Really Enjoying the Europe Shows Again! - I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion

[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

Most of the episodes you mentioned are favorites of mine in the European arc.

I don't know how Lucy was able to deal with being locked in that trunk though! I read that Lucille Ball had claustrophobia. So do I and there's NO WAY I could have done a scene like that. It makes me fidgety just to think about it. But the doctor who delivered her, doing his little dance, was so funny!

Lucy and the seasick pills was hilarious. But a later episode contradicts some of the "facts" in this one. Fred was prone to seasickness, but later in the Florida episodes, he had no problem going fishing with Ricky!

Surprised you didn't mention Lucy's Paris gown. I know that's one of your favorites.

My two favorites in Europe are "Lucy Meets the Queen" and "The Fox Hunt".

The episode in Italy where Lucy tries to place a call to little Ricky for his birthday does drag on and on. The elevator is broken and everyone is going up and down those stairs. Too slow moving!!

I find it strange that this episode is sandwiched between two episodes with a lot of physical activity. In the previous episode, apparently everyone is fit enough to climb the Alps, but they can't climb a few flights of stairs! But a few weeks later all of them (including an old guy like Fred) are fit enough to bicycle for miles and miles across Europe!

I was never a huge fan of the Charles Boyer episode until we discussed it and you pointed out how funny it really is. Now it's a favorite of mine.

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

Yes, Boyer truly had terrific comedic timing (love the line where he says - as Maurice Dubuat - that he's "never (!)" done
a romantic role..."only Westerns."). Lucy IS such a bitch to him when she thinks he's a poor, struggling actor.

I don't care for "Lucy Meet's the Queen." Maybe it's because I've NEVER held a fascination for British Royalty. I also
don't think the episode is very funny, and the finale is just okay.

I LOVE "The Fox Hunt", but it's strange how slooooowwwww it is in its first half. Amusing, but very static, with the
entire first act set in that living room, with mostly everyone just STANDING in their "camera directed" positions. But
as soon as they're at the Estate, fireworks! Angela Randall made no bones about the fact that she was trying to
get Ricky in bed that weekend (very obvious to me). I guess the writers realized that Lucy REALLY needed to
feel threatened to have her risk her personal safety with that horse!

Yes, special shout-outs to "Paris at Last" and "Lucy Wants a Paris Gown."

There's no question that "Lucy's Italian Movie" is a bonafide classic - her entire grape scene is done without ANY
dialogue from Ball. Sheer brilliance.

The season finale is also one of my faves. The writing alone in "Return Home From Europe" is among the very
best of the series. And Desi is so great, really holding his own with everyone ("I am NOT the father of THAT!").

The trunk: Who DOESN'T suffer from claustrophobia? Most everyone I've ever known has it to a certain degree,
some worse than others. I have one friend who has it so bad she has to be put UNDER to have an MRI (very
common, I've heard).

I personally would've had no problem doing the trunk scene, as long as it wasn't REALLY locked (which it clearly
wasn't) and I knew I could push it open if I HAD to. (It's all about control). But, yes, Lucy's beaming smile when
they open it up and free her seems REAL (I noticed this last weekend).

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

I don't why I love "Lucy Meets the Queen", but it's just a favorite. Lucy always wants to meet celebrities and this time she is thwarted at every turn!

If the episode is understood in its historical context, I can understand why Lucy wanted to meet her. She was a young and glamorous new Queen. Many years later I was a London tourist and I sat in front of Buckingham Palace with the hopes of getting a glimpse of her Majesty. We all have those people we want to see.

Who doesn't suffer from claustrophobia? Well... astronauts for one thing! LOL Have you ever watched that HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon"? One of the main criteria for astronauts was that they could NOT be claustrophobic. They were wedged into such tight spaces. Just watching those documentaries with the tiny Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules make me so uncomfortable.
There was a joke made about the tiny Mercury capsules. They used to say that the astronauts didn't "enter" the spacecraft. They "put them on."
When I watched Apollo 13 I could not believe how Tom Hanks and the other actors could wear the space suits with the headgear. I would have freaked out completely.

The Fox hunt episode, yes, Angela Randall sure had the hots for Ricky. I like the way Lucy said that the "prize" belonged in her box of Cracker Jack! Angela was quite pushy. I don't know how she figured on getting away with a tryst with Ricky right under his wife's nose.

