls are missing the boys, even when they run into Rock Hudson. Interesting footnote: Hudson's appearance marked the first time Universal Studios allowed someone under contract to be on a filmed television show (versus a comedy-variety show).
Episode 124, "The Dancing Star" (May 2, 1955) has Caroline Appleby (Doris SIngleton) showing up for a surprise visit on her way to Hawai'i, all because Lucy has been bragging about her friendship with Van Johnson. Lucy claimed she would be dancing with the movie star, who is appearing at the hotel, so Caroline stops by to see them dance. So Lucy has to persuade Van Johnson to dance with her, which involves "talking nutsy-cuckoo." "How About You?" is the song they end up dancing to (although originally the episode was written for Ray Bolger).
Episode 125, "Harpo Marx" (May 9, 1955) picks up on the previous episode in that Caroline Appleby stays over an extra day to see who else shows up at the Ricardos suite. So Lucy and Ethel steal her glasses and Lucy impersonates Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, and other stars. But when she dresses up as Harpo, Ricky brings the real Marx Bros. up to see Lucy. Harpo plays "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" on his harp and then does the mirror scene from "Duck Soup" with Lucy. Harpo by himself would make this a classic episode, but two redheads are definitely better than one.
Episode 126, "Ricky Needs an Agent" (May 16, 1955), begins with Lucy sick of waiting for MGM to get Ricky a new movie role. So she pretends to be his new agent and makes it sound like Ricky is so in demand that the studio releases him from his contract so that they do not stand in his way. Now Lucy has to tell Ricky he can forget about a career in Hollywood.
Episode 127, "The Tour" (May 30, 1955), shows that if the stars will not come to them, Lucy and Ethel will go to the stars. So they take a tour of the homes of the stars in Beverly Hills. The trouble begins when Lucy decides she needs a grapefruit from a tree in Richard Widmark's yard and gets trapped in the star's house trying to get out. Meanwhile, guess who Widmark is having lunch with?
Episode 128, "Lucy Visits Graumans" (October 3, 1955), has Lucy and the Mertzes trying to see everything there is to see in Hollywood before they head back to New York. When Lucy discovers that John Wayne's cement block is loose at Grauman's Chinese Theater, she decides it would make the ultimate souvenir. The problem is that they drop it and it shatters. This leads us to...
Episode 129, "Lucy and John Wayne" (October 10, 1955), has Lucy and Ethel wanted by the police because of the missing cement block, so Ricky calls up John Wayne who agrees to sign another slab. The problem is that it seems no matter how many slabs the Duke makes, the Redhead finds a way to destroy them. Another classic "I Love Lucy" episode.
Episode 130, "Lucy and the Dummy" (October 17, 1955), has Ricky refusing to perform at a studio party after Lucy had once again volunteered his services. So Lucy makes a dummy of her husband, using a rubber head the studio had made for makeup tests. The problem is that on stage the dummy gets stuck to her veil. That dummy really creeps me out (my vote for all time creepiest ventriloquist dummy). Lucy sings "I Get Ideas" in this one.
Episode 131, "Ricky Sells the Car" (October 24, 1955), gets the gang ready for the trip home. Ricky sells the car, at a profit, and buys train tickets for the return trip back East. But when he forgets about buying tickets for the Mertzes, Fred and Ethel have to make other arrangements. A minor episode, all things considered.
Episode 132, "The Great Train Robbery" (October 31, 1955), has the Ricardos and Mertzes on the SUper Chief. This one comes down to a simple gag. Lucy has been told by the conductor (Frank Nelson), not to pull the emergency brake. But you see, there are these two jewel thiefs on board and you know you cannot tell Lucy not to do something.
Episode 133, "Homecoming" (November 7, 1955), finds the Ricardos finally back in New York, where everybody is falling over all Ricky like he made a movie or something. Surprisingly, Lucy decides to buy into the idea and realizes that she must dedicate herself to being Ricky's wife, which sounds good to Ricky. This one is an anticlimax given the previous episode, which would have made for a better ending.
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