“We're all odd, aren't we?”

THE SÉANCE. Lucy and Ethel become obsessed with numerology, leading to a mix up between Ricky and a man, Mr. Weatherby (Jay Novello), who wants to hire him for a show. Luckily, Weatherby is also into horoscopes, numbers and the like, and Lucy decides to hold an impromptu séance to impress him; Weatherby hopes to get in touch with his beloved Tilly. Ethel impersonates a medium, Madame Mertzola, and tries to make contact with the dead. [“Ethel to Tilly. Come in – Tilly.”] Lucy decides to portray the ghostly voice of Tilly, but who is doing the voice of an additional spirit? A silly, but highly amusing episode featuring a stand-out performance by the talented and versatile Jay Novello as the delightfully weird and neurotic Mr. Weatherby.

LUCY DOES A COMMERCIAL. Lucy is dying to be the girl who does the commercial on Ricky's TV show, but Ricky is just as adamant that it should be left up to a professional. Lucy, of course, winds up doing the commercial anyway but as usual there's a monumental foul up. It seems that the product Lucky is hawking – VitaMeataVegaMin – contains 23% alcohol! After rehearsing several times and taking a big swallow each time, Lucy ends up snookered and in no condition to do the show. This is classic Lucy with Lucille Ball firmly in center stage doing one of her most priceless bits and clearly exhibiting her own brand of comic genius.

THE OPERETTA. Lucy has depleted the club treasury by borrowing from it to replenish her household expense account. This couldn't have come at a worse time, as the club plans to use the money to rent costumes and scenery for an operetta they are mounting. Lucy thinks she has solved the problem by issuing a post-dated check, but, as usual, nothing works out exactly the way Lucy expects it will. This is an absolutely wonderful Lucy episode with the cast showing off their musical comedy gifts; Vivian Vance is particularly delightful as “Lily of the Valley.” [She sings: “A girl's supposed to wait for a prince to come and get her; the only prince I ever met is a neighbor's Irish setter.”] In general the song lyrics are very amusing and clever [when they're not being deliberately inane] and the melodies are so lilting, especially for Ricky's love song to Lily, that many viewers actually thought they were composed by Victor Herbert [they are really tuneful Herbert pastiche.] Lucy plays Camille, “the snaggle-toothed queen of the gypsies,” who is never allowed to sing by herself because, as Ricky puts it, “Lucy hits a flat none once in a while.” The Operetta ranks among the top five – if not the top two – I Love Lucy episodes.

THE BLACK EYE. A comedy of errors that centers on the notion that nobody ever believes the real story behind a black eye, preferring something much juicier instead. Lucy and Ricky both want to read the same book – a gruesome mystery story – so they compromise, with Lucy reading it out loud. Later, Ricky throws the book to Lucy to put away, and accidentally hits her in the eye with it. Fred and Ethel, seeing Lucy's black eye, and having heard Lucy espousing certain dialogue from the novel, wrongly assume that Ricky hit his wife. Nothing the younger couple can say will dissuade them from this opinion. Hoping to help smooth things over, Fred sends Lucy a batch of flowers in Ricky's stead – but inadvertently puts his own name on the card! This leads to such complications as Ethel thinking that Fred is Lucy's “mystery lover!” And soon everyone in the cast is sporting a black eye. An excellent example of a Lucy episode in which the humor comes almost entirely from the lines and circumstances – and the expert acting – and not from more slapstick-style situations.

NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH FRIENDS. Mrs. Trumble (Elizabeth Patterson) can only shake her head in puzzlement at the childish antics of her neighbors the Ricardos and her landlords the Mertzes when the former sells the latter their old washing machine for thirty-five dollars. Almost immediately after the Mertzes take possession of the machine, it goes berserk, flinging wet laundry and spraying water all over the apartment. Fred and Ethel are convinced that Lucy and Ricky deliberately sold them a lemon, while the Ricardos think the machine now belongs to the Mertzes and is no longer their responsibility. The trouble is, Fred hasn't given Ricky the check yet – so whose washing machine is it? Do they wind up in court again? No. Mrs. Trumble's nephew lets it be known to both couples that he's willing to pay fifty dollars for the machine and each couple is suddenly eager to claim it. An interesting situation that is probably only slightly exaggerated becomes a laugh-fest under the Lucy casts' expertise.

