“Ah, Liz-girl…George-boy…”

Allow me to briefly step into this blog’s confessional and present an opinion that I’m sure will border on utter sacrilege…

…I am not a big fan of I Love Lucy. I know, it’s blasphemy.

I don’t dislike the show, you understand—it just doesn’t rank very high on my list of all-time favorite situation comedies. And it’s not that I don’t find it funny; quite the contrary, many of television’s funny moments have been culled from Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s groundbreaking series—and some episodes (the Vitameatavegamin commercial, the one where Lucy meets William Holden, the Harpo Marx mirror bit, etc.) have been known to have me rolling off the couch in wet-your-pants hysterics.

It’s just that I Love Lucy—as essential and important as it is to the history of television comedy—is often overrated by its admirers and fans. First off, many of the classic “moments” are precisely that—clips from episodes in which Lucy is doing something incredibly funny and zany. The entire episode might be a real stinkeroo, but there’s at least one bit in it you can recommend that someone watch.

It’s also overrated, revered more for its status as a senior statesmen (or in Lucy’s case, stateswoman) for comedy—and it upsets me that cable channels who supposedly present classic television (TV Land, I’m talking to you!) often run it ad nauseam and crowd out lesser-viewed shows. Would it be asking too much to give Lucy a little R&R and schedule something else, say, like Our Miss Brooks or The Phil Silvers Show?

Okay, enough of me ranting. I will say, however, that I do like Lucy’s radio sitcom, My Favorite Husband—a show that essentially served as blueprint to the later I Love Lucy. As a matter of fact, the two broadcasts that I listened to last night at work—parts one and two of “Women’s Rights,” broadcast over CBS Radio on March 3 and March 10, 1950—later provided the inspiration for the I Love Lucy episode “Job Switching.” Now, normally I prefer the aural Lucy to the visual one, because watching her “antics” can sometimes become a little tiresome. But in this case, the TV show is far superior to its radio counterpart; it tells the story in only one half-hour, and it has that falling-down funny sequence where Lucy and Ethel (Vivian Vance) are wrapping chocolates on the conveyor belt at the candy factory. The two radio broadcasts do have their moments, but let’s face it—it’s hard to top that visual gem. As the first program opens, the Coopers (Lucy, Richard Denning) and the Atterburys (Gale Gordon, Bea Benaderet) are discussing the pending Equal Rights Amendment legislation before Congress:

GEORGE: Liz is off on a kick about women’s rights…I suppose you’ve been getting it, too, Mr. Atterbury…
RUDOLPH (clearing his throat): Well, let’s go eat, we’re late…
IRIS: Women’s rights?
LIZ: Sure, Iris…you know, that amendment they’re putting through Congress…we’re going to be free, Iris…free!
IRIS: We are…?
LIZ: You must have read about it…it’s been in the news for weeks…
RUDOLPH: Let’s go eat…we’re late…
IRIS: Oh, that explains it…for the last month, somebody’s been cutting things out of our paper…
LIZ (reproachfully): Why, Mr. Atterbury…
RUDOLPH: Well…let’s go eat (voice cracking) we’re late…
IRIS: Rudolph…
RUDOLPH: …just trying to keep you from getting any silly ideas, lotus bud…
IRIS: Tell me more about this, Liz…
LIZ: Well, it means new freedom for women, Iris…we’re going to be equal to men…we’ll be able to do things we’ve never been able to do before…
IRIS: Hooray! (pause) Like what?
GEORGE: Oh, you stick with Liz and you can be a pin girl at the bowling alley…
RUDOLPH: Or you can work in a blast furnace…
LIZ: All right, fellas…
RUDOLPH: …I even heard on the radio that women will be allowed to drive on the same side of the street as men…
LIZ: Don’t pay any attention to them, Iris…from now on, women aren’t going to be just women anymore…we’re going to be people!
IRIS: Hooray!
LIZ: Once the House of Representatives passes this bill, there will no longer be any difference between men and women (pause) hey—that doesn’t sound right, does it?

