Pilot, Season 1 – Aired: 4/30/1990
The Lost I Love Lucy Pilot
Lucy wants to get into the act at Ricky's club, but Ricky won't let her. But when Pepito the clown suffers from an injury, Lucy runs off to the club to fill in for him.
Season 1, Episode 1 – Aired: 10/15/1951
The Girls Want To Go To a Nightclub
It's the Mertzes' eighteenth wedding anniversary. Ethel longs to celebrate it by going to the Copacabana, while Fred wants to attend the fights. As can be guessed, an argument soon ensues among the couples. Ethel and Lucy decide that they will go to the club-with dates! This is perfectly fine with Fred, but Ricky is worried, so he and Fred call an old friend, Ginny Jones, for dates so that they can go to the nightclub and spy on their wives. Coincidentally, Lucy and Ethel have also called Ginny about getting dates to go to the club. When Ginny tells the girls about the boys' plans, Lucy decides that she and Ethel will impersonate the boys' blind dates. Thus, the two of them enter the Ricardo apartment decked out like country bumpkins, which makes for some superb Lucille Ball schtick.
Season 1, Episode 2 – Aired: 10/22/1951
Be A Pal
In order to keep the honeymoon from ending with Ricky, Lucy consults a book that leads to all sorts of hilarious situations as Lucy tries to follow the book's advice.
Season 1, Episode 3 – Aired: 10/29/1951
The Diet
To her dismay, Lucy finds out that she's put on 22 pounds since marrying Ricky. Complications arise when Lucy begins a strict diet to lose 12 pounds and try to make it into Ricky's show.
Season 1, Episode 4 – Aired: 11/5/1951
Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her
Lucy is deeply engrossed in a brand-new whodunit, called "The Mockingbird Mystery," and is, understandably, a nail-biting wreck. Making matters worse, Ethel's amateur attempts at fortune telling point to her ultimate "murder." The icing on the cake is a misunderstood phone conversation between Ricky and his agent, Jerry. Ricky decides to pour a sedative for Lucy so that she can relax, but she thinks it's poison. With what she believes is her last burst of energy, she hastens to the Tropicana to confront Ricky with a gun.
Season 1, Episode 5 – Aired: 11/12/1951
The Quiz Show
Needing to make some extra money to pay some outstanding bills, Lucy competes on the show "Females are Fabulous," a title that Lucy justifies elaborately. In this episode, Frank Nelson makes the first of many cameos as Freddy Fillmore.
Season 1, Episode 6 – Aired: 11/19/1951
The Audition Show
Ricky's band is to be auditioned for television, and Lucy is trying to "get into the act". When Lucy substitutes for Boffo the Clown, the producers want to sign her, not Ricky, and Lucy is confronted with problems. Ricky sings his trademark "Babalu" for the first time in this episode.
Season 1, Episode 7 – Aired: 11/26/1951
The Séance
Lucy suddenly becomes interested in numerology and superstitions. After advising Ricky that it's a good day for him to make deals, she realizes that she read yesterday's horoscopes and that today is actually a bad day for Ricky. She thus says "no" to a very important business call for Ricky from Mr. Meriweather. In the process of putting things right, Lucy conducts a séance. Classic Ethel quote: "Ethel to Tillie, Ethel to Tillie, come in Tillie."
Season 1, Episode 8 – Aired: 12/3/1951
Men are Messy
"Men are nothing but a bunch of messcats," insists Lucy Ricardo while Ricky concludes that "a man's home is his castle". To make a point, Lucy divides the apartment in half so that Ricky can be as messy as he likes on his side, but when Ricky's press agent, Kenny Morgan, lines up a publicity spread in Halfbeat Magazine, Lucy decides to teach her sloppy husband a lesson by turning the Ricardo apartment into a regular pig pen. Little does Lucy know that this photographer is not from the musician's journal, but is actually from Look magazine.
Season 1, Episode 9 – Aired: 12/24/1951
Drafted
When Lucy opens a telegram addressed to Ricky ordering him to appear at the Army's Fort Dix, she assumes that he has been drafted. Ethel suspects that Fred has been drafted as well. Their suspicions are confirmed when they see them drilling in the living room with brooms. They don't know, however, that Ricky and Fred are practicing a dance routine for a servicemen's show. To get their men "ready for the army", Lucy and Ethel take to knitting blankets and other things for them. They also plan a going away party for them on Sunday night. Ricky and Fred, meanwhile, think that the girls are pregnant. Chaos ensues when they plan a similar party (a baby shower) for that same night.
Season 1, Episode 10 – Aired: 12/10/1951
The Fur Coat
Ricky returns home with a $3,500 mink coat that he has rented for an act at the club. Lucy immediately jumps to the conclusion that it's her anniversary present. Lucy is so delighted with her "present" that she eats, sleeps, and even does the dishes wearing the mink. Ricky decides to get the coat back by having Fred dress up as a thief and "steal" it, but before he does, a REAL burglar almost makes off with the coat! When Lucy learns from Ethel of his plan, she decides to teach her hubby a lesson. Buying a cheap imitation mink, she decides to "restyle" it (with a pair of scissors) in full view of Ricky.
Season 1, Episode 11 – Aired: 12/17/1951
Lucy Is Jealous of Girl Singer
An item in the morning gossip column prompts Lucy to assume that Ricky is seeing another woman, namely Rosemary, one of his dancers. To keep an eye on Ricky, Lucy manages to wangle her way into the chorus line of "Jezebel" at Ricky's club.
Season 1, Episode 12 – Aired: 12/31/1951
The Adagio
Lucy volunteers for Ricky's Parisian Apache dance number for an upcoming Tropicana show, and Ethel finds the perfect person to teach her the basic aspects of Apache dancing - Jean Valjean Raymand, who is the nephew of the woman who runs the French hand laundry. This Frenchman has more than dance lessons in mind, however. When Ricky finds him hanging outside the bedroom window, fireworks commence. Jean challenges him to a duel behind Radio City Music Hall, but they ultimately decide to stage a fake fight in the bedroom to teach Lucy a well-deserved lesson.
Season 1, Episode 13 – Aired: 1/7/1952
The Benefit
Ethel wants Ricky to a headline a benefit show for her women's club, but Lucy refuses to ask him unless she can be on the bill, too. After plenty of coaxing on the part of Lucy, Ricky finally says that he'll do it, but Lucy then gets a chance to look at the act that she and Ricky will be doing for the benefit. Ricky has all the punch lines! She decides to rewrite the jokes and teach her husband a lesson.
Season 1, Episode 14 – Aired: 1/14/1952
The Amateur Hour
Lucy, as usual, spends too much money on a dress, so she tells Ricky that she will get a job babysitting in order to pay for it. The trouble is, she didn't know that she would be winding up babysitting a pair of rambunctious, spoiled twins. The twins do almost everything to Lucy besides burning her at the stake. The twins' mother eventually calls, and says that if Lucy performs at a variety show with the twins, she can keep the prize money of $100.
Season 1, Episode 15 – Aired: 1/21/1952
Lucy Plays Cupid
Miss Lewis, the Ricardo's elderly neighbor, requests Lucy's assistance in getting the attention of Mr. Ritter, the elderly grocery man whom she is sweet on. Lucy readily agrees to give Mr. Ritter a dinner invitation for Miss Lewis. The first complication arises when Lucy shares the news with Ricky, who spanks Lucy for interfering and makes her promise to give the note back to Miss Lewis. But, when Lucy proceeds to give Mr. Ritter the note anyway, he misunderstands and thinks the invitation is from Lucy herself. This leads to an unsuccessful plan by Lucy to discourage Mr. Ritter and Ricky's telling Mr. Ritter that he can have her. In spite of all these unintended mishaps, Mr. Ritter and Miss Lewis do in fact wind up together, never to be seen on any future episode.
Season 1, Episode 16 – Aired: 1/28/1952
Lucy Fakes Illness
After all this time, Lucy has finally found what she believes to be the perfect solution for getting into show business. After Ethel gives her a book about diseases, Lucy decides that she will pretend that she is suffering from numerous psychological ailments so that Ricky will feel sorry for her and let her go into show business. To convince Ricky that she is really "ill," Lucy pretends that she doesn't know who she is, and at one point "thinks" that she is Tallulah Bankhead! When Ricky eventually gets wind of Lucy's trick, he hires a phony doctor to scare Lucy back to health.
