OK, all you kids who used to pretend to be sick so you could stay home
from school and watch "I Love Lucy," this one's for you.  IMPORTANT,
READ CAREFULLY:
This question is ONLY for a researcher totally knowledgable about "I
LOVE LUCY" episodes.  I need a FAN as well as a researcher because
you'll need to read "between the lines" and use your memory of the
show itself.
I did a quick look and there ARE episode breakdowns online, so the
material is available.  I need an episode (or episodes) from the
series when Lucy & Desi were IN HOLLYWOOD -- where there is some sort
of stress or argument about their relationship / marriage relating to
being in Hollywood.   Not acceptable are the typical episodes where
Lucy's trying to sneak on the set as an Extra or something like that.

I need to illustrate the pressures on marriage in Hollywood.  This
could be very well be a long shot and it's possible there's nothing. 
But a true fan will know.  Since Lucy & Desi really WERE married in
Hollywood, if I can then in fact, link to an episode about this very
thing, it would be great.

I will need the Episode # and, if possible, a description of a
specific scene.
Again, I know EVERY researcher here can compile a list for me--but
that's not what I want.  I'm asking for MORE than the ability to track
down the episode guides and print out the description. . .this
question requires someone who has watched the show so many zillions of
times, he or she will KNOW RIGHT AWAY whether or not the episode works
BEYOND what the written plotline says.
This is a "research plus judgement call" question. 
P.S. The reason I'm being so strict is that this is for a TV show and
I will have to license footage from CBS, which is very costly.  We
don't have the budget to screen much.   
Note: You don't need to provide ordering info or a place to purchase
or watch the tapes.    Thanks in advance.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 16 Apr 2003 16:54 PDT

Howdy, cryptica!

I hesitate to post an answer without floating a trial balloon
(something that Researchers are not really supposed to do, but rules
are meant to be bent.)

How about Episode 115, "Don Juan and the Starlets"? Ricky is going to
be in a movie about Don Juan. For publicity purposes, he spends an
evening with some beautiful starlets. Although he was only posing for
photos (at the behest of the studio), Lucy mistakenly assumes that
Ricky spent the night with the starlets, and she is prepared to
divorce Ricky over the issue. She accuses him of not having come home
overnight, because his bed looked un-slept-in; Ricky says that he came
home after she fell asleep, then left early, before she awakened.
Ricky is off the hook when the maid tells Lucy that she made the bed
after Ricky left in the morning. (Ironically, this episode aired on
Valentine's Day in 1955.)

In case you wonder about my Lucillian credentials, I am a
dyed-in-the-wool "I Love Lucy" fan who can boast of having seen the
original series from the very beginning. Since my family had a TV in
the 1950s, and our neighbors did not, we had a "Lucy party" and an
"Uncle Miltie" party each week. (In case you aren't old enough to
remember, "Uncle Miltie" was comedian Milton Berle, who also
immodestly called himself "Mister Television.")

If "Don Juan and the Starlets" is not a suitable episode, you might
want to give a few more details about your needs. I'd love to help
you. Mostly, I have a mind like a steel sieve, but it's the proverbial
steel trap when it comes to remembering old TV shows. ;-)

~Pink

---

Clarification of Question by cryptica-ga on 16 Apr 2003 17:23 PDT

Yep, Pink, this is a great example. Can I designate you now as my
Official Answerer, so that you can post that one, as well as any
others you come up with?  Is that allowed?  I'd like you to find some
more examples, if you can.
Someone reminded me of one episode...is it Charles Boyer? Is it John
Wayne?  Somebody on a balcony? Misunderstandings?  Anyway, see what
else you can come up with and maybe you should post your clarification
question as an answer and then add to it?

---

Clarification of Question by cryptica-ga on 16 Apr 2003 17:32 PDT

P.S.  Pink, oh, yes, like you, I go way back, too. Born in 1950! I
don't remember watching Uncle Miltie, but my parents tell me I was
obsessed with
"I Married Joan," believing the theme song, which went, "I Married
Joan, what a girl , what a whirl what a wife," was actually "Hi, Mary
Jo, what a girl, what a whirl, etc."  ("Mary Jo" being my "real"
name.)

