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What Were Some of the Nicest Things Lucy Did?


As I and other posters have noted, Lucy's behavior was often selfish and unthinking, but I can think of a few instances where she was trying to help someone else with no (or little) ulterior motives of her own:

When Fred and Ethel fought and wren't speaking, Lucy tried to arrange a reconciliation by inviting each of them (without informing the other) to a dinner she prepared. She told Ricky that she heard Ethel crying all day and this was what motivated her to try to reunite them.

In another early episode, Lucy tried to help Bea Benederet catch Edward Everett Horton.

In another episode, Lucy tried to make a match between her friend Dorothy and Dorothy's boyfriend Sam by inviting them to dinner and showing them how wonderful married life could be. Everything went wrong, and Lucy should have cleared her plans with Ricky, but the friends ultimately became engaged because the Ricardos marriage had lasted so long despite these problems.

Lucy suggests a "Painting Party" as a way of fixing up the Mertzes awful apartment without it seeming like charity.

Any others?

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Hmm, good post. Let me see. I don't remember much of the episode, but in the one with Superman when she doesn't think he's going to show up, she dresses like Superman herself so Little Ricky and his friends won't be disappointed.

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Yes, the Superman episode is a good example. I think it's made clear in the series that, though she had a wacky personality, Lucy was a very loving and caring parent to Little Ricky.

Another would be when Lucy agreed to buy Fred's birthday present for Ethel. Of course, it didn't turn out too well when Ethel didn't like the present, but at least Lucy tried.

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Yeah, Lucy did try, so she gets points for that. :)

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She also goes to a lot of effort, preparing an elaborate luncheon, to bring a resentful Ethel and new neighbor Betty Ramsey together so they can become friends in one of the Connecticut episodes.

I wonder why Betty Ramsey didn't reach out to the Mertzes sooner? Ethel has a point when she says that one couple invited to the Ramseys dinner party lives "four miles away" and the Mertzes live "four feet away."

The Ramseys and the Ricardos had their sons in common, and Lucy mentions that she's heavily involved in PTA and club activities that Ethel is not involved in, but you'd Betty would have reached out to Ethel, especially after meeting her in the episode with the new furniture ruckus.

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The episode when Ricky was on the road with his band and Lucy gave Fred a nice, slow hand job.

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...when little Ricky had to be hospitalized for a tonsillectomy, Lucy sneaked out and spent the night in his hospital room even though it was against hospital rules.

One of Lucy's most elaborate stunts to try and please someone was when Ricky's mother visited and Lucy wanted to speak Spanish to her and her friends. She had the performer at Ricky's club bring his headset and speak Spanish to her into a receiver in her ear. Ricky's mother was so impressed that Lucy went to such lengths to try and please her.

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Yes, I mentioned the episode with Ricky's mother in another thread. I think it was the one asking for examples where people felt sorry for Lucy.

I like this episode a lot because it shows how important Lucy's marriage is to her, and how crucial it is to her to impress her mother-in-law.

Also, Lucy's mother is a real sweetheart and I like the ending when she's so proud of Lucy for going to such lengths to make a good impression on her.

I remember seeing several deleted scenes from ILL some time ago. One of them was of the Ricardos and Mertzes having dinner together, I think in the Ricardos apartment, and Lucy was saying how wonderful it was to have Ricky's mother visit and that she hoped his mother could come back soon. ILL often leaves the viewer hanging at the end of an episode, but it was nice to learn that Lucy and Ricky's mom had a great relationship once Lucy found out how his mom felt about her. Ethel also mentions that Ricky's mom loved Lucy when she visited the Ricardos.

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Oh! Just thought of another one. I am not sure the name of the episode but I think they were in Italy, and Lucy held a birthday party for all those little boys. She knew it wasn't really ALL their birthdays, but she gave them something, too.

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