Liz and Iris demand to be treated like equals, so in one of those painful “let’s teach those two a lesson” scenarios, George and Rudolph inform their wives that they have to pay for their own dinner. Since the women haven’t a dime between them, they end up having to wash the dishes to settle the debt, but then Liz turns the tables on George and calls him at home, using the classic husband “I’m working late” excuse while Iris simulates a “wild party” in the background. When they finally get home, they challenge the men to stay home and do the housework (George and Rudolph assure them it will be a piece of cake, forgetting that tomorrow is the maid’s day off) while they go out and get jobs. So in the second episode—let the shenanigans commence:

IRIS: …help wanted…beauty operator…accountant…dental technician…registered nurse…
LIZ: How do you like that? Apparently you can’t get a job unless you know how to do something!
IRIS: It’s just like you said, Liz—women don’t have equal rights…
LIZ: Not even with other women…
IRIS: Oh, here’s one…”We need women…”
LIZ: Oh, we can do that…
IRIS: There’s more…
LIZ: Oh…
IRIS: “We need women…no experience necessary…must be attractive and…” Uh-oh…”under twenty-five…”
LIZ: Oh…that lets you out, doesn’t it?
IRIS: Lets me out? What about you?
LIZ: Oh, I wouldn’t take the job without you, Iris…
IRIS: Elizabeth Cooper, are you trying to tell me that you’re under twenty-five? Me, who’s known you since the first year you were twenty-eight?

This show starts to pick up a little steam when Liz and Iris decide to look for work at an employment agency—managed by the king of radio snark and condescension, Frank Nelson:

MANAGER: Ah, good morning ladies—welcome to the Sheridan Falls Employment Agency…have a chair…you wish to hire someone?
LIZ: Uh, no…we’re looking for a job…
MANAGER (barely concealing his disappointment): Oh…go over there and fill out a form…
LIZ: Boy…it sure got cold in here all of a sudden…uh, what kind of jobs do you have open?
MANAGER: Uh…what do you do?
LIZ (after a pause): What kind of jobs do you have open?
MANAGER: What do you do?
LIZ (another pause): What kind of jobs do you have open?
MANAGER: You go first this time…
LIZ: All right…what do you do?
MANAGER: What kind of jobs do you…no!!!
IRIS: The only thing we ask is that we work together…
MANAGER: All right, but tell me what you do…if you’re stenographers, maybe I can find someone with a big lap and you can each sit on one knee…
LIZ: Well, um…
IRIS: What kind of jobs do you have open?
LIZ: Gee, I wish I’d said that…
MANAGER: Yeesh…well, let’s try to get some facts down…what are your names?
IRIS (low, to Liz): Don’t give your real name, Liz…
MANAGER: What’s your name?
LIZ: Uh…um…
MANAGER: Don’t you know your own name?
LIZ: I’ll get it, I know it as well as I know my…oh no, that doesn’t make sense…um…uh…Bridget McGonigle…
MANAGER: Bridget Mc…how do you spell that?
LIZ: Uh…uh…M…uh…eh…M…O’Brien…my mother married again…
MANAGER: Uh-huh (to Iris) And what’s your name?
IRIS: McGonigle…
LIZ: Iris…
MANAGER: Iris McGonigle?
IRIS: Well…all right…
MANAGER: Don’t do me any favors…
LIZ: You see, she’s a half sister by my first mother’s second husband…

The women look through every job available, and find nothing that they are qualified for—but it really doesn’t matter, because their husbands aren’t exactly overwhelming anyone with their housekeeping skills; Rudolph, or “Mary Margaret McAtterbury” as he nicknames himself, manages to start a fire while ironing (he couldn’t find the ironing board, so he used the top of the piano instead). George and Rudolph call the employment agency for a housekeeper to clean up their prospective messes, and a battleaxe named Blanche (Elvia Allman, who played the candy factory supervisor when this episode was adapted for television) is sent to the scene, with her apprentice housekeepers in tow—and if you’ve guessed that they’re Liz and Iris, then you may be ready to move onto Advanced Sitcom Principles 201. Sure, both shows are dated as heck, but Nelson and Allman both make it fun, and the programs also contain the original Jell-O commercials (I love it at the beginning when Lucy calls out “Jell-O, everybody!”); one of which features announcer Bob Lemond interviewing Lucy playing a lady wrestler.

