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Here are two episodes, one from the early part of the series ("The Freezer," episode 29) and one from the later years ("Lucy and Superman," episode 166). The wacky "Freezer" episode is an antics one, in which Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) and her best friend Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance) have one of their schemes to make money: this time Lucy has acquired a walk-in meat freezer, plus two sides of beef. She and Ethel begin their own meat market, competing with the local butcher. Needless to say, they run into trouble, and in an effort to cover their tracks, Lucy gets locked in the freezer. Just imagining Lucy as the human Popsicle brings a smile.
After Little Ricky's birth, Lucy was a devoted mother. Nevertheless, she remained as zany as ever and got into just as many scrapes. In "Lucy and Superman," Lucy is desperate to please her Superman-loving son. In a scenario many mothers can relate to, a classmate is having his birthday party on the same day as Little Ricky's. Lucy decides that the best way to entice guests is to have Superman make an appearance, but when the plan falls through, as these things often do, she takes on the action hero's role herself. TV's Superman star, George Reeves, guests.
These episodes are an interesting couplet. They may not share an obvious theme, but they're both about Lucy hilariously scheming and covering up a grandiose idea or boast. Both are familiar territory and employ a recurring theme (effectively fresh each time) throughout the series' successful run. --N.F. Mendoza