I think my favorite character was Danny Boy, such a sweet and gentle horse, brought Lucy right back to the stable... riding backwards! LOL

But yes, Lucy's return from Europe with Cheddar, er "Chester" was so funny! I like how she told her seatmate that "the baby looks just like him!" referring to Ricky.

There's one thing I wonder about in that episode. Lucy's seatmate is returning from Europe with an infant. Who the heck takes a trip like that with a tiny baby? But then I thought maybe her husband was stationed in the Army overseas and she was headed home with the baby.
Just those little things I think about!

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

I didn't mean LITERALLY everyone has claustrophobia; but it's certainly among the most common of phobias. A
fear of spiders is another common one (I don't have it - they don't "bug" me in the least).

However, I have a MORBID fear of wasps and hornets. It's gotten progressively worse as I've gotten older
(it's so bad, I can't even look at internet pictures of wasps or their nests - they disturb me that much). Unlike
other insects that are instinct driven only, wasps are TEMPERAMENTAL. As kids, we used to throw rocks at
their cone nests under the eaves of houses, and they would react in RAGE! (we'd see one ZOOM straight for
his attacker and sting him!). I find them the stuff of Stephen King, and I truly (not kidding) would love to
have them extinct! Truly gross insects.

From what I've read, Lucy had a phobia of birds, or at least pictures of birds, and forbad them as set
decorations. They just disturbed her. Bet she hated Hitchcock's film!!

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

I do agree that claustrophobia is a common phobia.

As for bugs, my aunt would scream if she saw a fly! She was afraid of all bugs.

Do you think that Lucy didn't go see "The Birds"?? lol

Everyone has their phobias. My ex-husband had a terrible fear of snakes. And we lived out in the country! One day there was a little garter snake in the front yard. He refused to go out the front door for days! One time I saw a black snake up by his tool shed. He kept his lawn mower in there. He wouldn't go up there.

But fearing wasps and hornets seems practical, not morbid. Those little suckers are mean and they like to sting people without being provoked.

From all the ILL episodes, it seems to me that Lucy's greatest fear was having her ego damaged or having some woman go after Ricky... ha ha She went to great lengths to protect her marriage. Going on a foxhunt when she had never ridden a horse before? She really feared that some woman would snag Ricky away from her.

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

There was one comment you made that I wanted to respond to. You wrote that it didn't make much sense
that Fred was suddenly cured of his seasickness in Florida. Well, he was fine once he took the pills for
the Constitution, and sailedl out beautifully. So, who's to say he didn't take these same pills - this time with
confidence, because he knew they worked - in the boat in Florida???

Again, just because we don't SEE him take the pills, doesn't mean he didn't.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

Well yes that's probably true about the seasickness!

I just think that Fred's "condition" changed rapidly to fit the script! He was prone to sea sickness. Of course he tried out those pills on the Long Island Ferry, but they put him to sleep!

I myself needed to take some pills for nausea years ago and I can attest to the fact that they make you sleepy.

So when Fred was on the Constitution those pills not only didn't make him sleepy, they made him horny! LOL He and Ethel were on a second honeymoon.

I don't doubt that he took the pills again in Florida and they probably worked.

But recall the Hollywood episode when Ricky described his "dipsey" fishing trip. They didn't get any fish because the seas were too rough. The waves were high and the boat rocked and rolled.

Fred looked nauseated just listening to Ricky's description of the rough sea. Ethel said that he got seasick "if I have too many waves in my hair."

It's just one of those script inconsistencies. Fred was either seasick or not, depending on the needs of the episode. But I don't doubt that he took those seasick pills!

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

It's NOT an inconsistency, for heaven's sake. First, they were already preparing the European scripts
during the shooting of the latter day Hollywood shows, so they built up that seasick angle beautifully.
I'd see your point if Fred had said he got seasick in "Lucy and the Dummy", but DIDN'T mention
seasickness when going aboard the constitution. That would be bad, although, again, we could've
assumed he took Dramamine. It's a common drug to take (I need to take it when I'm on boats, which
is rare).

It is explained in "Staten Island Ferry" that so much of Fred's issue is anxiety about getting sick again.
He had never taken those new pills. But once he gets on the ferry with a supportive Lucy (a nice angle
to remind viewers that she could be a loving, giving character), he talks himself through it, trusting
in the pills. As for his napping, the pills are new to him, and Fred fell asleep and snored many
afternoons anyway. It is totally believable that he naps longer due to his body not yet used to the
pills he took (he took TWO to Lucy's five or six). Furthermore, when he's awakened, he is NOT BOMBED
like Lucy. Again, sharp writing.

