I Love Lucy: Season 6

Over 50 years ago during the early years of broadcast television, the very inspired talents of Lucille Ball (1911-1989) and her then husband Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) were showcased on their hilarious television show "I Love Lucy". TV execs had initially rejected the plausibility of the show because of Desi and because they intended to tape the shows. However, thanks to the tireless efforts of Lucille Ball and Desi's obvious talents, the show first aired in 1951 and quickly became one of the most successful TV shows during all six of its regular seasons. As Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on "I Love Lucy", Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were joined by William Frawley (1877-1966) and Viviane Vance (1909-1979) as their best-friends/apartment landlords of Fred and Ethel Mertz.

The sixth & final season of "I Love Lucy" that aired between 1956 and 1957 had 26 memorable episodes and one special:

1. "Lucy and Bob Hope": After Lucy spots Bob Hope (himself, 1903-2003) at a baseball game, she attempts to contact him by pretending to be a hotdog vendor and a pitcher.

2. "Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums": Thump. Thump. Thump, thump, thump. Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux) learning to play the drums starts to drive everyone crazy; including Fred & Ethel with his persistent rhythm.

3. "Lucy Meets Orson Welles": After Lucy gets to perform with Orson Wells (himself, 1915-1985) at the Tropicana, she tries to turn his magic-act into Shakespeare to impress her old drama teacher in the audience.

4. "Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright": Little Ricky appears fine before he debuts his drumming skills in front of an audience, but then panics immediately before the show.

5. "Visitor from Italy": Mario (Jay Novello, 1904-1982) from Italy comes to visit on his way to San Franchesca to see his brother, but Lucy thinks it's supposed to be San Francisco so she helps Mario get a job in a pizza parlor to raise money, only to have to flip some pizza dough herself.

6. "Off to Florida": To visit Ricky & Fred in Florida, Lucy & Ethel carpool with Mrs. Edna Grundy (Elsa Lanchester, 1902-1986) and her watercress sandwiches, but they come to think that she is a murderer after hearing a report on the car radio.

7. "Deep-Sea Fishing": Still in Florida, the gang goes out on a boat to go fishing with the women betting the men on who can catch the biggest fish.

8. "Desert Island": To stop Ricky & Fred from judging a Florida beauty contest, Lucy & Ethel make it appear that their boat runs out of gas, leaving them stranded on seemingly deserted island.

9. "The Ricardos Visit Cuba": Finally visiting Cuba after many years, Lucy gets the opportunity to meet more of Ricky's relatives, but ends up trying to hide while rolling cigars.

10. "Little Ricky's School Pageant": Ricky, Lucy, Fred & Ethel appear in Little Ricky's school show with Lucy as a wicked witch.

Special: "'I Love Lucy' Christmas Show": A.K.A. "Jingle Bells" or "The Lost Episode", this special has the gang reminiscing as they decorate a Christmas tree.

11. "Lucy and the Loving Cup": Lucy gets a trophy stuck on top of her head.

12. "Lucy and Superman": Lucy pretends to be Superman for Little Ricky's birthday, but then the real Superman (George Reeves, 1914-1959) shows up.

13. "Little Ricky Gets a Dog": When Little Ricky gets a puppy, no one is happy with its non-stop, late-night barking.

14. "Lucy Wants to Move to the Country": After Lucy wants her, Ricky & Little Ricky to buy a home in Connecticut, she starts to have second thoughts and gets help from Ethel & Fred to sour the deal with the sellers: Mr. & Mrs. Spaulding (Frank Wilcox, 1907-1974, & Eleanor Audley, 1905-1991).

15. "Lucy Hates to Leave": The Ricardos with their belongings temporarily move in with the Mertz's until they can move into their new Connecticut home.

16. "Lucy Misses the Mertzes": Alone in their new home, Ricky & Lucy decide to visit Fred & Ethel in New York, but Fred & Ethel decide to visit Ricky & Lucy.

17. "Lucy Gets Chummy with the Neighbors": Like Lucy ever needed an excuse to buy new furniture, her new friend & next-door neighbor Betty Ramsay (Mary Jane Croft, 1916-1999) helps to convince Lucy that she needs to.