Season 1, Episode 17 – Aired: 2/4/1952
Lucy Writes a Play
Lucy is busily writing the script for the play that her women's club is going to put on, a little something called A Tree Grows in Havana, and she needs Ricky to appear in it. When Ricky sees the script, he immediately declines, so Lucy is then left with no alternative but to get Fred to agree to do the role. Deciding that Fred wouldn't be very good for portraying a Cuban character, Lucy decides to rewrite the play so that it is set in England. Later, however, Ricky decides that he wants to be in the play when he hears that some very important sponsors are going to be at the women's show, so he manages to trick Fred into giving him back the role. Ricky, though, doesn't know that Lucy has rewritten the play. This leads to some pretty disastrous results.
Season 1, Episode 18 – Aired: 2/11/1952
Breaking the Lease
The show opens with the Ricardos and the Mertzes sitting around the Ricardos' piano, singing songs together. After the Mertzes leave, Lucy and Ricky wind up in an argument: Lucy wants to leave the bedroom window open, while Ricky wants it closed. The Mertzes, who are trying to get some sleep, are most irritated by the noise. They angrily phone the Ricardos and demand that they cut down on the racket. This, as you can imagine, leads to a big quarrel between the Ricardos and the Mertzes. Lucy and Ricky decide that they can't take it anymore, and they want to move out. However, there is a slight problem--they've signed a lease. The Ricardos thus decide to become the most undesirable tenants ever so that they can break that lease. They succeed in doing so, but ultimately decide that they can't move away and that they must apologize to their friends.
Season 1, Episode 19 – Aired: 2/18/1952
The Ballet
Even after all this time, Lucy still longs to get into one of Ricky's shows. When she learns that there is an opening in one of Ricky's acts for a ballet dancer, as well as a burlesque comedienne, Lucy decides to take a ballet class, which leads to some pretty disastrous results. Fed up, Lucy then hires a teacher to teach her the art of burlesque comedy. It is then that Lucy learns that Ricky still has one spot available in his act. Falsely assuming that it is the burlesque comedienne, not the ballet dancer, that Ricky needs for his act, Lucy goes to the club and mayhem ensues.
Season 1, Episode 20 – Aired: 2/25/1952
The Young Fans
A shy young teenager named Peggy has a major crush on Ricky. Ricky, however, is tired of all the "attention" that this girl is giving him, so asks Lucy to have a talk with her. During their conversation, Lucy asks Peggy to think of some other boys her own age that she might like to go out with instead. Peggy, it seems, also likes a boy named Arthur Morton. Unfortunately, Arthur is painfully shy and cannot dance, so Lucy volunteers to give him a dance lesson, but then Arthur becomes infatuated with Lucy! To get the two off their backs, Lucy and Ricky come up with a solution: they will dress up and act like 90 year-olds, and scare their "young fans" back to reality.
Season 1, Episode 21 – Aired: 3/3/1952
New Neighbors
Lucy becomes afraid that one of her new neighbors is threatening to kill her and convinces the others that the neighbors are trying to kill them...which gets them into big trouble.
Season 1, Episode 22 – Aired: 3/10/1952
Fred and Ethel Fight
Fred and Ethel have been going at each other's throats for the past few days now, and aren't talking to each other any more. (Fred: She called my mother a weasel!) To get them back together, Lucy comes up with a plan: She will invite Ethel to dinner, while Ricky will invite Fred. Neither Mertz will know that the other is coming, Lucy hopes that she can bring the Mertzes together so they can talk out their issues. Lucy commences with her plan, but during dinner, she and Ricky start to bicker. By the end of supper, the Mertzes leave the Ricardos' apartment as happy as larks, but Lucy and Ricky are now at each others' throats. It's now up to the Mertzes to bring the Ricardos back together.
Season 1, Episode 23 – Aired: 3/17/1952
The Moustache
Lucy dislikes Ricky's new moustache. In order to take revenge, she glues a moustache and beard on to her face. Then, Ricky agrees to shave his moustache off, as long as Lucy gets rid of hers. Lucy tries to get the facial hair off, and is unsuccessful. They try to get a special substance to take the glue off, to find out that it is not made anymore.
Season 1, Episode 24 – Aired: 3/24/1952
The Gossip
Ricky is disgusted by Lucy's obsession with gossiping about other people. According to Ricky, Lucy acts as if it is her "life's blood." Fred, too, is disturbed by Ethel's love of gossiping. The two girls then point out that both Ricky and Fred have been known to gossip, also. The boys then challenge the girls to a bet: They will see who can go without gossiping the longest, and the winners will receive breakfast in bed for a month. The bet commences, and everything is going fine until Ricky comes up with a plan to cheat so that he and Fred can win.
Season 1, Episode 25 – Aired: 3/31/1952
Pioneer Women
Having been bet by their husbands that they can't do without modern conveniences, Lucy and Ethel churn butter and bake bread from scratch-an eighteen foot loaf! But then Lucy demands that Ricky live as if it's the turn of the century for him, too.
Season 1, Episode 26 – Aired: 4/7/1952
The Marriage License
Lucy thinks she and Ricky aren't legally married because his name was misspelled on their marriage license. So she wants them to renew their vows at the same place in Connecticut where Ricky first proposed to her. But they run out of gas getting there.
Season 1, Episode 27 – Aired: 4/14/1952
The Kleptomaniac
When Ricky finds a closet full of valuables that Lucy has collected for a bazaar, he mistakenly thinks that she's become a kleptomaniac. He secretly calls in a doctor to hypnotize her, but Lucy is wise to his plan and feigns recalling a notorious past.
Season 1, Episode 28 – Aired: 4/21/1952
Cuban Pals
Lucy burns with jealousy when she gets an eyeful of Ricky's dance partner Renita (Lita Baron) from the "old days" in Cuba. She was a child then, but no more! Determined to keep them apart, Lucy heads to the club in disguise, and finds herself in the clutches of a wild man named Ramon.
Season 1, Episode 29 – Aired: 4/28/1952
The Freezer
Where's the beef? It's in Lucy and Ethel's new walk-in freezer (according to Lucy, the "human Popsicle"). Of course, Ricky and Fred have a beef with their wives, because they paid $483 for it. The meat company won't take it back, and they can't sell it to customers waiting in the local butcher shop, so they're stuck with it. And speaking of stuck, Lucy gets herself locked in the freezer!
Season 1, Episode 30 – Aired: 5/5/1952
Lucy Does a TV Commercial
Desperate to be in Ricky's new television commercial, Lucy makes every attempt to get her way; which eventually pays off. But her one-and-only chance flops when she is forced to test the sponsor's product over-and-over, a vitamin syrup called Vitametavegamin, which is 23% alcohol.
Season 1, Episode 31 – Aired: 5/12/1952
The Publicity Agent
Lucy poses as a princess for a publicity stunt.
Season 1, Episode 32 – Aired: 5/19/1952
Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio
Lucy secretly books Ricky on a radio quiz show.
Season 1, Episode 33 – Aired: 5/26/1952
Lucy's Schedule
Ricky puts Lucy on a rigid time schedule.
Season 1, Episode 34 – Aired: 6/2/1952
Ricky Thinks He's Getting Bald
Ricky fears that he is going bald, so Lucy takes it into her head to help him: she stages a "bald people's party" to show him that he's not so bad, after all. But when that doesn't work, she resorts to showing some new "hair treatments" (or "torture tactics" as Lucy calls them) to show Ricky how silly he's been.
Season 1, Episode 35 – Aired: 6/9/1952
Ricky Asks For a Raise
Ricky asks for a raise, but his boss (Gale Gordon) turns him down, prompting Lucy to prove just how popular a performer he is. Her scheme involves making a lot of bogus reservations at the club on the night that somebody else is playing, then show up in various disguises (including Fred in drag) feigning indignation that Ricky's not performing--and leave in a huff.
Season 2, Episode 1 – Aired: 9/29/1952
The Anniversary Present
Lucy thinks that Ricky is pitching woo with a sophisticated neighbor. The woman is actually a jeweler who Ricky has commissioned to fashion a pearl necklace to surprise Lucy with on their anniversary. Lucy takes to spying before the deal can go down and almost loses out on her big surprise.
Season 2, Episode 2 – Aired: 10/6/1952
The Handcuffs
After Lucy snaps a pair of antique handcuffs on herself and Ricky, they realize there's no key. A locksmith is found, but not before the Ricardos go to bed handcuffed together, and Ricky has to do a TV show with his "attached" wife trying to upstage him.