Hi, Mary Jo. :-D

Thanks for asking me to be your "Official Answerer" for this question.
"I Love Lucy" is my second favorite TV show of the 1950s (right after
"The Ernie Kovacs Show.") It has been fun sailing down memory lane
trying to find just the right episode to illustrate a problem related
to marriages in Hollywood.

I am reposting my #1 suggestion, "Don Juan and the Starlets," along
with three other options.

=======================================================

Episode 115, "Don Juan and the Starlets" 

Ricky is going to be in a movie about Don Juan. For publicity
purposes, he spends an evening with some beautiful starlets. Although
he was only posing for photos (at the behest of the studio), Lucy
mistakenly assumes that Ricky spent the night with the starlets, and
she is prepared to divorce Ricky over the issue. She accuses him of
not having come home overnight, because his bed looked un-slept-in;
Ricky says that he came home after she fell asleep, then left early,
before she awakened. Ricky is off the hook when the maid tells Lucy
that she made the bed after Ricky left in the morning.

The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: the
possibility of infidelity that arises from exposure to attractive
co-stars.

=======================================================

Episode 117, "The Fashion Show"

Lucy wheedles Ricky into letting her spend $100 for a designer dress,
but Lucy actually buys a much more expensive dress. Lucy gets a
sunburn. The fashion designer offers Lucy her dress for free if she
will do a charity fashion show with the wives of movie stars (several
real-life wives of movie stars appeared in this episode, including
Mrs. Dean Martin, Mrs. William Holden, Mrs. Van Heflin, and Mrs. Alan
Ladd.) Lucy models at the fashion show; despite her sunburn, she wears
a woolen tweed suit on the runway.

The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode:
keeping-up-with-the-Carolyn-Joneses fashion greed leads to duplicity
and spousal deception. Not to mention sunburn ouchies.

=======================================================

Episode 129, "Lucy and John Wayne" 

In the previous episode, souvenir-hunting Lucy had tried to "collect"
a block of cement with John Wayne's footprints from the sidewalk in
front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. The cement block was dropped, and
it broke. To keep Lucy out of trouble, Ricky gets John Wayne's help in
making a new set of footprints to replace the broken block.

The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: collector's
avarice wreaks havoc and causes a husband to go to great lengths to
exculpate his wife.

=======================================================

Episode 133, "Homecoming"

Lucy and Ricky return to New York City. Ricky is now a "star," and
everyone is ignoring Lucy. A reporter tells Lucy that she is really
special, since she gets to serve Ricky; this causes her to lay it on
thick, acting servile and coddling Ricky. The big-headed Ricky starts
making excessive demands, asking Lucy to shine shoes, answer
telephones, and light cigarettes, until Lucy has had enough and she
finally snaps out of it.

The Hollywood marital problem addressed by this episode: "Hollywood
ego" threatens to wreck the balance of a marriage in which only one
party is a star.

=======================================================

A tip of the pinkfreud hat to the Lucy Library website, where I was
able to obtain the episode numbers:

Lucy Library
http://www.lucylibrary.com/Pages/ill-guide-4a.html
http://www.lucylibrary.com/Pages/ill-guide-5.html

I really think "Don Juan and the Starlets" is the standout choice
here. It's the best episode I can think of where a situation *unique
to Hollywood* (having to share your husband's time with many
attractive women) causes a marital rift between the Ricardos.
"Homecoming" is another possibility, since it deals with a common
situation, where one marital partner is more famous than the other.
 
The "balcony" episode that you mentioned is probably #122, "The Star
Upstairs," in which Lucy gets stuck on the balcony while trying to
sneak into the hotel room of actor Cornel Wilde (a real hottie of the
1950s). I don't think any particular Hollywood marital situation is
involved in this one, though.

Thanks for providing me with a research challenge which was truly a
pleasure. If you have any questions, please request clarification;
I'll be glad to offer further assistance, as needed.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

Terrific and fast -- my favorite combo.  Stay tuned for the
sequel: "I Love Freudy."

Thanks for the five stars!

As for "I Love Freudy," the details of my life are such that I rather
doubt the networks would pick this up. A sitcom starring a middle-aged
redhead and her foreign-born husband? Naaaaaah. ;-)

~Pink

I see your point.  Well, you can't have it be "I Love Pinky," either.
'Cause Pinky Lee already got that one.