It totally makes sense that he would now feel comfortable sailing. And after days on the Constitution
and feeling fine (remember, so much of it was psychological for him), it makes total sense that he
would be comfortable on a tiny boat in Florida. We just assume he took the pills. No need to mention
them in the script at all.

Sorry, ILL had its share of inconsistencies. This is not one of them.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

This talk of seasickness is making me queasy. lol

They did build up the seasick angle since Fred was prone to it in "Lucy and the Dummy". Just hearing about the rough seas that Ricky experienced was enough to make Fred sick.

The Staten Island Ferry episode, yes, Lucy was concerned about Fred. He took a few pills and went to sleep. I really think they have that effect on everyone, no matter if their body is used to them or not.

I also wondered about Lucy looking so drunk and loopy after taking a few extra pills. I wonder, do they really have that effect on people? Or was it just a chance for the script to show off how well Lucille Ball could do a "drunk" routine?

I can totally understand how Fred would be taking seasick pills on the Constitution. But he wasn't sleepy then. Of course, he may have just gotten his "sea legs" and didn't need the pills. From what I have read, some people just need to get adjusted to life at sea and then they don't get sick anymore.

It never worked for me. Like you, I've always gotten seasick on boats. I can fly in the worst turbulence and not get airsick, but on boats, forget it! Yuck!!

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

I agree that Ball's being THAT bombed was an exaggeration by the writers. But other than that,
I think they handled Fred's seasickness/recovery very believably.

What I like about Ball's performance is that, while it clearly harkens back to Vetavitavegamin,
Lucy doesn't play it exactly the same way. To me, she is clearly DRUNK in "Lucy Does a
TV Commercial", and DOPEY from pills in "Staten Island Ferry." There's a fine difference in
how the two affect people, and Lucy's genius showed us this.

When I was about seven, my father took me on a small boat. He bought me a package of
cinnamon flavored Lifesavers, which I was eating while on board. I got seasick for the
first time in my life, and I don't remember anything as awful as that feeling. It was
indescribable. Because I associated it with those Lifesavers, I couldn't eat cinnamon-flavored
hard candy for DECADES after without feeling queasy. Being seasick (I was only seasick one
other time, in my teens) is a unique form of agony.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

Yes Lucy did drunk or loopy in such a funny way. I think she knew that the actor isn't "trying" to act drunk. He is just acting to what seems to be normal to him.

I got seasick on a couple of boat rides. I don't know why. The water wasn't choppy. But it is just one of those things that affects me!

Interesting that you associate a certain candy with being sick. There were a few times in my life where I got a stomach bug. Just coincidentally it happened after I had dinner. I associated what I ate with getting sick, but it wasn't responsible.

One time I got a bad bug and was SO nauseous. The last thing I had eaten was a cherry/cream cheese dessert. I used to love it, but to this day I can't look at the stuff!

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

Oh, dear, all this talk of getting sick, lol!

About five years ago, I came down with the flu, and rightfully reduced my diet to only
soup, juice and saltines. But (foolishly) on the second day, I gave in to a temptation
and ate cheese and potato soup. Huuuuuuuge mistake. While I enjoy this soup now
(especially homemade), it was at least a year before I could even smell it.

Now, back to the mistakes.

I watched "Deep Sea Fishing" today. (just because we were discussing it, and I was off
work). It's not an episode I crave, and I don't love it, but it IS funny. Anyway, I
noticed something really amiss. All through the first half, they discussed Little Ricky
being at the beach. (Lucy tries to distract Ricky with her fish in the tub by asking Ricky
Sr. to find Little Ricky's swim trunks. She then admits "He's wearing them!"). So,
they left Little Ricky UNATTENDED at the beach??? A four and a half year old? Lucy's
mother wasn't on that trip, nor was Mrs. Trumbull. Who was watching him? Pretty
scary slip-up by the writers. All they had to do was make up a fast line about a couple
with their own little boy they befriended, and they were watching him!

Again, another couple and their small son WITH Little Ricky could've happened off camera,
but giving the suggestion that he was by himself makes one a little uncomfortable. Even
in 1956, you would never leave a four year-old unattended in a public place. Never.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

What a coincidence. I was channel surfing the other night and I came upon the Florida episode where Lucy and Ethel were trying to hide that big fish. Lucy said that they had to hide it before little Ricky got back from the playground. In a strange city? They allowed a four year old to go off by himself?