Season 2, Episode 3 – Aired: 10/13/1952
The Operetta
Lucy's women's club wants to stage an operetta, but they're completely broke. (Lucy, the treasurer, seems to have spent it all to pay her own bills.) Thus, Lucy and Ethel write and star in the musical, but when their postdated check bounces for the costumes and scenery, the rental company repossesses everything in midperformance.
Season 2, Episode 4 – Aired: 9/15/1952
Job Switching
Ricky wants Lucy to try working for a week, so she and Ethel get jobs at a candy factory, where they are totally inept-especially at wrapping chocolates-due to a speeding conveyor belt that has them stuffing chocolates in their mouths, blouses, and hats.
Season 2, Episode 5 – Aired: 9/22/1952
The Saxophone
When Lucy fails her saxophone audition for Ricky's band, she tries to stop him from going on the road by pretending there's another man in her life. Ricky gets back at her by hiring several "lovers," and hiding them in Lucy's closet. But Lucy gets the last laugh in the end!
Season 2, Episode 6 – Aired: 10/27/1952
Vacation from Marriage
The Ricardos and the Mertzes take a week off from their in-a-rut marriages. But each spouse misses the other too much, and despite a last-ditch attempt to make each other jealous, they all decide that they'd rather be in a rut with their mates.
Season 2, Episode 7 – Aired: 11/10/1952
The Courtroom
The Ricardos give the Mertzes a television set for their anniversary, but Ricky's zealous tuning causes it to blow up. Fred retaliates by breaking the Ricardos' set (by kicking it!) The foursome end up in court, telling the judge their own colorful versions of the events leading to the destruction of their respective TV sets.
Season 2, Episode 8 – Aired: 11/24/1952
Redecorating
Waiting to find out if she has won a home furnishing contest, Lucy won't leave the house, much to Ricky's annoyance. He tells Fred to call her and say that she's won. In her joy, Lucy sells all the old furniture, leaving Ricky with the job of buying it back.
Season 2, Episode 9 – Aired: 12/1/1952
Ricky Loses His Voice
Ricky's laryngitis makes it impossible for him to perform in a big reopening show for the Tropicana. So Lucy substitutes herself, the ex-vaudevillian Mertzes, and a chorus line of middle-aged showgirls from the Flapper Follies of 1927. Look for Barbara Pepper as one of the showgirls.
Season 2, Episode 10 – Aired: 1/26/1953
Sales Resistance
Convinced his wife is a sucker for a sales pitch, Ricky demands that she return the vacuum cleaner she bought from a door-to-door salesman. Instead, she tries (unsuccessfully) to sell it. Ricky insists that he'll return it-and ends up buying a refrigerator.
Season 2, Episode 11 – Aired: 2/2/1953
The Inferiority Complex
When no one laughs at her jokes or wants her to be their bridge partner, Lucy comes to the conclusion that she is inferior to everyone else. Worried by Lucy's behavior, Ricky goes to the psychiatrist (or "fizz-a-key-a-tryst" as Ricky pronounces it,) to find the remedy. But it turns out that this doctor's "remedy" isn't exactly what Ricky had in mind.
Season 2, Episode 12 – Aired: 2/16/1953
The Club Election
Because they both want to be president of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League, Lucy and Ethel both engage in cut-throat competition. Prior to the elections, Lucy and Ethel independently engage in a little "spywork." It seems that half the club plans on voting for Lucy and the other half plans to vote for Ethel. But there is one undecided vote--that of the new member, Ruth Knickerbocker. So Lucy and Ethel both go to extremes to sway Knickerbocker's vote.
Season 2, Episode 13 – Aired: 3/9/1953
The Black Eye
Lucy misses catching a book tossed to her by Ricky, and winds up with a black eye that Fred and Ethel are convinced was intentional. Trying to patch things up for the Ricardos, Fred sends Lucy flowers, but inadvertedly uses his own name instead of Ricky's.
Season 2, Episode 14 – Aired: 3/30/1953
Lucy Changes Her Mind
Ricky is furious that his wife can't make up her mind and never finishes what she starts. To get even with Ricky, Lucy decides to pick up where she left off with an old boyfriend, but meeting her former beau after all these years turns out to be a major disappointment.
Season 2, Episode 15 – Aired: 12/8/1952
Lucy is Enceinte
Lucy is delighted to learn she is pregnant-but how to tell Ricky? At lunch, he's too preoccupied with work to listen to her, then it's off to the club-where Lucy finds the right moment and just the right way to tell him.
Season 2, Episode 16 – Aired: 12/15/1952
Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable
Lucy thinks Ricky cares more about the baby they're having than about her, especially after he buys her presents like bonnets and rattles. But when he takes her out for a night on the town, she thinks he's lost interest in the baby.
Season 2, Episode 17 – Aired: 12/22/1952
Lucy's Showbiz Swan Song
Despite her pregnancy, Lucy wants to appear in Ricky's Gay Nineties revue at the Tropicana. After a disastrous audition, Lucy disguises herself and sneaks into the barbershop quartet number, and then proceeds to ruin it.
Season 2, Episode 18 – Aired: 12/29/1952
Lucy Hires An English Tutor
Lucy hires an English tutor so that Ricky won't give their yet-to-be-born baby bad speaking habits. The lessons are free, but Lucy does promise the tutor a payback: he'll get to sing at the Tropicana. Of course, Lucy neglects to tell Ricky this.
Season 2, Episode 19 – Aired: 1/5/1953
Ricky Has Labor Pains
Ricky develops "labor pains" because he is jealous of the attention being lavished on the expectant Lucy. So she decides to throw him a "daddy shower," which Fred turns into a "stag party," which Lucy and Ethel crash.
Season 2, Episode 20 – Aired: 1/12/1953
Lucy Becomes A Sculptress
While expecting, Lucy gets the urge to learn everything she can about art so their child can be cultured. Hilarity ensues when Lucy tries to become a famous sculptor.
Season 2, Episode 21 – Aired: 1/19/1953
Lucy Goes to the Hospital
Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse for pregnant Lucy's trip to the hospital. It turns out to be predictably chaotic, but Lucy does deliver Little Ricky.
Season 2, Episode 22 – Aired: 4/20/1953
No Children Allowed
When a cranky tenant (Elizabeth Patterson, in her first appearance as Mrs. Trumbull,) threatens to move because of Little Ricky's loud crying, Ethel makes it clear that her friendship with Lucy is more important than a rental agreement. But Ethel doesn't let the Ricardos forget her loyalty.
Season 2, Episode 23 – Aired: 4/27/1953
Lucy Hires a Maid
Lucy's sleepless nights with the new baby are exhausting, so the Ricardos hire a maid. Unfortunately, this new maid turns out to be a terrible shrew, who takes better care of herself than of Lucy or the apartment. Unable to get the gumption to fire her, Lucy wrecks the apartment, hoping it will make the maid quit.
Season 2, Episode 24 – Aired: 5/4/1953
The Indian Show
Even the arrival of the baby hasn't dampened Lucy's showbiz aspirations. Wanting to get into the new Indian act at the Tropicana, Lucy pays off one of the performers and appears herself, carrying Little Ricky papoose-style on her back.
Season 2, Episode 25 – Aired: 5/11/1953
Lucy's Last Birthday
Convinced everyone has forgotten her birthday, a forlorn Lucy sits on a park bench and meets up with a group of musical "lost souls." To embarrass Ricky, she brings them to the Tropicana, only to discover that a surprise birthday party awaits her.
Season 2, Episode 26 – Aired: 5/18/1953
The Ricardos Change Apartments
Now that they have Little Ricky, Lucy insists they need more room, and wants to change apartments with one of the other tenants (Mrs. Benson.) She convinces a reluctant Ricky by cluttering their apartment with baby things and assorted junk.
Season 2, Episode 27 – Aired: 5/25/1953
Lucy is Matchmaker
Lucy plays matchmaker when she meets a friend of the Mertzes (Hal March, as Eddie,) who happens to be an eligible bachelor. His line of work? He's a lingerie salesman, a fact that just *might* get her (and Ethel) into trouble when her matchmaking efforts inevitably backfire.
Season 2, Episode 28 – Aired: 6/1/1953
Lucy Wants New Furniture
Lucy tries to hide some new furniture she bought without Ricky's permission in the kitchen. Discovering his wife's extravagant purchase, Ricky insists that Lucy pays for it from her allowance.
Season 2, Episode 29 – Aired: 6/8/1953
The Camping Trip
Lucy fears that she and Ricky don't have enough in common, so she decides to pursue one of his interests: camping. Ricky and Fred don't want her (or Ethel, for that matter,) horning in on their summer retreat, so Ricky decides to take Lucy on a "trial run" in the woods and make her life miserable. But Lucy is wise to his plan, and guess whose life is made miserable in the end?
