MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > LITTLE RICKY IN LATER YEARS

LITTLE RICKY IN LATER YEARS

posted 8 years ago by snsurone
16 replies | jump to latest

Little Ricky was born in 1952, meaning that he'd be 18 in 1970 and likely to be drafted.
At that time, the US was heavily involved in the Vietnam War, which had spread to Cambodia and Laos.
In fact, I believe it was around that time that Nixon ordered US bombing of Cambodia.

So...would Ricky, Jr. be drafted with the risk of deployment into a war zone?
Or would he have been a draft-dodger, running off to Canada?
Might he have joined in on anti-war protests on college campuses?

And how would Ricky and Lucy react to whatever happened?
My guess is that Lucy would be all panicky and encourage her son to do anything to avoid the draft.
Ricky, on the other hand, would tell his son to serve his country, the one that had given Ricky, Sr. many advantages.
And this issue might have serious repercussions within the Ricardo marriage.

Of course, such a serious subject would be far beyond the range of entertainment expected of this show.
It wasn't until the early '70's that Norman Lear began discussing such topics on his sitcoms.

[–] sjbradford 8 years ago

Lucy herself would register for the draft, using the name "Lou C. Ricardo". She'd get drafted at the same time as Little Ricky, and wacky hijinks would ensue.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

Sounds a little like the plot of BACK TO SCHOOL, where Rodney Dangerfield enrolled in his son's college, and wacky hi-jinks ensued.

[–] ladyrace 8 years ago

Lou C. Ricardo has me rollin, lol!!

[–] forlorn_rage (163) 8 years ago

I would love to see if a draft (no pun intended) of that episode! Maybe some references to a certain "controversial" sitcom that made its debut in 1971...

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

I read that only a third of those who went to Vietnam were drafted, the other two thirds were volunteers. Desi Arnaz jnr, who would be the same age as little Ricky, doesn't seem to have been drafted, very likley Ricky wouldn't have been either.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

Does anyone know why Desi, Jr. was not drafted?
Could he have failed the physical?
I doubt his affair with Patty Duke was any factor.

But, I'll wager that Ricky, jr. was notified by Uncle Sam.
Too bad we couldn't have seen it; it might have made for very funny situations.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

Little Ricky was born in 1952, meaning that he'd be 18 in 1970 and likely to be drafted.

Actually, it would have depended on Ricky's draft number.

People weren't automatically drafted when they reached a certain age; after 1969, a draft lottery system took effect. The higher your number was (they went as high as 365 or 366, depending on the year of birth), the less likely you were to be drafted.

The lottery for those born in 1952 took place in August 1971; those with numbers between 1-95 were most likely to be drafted.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

If I remember correctly, the numbers were picked from a fishbowl, so Ricky had a 50-50 chance of being inducted.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

If I remember correctly, the numbers were picked from a fishbowl, so Ricky had a 50-50 chance of being inducted.

Your math is off.

They placed 366 days of the year in a fishbowl, representing every day of the year in 1952 (it was a leap year). Only the first 95 selected were likely to be drafted.

Ricky would have had a 50-50 chance of being inducted if they were calling up draft numbers that fell between 1 and 183, but that wasn't the case in 1952; they were most likely to call up numbers that fell between 1 and 95.

He had (approximately) a 26% chance of being called up.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

I was always lousy in math.
And phys. ed.
;-)

[–] Nevadalonghorn 8 years ago

Were college students drafted? If not, maybe Little Ricky attended college and avoided the draft.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

Yes, I believe that in 1970, college student deferment had ended.

[–] hillbrian2005 8 years ago

I thought Little Ricky was born January 1953

[–] couchpotato67 8 years ago

Desi Arnaz, Jr. was born January 19, 1953, the same day the birth episode of Little Ricky aired. So it could be said Little Ricky and his real life alter ego were the exact same age.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

Doesn't matter.
Both Desi, Jr. and Little Ricky would have been elegible for the draft while the Vietnam War was still raging.

[–] Strannger (2007) 8 years ago

I thought so. I wonder what he's up to in 2017.