”Loo-see…you got some ‘splainin’ to do…”

Day 11 of “Twenty Days Well-Calculated to Keep You in Suspense.”

The Red-Headed Woman

Linda (Lucille Ball) is having one of those days—no sooner does her fiancé Frank (Elliott Reid) call her to say that he’s fallen for another woman than she decides to start a new life for herself by embezzling $21,000 from her employer (Paul Frees). As she makes tracks for the border, she hears a news bulletin on her car radio about an elusive bank robber—a man who matches the description of Jose (Desi Arnaz), a stranded motorist she runs into…

Written for Suspense by Nancy J. Cleveland and originally broadcast November 17, 1949, “The Red-Headed Woman” marked Lucille Ball’s fifth appearance on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” On this occasion, she is joined by her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz—the two of them were just two years away from their stupendously successful television sitcom I Love Lucy, a modified version of the radio comedy series My Favorite Husband that Lucy was appearing in on CBS at the time (alongside Richard Denning).

To be honest, I’m not certain why “The Red-Headed Woman” was included in this CD box set. It’s not a bad episode, it’s just that apart from the novelty of Lucy and Desi appearing together (they would return to the Suspense microphones on April 21, 1951 with “Early to Death”) it’s really not that much to write home about. It starts out well enough, and then takes a slight detour from believability in order to tack on a “happy” ending.

Had I a say in the matter, I would have instead recommended two superior outings by husband-and-wife comedic teams: “Too Little to Live On” (12/26/47) with Ozzie & Harriet Nelson, or “Death on My Hands” (5/10/51) featuring Phil Harris & Alice Faye. I suspect the inclusion of this episode was probably a ruse to get Lucy fans to buy the set, but fortunately, there’s no real harm done as there are still plenty of great episodes to choose from.

Mission Completed

World War II veteran Tom Warner (James Stewart) has spent the past four years in a veterans’ hospital in a completely paralyzed state—able to communicate only by blinking. But all that is about to change; when his nurse takes him for a stroll in his wheelchair, he spies a man working in a florist’s shop that is a dead ringer for “Suki,” the Japanese official who tortured Warner while he was interned in a P.O.W. camp. Warner now finds the strength to nurse himself back to health in order to exact revenge.

John R. Forrest’s “Mission Completed” is another solid gold Suspense classic; a gripping, sweat-inducing drama that benefits from an outstanding performance from Stewart and equally great support from Lurene Tuttle, John Dehner, Elliott Lewis and Herbert Butterfield. The show, broadcast December 1, 1949, aired to commemorate the event of the bombing of Pearl Harbor eight years previous.

During the program’s curtain call, Suspense gets a surprise visit from Gracie Allen, who wants to know if her husband—George “Sugar Throat” Burns—can appear on the program to sing, an idea not enthusiastically received by either announcer Harlow Wilcox or guest Stewart. (Stewart jokingly tells Gracie that the lineup of guests for Suspense is pretty much booked for the next 4,000 weeks.) George and Gracie had moved their program back to CBS at the beginning of the 1949-50 season (this season would also be their swan song), and apparently were doing a publicity stunt identical to the “missing brother” gag that they instituted on their show during the 1930s. Gracie had previously appeared a few days earlier on The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (“The Birds on the Wing,” 11/26/49) to make a similar request.

”…presented by Roma Wines…made in California for enjoyment throughout the world…”

Day 2 of “Twenty Days Well-Calculated to Keep You in Suspense.”

Back for Christmas

In this December 23, 1943 broadcast, character actor Peter Lorre plays botany professor Hubert Schumacher—who murders his domineering shrew of a wife and buries her in his basement under his “Devil’s Garden” (an area in which he plans to grow a new kind of wild orchid). He then departs on a planned trip to America with the new Mrs. Schumacher—only to discover to his horror that his first wife plans to keep her promise (she had insisted that the two of them would be “back for Christmas”) and return for the holidays.