Season 2, Episode 31 – Aired: 6/22/1953
Ricky and Fred Are TV Fans
With Ricky and Fred glued to a TV fight, their wives go to the local cafe, where service is so slow that Lucy makes change for herself at the cash register and the girls are arrested. They finally prove their innocence and get home to husbands who didn't know they were gone.
Season 2, Episode 32 – Aired: 6/29/1953
Never Do Business With Friends
The Ricardos sell their old washing machine to the Mertzes for $35. When it breaks down the next day, the Mertzes want out of the deal. A tug-of-war ensues, however, when the Mertzes want the machine back after a repairman offers them $50 for it.
Season 3, Episode 1 – Aired: 10/5/1953
Ricky's Life Story
After Ricky is featured in "Life" Magazine, Lucy is more desperate than ever for a showbiz career. To prevent it, Ricky and Fred concoct an impossible dance routine for her. She gets back at them by upstaging Ricky during his own big number.
Season 3, Episode 1 – Aired: 10/12/1953
The Girls Go Into Business
Lucy and Ethel are all set to go into business when they buy a new dress shop. But what to call it? Ethelu's? Lucyeth's? Unfortunately, naming the shop isn't their only problem when they are unable to sell any dresses and must sell the shop.
Season 3, Episode 2 – Aired: 10/19/1953
Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress
Lucy and Ethel buy the same dress for the upcoming talent show for the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League. True, they'll be doing a duet, and their number is Cole Porter's corny "Friendship," but wearing the same dress isn't exactly what they had in mind. Meanwhile, Lucy needs to persuade Ricky to host the show, so she decides to use a little reverse psychology.
Season 3, Episode 3 – Aired: 10/26/1953
Equal Rights
Lucy and Ethel demand equal rights for women. Okay, say Ricky and Fred at the restaurant: separate checks for the four of them. Thus begins Lucy and Ethel's careers as restaurant dishwashers. So they plot revenge: they'll scare their husbands by claiming to have been robbed.
Season 3, Episode 4 – Aired: 11/2/1953
Baby Pictures
The Ricardos and the Applebys always brag to each other about their little sons. But when Lucy's and Caroline Appeby's exchanges turn hostile and sarcastic, Ricky worries that it will jeopardize a TV job that's been offered to him by Caroline's husband.
Season 3, Episode 5 – Aired: 11/9/1953
Lucy Tells the Truth
Ricky and the Mertzes bet Lucy that she can't go twenty-four hours without telling a lie. The outcome? Lucy insults all her friends and has to admit her real age, weight, and hair color. But she nearly gets a part on a TV show, by telling the truth, more or less.
Season 3, Episode 6 – Aired: 11/16/1953
The French Revue
Ricky is planning a French revue for the club, and since Lucy is determined to be in it, she hires a Frenchman to coach her. When Ricky forbids her to come near the place, she tries various disguises, and finally succeeds as a chorus girl.
Season 3, Episode 7 – Aired: 11/23/1953
Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment
It's redecorating time at the Mertzes', and Lucy and Ricky volunteer to help. But when Fred turns on a fan as Lucy is unstuffing a chair, the paint and feathers they were using go flying. Lucy feels responsible for the ruined furniture, so she gives Ethel her own living room furniture as a gift.
Season 3, Episode 8 – Aired: 11/30/1953
Too Many Crooks
Lucy sneaks into the Mertzes' apartment to borrow one of Fred's suits so that she can order him a custom-made tweed suit for his birthday. This leads Ethel to think that Lucy is the notorious neighborhood burglar, "Madame X," and she goes spying on her friend to prove it.
Season 3, Episode 9 – Aired: 12/7/1953
Changing the Boys' Wardrobe
Lucy and Ethel are disgusted by their husbands' old clothes, so they secretly give them away to a secondhand store. Unfortunately for them, the boys find out about their plan, and buy everything back. Later on, Ricky learns that a magazine has named Fred and him as two of the "Best-Dressed Men in New York City." He and Fred, dressed in tuxedos, invite the girls to meet them at the club for pictures. The girls arrive in their grubbiest attire.
Season 3, Episode 10 – Aired: 12/14/1953
Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined
Lucy finally gets her chance to be in show business, when she tricks Ricky into letting her do the "Jitterbug" in one of his shows. She's terrific during rehearsals, but problems occur when Lucy accompanies Ricky (who's been suffering from headaches) to the eye doctor just before the show. There, the doctor decides to examine Lucy's eyes, as well. He puts some eyedrops in Lucy's eyes which "relaxes" them, but Lucy's vision is blurry for the next twenty four hours. Naturally, this causes problems since Lucy has to perform that night.
Season 3, Episode 11 – Aired: 12/21/1953
Ricky's Old Girlfriend
Ricky is jealous when Lucy comes up with a long list of ex-boyfriends, so he invents an old flame-who just happens to be in town. Her name? Carlotta Romero, with whom Ricky DID perform years before.
Season 3, Episode 12 – Aired: 1/11/1954
The Million Dollar Idea
The Ricardo household budget is in shambles (as usual) after Lucy decides to put her salad dressing on the market. Her plan? To market it on a TV morning show on the station her friend Caroline Appleby's husband runs. Home economist Mary Margaret McMertz (Ethel) will invite "an average housewife," (Lucy) to taste the dressing on the air.
Season 3, Episode 13 – Aired: 1/18/1954
Ricky Minds the Baby
Ricky agrees to watch is son, but while Daddy is engrossed in a football game, Little Ricky wanders off. Lucy finds him in the hallway, and calls Ricky to ask where the baby is. Panicking, Ricky searches everywhere, before Fred walks in with his son.
Season 3, Episode 14 – Aired: 1/25/1954
The Charm School
It's time for charm school for Lucy and Ethel when their men eye a pretty woman at a party. But Ricky and Fred are anything but charmed by the results.
Season 3, Episode 15 – Aired: 2/1/1954
Sentimental Anniversary
Lucy and Ricky want to spend their 13th wedding anniversary alone, but the Mertzes have another idea: a surprise party.
Season 3, Episode 16 – Aired: 2/8/1954
Fan Magazine Interview
A reporter for a fan magazine, Eleanor Harris, spends an "average day" with the Ricardos. Of course, it's anything BUT average for the happily married couple. And they might not be one so happily married, thanks to a publicity stunt that Ricky's agent Jerry has cooked up.
Season 3, Episode 17 – Aired: 2/15/1954
Oil Wells
The Ricardos and Mertzes as oil millionaires? Lucy and Ethel get a hot stock tip from their new neighbors from Texas. But Ricky and Fred say no. At first, anyhow. But are these neighbors swindlers? Lucy and the gang eventually think so, so they come up with a plan to find out.
Season 3, Episode 18 – Aired: 2/22/1954
Ricky Loses His Temper
Ricky explodes when Lucy buys an expensive hat. She offers to return it, and bets him he'll lose his cool over something else before she buys another hat. But no matter what she does to provoke him, the hot-tempered Cuban remains unruffled.
Season 3, Episode 19 – Aired: 3/1/1954
Home Movies
Ricky bores everyone by overplaying the home movies he's taken with his new camera. When the gang finds out he's making a TV pilot they try to get in on the act, but they're stopped short. They decide to make their own movie.
Season 3, Episode 20 – Aired: 3/8/1954
Bonus Bucks
A dollar bill takes a zany trip-with the Ricardos and Mertzes in hot pursuit. It's a winning bill (worth $300) in a newspaper contest. It belongs to Ricky, but he gallantly slips it into Lucy's purse. Gallant isn't necessarily smart: Lucy unthinkingly gives the bill to the grocery delivery boy-who gives it to Ethel in change. The wild ride has only begun!
Season 3, Episode 21 – Aired: 3/15/1954
Ricky's Hawaiian Vacation
Ricky's band is to play in Hawaii-and guess who wants to go also? Lucy's plan: to go on a game show that gives away airline tickets. It calls for some trickery, and Lucy just *might* meet her match in the show's host, Freddie Fillmore, a prankster par excellence.
Season 3, Episode 22 – Aired: 3/29/1954
Lucy is Envious
Lucy's past fibs to her rich and snotty ex-schoolmate are about to catch up with her when she unwittingly pledges $500 to a charity drive. In order to come up with the money, she and Ethel agree to a publicity stunt that puts them on top of the Empire State Building posing as women from Mars.
