I Love Lucy: The Audition

I Love Lucy: The Audition

Originally broadcast on CBS on Monday, November 19, 1951 at 9 PM ET.

Plot: Ricky attempts to keep Lucy away from an important audition for television executives.

Analysis: Well, this is a small case of early recycling. The original pilot of I Love Lucy featured the same script, but since the pilot was never broadcast on television, the writers were able to make some small tweeks and, voila, instant new episode. It is easy to see while watching this why the executives agreed Lucy could work, given how funny Lucy and her physical comedy are and Desi works both believably as a straight man and as her husband. Of note during the episode is the actors playing the television executives watching the audition are Jess Oppenheimer, the head writer and producer on Lucy, CBS executive Hal Hudson and CBS Vice President Harry Ackerman, the three men actually responsible for getting Lucy on the air.

And we finally come to the last of our four principals, William Frawley. Frawley got his start in bit parts and singing on the vaudeville stage before moving to movies in 1933. The list of roles and movies he got from there is enormous, most notably playing a political adviser for the judge in Miracle on 34th Street in 1947. By the 1950s, movie roles were slowly drying up for the aging Frawley, so he took a chance and auditioned for the role of Fred on Lucy.

The Bottom Line: Some of the physical comedy in this episode is pretty funny and, given it was based on what sold executives on the show, this is an easy recommendation and entry-level episode for Lucy. If you are interested in checking it out, you have two options: I Love Lucy: The Complete First Season (http://www.amazon.com/Love-Lucy-Complete....97198253&sr=1-4) or I Love Lucy: The Complete Series (http://www.amazon.com/I-Love-Lucy-Comple....97198253&sr=1-1).

Next time, more Lucy.