#cucamonga

1972.

Aaron Marshall - CUCAMONGA

S1;E19 ~ February 10, 1969

Directed by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs

Synopsis

Lucy can’t find a date to a fancy soiree until Kim and Craig suggest a debonair older man named Tony Rivera (Cesar Romero).  At the party, Lucy discovers her date is actually a jewel thief!

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter)

Guest Cast

Cesar Romero (Tony Rivera) was born in 1907 in New York City to Cuban parents, something he had in common with the Arnaz children. Despite earning more than 200 screen credits, Romero is perhaps best remembered for playing the Joker on TV’s “Batman” (1966-68) and in a Batman film in 1966.  He played Ricky Ricardo’s buddy Carlos when “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (LDCH 1957), the very first hour-long episode of “I Love Lucy” set in Cuba in 1940.  He died on New Year’s Day 1994 at age 86.

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) This is the first series appearance for Croft, who played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy. ” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy.  Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Meets the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83.  

Mary Jane is an unmarried secretary who works in Lucy’s building.

Barbara Morrison (Lady Agatha Warren) was seen in “Lucy’s Working Daughter” (S1;E10) and also played an irate shopper in “Lucy Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17). Morrison was an English-born actress who will make one more appearance on “Here’s Lucy.”

Lady Agatha is Harry’s date for the soiree.  

Dick Winslow (Harvey) appeared in the films Thousands Cheer (1940) and Easy To Wed (1943) with Lucille Ball. This is the first of his two appearances on the series. He also did two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”  

The Soiree Guests (all uncredited):

Don Anderson was seen in the last  two episodes of “The Lucy Show.” This is the last of his three appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Joan Carey was a background performer for “I Love Lucy,” “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy,” eventually serving as Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in. 

Robert Hitchcock appeared as a bar / club patron on many TV series’ including on “Bewitched” and ”That Girl.”  He was seen in “Lucy and Phil Harris” (TLS S6;E20) at the piano bar.  This is the first of his four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Kathryn Janssen began doing background work in 1966. She was spotted on both “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”  

Monty O'Grady was first seen with Lucille Ball in The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and played a passenger on the S.S. Constitution in “Second Honeymoon” (ILL S5;E14). He was a traveler at the airport when “The Ricardos Go to Japan”(1959). He made more than a dozen appearances on “The Lucy Show” and a half dozen more on “Here’s Lucy.”

Ervin Richardson made four uncredited appearances on “The Lucy Show.” This is the first of his two episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

Clark Ross makes the last of his three appearances on “Here’s Lucy.” He is also in the 1974 Lucille Ball film Mame.

Norman Stevans was in the audience of “Over The Teacups” during “Ethel’s Birthday” (ILL S4;E8) and at the airport when “The Ricardo’s Go To Japan,” a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  Like Clark Ross, this is his final time on “Here’s Lucy” but will appear in the 1974 Lucille Ball film Mame.

Other soiree guests, musicians and servants are played by uncredited background performers.

The script for this episode was dated October 17, 1968.  

The second half of the episode takes place at the Stanley Llewellyn’s Annual Soiree. It is never specified who (or what) Stanley Llewellyn is.  

Talking about dreams dates for the soiree, Lucy and Mary Jane fantasize about Rock Hudson, Gregory Peck and Richard Burton, except Elizabeth Taylor wouldn’t approve. These were three of Hollywood’s most handsome leading men. Rock Hudson and Richard Burton were both mentioned in another dating-themed episode “Lucy the Matchmaker” (S1;E12). Lucille Ball appeared with Hudson in “In Palm Springs” (ILL S4;E26) in 1955. Ball and Peck never shared the screen, but he was mentioned on a couple of episodes of “I Love Lucy.” Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor will play themselves on “Here’s Lucy” in 1970 (above).  

Lucy drops hints that she doesn’t have a date yet. Harry says “When you do, be sure to notify Huntley and Brinkley.” Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were a team of newscasters who were paired on NBC from 1956 to 1970.

Lucy tells Harry that in high school she was voted the fun girl of her group. Harry wonders if the group was the prohibitionists or the suffragettes.  This is a dig at Lucy’s age since prohibitionists (who supported the ban on alcohol) and suffragettes (who fought for women’s rights) during the 1920s and early ‘30s.  

Kim mentions that she met Tony Rivera when she and Craig entertained at the Donaldson party. Craig says Tony even plays the drum. Lucy replies “That’s just what I need – another drum player.”  This same line could have been spoken by Lucy Ricardo to Little Ricky!  

Tony compares Lucy to the beautiful women in New York, London, Paris and Rome.  Lucy says she would have settled for Ananheim, Asuza, and Cucamonga. On Jack Benny’s radio program announcer Mel Blanc would call out: “Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu-camonga!”  Blanc later used the same line (and variations) as Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny in the Warner Bothers cartoons. “The Anaheim, Azusa and Cucamonga Sewing Circle Book Review and Timing Association” was the title of a song on Jan and Dean’s 1964 album “Little Old Lady from Pasadena.”  

Lucille Ball gets exit applause from the studio audience after her first scene with Cesar Romero.

When Lucy is about to tell Lucy that Rivera is a jewel thief, Harry says “This is no time to play 'What’s My Line.’  “What’s My Line” was a TV quiz show aired on CBS from 1950 to 1967. Lucille Ball and Cesar Romero both appeared on the show 6 times.  

After Tony Rivera is knocked out cold, Lady Warren discovers she’s been robbed. When Lucy tells her who it was, she can’t believe it. “He’s so charming! He’s so handsome!  He looks just like Cesar Romero!”

Lucy responds with the final line of the episode “I came to bury Caesar, not to praise him!” and conks Rivera on the head with a champagne bottle. This is a famous quote from William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar.

Lucy Carter hunting through her address book for a date and calling former boyfriends on the telephone also was done by Lucy Ricardo in “The Girls Want to Go To A Nightclub” (ILL S1;E1). 

On “Here’s Lucy” the men are named Dixon Graff (he’s married) and Paul Wilcox (he’s a grandfather). 

On “I Love Lucy” the men are named Sam Zabalione (he’s married) and Howard Thompson (he’s a grandfather).  

Cesar Romero played Carlos Garcia, Ricky Ricardo’s friend and business partner in the very first “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” titled “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (1957), which detailed how Lucy and Ricky first met in Cuba in 1940. While Lucy gets fixed up with Ricky, Carlos is matched with her private secretary friend Susie MacNamara (Ann Sothern).  

Lucy Ricardo also foiled the plans of a jewel thief (Paul Bartell, above) in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5). 

Where The Floor Ends! When the camera pulls out too far in the living room, the soundstage floor is visible.  This is a typical goof on “Lucy” sitcoms.

Fractured Foley! When Lucy hits Rivera with a champagne bottle at the end of the episode, the sound effect of the breaking glass comes a few seconds before the bottle actually hits his head!

“A Date for Lucy” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

This episode is by far the most grounded and 'realistic’ of the undercover spy plots on the series. Lucy doesn’t overplay the comedy and seems genuinely engaged in the outcome.  

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