Change Your Image
frankmortjr
Reviews
I Love Lucy: Visitor from Italy (1956)
Lucy sends Italian friend to San Francisco instead of friend Francesca
An Italian fellow shows up at the Ricardo apartment to say hello because he was told by Ricky and Lucy and Fred and Ethyl to say hello if he was ever in New York. None of the 4 recognize him but realize he is Italian by his accent and he must be from their European trip. Finally they realize who he is and he shows them a piece of paper as he is trying to find his brother. Lucy reads the note and send his brother is in San Francesco. The guy want to know if he can walk there? He is told 'no'! He shows that he has ten dollars. They tell him he needs at least $60 just for the fare out there. They all offer to give him the money to go. Fred agrees very languidly. The fellow does not want money for free and he is willing to work for it. He gets a job at Ricky's nightclub where he smashes and ruins many items. Then he gets another job at a pizza place and gets fired and Lucy takes his place. The boss there hollers at Lucy when Ricky is there. Lucy's pizza boss and Ricky get into an argument and the pizza oven is burning. The Italian guy leaves for San Francisco and the fare and all the damages cost Ricky almost $250. After Ricky drops the Italian guy off at the depot and arrives home there is a knock at the door. It is the Italian fellows brother. It turns out he was never in San Francisco but at Francesca's place because she was ill. So the Italian visitor was now on his way to see his brother though his brother never left New York maybe not a happy ending but a very funny ending.
I Love Lucy: Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums (1956)
Little Ricky is the Doctor of Noise
Lucy wants their son little Ricky to become a doctor and Ricky Sr. Wants him to become a drummer because little Ricky has a good beat. Both say that it is up to Little Ricky. They also agree not to try to influence Little Ricky. Lucy buys Little Ricky a toy doctor kit to practice being a doctor. Ricky Sr. Purchases Little Ricky a drum to learn the drums. Lucy attempts to swipe the drum from Little Ricky until Ricky cries out " No, Momma". So little Ricky is now a drummer to be. Ricky Jr. Plays the same beat over and over for days. He plays the beat so loud that it is driving everyone crazy including the Mertzes. Ricky Jr. Parents are just about to tell Ricky to play only an hour a day right when Fred and Ethyl are knocking on the door to complain 'nicely'. Well, it turns out to become a huge feud between this pair of best friends. Fred shuts of the heat and water and electricity of the Ricardo apartment in full violation of the law to get the Ricardo family to move out. Lucy and Ricky will not relocate as they have a 99 years lease. Well, Little Ricky runs away to avoid the arguments between his parents and God-parents. When the four realize he his gone they get frantic. They locate Ricky Jr in the Mertzes apartment. Both pairs of best friends apologize and we have another happy ending.
Eight Is Enough: Semi-Centennial Bradford (1980)
Tom Bradford turns 50 years of age
One of my favorite reasons for enjoying 'eight is enough' is they have 3 or 4 different events going on during the one hour episode; this one named semi-centennial Bradford. We have beautiful Abby purchasing a jacket for her husband as a gift for Tom's upcoming 50th birthday. Tom realizes that middle means center and middle means half. So turning 50 is a lot more than half of his life; unless he lives to be a hundred. He feels that most of his life is over. That you really enter middle age at half the average life span of 74, which is 37 years of age. The salesman in the store thinks Tom is 60 years of age and states it to Abby whom he thinks is Tom's daughter and not his wife; he states this also. Tom cannot fit into his 39 regular jacket nd is dismayed thinking the jacket is cut incorrectly. Abby locates a 44 regular and it fits Tom perfectly. He does not know it is a 44, he thinks it is a 39 until he looks inside the jacket.He is depressed in many ways now. Another event happening with the Bradfords is Nancy went on a boring date with a co - worker named Floyd and is trying to dump him in a nice way. Back to Tom at work where a much younger man came over to where he works from a competing newspaper and his column is replacing Tom's column on page 2. Tom's column is now on page 34 next to where else? The obituaries. The younger fellow is Hank Sullivan, he was in a few of David's classes at college, except he is younger than David Bradford. He was so smart that he skipped several years. So in fact a guy younger than Tom's son David seems to be replacing him. Now on to event three in which the 2nd oldest daughter is now a Stockton by being married to Merle Stockton. She is pregnant and about to have a child. The youngest Bradford, Nickolas is helping the soon to be proud parents name the child. Back to Nancy; she dumps Floyd and Floyd begins to date Elizabeth the youngest of the Bradford females. Back to Tom as he quits his job and goes to work at the competing newspaper than the younger guy, Hank came from. Tom's new boss Paul wants his column spiced up as Tom's old boss Elliott also wanted it spiced up. Tom quits that job also. Tom cancels a get away he had planned with Abby at Lake Tahoe and he does not want any 50th birthday to remind him and his friends that he turns 50 years of age. Back to Floyd; he was dumped by Nancy first and is now dumped by Elizabeth; so Floyd now starts to date the actress daughter Joannie. The Stocktons decide to name their child after Tom, the child's grandfather. Tom gets his old job back and works side by side with the new guy on page 2 side by side with their different view points. Happy ending; except Floyd will most likely get dumped the 3rd time and this time by Joannie.
