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They Should Have Left Ethel Behind for Both the Hollywood and Europe Trips

posted 6 days ago by Corryveckan45 (180)
3 replies | jump to latest

I just saw the beginning of the "Ricky's European Booking' episode. Lucy, of course, initially wants to go along, but Ricky is able to talk her out of it by promising to take her on a longer trip to Europe next year.

Ethel comes in and messes everything up by pointing out that Ricky and his all male band will be on their own in Europe (and on shipboard) for 3 weeks, and that Lucy would be alone in Paris dress shops with Ricky's checkbook free to spend as much as she wanted. Lucy becomes enraged and refuses to speak to a surprised Ricky. When Ricky asks Ethel what happened, Ethel gives a coy little laugh.

Then, in Hollywood, Ethel is so obnoxious when they visit her hometown that Ricky, Lucy and Fred are initially prepared to leave her behind until Lucy talks them out of it.

Ethel is the least essential member of the quartet on these trips (Lucy at least keeps Ricky's wardrobe, etc. in order arranges meals, etc.), and Fred doesn't really want her along, so it would have served her right if they all decided to leave her in New York for her troublemaking behavior.

[–] [email protected] (6243) 3 days ago

Oh you are bad! lol. I love Lucy AND Ethel. Lucy without Ethel is like peanut butter without jelly, coffee without cream.😁😁

You did start a thread a few months ago about Ethel the troublemaker. This is just more of the same.

In the first Europe episode Ethel was just looking out for Lucy. She was suspicious about Ricky being alone with the band on a long trip. Lots of temptations.

In the episode when they visit Ethel’s hometown she did go overboard. She had been a local celebrity and couldn’t resist all the attention they paid to her. No doubt she fibbed to her daddy in her letter. But he went all out and treated his “little Ethel” like a big celebrity. Mr. Potter obviously couldn’t stand his son-in-law and so he was glad that Ethel had some success in her life, or so he thought.
Ethel didn’t come to town expecting to be interviewed for the local newspaper. Her daddy was the one who insisted she do a show for the town.

Of course Ethel could have refused. But she was caught up in being the center of attention.

In almost every episode Lucy gets to be the center of attention. So this one time it was Ethel’s turn. I don’t think there was any harm done. And as for being her friends, they tried to sabotage her one woman show!

[–] Corryveckan45 (180) a day ago

Hi PJ,

Yes, I was being "Tongue in Cheek" in my comments about Ethel. And Lucy without Ethel would be problematic. Lucy needed a comic foil to make her comedy even more palatable.

Still, I think Ethel's suspicions about Ricky cheating while on the Tour of Europe were uncalled for. In his career, Ricky had many opportunities to cheat on Lucy, and her suspicions were always unfounded. I think Ethel's "warning" to Lucy may have been partially motivated by her knowing that Fred would almost certainly cheat on HER if he had the opportunity, and she resented that Ricky wouldn't cheat on Lucy.

I think Lucy, Ricky and Fred had every reason to be furious with Ethel and to sabotage her show after her high-handed treatment of them, and Ethel's one woman show WAS pretty lousy. She was no Jeanette MacDonald or Deanna Durbin. I know Albuquerque wasn't the entertainment capital of the United States, but I think it's a weakness of this often very funny episode that the townspeople believe that Ethel's going to Hollywood to star in a movie. You'd think at least "Billy Hackett," who ran the local paper, would have wondered why there was never any publicity about Ethel's movie, especially as there had been publicity about Ricky's making a movie.

With better looking/nicer guys like Billy Hackett being interested in Ethel, one really wonders why she married Fred.

[–] [email protected] (6243) a day ago

In fairness to Ethel, she didn’t really believe Ricky would cheat on Lucy with Minnie Finch. And that was before she saw her!

Who would Fred cheat WITH? Mrs. Trumbull?😀

Fan Magazine Interview is one of my favorite episodes. Ethel does entertain the possibility of Fred being unfaithful.

After seeing Minnie and her girlfriends, “You don’t think Ricky would date those three? Fred yes, Ricky no.”😂😂😂

Well…Ethel HAD been a local celebrity back in her youth. Ethel Mae Potter, We Never Forgot Her read the banner. lol

It is a weak point though as you said. Why was there no publicity about Ethel’s supposed film?
Of course back then without internet, news didn’t travel so fast. I wonder how Ethel explained things to her father. Probably just said her picture had been shelved. It would be believable since Ricky’s film Don Juan got shelved.

Of course Ethel and Fred DID eventually get parts in a movie. Remember how they ran into an old friend who offered them a part in his picture. Ethel said they would be working on it for “two whole weeks”.

I liked Ethel’s one woman show. But you probably are in agreement with the late Bill Frawley.

Supposedly on the set he used to ask, “Geez, who told that dame she could sing?”

Still I liked her selections much more than the ones Fred and his old vaudeville partner Barney Kurtz sang in another episode.

Yes, Billy was sure more attractive than Fred. And he was much nicer to Ethel!