MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > PJ's Done it Again - I'm Converted!

PJ's Done it Again - I'm Converted!

posted 6 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
6 replies | jump to latest

Recently, I casually mentioned in another thread that I found
season two's "Lucy is Matchmaker" to be "bland", and while
I love the time period it was filmed (everyone was so fresh,
trim, and young - well, everyone, except Bill Frawley!), the
script, to me, seemed ho-hum. PJ wrote that this ep is one of her
favorites, so I put it on Monday night. Then Tuesday night. Then
Wednesday night....then, again, last night.

Before anyone has me committed, I've been knocked on my keester
all week with a hellish cold. So, along with other movies (new and
old) on DVD, I needed that one dose of ILL before bed. And suffice
it to say, I have rediscovered the charms of this rather uncelebrated
gem.

First, the opening card scene is deliciously fun. Lucy, holding court (in
the first episode in the new apartment), spars with Caroline (that hairdo!),
while Ethel drops dry barbs about marriage. When Lucy meets Fred's
old pal's nephew, Eddie Grant, she's determined to match him up with the
ultra-vamp Sylvia Collins.

As PJ pointed out, this is one of the rare "threatened by the other woman"
shows where we have to use our imagination! All I come up with is a cheap
blonde with a chipped tooth!

Interesting side note: Eddie must've REALLY had a thing for Lucy. After all, he's
STAYING in Ricky and Lucy's BEDROOM (before it officially became their bedroom)!

In season four, there's an ep called "The Matchmaker", which has always been a
fave of mine. Despite Lucy's manipulative behavior, and Ricky's opposition to
her matchmaking, the two eps have little in common, other than being classic
I Love Lucy - free of pregnancies, movie stars, trips abroad, and building hen houses.

Sometimes, it's the simplest shows that offer the sweetest delights. While PJ will
never convert me with Orson Welles or Bewitched's "A Vision of Sugar Plums",
I've been won over by "The Matchmaker."

[–] [email protected] (5495) 6 years ago

Ha! Well "one out of three aint bad"!!

Are you sure you really liked the episode or was it a fever induced delirium??

So glad you finally came around and appreciated it. It was what I like to think of as a "little story" that packs a lot of big laughs. Lucy didn't do anything wild. There were no movie stars or Lucy trying to "get into the act". It seemed like one of those real events which could happen in anyone's life, i.e., playing matchmaker.

I always try to picture Sylvia Collins. Nowadays I think of her as a blonde Kardashian.

Eddie Grant was just so funny. He seemed to enjoy being a free and footloose bachelor. He was sure of his appeal to women and so "sure" that Lucy fancied him. I just love that scene in the hotel lobby with Ricky and Fred. Eddie thinks that he has been caught by them.

He just says , "Well..." and heads for the door. lol And yes, Eddie's hotel room is the Ricardo bedroom. I wonder how many people noticed that.
I love his exchange on the phone with Sylvia as he touches his hair. "Well, it's a LITTLE curly."

"The Matchmaker" is another one of my all time favorites.

Ricky:"You mean Dorothy, spider and Sam, fly."

Lucy: "Ricky Ricardo you're happily married and YOU KNOW IT!"

Hope your cold is better!!!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Part of the reasons I hadn't thought much about this episode, is its very simplicity can make one mentally toss it aside
for admittedly far more memorable offerings (say, the recently discussed "Ricky Needs an Agent").

Lucy and the girls wanting to "marry off" Sylvia (to me, btw, a HORRID name) seems, at first, very 1953 (as if
marriage would stop Ricky and these guys from scoring with her just because she's married - after all, so are THEY!).
But on closer examination, the show is surprisingly sexy and sophisticated. And even a little gross! That Eddie
would be so friendly upon meeting Ricky, yet so quick to screw Lucy on the side is, sadly, very honest in its writing.
And, as you pointed out, a tad gross that Fred and Ricky think it's somewhat cute that Eddie is seeing a married woman.

Dated it may be around the edges, but at heart, the episode still feels very contemporary. The more things change...

Incidentally, Hal March may not have been Tom Cruise, but he was very sexy (he has a bit as a dumb boxer in the
1955 Gene Kelly musical "it's Always Fair Weather." Also, I think he plays Hal March - himself - an out of work actor,
that Ricky hires to play Lucy's doctor in season one's "Lucy's Fake Illness").