The Addams Family: Pugsley's Allowance (1966)
Pugsley does not want an allowance; he wants to work for his money
Morticia was beautiful as usual in this episode as well as Gomez being charming. He cannot keep his lustful eyes and thoughts away from her. Pugsley wants to earn his money the old fashioned way by working for it. He demands a job from the banker his father has all his tons of money in and is caught red handed in the banks vault with 50 and 200 dollar bills in his hands. Pugsley was not stealing this money, he was only counting it. His proud parents are beaming with pride when the V.P. from the bank arrives at their home and complains about this incident. They have Lurch remove the V.P. by carrying him out. Well Pugsley and his little sister now make a deal with their cheapskate neighbor to clean out his car and his entire attic for 50 cents. Well, they flood his car with water and ruin it plus they tear apart and completely annihilate his attic. So the neighbor his going to sue Gomez for all his trillion of millions of dollars until Gomez threatens to sue the neighbor for violating child labor laws for hiring his underage children in the first place. Both parties drop their perspective suits and Gomez purchases his neighbors house. Happy ending for all.
I Love Lucy: The Fur Coat (1951)
Fred attempts to steal a fur coat from Lucy!
Ricky brings home a very expensive fur coat that he borrowed to use in his nightclub act. He brought it home for safe keeping. He walks into his apartment and Ethyl is there. Ethyl thinks Ricky bought the coat for Lucy. She is so envious. Ricky sets her straight and explains that the expensive fur coat is for a woman in his nightclub act to wear for the show. Ethyl wants to try it on. Fred is in the Ricaro's apartment now. Fred sees Ethyl with the coat on and thinks the coat is for Lucy too. He informs Ricky that Ricky is making it bad for all the other husbands by getting such an expensive fur coat for his wife. Now all the other wives will want one too. Ricky explains the situation to Fred, Fred is relived. Ricky wants to hide the coat before Lucy gets home. According to Ethyl Lucy went shopping and will be back soon. Before Ricky can hide the coat Lucy walks into the apartment and sees Ethyl wearing the fur coat. Lucy starts crying as see thinks Fred purchased the fur coat for Ethyl. Lucy has always wanted one very much! She calls Ricky cad and all other types on names. She runs away into the bedroom angry and jealous. Ricky explains to Lucy that it is not Ethyl's fur coat. So not Lucy thinks Ricky bought her the coat for their anniversary. Now Ricky does not know what to do as he thinks he has forgotten their anniversary. So he allows Lucy to think it is her coat, he does this against his better judgment. Ricky is thinking along with his buddy Fred on how to get the coat away from Lucy. He thinks he will take it when she does not have it on or when she is asleep and open a few drawers in the apartment and pretend a burglar stole the coat. The trouble is Lucy does everything with the fur coat on. She washes dishes with it on. She even sleeps with it on. Ricky wants Fred to pose as a burglar and steal the coat off Lucy while she is wearing it. Fred reluctantly accepts. The problem arrives because a real burglar arrives before Fred. Ricky thinks it is Fred and tries to give the coat to the real burglar without a fight. Lucy is agast! Well, the burglar does not get the coat and then Fred comes to steal the coat. No one gets the coat but Lucy. Good news and a happy ending.
