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4.0 out of 5 stars
A trio of episodes from the fifth season of "The Lucy Show", August 3, 2005
This review is from: The Lucy Show: The Lost Episodes Marathon, Vol. 5 (DVD)
When Lucille Ball agreed to do "The Lucy Show" in the fall of 1962 the series was intended simply to keep the Desilu Studio going and was supposed to run for one season. As would be the case with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" later in the decade, Lucy Carmichael was supposed to be divorced, just like her friend Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance). But it is decided that fans will not accept the idea that Lucy has divorced Ricky, even though Ball is playing a different Lucy (but Ethel leaving Fred makes sense I guess). Lucy and Viv share a house with Lucy's son Jerry (Jimmy Garrett), daughter Chris (Candy Moore), and Viv's son Sherman (Ralph Hart). Early in the second season Gale Gordon started playing Theodore J. Mooney, the new trustee of Lucy's money and manager of the bank (Gordon had worked with Ball on "My Favorite Husband" and was supposed to be in the case of "I Love Lucy" but it did not work out). This volume in the "Lucy Show Marathon" has a trio of episodes from the fifth season of the show:
Episode 112, "Lucy and the Submarine" (Written by Perry Grant and Dick Bensfield, First aired September 19, 1966) is an example of a Lucy in drag episode from the fifth season of "The Lucy Show." Mr. Mooney has a two-week naval reserve tour and heads off without signing some important papers. Naturally, Lucy runs after him onto the submarine on which he is serving and the sub heads out to sea and submerges with her still aboard. So she has to pretend to be a sailor and you can imagine how well that is going to go.
Episode 114, "Lucy and Paul Winchell" (Written by Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer, First aired October 3, 1966) begins with Mr. Mooney needing a star to show up at the bank employees's show. The good news is that Lucy gets ventriloquist Paul Winchell to agree to appear. The bad news is that Winchell gives Lucy the responsibility of bringing his dummies to the show and Lucy leaves one of them, Tessie, behind. Naturally, Lucy has to now take Tessie's part in the show. This one is a lot better than you would think because of how charming Winchell is in his routine and is the best episode of the bunch.
Episode 116, "Lucy Goes to London" (Written by Bob O'Brien, based on an unsold Desilu pilot by Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Pugh, First aired October 17, 1966) has Lucy winning a free trip to London by writing the winning limerick for a dog food contest. She ends up on a plane flying from Los Angeles to New York with Mr. Mooney. The problem is that Lucy's character has never flown before. This episode sets up the Lucille Ball special, "Lucy in London," which was filmed like a movie on location in England.
The second of these three episodes is the best of the bunch and could be considered a classic depending on what you consider the best parts of the comedy genius of Lucille Ball. By this point the backbone of the show is clearly the constant clash between Lucy and Mr. Mooney, and it is still going strong at this point although the character played by Gordon would descend into caricature within a few years.
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