This episode, the third season-opener, is everything that "Lucy Plays Cleopatra" WAS NOT as the Season 2 opener.
We open with Viv making alterations to Lucy's formal dress for the upcoming country club dance. Lucy whines that "Chris and I are getting farther and farther apart". (No wonder the kids are seen less and less before getting axed at season's end - was this line prophetic??). Lucy decides to take up roller skating so she and Chris can share some quality time.
It must be noted that each scene here progresses wonderfully into the next. Lucy and Viv go to the Sporting Goods store where they are pleasantly surprised to meet the new handsome ELIGIBLE salesman played by Charles Drake (Barbara Parkins' dullard husband in a small VALLEY OF THE DOLLS role). Much flirting ensues as the ladies compete for his attention. Vanity causes Lucy to try on skates two sizes too small.
This entire scene is brilliant, Lucy especially shines when trying on the skates. Her pained expressions are spot-on - realistic yet funny. The dialog just crackles - why couldn't all episodes of this series be this good?? There is a gag involving their hair rollers that, in a lesser episode, would have been milked a lot longer, but here it's not necessary. The same thing goes for the inflatable raft bit that occurs when Mooney arrives unexpectedly. In a weaker episode, that would have been the big showpiece, but not here.
The final act finds Lucy unable to remove her skates due to swollen feet, but she's adamant about attending the dance anyway. Her entrance is hysterical and she literally whizzes past the buffet table before steadying herself by grabbing a column. The climax is a ballet on roller skates as Lucy waltzes the Blue Danube and gives new meaning to the term "change partners". It's one of the funniest post-I LOVE LUCY scenes ever and is expertly choreographed.
This is my favorite Season 3 episode and one of the Top Ten color episodes of the series.
We open with Viv making alterations to Lucy's formal dress for the upcoming country club dance. Lucy whines that "Chris and I are getting farther and farther apart". (No wonder the kids are seen less and less before getting axed at season's end - was this line prophetic??). Lucy decides to take up roller skating so she and Chris can share some quality time.
It must be noted that each scene here progresses wonderfully into the next. Lucy and Viv go to the Sporting Goods store where they are pleasantly surprised to meet the new handsome ELIGIBLE salesman played by Charles Drake (Barbara Parkins' dullard husband in a small VALLEY OF THE DOLLS role). Much flirting ensues as the ladies compete for his attention. Vanity causes Lucy to try on skates two sizes too small.
This entire scene is brilliant, Lucy especially shines when trying on the skates. Her pained expressions are spot-on - realistic yet funny. The dialog just crackles - why couldn't all episodes of this series be this good?? There is a gag involving their hair rollers that, in a lesser episode, would have been milked a lot longer, but here it's not necessary. The same thing goes for the inflatable raft bit that occurs when Mooney arrives unexpectedly. In a weaker episode, that would have been the big showpiece, but not here.
The final act finds Lucy unable to remove her skates due to swollen feet, but she's adamant about attending the dance anyway. Her entrance is hysterical and she literally whizzes past the buffet table before steadying herself by grabbing a column. The climax is a ballet on roller skates as Lucy waltzes the Blue Danube and gives new meaning to the term "change partners". It's one of the funniest post-I LOVE LUCY scenes ever and is expertly choreographed.
This is my favorite Season 3 episode and one of the Top Ten color episodes of the series.