I Love Lucy: Lucy and Superman (1957)
Superman is sure Ricky is the 'REAL' Superman
Lucy is having a birthday party on the same day that little Ricky's best friend is having his birthday party. All the friends of both children are the same identical friends of both little Ricky and his best friends and all will go to Ricky's friends' party as they have entertainment. Big Ricky offers Superman ( George Reeves)for Little Ricky's birthday. Lucy is so happy about this that Lucy shouts "yes" and phones everyone and informs them that Superman will be at little Ricky's party. Everyone is coming to see Superman at Ricky's party, even the other birthday party boy. Well, Superman cannot make little Ricky's birthday party as he had other previous engagements. Lucy dresses up as Superman in order that the party will not be a flop. Lucy also those not want all those children including little Ricky to be disappointed. Well, Lucy goes upstairs to an upstairs empty apartment that Fred is trying to rent. Lucy goes up there as she wants to come into her apartment downstairs, from the window. This will seem as if Superman (Lucy) flew into the window. A couple comes to see the upstairs empty apartment. Ethyl shows the apartment that is for rent to them. While the couple is upstairs looking at the apartment and after Ethyl leaves the upstairs empty apartment to return downstairs to the Ricardo's apartment and Ricky's party; the real Superman arrives. Back upstairs the lady of the couple interested in renting the apartment sees Lucy outside on the ledge. Lucy is dressed as Superman. The lady is very scared. She tells her husband, whom sees nothing. The lady sees Lucy again. The couple decides against the apartment as it is too high up and scares the woman. The height of the upstairs apartment is so high that is causing the woman to hallucinate. It starts too rain so the couple closes and locks the window before they leave. Lucy cannot get in. Meanwhile, the real Superman is at Little Ricky's part downstairs and all the children and the grown ups are having an excellent time without Lucy. Ricky comments that he sure wished Lucy could have met Superman as she really likes Superman. Superman responds that he wanted to meet her also as 'he heard a lot about her'! The mention of Lucy's name causes Ethyl to remember that Lucy is upstairs outside on the ledge and it is pouring rain now, so she tells Ricky. Ricky is furious and attempts to move the huge piano to shout out the window. He even enlists the assistance of Fred. Both of them together cannot move the piano. Superman easily tosses the piano aside and goes out on the ledge to save Lucy. Ricky is still hollering and Lucy asks Superman if he can teach her to fly in order that she can escape Ricky's wrath. When they get inside Superman asks Ricky how long has Ricky and Lucy been married? Ricky answers 17 years. Superman responds " and they call me Superman". This is where I derived the title of my comments. Happy ending. Fantastic show.
I Love Lucy: Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her (1951)
Reading Murder Mystery goes to Lucy's head
Lucy loves to read mysteries. She enjoys them so much that it seems to go deep into her psyche. She is reading it and Ethyl walks in the room and Lucy has her wits scared out of her. Another time Ricky walks into the room and Lucy has her senses frightened again. Each time she is scared the book she is reading jumps out of her hand and out the window. She is so involved with the drama that is unfolding in the book she does not know when people enter into the room. Lucy tells Ethyl about the story she is reading. The story is about a husband that is planning to murder his wife. Ethyl suggests that isn't that something and imagines out loud about what would a wife do if she found out her husband was trying to murder her? Lucy starts to imagine what she would do if Ricky was going to murder her. Between finding one of Ricky's props for a show at the nightclub, which happens to be a gun and overhearing Ricky in the midst of a conversation, Lucy is sure Ricky is about to kill her. Lucy is so scared and jittery that Ricky gets some sleeping powder from Fred. He puts it in a drink that he is going to give to Lucy. Lucy sees Ricky placing it in her drink and is positive Ricky is trying to poison her. So she makes a toast with Ricky and switches glasses. Ricky then switches glasses. Finally, Lucy is sure Ricky has the poison glass. At the very last second she stops Ricky from drinking it. She does not want Ricky to die even though he wants her dead to run off with another woman. She tells Ricky this. Ricky said that he did not have the doctored drink anyway. He further explains that she drank it. Lucy begins to grab her throat and thinks she was poisoned and is dying. She goes to lay down. Ricky leaves for the nightclub. Lucy gets up and is determined to get to the nightclub and confront Ricky and his new girlfriend. Lucy makes it to the nightclub and there Ricky tells her everything. Lucy is now happy and Ricky is happy and the Mertez couple is happy. Great show with Ricky being an excellent front man to Lucy and her slapstick humor. I enjoyed this show very much.
