User Reviews

Ricky takes Lucy to tasks for interfering in the love life of neighbor Bea Benaderet, made up to look like granny from the Sylvester Tweety Bird cartoons, and Edward Everett Horton as the local grocer whom Benaderet has a crush on. This one off appearance of the two character actors, completely different in age, is silly but sweet in its way, with Horton claiming he has always had a crush on Lucy and determined to take her away from Ricky. Benaderet schemes to get Horton for herself, and this leads to a dinner scene between Lucy and Horton that is supposed to make him fall out of love with her. Certain aspects of the episode are truly unrealistic, starting with the appearance of a bunch of children that Lucy claims are her own, and culminating with Bea winning Eddie over. Poor Horton looks wrinkled and tired in close-ups, and Benaderet completely overdoes her schtick. Lucy once again must change her image to go from glamorous to sloppy, and in her attempts to prove what a lousy cook she is, makes a complete mess of her apartment. Funny and spots, this is a disappointment even in spite of the presence of two veteran comic actors.

The show simply doesn't work without them. The first season hadn't fixed on the formula yet . This episode had more matchmaking by Lucy and Ricky overreacts to it . This is similar to Young Fans . An elderly neighbor wants to attract the grocery man but he thinks it's Lucy interested in him. He takes a shine to her. The funniest scene is Lucy serving dinner to the grocery man and try and dissuade him. She acts like a bad housekeeper ( which he likes things tidy) pretends to have children ( which he can't stand ) and serves a lousy dinner ( which he also can't stand obviously!) . This is well done but the show isn't as good without Ethel and Fred .

Happened to watch this episode today while preparing lunch. While I like many Lucy episodes a lot, this was one of the many stinkers in terms of overall laughter, with the exception of one scene.

The plot involves Lucy's attempt to help an elderly neighbor lady (played by Bea Benadaret, who had no old-age makeup, and whose attempt to portray an old woman consisted of speaking with a crotchety voice while wearing "granny glasses." The elderly neighbor was infatuated with the local grocer, played by Edward Everett Horton.

Too shy to even ask him to come over for supper, the lady wrote a note that she wanted Lucy to live to the man. Lucy let Ricky know about the invitation. Ricky seemed unable to understand the difference between simply delivering a note from one person to another, and "matchmaking"--where Lucy was trying to arrange a meeting between people without either of them first wanting a meeting.

To get Lucy to agree not to deliver the note, Ricky literally took her over his knee and began lightly spanking her on the rear. The next scene began with Lucy rubbing her rear end like she was really soar, saying she preferred not to sit for a while.

They did this on a few episodes and I always thought, even as a little kid, that a husband spanking his wife, like she was a kid, was ridiculous and unrealistic.

This led, of course, to Lucy ignoring Ricky's orders and giving the grocer the note. He immediately showed that he was most interested in Lucy, even though he knew she was married. This led to Lucy's plot to make him more interested in her friend, by pretending the invitation WAS from her, and she planned a way to entertain him that would, she thought, drive him to her elderly friend, by Lucy doing all the things the man hates.

So the grocer arrives and Lucy is dressed quite sloppily, with a rather sloppy table set up in the living room for them to dine on. She serves tomato juice they both drink straight out of the can. She drops rock-hard rolls on the floor and he tries to eat one. She gives him soup that is so thick his spoon sticks up in it. All through the meal, she spills things all over, tosses stuff on the floor. The finale comes with a blazing steak, that is practically charcoal.

That was the one scene which I thought rather funny.

She says, I'll understand if you want to leave. He says "I'll never leave you." So she trots out her kids. This was pre-Little Ricky. Somehow, she found a parade of children who come trotting out of the bedroom. In a scene interrupted by one with Ricky and Bea Benadaret, the man counts off, I think, 24 children. Lucy says, "six of them aren't even here now." How a woman supposed to be in her 30s is supposed to have 30 children, all apparently under the age of 10 is never discussed.

Here Ricky shows up, aware of what is going on, but to Lucy's knowledge, not a part of the pretending with the grocer. He happily tells the man he is welcome to her. Lucy cannot figure Ricky out.

The show ends with everyone chasing each other around the tiny apartment, and Bea Benadaret's character finally getting the interest of the grocer.

I understand they liked these broad farces that bore little resemblance to reality. The notion that the old man would think this much-younger married woman would be interested in him, and would still think this even when she insists she isn't is dumb. That she'd have him over for supper at her apartment when her husband might come home anytime is also dumb. When Ricky smiles and says he's welcome to her is really dumb.

I probably saw this episode first when I was 6-9 years old--it would have been in reruns then. I'm sure the spanking and the silly chasing each other around seemed dumb to me. As an adult, I can't get past Ricky forbidding her from simply delivering a note she was asked to give to the grocer, and then spanking her to get her to obey.

I think almost all of the best TV series, from Dick Van Dyke through Seinfeld, have episodes that were, at least, fairly weak. I believe this is one of I Love Lucy's weak ones overall.