18. "Lucy Raises Chickens": To help pay their bills, Lucy & Ricky decide to get chickens and sell the eggs; so Lucy & Ethel buy 500 baby chicks that Little Ricky finds hidden away and accidentally lets loose.

19. "Lucy Does the Tango": After Ricky threatens to sell their chickens that won't lay eggs and he & Fred aren't speaking to each other, Lucy plans to plant store-bought eggs in the nests; but she also has to hide them and practice the Tango with Ricky with some sticky results.

20. "Ragtime Band": When Ricky refuses to perform with Lucy, Fred & Ethel for a benefit, she gets Little Ricky on the drums instead.

21. "Lucy's Night in Town": Lucy, Ricky, Fred & Ethel plan to see a New York play, but problems arise, including Fred getting nervous about carrying $500 in cash.

22. "Housewarming": Ethel's jealousy of Betty Ramsey's friendship with Lucy quickly becomes Lucy's jealousy of Ethel when Ethel & Betty find out that their both from Albuquerque. Things get worse when Lucy thinks that Ethel is planning a surprise housewarming party for her & Ricky.

23. "Building a Bar-B-Q": Ricky & Fred build a wonderful brick barbeque, but Lucy thinks her wedding ring fell into the cement; so she & Ethel take it apart looking, then attempt to put it back together with hilarious results.

24. "Country Club Dance": Lucy, Ethel & Betty get mad at their husbands that all become smitten with a young blond (Barbara Eden) at a dance.

25. "Lucy Raises Tulips": Tulips and riding lawnmowers don't go together, which is what Lucy finds out when she tries to mow her yard and takes out Betty's prize tulips. Lucy also discovers that wax tulips don't do well in the sun.

26. "The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue": In the very last regular "I Love Lucy" episode, after Lucy accidentally destroys the statue to be dedicated, she pretends to be the statue. The real children of Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz (Lucie Arnaz & Desi Arnaz, Jr.) made uncredited cameo appearances.

To date, Paramount Home Video has done a superb job of packaging the various episodes of the first five seasons of "I Love Lucy" on DVD, so it's a good indication that they'll do as good a job with the sixth season. Overall, for superb packaging and a great price, I rate the "I Love Lucy: The Complete Sixth Season" DVD box set with an anticipatory 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it! Hopefully the 13 hour-long "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show" episodes from 1957 to 1960 will follow in another DVD box set.

This season ends the traditional syndicated 30 minute intervals of America's favorite red head. (of course to follow are the lucy-desi comedy hour and we love lucy). This season has some of the funniest moments in the span of I Love Lucy's run. Funniest moment? Lucy carrying a dozen unhatched chicken eggs across the living room in her blouse to try to hide them from Ricky.
To recap,

1. Lucy And Bob Hope-
Sighting Bob Hope at a baseball game, Lucy hopes to convince him to appear at Desi's club. To get closer to him, she disguises herself as a hot dog vendor, then as a tobacco-chewing pitcher.

2. Little Ricky Learns To Play The Drums (Hilarious!)
Little Ricky's non-stop drum playing threatens the Ricardos' and Mertzes' friendship.

3. Lucy Meets Orson Wells
Lucy wangles a job as Orson Welles's assistant when he appears at Ricky's club. He's doing a magic act, but Lucy's doing Shakespeare!

4. Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright
Little Ricky gets stage fright before his first school music recital.

5. Visitor From Italy
When the Venetian gondolier the Ricardos met in Europe shows up in New York, a series of mishaps result in Lucy working at a pizza parlor.

6. Off To Florida
Driving to Florida to meet their husbands, the girls share the drive with a strange lady they mistakenly think is an ax murderess.

7. Deep Sea Fishing
On a deep-sea fishing trip, the boys bet the girls that they'll catch bigger fish.

8. Desert Island
Lucy and Ethel's scheme to prevent the boys from judging a beauty contest leaves the Ricardos and the Mertzes marooned on a desert island.

9. The Ricardos Visit Cuba
ucy is bent on impressing Ricky's family when they visit Havana, but she can't seem to say or do anything right.

10. Little Ricky's School Pageant
The Ricardos and the Mertzes sign on as extra cast members in Little Ricky's class play.

