LUCY IS ENVIOUS just misses being one of the all-time great episodes of I LOVE LUCY but it sure comes close. Lucy's old high school friend Cynthia is spearheading a charity drive. Cynthia was born rich and married rich and Lucy has given her the impression the Ricardos are similarly well off. When Cynthia suggests Lucy give "five" for the charity drive, Lucy is surprised at the low figure and really agrees, as does best friend Ethel, neither aware that Cynthia meant $500 not five bucks. And so the girls need to come up with the grand fast and there just so happens to be an ad in BILLBOARD seeking "brave girls"...
The classic moments here are Lucy and Ethel as "women from Mars" but there's also fun in seeing them getting a dose of their own medicine. Mary Jane Croft guest stars as Cynthia, this was the first of seven guest shots on ILL, the final five of them being reoccurring character, Betty Ramsey (Ms. Croft, of course, went on to fill in Vivian Vance's shoes as Lucy's best friend in Ball's later series THE LUCY SHOW and HERE'S LUCY.) Flub buffs will want to watch the end of the final segment closely as Lucy loses grasp of a napkin accidentally but quickly recovers it, definitely not in the script! You'll get a lot of laughs out of this one, whether you're a "moo moo" or not.
The classic moments here are Lucy and Ethel as "women from Mars" but there's also fun in seeing them getting a dose of their own medicine. Mary Jane Croft guest stars as Cynthia, this was the first of seven guest shots on ILL, the final five of them being reoccurring character, Betty Ramsey (Ms. Croft, of course, went on to fill in Vivian Vance's shoes as Lucy's best friend in Ball's later series THE LUCY SHOW and HERE'S LUCY.) Flub buffs will want to watch the end of the final segment closely as Lucy loses grasp of a napkin accidentally but quickly recovers it, definitely not in the script! You'll get a lot of laughs out of this one, whether you're a "moo moo" or not.