After committing Kim and Craig to performing at a client's party, Lucy must fill in as vocalist when Kim gets laryngitis.
The debut episode has a decent script that explains all the relationships and situation of this new Lucy format without seeming too obvious. Doris Singleton appears as Lucy's fellow secretary at the Unique Employment Agency but she will not continue past this episode. It's too bad because she and Lucy always worked well together and this could have opened up more storylines.
It seems weird in retrospect that Lucy doesn't know what a turtleneck is. Craig looks sharp wearing one with his blazer. The charades bit always works well for Ball and here it is Lucie who gets to do the "acting out" bit. Lucille Ball seems to be energized working with her real-life kids.
Lew Parker appears as the rich father who hires Craig's band. He was simultaneously playing Marlo Thomas' dad on THAT GIRL. The script really pumps up Craig/Desi Jr as being a very handsome young man: "Do the girls ever dig that drummer" Parker's character exclaims. Craig has a big drum solo during the musical number.
Of course, it's not believable that anyone would mistake 57-year-old Lucy as a teenager, but the sequence is so wonderfully '60s, with lots of groovy dancers sporting love beads and Nehru jackets, you just go with it. Watching this now, it's amazing how quickly pop culture was evolving in the late '60s - the fashions and trends seemed to change almost yearly.
A decent start to the series, and enjoyable for the '60s kitsch factor.
The debut episode has a decent script that explains all the relationships and situation of this new Lucy format without seeming too obvious. Doris Singleton appears as Lucy's fellow secretary at the Unique Employment Agency but she will not continue past this episode. It's too bad because she and Lucy always worked well together and this could have opened up more storylines.
It seems weird in retrospect that Lucy doesn't know what a turtleneck is. Craig looks sharp wearing one with his blazer. The charades bit always works well for Ball and here it is Lucie who gets to do the "acting out" bit. Lucille Ball seems to be energized working with her real-life kids.
Lew Parker appears as the rich father who hires Craig's band. He was simultaneously playing Marlo Thomas' dad on THAT GIRL. The script really pumps up Craig/Desi Jr as being a very handsome young man: "Do the girls ever dig that drummer" Parker's character exclaims. Craig has a big drum solo during the musical number.
Of course, it's not believable that anyone would mistake 57-year-old Lucy as a teenager, but the sequence is so wonderfully '60s, with lots of groovy dancers sporting love beads and Nehru jackets, you just go with it. Watching this now, it's amazing how quickly pop culture was evolving in the late '60s - the fashions and trends seemed to change almost yearly.
A decent start to the series, and enjoyable for the '60s kitsch factor.