P.S.: I also thought Hy Averback, Charlie Applby #1, was also extremely cute (the second Charlie, seen in "Lucy
and Superman", had the personality of a piece of paper).

[–] [email protected] (5495) 6 years ago

All this talk about the episode, I had to watch it again last night. It's so funny.

Sylvia as a HORRID name. I agree. My mom had a cousin with that name. I always thought it was awful. Coincidentally her brother's name was Eddie. Too bad their last name wasn't Grant.

"The more things change"... yes I think the show was going with that "Did you hear the one about the travelling salesman" joke. The travelling salesman is supposed to be one of those guys who is always fooling around on the road.

There's one detail in this episode which seems like a mistake. Ricky didn't know much about Eddie except that he was "some travelling salesman." And Lucy didn't let him get a word in edgewise. The next day it was obvious from Lucy and Ethel's conversation that they hadn't spoken about Eddie the night before. Obviously Ricky was NOT about to let Lucy get on the phone the previous evening and discuss Eddie with Ethel.

So how come Lucy knew where he was staying? She called Sylvia to set up a date and said , "Meet him in the lobby of the Sherry Plaza."

HOW did she know where Eddie was staying???

She didn't say to Ethel, "I'll call Sylvia and arrange a date. So what hotel is Eddie staying at?"

Did I miss some dialogue or was that the hotel where all of the Mertzes out of town guests stayed? ha!

This episode is one that reminds me of those "Lucy-isms" on the other thread. My mom was always doing things which my dad disapproved of. She never did matchmaking or spent money like Lucy, but she was often doing something she knew he wouldn't like.

I remember those conversations when I was a teen-ager.
Mom: Don't tell your father.
Me: Why not?
Mom: Oh he'll just get upset and yell.

Lucky for my mom, I wasn't a blabbermouth like Ethel!

My mom got a good job when we were older and decided to treat herself to some things, like the expensive perfume that she liked.
Dad asked her how much it was and she said "Oh, about $20." Actually it was more like $80.

I asked her why she didn't tell him the real price, "Oh, it will just upset him."

These episodes where Lucy does exactly what she wants even though she knows Ricky disapproves reflect real life. At least to me!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

The Sherry Plaza Hotel doesn't rate a mistake to me because, again, it is very, very possible that Fred mentioned
which hotel Eddie was staying at (when he arranged - off camera - for Ricky to host Eddie until Fred and Ethel
came back). Also, Ricky could've easily dropped that info (off camera) to Lucy the night before, or even the
morning after when things had cooled off.

LUCY: (off-handedly) By the way, is Eddie staying with Fred and Ethel?
RICKY: (consumed in his morning paper) No, he has a room at the Sherry Plaza.
LUCY: (grinning to herself and sipping her morning coffee) Hmn...

To me, again, just because this info wasn't passed on camera, doesn't mean the conversation didn't take place.
It's simply doesn't warrant a mistake to me.

That said, I think it's weird that Lucy calls Sylvia FIRST and tells her to meet Eddie at the hotel at 12:00, when
she has no clue whether he's even going to be free!!! HIS call should've been placed first.

[–] [email protected] (5495) 6 years ago

Yes so true, Lucy should have called Eddie first to see if he was free. After all, he was on a business trip.

But I still don't think Ricky would have told Lucy where Eddie was staying! The night before he really read her the riot act. If Lucy asked where what hotel Eddie was staying at, I can imagine Ricky naming some other hotel, ANY other hotel, to send Lucy off the track. ha!

Of course it's true that a lot of stuff happened off camera, but if Ricky did tell Lucy, then he only had himself to blame!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

It's also believable that Ethel mentioned it to Lucy (Ethel would surely know). But when the scene opens on
Ethel coming in to compare notes with Lucy, it's obvious that it's the first time they've spoken since the night
before, as Ethel is telling Lucy what happened ("Fred kept kicking me under the table").

Yeah, a simple "Do you know where he's staying?" from Lucy and a simple "Yeah, the Sherry Plaza Hotel"
in reply from Ethel as Lucy goes to call Sylvia would've been good. But I still don't feel it's a goof, as Lucy
could've found this out easily off camera. But, yes, the aforementioned dialogue would've tightened the
script.