ETHEL'S HOME TOWN. A new side of Ethel comes to light in an episode that delightfully highlights the talents of Vivian Vance, who is superb. The foursome arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Ethel is thrilled to see her father, Will Potter (Irving Bacon), who runs a soda shoppe. It seems that in her letters Ethel, a former vaudevillian who apparently still longs for the spotlight, has made it seem as if she's going to Hollywood to star in a picture instead of Ricky. Her father, old flame Billy Hackett (Chick Chandler) who runs the newspaper, and the whole town go all out for Ethel, who agrees to perform in a show for her fans. When she egotistically cuts her husband and friends out of the show, the trio decide to back her up anyway – on the stage! As Ethel sings such numbers as “My Hero” from The Chocolate Soldier, Lucy, Fred and Ricky – unbeknownst to Ethel – perform comedy routines behind her to the delight of the audience. Along with “Ethel's Birthday,” this episode is a particular favorite for Ethel Mertz/Vivian Vance fans. Vance's reciting of “my story” to newspaperman Hackett as the others look on aghast is a pip! Bacon is also marvelous as Ethel's father. NOTE; In this episode “Ethel Roberta” becomes “Ethel Mae” Potter.

L. A. AT LAST! The foursome finally arrive in LA where Lucy and Ricky are ushered into a beautiful hotel suite. When Ricky is invited to have lunch at the studio, Lucy mistakenly believes that she is included in the invitation. Unfortunately, it's a business lunch and she has to be satisfied with spending the day with the Mertzes instead. Desperate to see movie stars, Lucy suggests they have lunch at the celebrity hang-out The Brown Derby. After a brief encounter with Eve Arden, Lucy and Ethel are all agog because William Holden has sat down at the next table. Irritated by Lucy's constant staring, Holden decides to turn the tables by mercilessly staring right back at her as she attempts to eat her lunch. Due to Lucy's being unnerved, this of course leads to disaster, and when Lucy learns that Ricky has brought Holden back from the studio to meet her, she tries to disguise herself so the actor won't recognize her – with hilarious results. The first “Hollywood” episode is one of the best. Harry Bartell, who played the Brown Derby Headwaiter, was the process server in “The Courtroom.”

LUCY GETS IN PICTURES. Lucy has told all her friends that she's going to be in a movie and is desperate to get into a picture. [Although Marian Strong remains Marian Strong, old friend and enemy Carolyn – or Caroline -- Appleby becomes Lillian Appleby in this episode -- but only for this episode.] Lucy's desperation becomes depression when she learns that the Metrzes – and even the bellboy – have gotten parts in pictures. Lucy sits at Schwab's drug store eating Sundaes and drinking sodas until she turns green, hoping to be discovered a la Lana Turner. Finally Ricky arranges for a director acquaintance, Frank Williams (Lou Krugman), to give her a small part in a movie. Lucy is to play a lead chorus girl who is shot as she sashays down a stairs, but the huge headdress she has to wear proves hilariously unmanageable and Lucy has to be replaced – although she still has something up her sleeve. A sidesplitting Lucy episode bolstered by great support from Lou Krugman.

“Are you calling me a chicken thief?”

LUCY DOES THE TANGO. This is the second half of a two-parter that begins with Lucy Raises Chickens. Fred and Ricky have decided to go into business together raising chickens. Fred will look after the birds in exchange for free room and board for himself and Ethel, who have decided to move to the country. But Fred has made a major mistake. He thought the 500 chicks they bought would begin laying eggs in six weeks – instead it's six months! They exchange the chicks for full grown chickens, but the birds don't seem that eager to deliver the goods. Lucy comes up with a scheme to plant store-bought eggs under each chicken and buy them a “little time” before Ricky decides to give up the egg-selling scheme for good. Hiding eggs under her clothes, Lucy is surprised by Ricky who wants them to rehearse their tango act for the PTA show right now – leading to the longest single laugh in the history of I Love Lucy.

COUNTRY CLUB DANCE. In an episode that is somewhat reminiscent of “The Charm School,” the gals have to drag the fellows to a country club dance and become incensed when the grumbling guys perk up at the appearance of the Munsons' house guest, the lovely – and young -- Diana Jordan (Barbara Eden). The ladies decide to give themselves the glamor treatment so that their husbands will pay more attention to them. As Lucy puts it, “glamor today is nothing but tight skirts, loose hips, and wet lips.” Lucy looks quite gorgeous in this episode, but her plan backfires when she allows her suspicious nature to get the better of her, leading to a walk-out from a second dance and the blatant ire of her gal pals. A very amusing episode.