Speaking of the crying, you sure it wasn't Boffo the clown doing it? I'm not.
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Guacamole in my choos
One of the reasons why the baby was often crying was because Lucille Ball did not like working with children because she found it very difficult and the writers tried to work this into the scripts so the Little Ricky character would have as little time on the show as possible. The Lucy character is often saying how tired he is or that he has to go to sleep. That’s how they can get him off the set as quickly as possible. Their mothers were always standing right off the set waiting for them (the second 2 Little Rickys were twins), and Lucy also hired a private nurse to be on the set at all times as well to help take care of them. Some of the scenes with the various babies were filmed and shown in more than 1 or 2 eps and these were sometimes done after the rest of the show had been filmed without an audience, and when he was heard crying when he was out of the room that was usually done by Jerry Hausner.
If Lucille Ball did not like working with children, why would she have wanted to be cast in "Yours, Mine, and Ours"? I understand she actively sought the part, and was excellent in it.
shareHe never looked very happy.
shareYes, toddler Little Ricky was played by twins. Technically, they really didn't need twins, as they rehearsed with dolls during the week, and the Thursday night filmings took under two hours. But it's good they did have twins, as they were both ready, wearing identical clothing, and they had to go with the least fussy child at the time of the scene. Ball and Arnanz adlibbed very well around them, though.
Their behavior was understandable. Ever hear of "The terrible twos?"