Season 3, Episode 23 – Aired: 4/5/1954
Lucy Writes a Novel
Lucy writes a novel in which the characters are thinly-veiled caricatures of Ricky, Fred and Ethel. Too thinly veiled, Ricky, Fred and Ethel think. So they burn it. But not before Lucy gets a copy to a publisher.
Season 3, Episode 24 – Aired: 4/12/1954
Lucy's Club Dance
The Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League forms a sextet (with Lucy on sax) as a fundraiser. It's no way to raise money (Ethel likens Lucy's sound to a "moose with a head cold"). Maybe bandleader Ricky can whip them into shape--but first, Lucy has some persuading to do.
Season 3, Episode 25 – Aired: 4/26/1954
The Diner
The Ricardos and the Mertzes buy a diner, name it "A Little Bit of Cuba" and go to work. Well, the Mertzes go to work; the Ricardos "greet." Not surprisingly, relations are soon strained. Can a food fight be far behind?
Season 3, Episode 26 – Aired: 4/19/1954
The Black Wig
Lucy plays a black-wigged temptress to test Ricky's fidelity. The result makes her see red so she schemes to get even. But she won't divorce him. Ethel agrees: "Yeah, stay married to him," she says. "That'll teach him."
Season 3, Episode 27 – Aired: 5/3/1954
Tennessee Ernie Visits
The corn starts popping when Tennessee Ernie Ford comes to visit in Part 1 of a two-part episode. He's Lucy's "Cousin" Ernest, an earnest young man from Bent Fork, Tenn., who knows nothing of city ways and is inadvertently infuriating. He's got to go but he's so sweet that they can't just throw him out. What to do? Lucy will pose as a wicked city woman, and "vamp" him out of town.
Season 3, Episode 28 – Aired: 5/10/1954
Tennessee Ernie Hangs On
Lucy gets sick of an extensive visit by Tennessee Ernie, who claims he is her cousin. She tries to get rid of the likable character by pleading poverty. The scheme backfires when Tennessee Ernie promotes a benefit hoedown to assist Lucy and Ricky. Look for "Ernie Ford and His Four Hot Chicken Pickers" in this episode.
Season 3, Episode 29 – Aired: 5/17/1954
The Golf Game
Championship golfer Jimmy Demaret visits the Ricardos when Lucy and Ethel arrive at a bizarre scheme for combating their "golf widowship." The girls install a basketball court in the Ricardo living room and pretend to be as deeply absorbed in the game as their husbands are in the fairways.
Season 3, Episode 30 – Aired: 5/24/1954
The Sublease
The Ricardos are off to Maine for the summer, so they decide to sublet their apartment. Their landlords, the Mertzes, don't like the idea, and like the potential tenants even less. Nor are they wild about their new roommates.
Season 4, Episode 1 – Aired: 10/18/1954
Lucy Cries Wolf
Lucy cries wolf once too often when she decides to see whether Ricky would come to her aid in an emergency. He assures her that he'd rush home from the club "between the 'baba' and the 'lu' " if she were in danger, but that's not enough reassurance for her, and soon she's in a precarious position.
Season 4, Episode 2 – Aired: 10/25/1954
The Matchmaker
Lucy wants to nudge a shy couple to the altar. Lucy's idea: show them how wonderful her and Ricky's marriage is. Her plan: invite them to a quiet at-home dinner. A quiet dinner at the Ricardo's? Whoever heard of such a thing?
Season 4, Episode 3 – Aired: 10/4/1954
The Business Manager
Lucy's household accounts are once again out of order and after having their phone and electricity shut off for non-payment, Ricky hires a business manager for the house. Lucy tries, unsuccessfully, to get money out of the man, but he refuses, so she starts a little shopping business of her own and is rolling in the dough.
Season 4, Episode 4 – Aired: 4/11/1955
The Mr. and Mrs. TV Show
Ricky is initially reluctant to host a new TV show when he learns that the sponsor prefers a husband-and-wife format. Nonetheless, he agrees to do the show, but when Lucy learns that he hadn't wanted her in the show at all, she decides to get even by sabotaging the "Breakfast with Lucy and Ricky" dress rehearsal. What Lucy doesn't know is that the so-called rehearsal is actually being broadcast to the entire city of New York in an effort to achieve an unrehearsed, spontaneous look.
Season 4, Episode 5 – Aired: 10/11/1954
Mertz and Kurtz
Fred's globetrotting old vaudeville partner, Barney Kurtz, shows up, so Fred says he's a real-estate tycoon (with a red-headed maid to prove it). Actually, Barney's a cook in the Bronx, but his grandson is coming for a visit, so it's on with the show.
Season 4, Episode 6 – Aired: 11/8/1954
Ricky's Movie Offer
A Hollywood talent scout is coming over to the apartment to audition Ricky for a movie role, but Ricky won't be the only one looking to attract the scout's attention. (Who's that gal in the Marilyn Monroe getup?)
Season 4, Episode 7 – Aired: 11/15/1954
Ricky's Screen Test
The term "helpmate" takes on a new meaning when Lucy appears on a Hollywood movie lot. The cameras roll for Ricky's screen test -- but when the big moment arrives, Lucy takes the cue.
Season 4, Episode 8 – Aired: 11/22/1954
Lucy's Mother-in-Law
Ricky's mother comes to visit, and poor Lucy can't speak Spanish, so she finds a Spanish-speaking mindreader and it works like a charm — as long as he's around.
Season 4, Episode 9 – Aired: 11/29/1954
Ethel's Birthday
Despite Ricky's qualms, Lucy decides to help Fred pick out a birthday present for Ethel. The present turns out to be toreador pants, which Ethel decides are not only unflattering but "unfitting." Relations between the two women become strained almost to the shattering point.
Season 4, Episode 10 – Aired: 12/6/1954
Ricky's Contract
As Ricky paces the floor awaiting word from Hollywood about his screen test, Lucy enlists the Mertzes to distract him. The drastic steps taken by the trio to alleviate Ricky's tension boomerang into a king-sized headache for them all.
Season 4, Episode 11 – Aired: 12/13/1954
Getting Ready
California, here they come: Lucy and movie-star-to-be Ricky, plus Fred and Ethel, who are tagging along, take off for California. Their mode of transport: a used Cadillac that Fred bought, and used it is — it's 25 years old and California's a long way away.
Season 4, Episode 12 – Aired: 1/3/1955
Lucy Learns to Drive
Lucy learns to drive and then teaches Ethel everything she knows. The crash course begins as Ricky buys a brand new convertible for their California trip. Lucy wants to learn to drive it, and Ricky reluctantly agrees to teach her. With that experience under her belt (she can't really be blamed for that U-turn in the Holland Tunnel, can she?), she sets out to teach Ethel to drive. It's a good thing the car's insured. It is insured, isn't it?
Season 4, Episode 13 – Aired: 1/10/1955
California, Here We Come!
The Ricardos and Mertzes head for California. But first, of course, there are complications. The chief one: Lucy's mother, who shows up and wants to accompany them. Ricky objects (to put it mildly), and when Fred and Ethel overhear him complaining about too many people on the trip, they take it personally. And when the dust from that blowup finally settles, there's packing to do.
Season 4, Episode 14 – Aired: 1/17/1955
First Stop
The Ricardos and Mertzes have a hard time finding accommodations that will please everyone on their trip to California. They finally hit a greasy restaurant where stale cheese sandwiches cost them a dollar apiece. Hoping to find something better elsewhere, Ricky pays the check. The couples leave -- only to return several hours later, fooled by some purposely misleading road signs.
Season 4, Episode 15 – Aired: 1/24/1955
Tennessee Bound
The Ricardo-Mertz westward trek faces a delay — they're all thrown in jail for speeding — in Bent Fork, Tenn., home of Lucy's "cousin" Ernest, who'll do all he can to get them out of the pokey, even if it means marrying one of the sheriff's two daughters, Teensy and Weensy.
Season 4, Episode 16 – Aired: 1/31/1955
Ethel's Home Town
The Ricardos and the Mertzes stop at Ethel's hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico (Vivian Vance's real-life hometown). Under the impression that Ethel has been called to Hollywood and not Ricky, the townsfolk accord her a monumental ovation. When Ethel refuses to disillusion them -- and even goes so far as to put on a "celebrity act" -- Lucy takes matters into her own hands.
Season 4, Episode 17 – Aired: 2/7/1955
L.A. at Last!
