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If You Had to Pick ONE Favorite Country Episode...

posted 6 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
13 replies | jump to latest

Which one would it be?...

This is a toughie, but for me..."Lucy Raises Tulips." I would argue it isn't technically the
best, but it's my personal fave. I love Lucy's catfight with Betty while Ethel watches. I
then love Lucy and Ethel admonishing Ricky (AND Fred) for not finishing mowing the lawn.
But Lucy's ultra bizarre "ride" on that "beast" takes the cake! I love how dizzy Lucy gets,
going around and around in circles. But her "story" (borrowed from, but superior to "Lucy
Leans to Drive") is just hilarious. The scene also borrows from the Cornel Wilde episode.
But who cares? Lucy makes it truly believable she was driving "berserk" on the Boston Post Road, and mowing half of every lawn like "Lady Godiva."

Again, I'd agree there are better country shows (and worse), but this is my personal favorite.

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

The tulip episode is undoubtedly very funny and it's one time where Ricky is the one who screws up!

My favorites are a tie. I love "Lucy Does the Tango". Lucy and Ethel trying to sneak all the eggs into the hen house and getting caught always makes me laugh.

My other favorite is "Housewarming". Ethel is so cool towards Betty Ramsey after not getting an invitation to her dinner party.

Lucy is sure that Ethel is jealous.

Lucy invites her two friends to lunch. Ethel remains cool when Lucy offers her more food.
"I have sufficient." (I love that line)

The two women find out that they are from the same town and Lucy is left out. Now SHE'S upset and jealous. A little eavesdropping via the intercom system and Lucy assumes that the neighbors are throwing her a surprise housewarming party. It's typical Lucy craziness all the way around.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I love those episodes, too, and believe they are technically superior to "Lucy Raises Tulips." I just find Lucy's berserk
MOWER ride hilarious.

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

I really like most of the country episodes. But I think "Ragtime Band" is the weakest offering. It totally negates what we know about the Mertzes. All of a sudden, Ethel is totally helpless on the piano and Fred has no talent either.

I wonder what the writers were thinking about when they wrote that episode! It does give Little Ricky the spotlight. But I think they could have done it without making everyone else look like no talent performers.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Huh? In "Lucy's Club Dance", Fred is wearing earmuffs when Ethel is practicing. This was hardly new. Ethel
may have played the piano, but I don't think she was supposed to be all that terrific. And Fred's playing the
fiddle is new to his character in "Ragtime" (which works, as it doesn't mean anything if it wasn't mentioned
before). I agree, though, that it's a lackluster offering, with an awful musical clothing (Desi does NOT look
sexy in THAT outfit! And the sandles don't help!!).

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

i think Fred's earmuffs may have had more to do with the rest of that lousy band than just Ethel's playing. LOL

Remember how Lucy said, "One more bum note won't hurt this group." They truly were awful.

Ethel played the piano quite well in the first season episode "Breaking the Lease". Fred was more than willing to sing along when Ethel played. And she had been in show business. Maybe she was no stellar musician, but in "Ragtime Band", she is portrayed as practically as tone deaf as Lucy!

Yes, the end of the ragtime episode is quite forgettable. Ricky and the rest of them look pretty silly in those costumes.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't see it all that uneven. First of all, Ethel's playing isn't ever
mentioned as great. Just because Fred sings along doesn't mean he thinks she's ready for Carnegie
Hall. Secondly, Ethel is playing ALONE when Fred comes over with earmuffs in "Lucy's Club Dance." And
she's playing scales, not a song, so Fred (and Ricky's) agony is understandable.

To me, the big mistake in "Ragtime" is Ethel announcing she never learned how to play "Sweet Sue!!"
That's exactly what she's playing in the opening scene of "Breaking the Lease!!"

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

Funny that you should mention Ethel playing "Sweet Sue" and later on saying that she didn't know it. Didn't something similar happen with Lucy?

In an early episode I think she said that she could only play "Glowworm" on the sax and then later she played "Sweet Sue". Of course she may have increased her repertoire by one song. lol

My problem with "Ragtime" is that it is a plot driven rather than a character driven story. I was a long time soap opera watcher and that was always a big criticism of the fans.

Writers would sometimes construct a plot and shoehorn the characters into it. Most characters had clearly defined personalities. But instead they would act in uncharacteristic ways just to service a mostly outlandish plot.

On ILL both Fred and Ethel were seasoned show biz performers. Surely they weren't big stars or "ready for Carnegie Hall". lol But in this episode they are such poor performers that even little Ricky complains. It's been established that their talents are in singing and dancing. But all of a sudden they are (third rate) musicians.

It seems to be an excuse for the gang to perform that fairly awful number at the end of the episode.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

But I didn't think they were first-rate musicians BEFORE "Ragtime" (Fred's playing the violin is new
to "Ragtime", so it's completely believable that he was always lousy at it). Also, Ethel tends to play
okay piano - ALONE. It's when she's attempting some kind of an arrangement ("Lucy's Club Dance",
AND "Ragtime") that her weaknesses come through. It feels pretty consistent to me. Lastly, Fred
and Ethel's show biz history is as PERFORMERS, not musicians.

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

Here I go again, beating that proverbial dead horse. LOL I did say that their talents were in singing and dancing. They were not musicians. If they HAD been, based on "Ragtime", the Mertzes would have had very short careers in vaudeville.

It's just that in every other episode where performing was involved, it was Lucy who they were trying to get OUT of the act. Ricky was always offering Fred and Ethel jobs at the Tropicana. They even had a few jobs in Hollywood.

In "Ragtime", they should have been playing to their strength as performers, i.e., a song and dance number.
But oh well, it's not a favorite episode of mine anyway.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I think of it as relative. As a "singer", Lucy made Ricky look like Mario Lanza, Fred, Fred
Astaire, and Ethel, some gorgeous soprano/pianist.

But, isolated, the truth is, NONE of the four were musical geniuses.

While I think it's not surprising that five year-old Little Ricky picks up on all this (minus Ricky Sr.),
I also find Little Ricky a bit rude towards these veterans. Sure, Ricky Sr. puts him in his place
when he complains...but still...

[–] AndrewHNPX (42) 6 years ago

Well I'd say Lucy's Night in Town, but I don't know if that should technically count since much of it is set in the city.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I think it does, as part of its charm is it gets everyone OUT of the country. One of my favorites, tool

[–] [email protected] (5854) 6 years ago

"Lucy's Night in Town" is another favorite of mine. But you think Lucy would have noticed a lot sooner that the tickets were for the matinee! Well, that's Lucy!!

Of course, Ricky was in the city every day. Knowing how he didn't trust Lucy, you would think that HE would have purchased the tickets himself.