"Lucy Does a TV Commercial" is the 30th episode of the 1950s television
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
,'' airing on May 5, 1952. It is considered to be the most famous episode of the show. In 1997, ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' ranked it #2 on their list of the "
100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". In 2009, they ranked it #4 on their list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time."
["TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time" '']TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
;'' June 15, 2009; Pages 34–49 The initial episode was watched by 68% of the television viewing audience at the time.
Plot
Ricky (
Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...
) is given an opportunity to host a television show and is notified that he needs to find a girl to do a commercial spot for one of their sponsors. Lucy (
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
) begs Ricky to let her do the commercial, but he refuses. Lucy asks Fred (
William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...
) to assist her in a scheme to get Ricky to watch her on television. When Ricky returns home from his band rehearsal, she is behind the TV screen – inside the set's empty body – doing a mock commercial as Johnny, the bellhop of
Phillip Morris fame. Ricky, disliking the stunt, goes behind the set and plugs the cord back into its outlet, which sets off a minor explosion behind Lucy. Ricky discovers that she has taken each part of the television set out, piece by piece (rather than sliding the whole chassis out), so that she could fit into the box.
The following morning, Lucy avoids Ricky. Ricky asks Fred if he can wait for a telephone call from the girl willing to do the commercial to tell her the time and studio. After Ricky leaves, Lucy tells Fred she will deliver the message instead. When the girl calls, Lucy tells her she is not needed for the commercial and proceeds to takes her place.
The director of the commercial (
Ross Elliot) explains to Lucy their sales pitch regarding the "Vitameatavegamin"
health tonic
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
. What both Lucy and the director are unaware of – but what the propman (
Jerry Hausner
James Bernard Hausner (May 20, 1909 – April 1, 1993),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 122-123. known professionally as Jerry ...
) realizes to his shock – is that the tonic contains 23% alcohol. Lucy begins her first take, taking a sip of the tonic, which tastes terrible, as evidenced by her grimace. After a few more practice runs, Lucy becomes intoxicated and her speech becomes slurred. The director asks the propman to take her to her dressing room to rest until the commercial goes live. When the television show begins, Ricky sings
"El Relicario", but Lucy comes out from backstage and staggers toward Ricky. She sways, waves to the camera, starts singing along with Ricky, and repeats her sales pitch in the middle of his singing despite Ricky's attempts to keep her off-screen. When he is finished performing, Ricky desperately carries Lucy off the stage.
Notes
*In later reruns, the scene where Lucy is in a broken television set was edited to remove references to
Philip Morris, which was sponsoring ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'' at the time. (The
Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act
The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act is a 1970 federal law in the United States designed to limit the practice of tobacco smoking. As approved by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon, the act required a stro ...
banned tobacco advertisements from broadcast television beginning in 1971.) The DVD release, as well as the colorized episode, restore this.
*The Vitameatavegamin was originally 11% alcohol, but was increased to 23% on the show. The bottle from which
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
was at first pouring the tonic, and later drinking from directly, actually contained apple
pectin
Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component of ...
.
*The character of Ethel (
Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outst ...
) is absent from this episode; Fred says that she is visiting her mother.
*The central sketch was originally created by
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
and had been part of his
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
routine since the 1930s. Skelton granted Ball permission to use it in ''I Love Lucy''.
*As of 2017, the dress Ball wore during the rehearsal scene is owned by actress
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...
.
Enduring popularity
The word "Vitameatavegamin" has since become a shorthand for this episode and for the ''I Love Lucy'' show in general.
The 1991 CBS television movie ''
Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter'' recreated this episode.
In 2009,
a statue of Lucille Ball was installed in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Ball's hometown of Celoron, New York, depicting the scene from this episode in which Ball's character hawks the alcohol-rich
patent medicine
A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...
Vitameatavegamin while under the effects of heavy dosage of the tonic. The statue was deemed "scary" by residents, earning it the nickname "Scary Lucy". In 2016, the statue was moved nearby and replaced by one created by Carolyn Palmer. The new sculpture, which depicts Ball standing on a copy of her Hollywood star, is known officially as "New Lucy"
and colloquially as "Lovely Lucy".
In 2011, more than 900 Lucille Ball lookalikes gathered under a "Vitameatavegamin" sign to honor Ball's 100th birthday, setting a world record for the most Lucy lookalikes in one place.
Also in 2011, a talking Lucy doll was produced which recites lines from this episode.
In the April 9, 2020 episode of ''
Will & Grace
''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing), ...
'',
Debra Messing
Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing received short-lived roles on television series such as '' Ned and Stacey'' on Fox (1995–1997) and ...
recreated the scene.
See also
* ''
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
'' (2009 statue)
References
See also
*"
Dinner for One
''Dinner for One'', also known as ''The 90th Birthday'' (german: link=no, Der 90. Geburtstag), is a two-hander comedy sketch, written by British author Lauri Wylie for the theatre. After featuring on the stage, the German TV broadcaster, Nordde ...
"
*
List of ''I Love Lucy'' episodes
{{I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy episodes
1952 American television episodes
Television episodes about advertising
Works about alcoholic drinks