Lucy arrives in Hollywood with stars in her eyes. She heads for The Brown Derby, a celebrity hangout, where she encounters Eve Arden and William Holden -- and inadvertently presents Holden with a custard pie in the face. Hollywood legends William Holden and Eve Arden guest-star as themselves.
Season 4, Episode 18 – Aired: 2/14/1955
Don Juan and the Starlets
Lucy is forced to lend Ricky to five dazzling starlets for a proposed evening of publicity pictures. She tries to wait up for him but falls asleep on the sofa and doesn't awake until late the next morning. When she finds Ricky's bed unused, she jumps to the conclusion that he spent the night out with the starlets and decides she wants a divorce.
Season 4, Episode 19 – Aired: 2/21/1955
Lucy Gets in Pictures
Lucy finally gets her shot at Hollywood stardom — as a chorus girl photographed in a lavish musical. But she had better not get a swelled head, because the headdress she has to wear is too big as it is.
Season 4, Episode 20 – Aired: 2/28/1955
The Fashion Show
Lucy's a model at a charity fashion show, but the redhead — wearing a scratchy tweed suit — is red all over from too much time in the California sun.
Season 4, Episode 21 – Aired: 3/14/1955
The Hedda Hopper Story
Lucy takes a dive in an effort to further Ricky's career by creating a big splash in Hedda Hopper's Hollywood column. Her scheme turns out to be "all wet" in an adventure that could only happen to Lucy and Ethel. Hedda Hopper, the renowned Hollywood gossip columnist, guest-stars as herself.
Season 4, Episode 22 – Aired: 3/21/1955
Don Juan is Shelved
Ricky's movie is shelved, so Lucy schemes to get Ricky another role. The plan: impress MGM studio boss Dore Schary by any means necessary, even if it means that Schary must impress himself. But first, there are 500 fan letters to write.
Season 4, Episode 23 – Aired: 3/28/1955
Bull Fight Dance
Lucy literally blackmails Ricky into getting her a part in one of his guest appearances on television. He does get her a role -- as a bull. When Lucy is displeased with the turn of events, she transforms the bull's image from that of a snarling beast to a mincing creature resembling Elsie, the Borden Cow. Look for the classic scene where Lucy upstages Ricky in this episode.
Season 4, Episode 24 – Aired: 4/4/1955
Hollywood Anniversary
Frantic over having forgotten the date of their wedding anniversary, Ricky tells Lucy that he has a big party planned in a famous nightclub. He doesn't tell her when it is, desperately wiring their marriage license bureau for the correct date. This episode is based on an actual surprise anniversary party that Desi Arnaz threw for Lucy.
Season 4, Episode 25 – Aired: 4/18/1955
The Star Upstairs
Cornel Wilde becomes the one-hundredth movie star Lucy has seen in Hollywood. He is living in the penthouse directly above the Ricardo suite. Determined to get a glimpse of the handsome actor, Lucy disguises herself as a bellboy, then hides under the star's luncheon cart to gain entry into Wilde's suite. Things go smoothly until she finds herself locked out on Cornel's terrace and must make her way down the side of the building using a few blankets as rope. Swashbuckler Cornel Wilde guest-stars as himself in this episode.
Season 4, Episode 26 – Aired: 4/25/1955
In Palm Springs
Lucy and Ricky and Ethel and Fred are bored with each other so the gals head off to Palm Springs for a break. Rock Hudson guests as himself (and has a hand in getting the couples back together).
Season 4, Episode 27 – Aired: 5/9/1955
Lucy and Harpo Marx
Lucy decides to impersonate some Hollywood notables to impress nearsighted Caroline Appleby, who is visiting from New York. A mixup occurs when Lucy, having introduced her friend to "Gary Cooper," "Clark Gable," "Marlon Brando," and "Jimmy Durante," decides to impersonate Harpo Marx just as the real Harpo arrives at the apartment with Ricky.
Season 4, Episode 28 – Aired: 5/2/1955
The Dancing Star
Lucy begs Van Johnson to let her dance a number with him at the nightclub to impress her rival Caroline Appleby, who is visiting from New York. Van accepts the challenge by waltzing her across the ballroom floor as his dance partner. Movie star Van Johnson guest-stars as himself.
Season 4, Episode 29 – Aired: 5/16/1955
Ricky Needs an Agent
Ricky needs an agent, Lucy figures, so she nominates herself (unbeknownst to Ricky, of course) and heads off to negotiate with a studio executive to land him a role in a movie. Her strategy: use a nonexistent Broadway musical as a bargaining chip. It works too well.
Season 4, Episode 30 – Aired: 5/30/1955
The Tour
Lucy and Ethel are abandoned by their sightseeing bus tour when they try to get a grapefruit from Richard Widmark's garden. When Lucy is stranded inside the garden wall, she and Ethel, who is outside, launch plans to get Lucy out -- but without comparing notes on how. Film star Richard Widmark guest-stars as himself.
Season 5, Episode 1 – Aired: 10/3/1955
Lucy Visits Grauman's
With only a week left in Hollywood, Lucy weeps about her lack of souvenirs. Her collection already includes a tin can run over by Cary Grant's rear tire, a napkin boasting Lana Turner's lip-prints, and a few other goodies. But when Lucy discovers that John Wayne's concrete block at Grauman's Chinese Theatre is loose, she decides to take home a souvenir to end all souvenirs.
Season 5, Episode 2 – Aired: 10/10/1955
Lucy and John Wayne
Lucy is spotted while attempting to "collect" a cement block with John Wayne's footprints from Grauman's Chinese Theater. To avoid publicity and keep Lucy out of jail, Ricky enlists John Wayne's help in replacing the block. One mishap leads to another, and the plot thickens -- as does the cement. John Wayne guest-stars.
Season 5, Episode 3 – Aired: 10/17/1955
Lucy and the Dummy
Lucy thinks she may have finally gotten her big break in Hollywood. It all centers on a posh party attended by studio execs. Ricky was invited to attend but begged off. But Lucy will fool 'em. She has a lifelike rubber replica of Ricky's head, which she'll attach to a dummy body — and she'll dance her way to stardom with "Raggedy Ricky."
Season 5, Episode 4 – Aired: 10/24/1955
Ricky Sells the Car
Ricky sells his car, and the Mertzes think they are being stranded in California. Ricky buys train tickets for everyone, but a reservations mixup puts Lucy in an apparently compromising position with Fred Mertz. Watch for Fred and Ethel decked out in motorcycle gear and riding on a Harley.
Season 5, Episode 5 – Aired: 10/31/1955
The Great Train Robbery
Lucy gets mixed up with a jewel thief on a cross-country rail trip that marks the end of the series' Hollywood sojourn. That's not the only reason it's a bumpy ride. Another is that Lucy keeps pulling the emergency-brake cord.
Season 5, Episode 6 – Aired: 11/7/1955
Homecoming
Ricky returns from Hollywood as a celebrity, and even Lucy gets in on the hero worship. Can Ricky stand her brand of hero worship?
Season 5, Episode 7 – Aired: 11/14/1955
Face to Face
Ricky Ricardo's new fame leads to an invitation to appear on the popular interview program "Face to Face," and Lucy and Ricky consider moving. Ricky's agent arranges an appearance for him and suggests that they stage a fight so Lucy and Ricky won't have to stay. In the end the scheme falls flat while "Face to Face" is on the air.
Season 5, Episode 8 – Aired: 11/28/1955
Lucy Goes to a Rodeo
Fred has a Western-themed show coming up at his lodge and he wants Ricky to perform in it. He can't — but Lucy and Ethel volunteer (Lucy yodels "Home on the Range"). The reason Ricky can't appear is that he has a "radio" show that night. Or is it a "rodeo" show?
Season 5, Episode 9 – Aired: 12/5/1955
Nursery School
Lucy objects, but Ricky insists that Little Ricky go to nursery school. All goes well until the boy gets sick. Then it's hospital frolics - starring Nurse Lucy.
Season 5, Episode 10 – Aired: 12/12/1955
Ricky's European Booking
Ricky's band is going on a European tour but he can't afford to take Lucy — who's not about to take this lying down. Her plan: raffle off a TV set to benefit "Ladies Overseas Aid." "We're ladies," Lucy tells Ethel (who's scheming to go, too). "We want to go overseas. And, boy, do we need aid." The Pied Pipers perform the theme from Ball and Arnaz's 1956 movie Forever Darling.
Season 5, Episode 11 – Aired: 12/19/1955
The Passports
It's Lucy vs. bureaucrats (bureaucrats: watch out) when she can't find her birth certificate, which she needs for a passport so she can go on Ricky's European tour.
