MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > You Step Into a Time Machine...

You Step Into a Time Machine...

posted 5 years ago by gary4movies (174)
21 replies | jump to latest

...Back to, say, 1953, and you are really you, but there is NO I Love Lucy TV program. Instead, all four characters are real, and you end up meeting one of the characters, and doing something truly helpful for them. In return, they invite you to have dinner with them and their spouses.

WHICH character would you want to be invited to dine with?

Fred and Ethel in their kitchen?
Ricky and Lucy in their kitchen?
Eating with all four at a restaurant?

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

I think I'd start with a fourth choice. I'd like to have "lunch with the girls". I think it would be fun to go out to lunch with Lucy and Ethel.

Later it would be fun to have dinner at the Ricardos with both couples. I'd especially like it if Lucy made her specialty, Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Salad dressing. ha!

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

I'd like a fourth choice, too, now that you mention it.

I'd enjoy honey do melon ALONE with Ricky, clad exactly the way he was for Eleanor Harris.

Sorry, but Ricky/Desi in his prime STILL makes my Ovaltine boil!

Second choice: I'd like to have dinner with all four characters in the Ricardo apartment. And, yes, Lucy's homemade dressing...you know, the recipe that called for a ton of OIL and ONIONS, but still came out looking like BLEU CHEESE!!!

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

There are a lot of dining scenarios to choose from with the foursome.

I noticed you spelled honeydew as "honey do", Was that because you'd want to say to Ricky at breakfast, "Honey...do!" lol

I think you'd enjoy breakfast at the Ricardos during the scene in the early episode when they gave up modern conveniences and Ricky was bathing in the kitchen.

I can imagine you stopping by for breakfast and Lucy asking you what you'd like to eat.

"Oh, I'll have bacon and eggs. And a side order of HIM!"

I'd like to run into the threesome at The Brown Derby. I'd be sure to stare at William Holden along with Lucy.

It would be fun to run into Lucy at that Paris cafe. I'd tell her that escargot are snails and we'd order something else.

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

No, the "honey do" was actually a typo. Ricky is nice to look at, but I don't hit on married men!

I think trying to get Lucy to make up her mind before that besptacled waiter quits would be fun. I'd also pay Lucy's and Ethel's dinner tab so they wouldn't have to wash the dishes.

I'd really try and scarf down as much of that big table of French food Ricky wheels in while Lucy is "starving" herself in Paris.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

Yes, that table of food in their hotel room in Paris looked very tempting.

I would have liked to join Lucy and Carolyn when they had lunch at 21. I think that's where they ate when Lucy met a big producer. That was the time they did the "Mr. and Mrs. TV Show". I've never eaten in a famous restaurant.

The ONE time that I wouldn't want to join them for dinner was during "First Stop" when they feasted on stale cheese sandwiches!

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

They never got to eat at all in"First Stop." But I must say, many of the dishes Mr.Skinner rattles off while recommending the then defunct Golden Drumstick sound delicious...except for the homemade peach shortcake. Yuck! I'd be much happier with strawberry shortcake.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

Shouldn't have said "feasted". They were served but they left without eating. Who could eat rubber cheese?

I think I would've enjoyed some of those "fresh eggs" for breakfast when they lived in the country. Of course I doubt you'd like it. I know how you feel about runny eggs.

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

In the country episodes, it looks like they're eating fried eggs, or even scrambled eggs. Of course, I night be wrong. They just don't look runny and slimy the way they do in the first two seasons.

At the restaurant in "Lucy Changes Her Mind", I would've went with the pork chops. Steak is great, too, but lamb can take a hike (and the best time for them to do that would be before they were slaughtered!).

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

Do lambs actually hike? LOL They don't look like they move too fast to me.

My "funny" story about lamb chops...In college, my best friend's boyfriend lived on campus like us. But his family lived in the city (Pittsburgh). We would go to his house sometimes and his family always invited us to sit down to dinner.

One Sunday dinner I thought, gee, these are such tiny pork chops! Uh, his family was Orthodox Jewish. Pork chops! (I'm a moron!) They were lamb chops. I chewed and chewed but I couldn't swallow the little suckers! Definitely not something I would eat again. My mom never served them either.

I do think I would've liked to eat dinner with Ricky's boss in "Lucy's Schedule". His wife made the dinner (that the Ricardos missed) sound so mouthwatering good. Lucy was so famished that she tried to eat waxed fruit!

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

Yes, lamb is too gamey for me. That, and I get upset about lambs being slaughtered. My mom loves lamb and used to serve it to us with mint sauce (yuck!!!).

Mrs. Little field's dinner sounded wonderful...all except the asparagus tips. I don't do asparagus - way too bitter.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

I remember seeing mint jelly in the grocery store when I was a kid. We always had strawberry jelly, grape jelly, etc. I used to ask my mom to buy it, but she never would. I didn't know that it was served with lamb.

Mom never made asparagus either, so I can't say if I'd like it or not.

Another dinner that I could do without was the one Lucy served to the Littlefields. Nobody got a taste of anything! lol

Do you think that after Mr. Littlefield scolded Ricky for putting Lucy on a schedule, Lucy served dinner again?

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

Absolutely. It was all there in the kitchen ready to eat. The salad looked good (and I LOVE radishes!). I also love pea soup, which I think is delicious, especially smothered in pepper.