11. Lucy And The Loving Cup
Lucy jokingly dons a loving cup Ricky is supposed to present to jockey Johnny Longden, but then she can't get it off of her head!

12. Lucy And Superman
Lucy promises to produce Superman for Little Ricky's fifth birthday party.

13. Little Ricky Gets A Dog
Little Ricky's new puppy prompts complaints by another tenant.

14. Lucy Wants To Move To The Country
Fed up with the city, Lucy yearns for the suburban life.

15. Lucy Hates To Leave
The Ricardos find themselves boarding with the Mertzes while waiting to be able to move into their new Connecticut home.

16. Lucy Misses The Mertzes
Lucy and Ricky miss the Mertzes so much that they take the train to New York to surprise them. But Fred and Ethel have the same idea, and are on their way Connecticut!

17. Lucy Gets Chummy With The Neighbors
Lucy's new neighbor Betty Ramsey talks Lucy into buying all new furniture.

18. Lucy Raises Chickens
Lucy and Ricky decide to raise chickens to help make ends meet. Soon the house is overrun with baby chicks.

19. Lucy Does The Tango
Lucy "boosts" egg production by buying several dozen eggs. But her plan to hide them in her blouse goes awry when Desi asks her to help him rehearse a tango number.

20. Ragtime Band
Lucy promises that Ricky will play at a local benefit, but he refuses. So she and the Mertzes put together their own combo -- featuring Ricky Ricardo, Jr.

21. Lucy's Night In Town
In Manhattan for dinner and a hit broadway show ("The Most Happy Fella"), Lucy discovers that their tickets were for the matinee performance.

22. Housewarming
Ethel is jealous of Lucy's friendship with Betty Ramsey. But when Betty reveals that she's from Ethel's home town of Albquerque, the two become fast friends, and now it's Lucy who feels left out.

23. Building A Bar B-Q
Lucy and Ethel decide that the only way to get Ricky to build the backyard barbecue is to start the project themselves.

24. Country Club Dance
At a club dance, Ricky, Fred and Ralph Ramsey shower attention on a sultry young blonde. So Lucy, Ethel, and Betty fight back.

25. Lucy Raises Tulips
Lucy is determined to beat Betty Ramsey in Westport's "Best-looking Garden" contest.

26. The Ricardo's Dedicate A Statue
Ricky's been chosen to dedicate a new Revolutionary War statue in the Westport Town Square. There's only one problem -- Lucy has accidentally destroyed the one-of-a-kind sculpture.

27. I Love Lucy Christmas (The "Lost Episode")
Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel reminisce (courtesy of flashbacks to favorite episodes) as they trim the tree on Christmas Eve.

This four disc set contains all of the episodes from that season including the lost Christmas episode. Each DVD is packed with extras including flubs, outtakes and old commercials used to promote the show. Kudos to Paramount for all of the extras!

In season four Lucy goes to Hollywood and in season five she goes to Europe. So this season, she gives up city life to live in the suburbs.

The transition is handled well with a reason to bring Fred and Ethel along. And Mary Jane Croft becomes a regular and will become Lucy's long time partner in crime in future sereies after Vivian Vance retires.

The season begins in New York and features guests Bob Hope and Orson Welles. Then the gang goes to Florida and Elsa Lanchester makes a great guest appearance. The trip ends with a visit Havana and Lucy wreaking havoc at Ricky's uncle's cigar factory. The gang returns to NYC for a few more episodes that includes a visit from Superman.

For the last half of the season Lucy decides to move to Connecticutt. This gives a whole new group of adventures for the gang to embark on. Lucy decideds to raise chickens but learns it is not so simple. The boys build a barbecue and the girls tear it apart. Lucy has fun making her garden grow. And look for Barbara Eden at the country club dance.

At the end of the season, Lucy and Desi's marriage was on the rock and so they ended the series ad did a series of one hour specials.

I Love Lucy is a classic of early television. And since this was the first show to be filmed on stock instead of kinescope, these DVD's are crystal clear. The one thing is to watch for the really fake backgrounds. When they were broadcast on small non-digtal scenes, they looked real but with the new technology, you will see backgrounds that look fake but that is part of the charm of old shows.

Well six seasons down and let's look for the eleven Lucy and Desi Hours!

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