Season 5, Episode 12 – Aired: 1/2/1956
Staten Island Ferry
Fred's fear of becoming seasick threatens the Mertzes and Ricardos' plans for Ricky's European band tour. To prove that Fred won't get seasick, Ricky takes him down to the ship, which is anchored in the harbor. But Fred turns green and becomes more firm about his not going. Lucy and Ethel test some new, improved seasickness remedies on the Staten Island Ferry. The trial run leads to unexpected complications when Lucy gets seasick.
Season 5, Episode 13 – Aired: 1/16/1956
Bon Voyage
Ricky, Ethel, and Fred are aboard their ship to Europe when Lucy rushes down the gangplank for one last goodbye to Little Ricky, who will be in Lucy's mother's care while she is in Europe. The ship heads out to sea, leaving Lucy frantically trying to catch up with it.
Season 5, Episode 14 – Aired: 1/23/1956
Second Honeymoon
Lucy schemes to tear Ricky away for a second honeymoon aboard the ocean liner taking them to Europe. The trouble is, Ricky's too busy with his band.
Season 5, Episode 15 – Aired: 1/30/1956
Lucy Meets the Queen
Lucy is thrilled at being in London and desperate to see the Queen. She misses the Queen at Buckingham Palace, where she gets involved in the changing of the guard. Ricky is invited to meet the Royal Family when they attend a special performance at the Palladium. Lucy is not included in the invitation, but she has no intention of letting it go at that.
Season 5, Episode 16 – Aired: 2/6/1956
The Fox Hunt
Tally ho! In England, Lucy hounds a movie producer (Walter Kingsford) about her riding prowess and ends up on a fox hunt.
Season 5, Episode 17 – Aired: 2/20/1956
Lucy Goes to Scotland
The Ricardos and Mertzes are on their way to Paris, but first Lucy wants to go to Scotland to seek members of the McGillicuddy family into which she was born. In a classic dream sequence, Ricky appears as Scotty MacTavish MacDougal MacCardo.
Season 5, Episode 18 – Aired: 2/27/1956
Paris at Last
Equipped with an English-French dictionary, Lucy sets out to see Paris and "discover" an artist whose paintings will become very valuable -- she knows she has "the eye." Lucy's first encounter is indeed with an artist -- a con artist who changes her American money for French. Lucy's adventures land Lucy, Ethel, and Fred in jail.
Season 5, Episode 19 – Aired: 3/5/1956
Lucy Meets Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer deals with a star-crazed Lucy in this guest appearance. The setting: Paris, where the Ricardos and Mertzes are lunching at a sidewalk cafe. Boyer is at a nearby table, and when Lucy and Ethel spot him they immediately repair to the ladies room to plot their approach. Ricky tries to stop the assault but nobody can defend against the star-struck Lucy.
Season 5, Episode 20 – Aired: 3/19/1956
Lucy Gets a Paris Gown
Lucy decides to go on a hunger strike until Ricky agrees to buy her a designer dress. The plan works perfectly (even though Ethel has been smuggling food to Lucy) and Ricky finally gives in and buys her an expensive outfit. But when Ricky discovers what Lucy has been up to, he puts together a crazy outfit made of burlap and passes it off as a Paris original.
Season 5, Episode 21 – Aired: 3/26/1956
Lucy in the Swiss Alps
In Switzerland, the Ricardos and Mertzes are caught in an abandoned cabin during an avalanche. It's one of Lucy's own making (of course), and it leads to some soul-searching and confessions. But not by Ricky: "We might be saved!" They are — by an oompah band playing "La Cucaracha."
Season 5, Episode 22 – Aired: 4/9/1956
Lucy Gets Homesick in Italy
Fred is conscience-stricken about the expense involved when he misrouted Ricky's band. He books second-class train passage for their overnight trip to Florence and a fourth-class hotel for their stay. Lucy wants to call home to see if Little Ricky has received the birthday presents she sent him from London, but the difficulties of calling from a fourth-class room almost prove too much for her. In the end, Lucy invites an Italian shoeshine boy and his friends to celebrate Little Ricky's birthday.
Season 5, Episode 23 – Aired: 4/16/1956
Lucy's Italian Movie
En route to Rome by train, Lucy is spotted by a famous Italian cinema director and chosen to play a part in his new movie "Bitter Grapes." Lucy sets out to immerse herself in the role. When she nonchalantly wanders into a vineyard inhabited by a motley assortment of Italian-speaking women, she is dispatched to the wine-making area to crush grapes with her feet.
Season 5, Episode 24 – Aired: 4/23/1956
Lucy's Bicycle Trip
The Ricardos and Mertzes pedal their way from Italy to the French Riviera. It's a bumpy ride, thanks (of course) to Lucy, who left her passport in her purse, which she locked in a suitcase, which she sent ahead to their hotel in Nice. That presents problems when they get to the Italian-French border.
Season 5, Episode 25 – Aired: 5/7/1956
Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo
Ricky is working in Monte Carlo, but Fred goofs and negotiates too little money for the engagement. Lucy and Ethel go to the casino to watch, and Lucy finds a chip that someone dropped. She picks it up and puts it on the table. The chip wins, and continues to do so, all by accident. Since Ricky warned Lucy to stay away from the casino, she hides the money in Ethel's trunk. Ricky finds it and thinks Fred has been holding out on him.
Season 5, Episode 26 – Aired: 5/14/1956
Return Home From Europe
The Ricardos and Mertzes need to return to the U.S. by plane instead of ship. The 60-pound-per-person baggage limit taxes Lucy's ingenuity: she has bought lots of clothes and souvenirs, including a 30-pound cheese. She boards the plane wearing all the clothes at once and carrying the cheese as a "baby."
Season 6, Episode 1 – Aired: 10/1/1956
Lucy and Bob Hope
Ricky is opening a new club, and he wants Bob Hope to appear at the grand opening. Lucy fears Hope won't appear because of her widespread reputation for monkey-wrench throwing, and wants to reassure him that this time she's butting out.
Season 6, Episode 2 – Aired: 10/8/1956
Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums
Little Ricky gets drums — and the Mertzes get headaches. So do Lucy and Ricky, but they're not about to evict themselves.
Season 6, Episode 3 – Aired: 10/15/1956
Lucy Meets Orson Welles
Lucy tries to get in a skit with Orson Welles at Ricky's club, thinking it is a Shakespearean play that he will be doing. When Orson Welles tells Lucy she can be in the show, she calls her old high school drama teacher to tell her the news. Lucy's old teacher sends her whole drama class to Club Babalu to see Lucy perform. But poor Lucy! It turns out Welles only wanted her to be his assistant for a magic trick.
Season 6, Episode 4 – Aired: 10/22/1956
Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright
Little Ricky is scheduled to play the drums in a children's orchestra. Although his parents and their friends the Mertzes are overcome with nervousness, Little Ricky seems calm until his big moment arrives; then he goes to pieces. His next performance is six months away, but Lucy feels she must do something about his stage fright now. Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber in "The Andy Griffith Show," guest-stars.
Season 6, Episode 5 – Aired: 10/29/1956
Visitor from Italy
Mario, the Ricardos and Mertzes' gondolier in Venice, comes to New York to surprise his brother Dominic, but turns up at the Ricardos' apartment when he can't find him. Lucy is sure Dominic is in San Francisco and sets out to help Mario raise the bus fare. Her earnest efforts pay off in a surprising way.
Season 6, Episode 6 – Aired: 11/12/1956
Off to Florida
When Lucy misplaces two train tickets to Florida, she and Ethel consult the classified section, hoping to share a ride with someone driving south. They team up with a peculiar middle-aged woman, Mrs. Grundy, who's bent on getting to Florida in record time.
Season 6, Episode 7 – Aired: 11/19/1956
Deep Sea Fishing
It's Lucy and Ethel vs. Ricky and Fred in a fishing contest while they're on a Florida vacation. The wager: $150 (about what Lucy and Ethel had spent in hotel boutiques), so both sides do a little cheating to ensure a victory.
Season 6, Episode 8 – Aired: 11/26/1956
Desert Island
Lucy and Ethel will do anything to keep Ricky and Fred from judging a Miami Beach beauty contest (and end up being menaced on a seemingly deserted island as a result).
Season 6, Episode 9 – Aired: 12/3/1956
The Ricardos Visit Cuba
Still on their vacation, the Ricardos go to Cuba, where Ricky wants to introduce his relatives to Lucy and Little Ricky.