Last night before bed, I lined up three restaurant eps - "Lucy Changes Her Mind", " Equal Rights", and "Lucy's Night in Town."
(I fell asleep right after the opening scene of "Town").

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

You mean you missed the scene where Lucy peels every lima bean to get all the nutrients? ha ha

I usually can't watch food episodes at night. They make me too hungry!

But I also fell asleep while watching something. I got my copy of "Bullets over Broadway" and I was watching it for the second time.
There are some restaurant scenes but I don't think any specific food is mentioned. It's only mentioned in a very early scene.

The idiot Olive (played so brilliantly by Jennifer Tilly) scolds the maid for not serving "horse durves".

I love how the maid says that she isn't going to serve anything made out of horse!

Getting back to ILL,I would've liked to have joined them for dinner when Lucy made Ricky's favorite, arroz con pollo, when his mother visited. Chicken and rice is one of my favorite dishes.

I would have liked to join Ricky and Little Ricky for breakfast when he made Spanish omelets. I'd have the omelet and not the oatmeal he served the baby!

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

I LOVE omelets, too!

The Littlefield dinner: Lucy is serving steak and peas AND pea soup???

In "Equal Rights", they order " Meatballs, spaghetti and piz-za.". Odd meal. Oh, and coffee. And all FOUR light up!

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

I guess Lucy really likes peas! So do I.

In "Equal Rights", Lucy was being pushy while they were still at home. She decided on the restaurant because it had good steak.
But I don't know why Ricky had to freak out by yelling that he didn't want steak. He wanted spaghetti.. Most restaurants serve both. The place they went to Lucy ordered a steak and Ricky ordered spaghetti. So what was the big deal?
If Lucy had said that she was in the mood for Chinese food and Ricky wanted spaghetti, well that would've made more sense.

Ricky and Fred ordered spaghetti, meatballs AND pizza! Kind of a heavy meal. In every restaurant I've ever been in, they ask you what size pizza you want. Or they ask if two people will be sharing one. Who orders two pizzas at one table?

This is one of the rare moments we see Fred and Ethel light up. I wonder if Vivian Vance smoked in real life but just didn't like to smoke on camera. There are so many times Lucy lights up and Ethel doesn't. All the smokers I know just have to light up when they are with someone who is smoking.

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

My Mom told me that, back in the '50s, people would order a "pizza pie." She also said it was served as a "side", like potatoes or vegetables.

What I find amusing about pizza, is that if two friends order in a large pizza, that's a normal meal. But if one person orders three pieces by the SLICE, they're pigs! Never figured out that one!

I never really got that Fred and Ethel smoked like Ricky and Lucy. They were definitely once-in-a-great-while smokers.

TV trivia: both Harriet Nelson and Elizabeth Montgomery smoked, but never as their TV characters. Liz eventually quit.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

Interesting that you put "pizza pie" in quotes. Where was your mom from?

We do say that here in the East. There are a lot of pizza places and Italian restaurants here. Sometimes everyone wants pizza, and you order a LARGE for the table. Most everyone gets an appetizer and/or a salad too.

A comedian that I like, Jim Gaffigan, is from Indiana. He said that when he moved to New York he asked a friend if he'd like to "split a pie". The guy thought he meant apple pie? Blueberry pie? He thought it was odd . He didn't know he meant pizza.

I guess it's a regional thing. The only person I know who calls it "a pie" was that flaky guy I told you that I was dating a while ago. (the one who walked into my house without knocking and fell asleep on my couch!) He just had to be different and would say that he ordered "a pie".

I did not know Elizabeth Montgomery smoked! You never saw it on Bewitched. Darrin (at least the first one) smoked like a chimney.

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

My Mom is Canadian.

I've occasionally heard people refer to a pizza as a pie, but never a "pizza pie.". It just seems redundant to word it that way.

Out here in L.A., there are TONS of pizza places, but they all seem the same. Hard to find a bad pizza place, but hard to find an outstanding one.

In " Lucy's Italian Movie", Lucy, trying to teach Ethel how to shrug a conversation, holds out her arms in a large circle, stating, "bring me a large pizza.". Very different than when a slice was a "side dish."

Ever hear of Numero Uno Pizza where you're from?

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

Canadian, that's interesting. What province is she from?

Does she ever complain about the heat in L.A.?

We have great pizza places that are family owned, one in particular. I could eat their pizza every day.

The places I stay away from are the chains. They're just fast food pizza.

Anyway, I usually make my own.

No, I never heard of Numero Uno Pizza.

[–] gary4movies (174) 5 years ago

Numero Uno is to die for. Their dough is very good quality, and they put SWEET tomatoes all over their pies. They were really big in the '70's, but fell out of fashion by the 2,000's. The closest one to me closed down about 15 years ago. I truly don't know if they even exist anymore.

As a kid, my father took us to Perry's Pizza. It was the first time we enjoyed deep-dish pizza (49 cents a slice!). I was a kid a very long time ago.

My Mom is from Toronto.

[–] [email protected] (6247) 5 years ago

I do like a sweeter sauce. I'd probably like theirs.

My aunt used to order pizza from a place in her hometown. I loved it. I never had that sweet sauce anywhere else.

I'm not too fond of deep dish pizza or really thick crust in general.
Now, I won't turn it down! But I never order it.