Just another example of how hard it was to integrate a small child into a sitcom about adults. Like you said, they could have added a quick line about him playing with some other child at the hotel.

But they were in a strange city and they sent their child off unattended??

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[–] smidget28 (800) 7 years ago

My favorite Europe list has always included Scotland, whether number one, or in my top three. Something about it just gets me, and I always loved their musical plays....

"I'm in love with the dragon's dinner"

Micky Macardo.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

I have a love/hate relationship with the Scotland episode. Sometimes I get in the mood to watch it and enjoy it. Other times I am disappointed that they didn't do a real "the Ricardos visit Scotland" episode and just opted to make it a dream. I think Lucy visiting her MacGillicuddy relatives would've been funny.

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[–] AndrewHNPX (42) 7 years ago

I love the Europe episodes, not as much as the Hollywood ones, but there was still a lot of great stuff in them and I love the sense of adventure they had.

The bicycle one is great, though it gets a bit frustrating to watch.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

The bicycle one has funny moments. But it does get frustrating to watch.

My biggest problem with it is that none of the four characters were ever known to bike ride or exercise. To set out on such a long strenuous ride would have been difficult, to say the least. And Fred was over sixty. He was hardly in great physical shape. I just can't see him going more than a mile or so before quitting!

In one episode, all of them were exhausted by climbing the stairs in the hotel with the broken elevator. But somehow they could ride bikes for miles? Hard to believe.

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

What's so hard to believe? Once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget. It would be far more unbelievable if
one of the four said they never learned.

Fred, Ricky and Ethel had to be manipulated into doing it, and Lucy - being Lucy - thought it would just be scenic
and beautiful, not really paying attention to the enormous hills. None of them did.

They had no plans of staying overnight in that Italian guy's barn, and only did so when they realized just how
daunting a bike ride it was.

There's nothing unbelievable about the writing at all, to me.

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

Oh I guess I wasn't clear! Of course you never forget HOW to ride a bike. But they weren't just going for a little ride around town. I meant that it's quite strenuous to actually ride a bike over all that terrain when you are not in the shape to do it!

As I wrote, they were all exhausted from climbing a few flights of stairs in the hotel.

I rode my bike a lot as a child. But then I stopped in my teen years. When I was about thirty, I got an exercise bike. I would do a few miles a day. But it took me a while to work up to riding fifteen or twenty miles at a time. My quads would ache at first after I tried a long ride. I do not believe that they were in any shape, especially Fred, to undertake such a physically taxing bike ride.

Sure it was scenic and beautiful. But if that type of long ride was so easy then why do athletes train for months to do it?

Yes it was a funny episode. It was no more "unbelievable" than Lucy falling into a vat of starch or falling out of a hotel window and surviving. But I maintain that in the real world it is unbelievable for adults to undertake such a strenuous long ride!

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[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

To me, the writers wrote it completely believable. Had the four shouted, "Yes! Let's do it", I'd agree,
thinking, wouldn't Ricky judge the distance; wouldn't Ethel and Fred grumble? But they react believably
at the beginning. Also, if they made it to the border where the passport stuff happens, and DIDN'T get
tired out and need to spend the night in the barn, I'd agree. But they DO get tired and can't finish
the trip in one sitting. Totally believable writing to me.

As for the hotel ep in Italy, that's bizarre writing that faults THAT particular episode, not the ones that
follow. I always thought four or five flights was nothing, as weren't the four used to that in the New
York brownstone on a daily basis? Weird. But I don't care for the birthday ep in Italy anyway.

You raise an interesting point, though. Regarding the starch vat, "Bonus Bucks" is a far greater episode
than "Lucy's Bicycle Trip", yet the latter is far more realistic. So much for the necessity of realism on
"I Love Lucy!!"

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[–] [email protected] (5854) 7 years ago

Yes I could never understand why they were all so out of breath climbing a few flights if stairs! It wasn't as if the brownstone had an elevator!

The birthday episode though, I think it was one of the few episodes which "dated" the show. In the fifties, many people in Europe were still suffering the after effects of World War Two. No wonder those little children were so poor. Lucy did a nice thing for them. But still the episode does drag on and on.

"Bonus Bucks", Lucy in a vat of starch! I remember reading that the script was based on something true though. At the time there were contests similar to "bonus bucks". But I doubt any people went to the lengths that the Ricardos and Mertzes did to win a hundred dollars!

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