Season 6, Episode 10 – Aired: 12/17/1956
Little Ricky's School Pageant
Little Ricky's school pageant — "The Enchanted Forest" — is coming up and it's coming up short on cast members, so the Ricardos and Mertzes volunteer. Ricky's a hollow stump, Fred's a frog and Ethel's the fairy princess (because she can fit into the costume). And Lucy? She's a witch.
Season 6, Episode 11 – Aired: 1/7/1957
Lucy and the Loving Cup
Ricky's disapproval of Lucy's new hat leads to her trying on a loving cup which Ricky has planned to present to jockey Johnny Longden at a National Turf Association dinner. The problem is that Lucy can't get the trophy off her head.
Season 6, Episode 12 – Aired: 1/21/1957
Little Ricky Gets A Dog
The Ricardos' apartment begins to resemble a pet shop when Little Ricky gets a puppy. Lucy and Ricky are both determined to get rid of the puppy after their son brings it home -- as are their landlords, Fred and Ethel. They have a hard time overcoming Little Ricky's arguments that a puppy would be a welcome addition to a home that already boasts a canary, a frog, a lizard, a turtle, and some goldfish.
Season 6, Episode 13 – Aired: 1/14/1957
Lucy and Superman
When Stevie Appleby, Caroline's son, has a birthday party the same day as Little Ricky's, Lucy looks for unusual entertainment to lure the children. Ricky remembers that Superman is in town, and he invites him. But when Ricky is unable to corral Superman, Lucy is left with no choice but to dress as the Man of Steel herself. George Reeves makes a special guest-star appearance in this episode.
Season 6, Episode 14 – Aired: 1/28/1957
Lucy Wants to Move to the Country
Lucy decides that it would be nice to move to the country and prevails on Ricky to place a comfortable deposit on a big house. Ricky agrees and puts a down payment on a house in Westport, Connecticut. It is not long before Lucy changes her mind. Lucy,
Season 6, Episode 15 – Aired: 2/4/1957
Lucy Hates to Leave
Lucy hates to leave behind her old friends Fred and Ethel, who also happen to be her landlords. But Ricky has told her to sell all their furniture. Lucy hates to part with her furniture almost as badly as she hates to part with the Mertzes. She persuades them to keep the furniture in their apartment, promising that it's "just until we can move."
Season 6, Episode 16 – Aired: 2/11/1957
Lucy Misses the Mertzes
As the Ricardos get settled in their new country home, they immediately wind up in a mix-up with their old friends Fred and Ethel Mertz. Missing their old friends already, Lucy and Ricky decide to visit the Mertzes. At the same time, the Mertzes decide to trek to the country to visit the Ricardos, and what began simply becomes complicated.
Season 6, Episode 17 – Aired: 2/18/1957
Lucy Gets Chummy With the Neighbors
With the best intentions in the world, Lucy somehow causes a misunderstanding with her neighbors, the Ramseys. It all starts when Betty Ramsey offers Lucy some advice and a wholesale deal on furniture. For a time, the Ricardos' whole future at their Connecticut home seems threatened.
Season 6, Episode 18 – Aired: 3/4/1957
Lucy Raises Chickens
The Mertzes find a way to stay with the Ricardos: chicken farming. But the scheme puts Lucy over her head in chickens when she and Ethel bring home 500 baby chicks before the hen house is ready.
Season 6, Episode 19 – Aired: 3/11/1957
Lucy Does the Tango
Chicken-raising and practicing a tango for Little Ricky's school PTA meeting combine to get the Ricardos and the Mertzes in a verbal battle. It's up to Ricky, Jr. and his neighborhood pal Bruce Ramsey to straighten things out.
Season 6, Episode 20 – Aired: 3/18/1957
Ragtime Band
Lucy decides to take part in the fundraising campaign of the Westport Historical Society, and offers to get her husband and his band to perform for their kickoff function. There's only one hitch -- Ricky won't do it. So Lucy decides to form her own band featuring herself, Little Ricky, and Fred and Ethel Mertz.
Season 6, Episode 21 – Aired: 3/25/1957
Lucy's Night in Town
After spending six whole weeks in their new Connecticut home, Lucy dreams of a night in New York City and it turns into a nightmare. Four carefully hoarded tickets to the Broadway musical hit "The Most Happy Fella" are supposed to get the Ricardos and the Mertzes in to see the sold-out show. But difficulties arise when Fred Mertz gets nervous about pickpockets because he's carrying $500 in cash in his pockets.
Season 6, Episode 22 – Aired: 4/1/1957
Housewarming
Fred Mertz installs an intercom system between the Mertz guest-house and the Ricardo main house. The intercom causes some confusion when Lucy and Ricky overhear what they believe to be plans for a housewarming party given for them.
Season 6, Episode 23 – Aired: 4/8/1957
Building a B.B.Q.
Lucy has a problem deciding what to do to get her vacationing husband, Ricky, out of her hair so she can do her housework. She and Ethel solve the problem by putting their husbands to work building a barbecue.
Season 6, Episode 24 – Aired: 4/22/1957
Country Club Dance
The Ricardos and the Mertzes go with their neighbors, Ralph and Betty Ramsey, to the country club dance. A pretty visitor quickly convinces the men they are Romeos in disguise. This development forces the women into glamorous clothing and beauty treatments to prove that they, too, can be glamorous. Barbara Eden guest-stars.
Season 6, Episode 25 – Aired: 4/29/1957
Lucy Raises Tulips
Suburban living gets Lucy into a flower-show competition, and she raises tulips with a vengeance as she tries to beat out her neighbor, Betty Ramsey, for first prize. Lucy asks Ricky to mow the lawn so that her garden will look just right. But he only mows half before taking off for a baseball game, leaving Lucy and Ethel to tiptoe through the tulips -- with the lawnmower.
Season 6, Episode 26 – Aired: 5/6/1957
The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue
Lucy joins a community effort to establish a Revolutionary War monument. She manages to shatter any dreams she may have had of becoming a community leader when the statue is broken. Her efforts to undo the damage put her in a unique position when the time comes to unveil the statue.
Special. Season 6, Episode 27 – Aired: 12/24/1956
The "I Love Lucy" Christmas Episode
It's Christmas Eve and Ricky warns his young son: "Santa won't bring the tree and the presents until you go to sleep." It takes some effort to cajole the boy, but after Lucy convinces him that Santa will have no trouble coming down the chimney ("he brings the North Pole with him and slides down it like a fireman."), he's off to bed. The coast clear, Fred and Ethel arrive with a Christmas tree. "It's a gift from me and Ebenezer," Ethel reveals about the five-dollar fir. The four friends begin to trim the tree until Lucy discovers "a branch on the right side that spoils the shape." Fred solves the symmetry problem with a pocket saw as Ricky says to Lucy, "Our lives have sure been different ever since you told me you were going to have a baby." We flash back to the sentimental moment at the Tropicana in 1952 when Lucy breaks the baby news to Ricky (from "Lucy is Enceinte"). This reminiscence over, we discover that Fred got carried away with his saw while listening to the baby tale - the tree is now a spindly stripling. While Fred goes off in search of a replacement, Ethel and Ricky start singing "Jingle Bells," but when Lucy joins in with her off-key rendition, they recall, once again in a flashback sequence, the barbershop quartet harmonizing of "Sweet Adeline" (from "Lucy's Show Biz Swan Song"). With the last note sung, we return to the Ricardo apartment just as Fred enters with a new tree - he got this "last minute" one for only fifty cents. The foursome starts decorating the tree and discussing Little Ricky's Christmas gifts, as Ethel realizes: "It seems like only yesterday he was born." This is the perfect lead-in to a flashback of Ricky, Fred, and Ethel rehearsing Lucy's trip to the hospital (from "Lucy Goes to the Hospital"). Finally, it's Christmas morning. The four principals are up early and wearing Santa outfits. When they hear Little Ricky approaching the living room, they hasten to the kitchen so the boy won't be disillusioned by seeing four Santas. Suddenly, however, there are five St. Nicks crowding the kitchen - who's the real one? The "real" one disappears optically as the Ricardos and Mertzes stare into the camera and say, hesitantly, "Merry Christmas, everybody."
Special. Season 7, Episode 2 – Aired: 11/11/2001
I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special
In the I Love Lucy 50th anniversary special, viewers learn more about how the show was made by and about Lucy and Desi. They also get a rare treat they get to see Lucy's childhood home in New York where she would first show her parents she had dreams of becoming famous.