Hawaii Five-O: Three Dead Cows at Makapuu: Part I (1970)
Chemist creates Chaos
Ed Flanders was an excellent underrated actor. Anytime he acted on any television show he was terrific! Ed Flanders appeared several times on Hawaii Five - O. In this episode he has created some type of biological mutation that can spread all over the Island, Steve's Rock. Once released there will be no stopping it. The government is involved and Ed Flanders is not really trying to get money he wants the world to be a better place. So he has a huge conflict inside himself as he is the good guy but also the bad guy. He accidentally meets a telephone operator lady played by Loretta Swit. She is also a nice guy but she happens to be female, so she is a nice lady. After talking with Ed Flanders she is instantly in love with him. Television needs this as time does not allow a lot of time for love to develop logically but whom is too say that love is really logical anyway? Well after Steve the head of Hawaii Five - 0 elite state police unit does Sherlock Holmes type of investigating they find out who this Angel/ Devil is and track him down. He is starting to get sick and phones a friend and cannot connect with his friend and an operator attempts to help him. With all the operators on that Island, fate would have it; Loretta Swit is the operator on the other side of the line. She recognizes Ed Flander's voice and she attempts to help him. He gives her the phone number that he is unsuccessfully trying to connect with. Now she has this phone number and will use it to track him down and find her prince. Her prince is the prince formally known as the bad guy but will soon be the prince known as the good guy. This is episode one and has winded down as we need to have a part two. I enjoyed this as I real like Ed Flanders acting ability.
I Love Lucy: Country Club Dance (1957)
2 of my favorite felines in one show...absolutely awesome!
Here we have two of the planet's pleasing personalities. Both are stone drop dead foxy ladies. Each a comedian in her own way. Lucy with her slap stick comedy that no other female comedian could get away with (except maybe Carol Burnett years later) and Barabara Eden with her beauty and naiveté. Each had their different beauties. Lucy with her tall charm that got her into the Ziegfield Follies and Barabra Eden with her brick outhouse built. The show starts with Ricky and Fred and another husband of Lucy's new friend 'not' wanting to attend a dance because they do not like to wear tuxedo's and do not want to 'have' to dance with their friend's niece that they assume to be very homely ( do not forget what your grade school teacher taught you about the word assume, more about that word assume later). Well, the 3 married couples arrive and the friends with the assumed homely niece are a few minutes late. This prompts the 3 married men to want to leave early. The women that include Lucy, Ethyl and Betty Ramsey demand that they stay as it is way too early to leave. Just at that exact moment their friends arrive with their 'homely' niece. She is the gorgeous and young Barabara Eden. WOW! She is dressed to the hilt, showing every curve to its advantage for the men causing them to gawk and drool or disadvantage for the 3 married females causing them to seethe with envy and turn green with jealously. All of the sudden the men notice Barbara Eden and all 3 stand up and seemingly cannot catch their breath. All 3 run to pull out a chair for her to sit down at the table as she arrives with her chaperons. Again, all of a sudden the 3 married women that wanted to stay all night want to leave at that very moment and give all types of excuses. Well, all 3 men ignore their wives and dance all night with the youthful and vibarant Eden. The next day the 3 women; Lucy, Ethyl and Betsy want that same attention from their husbands that their husbands gave to Eden. So Lucy dresses in a dress so tight she cannot sit down and must put the top down on the car and stand up on the drive to the coming out party for Eden. Ethyl dresses up with her Grace Kelly hair-do. Betsy Ramsey puts on a ton of perfume. Mean while back at the ranch, the 3 men all finally agree to pay attention and dance only with their wives once they arrive at the party. Eden notices this and asks why they will not dance with her. Lucy gets angry and accuses Ricky about being sneaky. Luch convinces the other 2 women too leave against their own wishes; as they were having a terrific time. Once back home the 3 women decide to go back to the party and get their men back. When they arrive their 3 men are the only people left at the party. So the women act jealous and the 3 men are vindicated and everyone are happy. I loved this show.
The Andy Griffith Show: The Manicurist (1962)
I am an insatiable Barbara Eden fan all the way back from the 1950's
Barbara Eden to me was on of the most gorgeous women in show business. She was a fantastic comedian also. The Andy Griffith show ' the Manicurist' was awesome as another appearance she made on the I Love Lucy show. Any time there was a program on with Barbara Eden in it I would watch it. I would watch her in anything she did even if it was reruns. This program on the Andy Griffin show Barbara Eden shows up in Mayberry and gets off a bus. All the boys are in Floyds barber shop just yakking away. All of a sudden she is spotted. She gets a job in the barber shop but none of the men will get a manicure as it is not manly. Andy feels sorry for her so Andy gets a manicure. Then all the men are getting manicures on a daily basis. Well, the women of Mayberry will not put up with this as she ( Barbara Eden is much too beautiful) So the town women want her to live. Andy goes up to her to tell her what is happening and tells her that the LORD has been very good to her. That the town and the town women want her to leave town as she is single and much too pretty to be holding their men's hands while giving the manicure. Well the manicurist thinks Andy wants to marry her and she tells him that she would accept she is returning home and leaving Mayberry to marry her boyfriend. That is the reason she left in the first place. Happy ending for all. I wish her and all her endeavors the very, very best.