“Back for Christmas” was adapted from the short story by John Collier, and made three different appearances on Suspense (the other two were on December 23, 1948 and December 23, 1956), with Herbert Marshall in the role of the professor in the second and third shows. I think Lorre’s performance is far superior, though; he pulls off the henpecked husband part with great aplomb yet still manages to be sinister at the same time—which is something Marshall isn’t quite capable of pulling off. (Think about it, who could possibly dominate Marshall? He’s the Man Called X!)

Collier’s other contribution to Suspense was his classic tale “Wet Saturday,” a particular favorite episode of mine that for some reason didn’t make the cut for this best-of collection. I really enjoy Collier’s flair for the macabre; his “Evening Primrose,” as performed on Suspense’s “sister” series Escape remains my all-time favorite OTR horror show. “Back for Christmas” later achieved the distinction of being one of the few Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes (telecast March 4, 1956) actually directed by the Master of Suspense himself.

Dime a Dance

Author Cornel Woolrich is the record holder for the most stories adapted for Suspense—a total of thirty-one in all. His 1938 short story, “Dime a Dance” is a nail-biting suspenser about a dance-hall girl named Ginger Allen whose friend gets murdered by a mad killer. Detective Nick Ballister (Patrick McGeehan) is assigned to protect Ginger—but there’s something not quite kosher about him.

Lucille Ball plays the part of Ginger, and if you’re familiar only with the wacky redhead’s television antics you owe it to yourself to give “Dime a Dance” a listen; Lucy reveals some impressive acting chops, and soon after made several appearances on Suspense, including “The Ten Grand” (6/22/44) and one of my favorites, “A Little Piece of Rope” (10/14/48). The story goes that when Lucy read producer William Spier’s adaptation of Woolrich’s story she contributed a few suggestions that she felt would make the climax more exciting. Spier became so wrapped up in the revisions that he missed hearing the first half of the show, and only managed to get the final script rewrites to Ball a minute-and-a-half before she read them on the air. “Dime a Dance” is truly a genuine heart-pounder, and like all great Suspense broadcasts, benefits from a terrific supporting cast that includes Hans Conried, Jeanette Nolan (one of my personal faves), and Cathy Lewis.

The character of Ginger Allen probably hit pretty close to home for Ball, since she started out in show business as a Ziegfeld Follies dancer and was also one of the Goldwyn Girls during the early stages of her film career (Roman Scandals, Kid Millions). In fact, she turns in one of her finest screen performances as a burlesque dancer named Bubbles in the 1940 cult classic Dance, Girl, Dance.

“Two people who live together…and like it!”

I Love Lucy. It’s a show that has earned an honored place on the list of the most popular television comedies of all time. Fans would surely rate it at the top; non-fans probably not nearly that high. But I think it’s safe to say that the series would make most Top Ten lists, and it most assuredly revolutionized in so many ways what we now know today as the situation comedy. Yet I Love Lucy’s roots reach back to the Golden Age of Radio, when a pilot show named My Favorite Husband went on the air in the timeslot originally slated for the premiere of Our Miss Brooks (a sitcom for which, strangely enough, Lucille Ball turned down the lead role).

Although the medium of television ultimately gave Lucille Ball her due, the actress-comedienne had carved quite a niche for herself on the silver screen, with standout performances in such films as Five Came Back (1939) and Dance, Girl, Dance (1940). She made her radio debut in 1938 on Jack Haley’s Log Cabin Jamboree (a program featuring a young Gale Gordon as its announcer), and later went on to a featured spot on Phil Baker’s popular Gulf Oil Headliner. Her talent for comedy won her rave reviews, and may have possibly paved the way for her role opposite the Marx Brothers in Room Service (1938) and as Edgar Bergen’s love interest in Look Who’s Laughing (1941), a comedy that also starred Jim & Marian Jordan in their radio roles of Fibber McGee & Molly.

Lucy met her future husband Desi Arnaz on the production of Too Many Girls, a 1940 RKO release based on the hit Broadway musical—and the couple were married in November of that same year. But married life was not all peaches and cream for the Arnazes—both Lucy’s film career and Desi’s long absences touring with his band put a severe strain on their marriage, so much so that Lucy began to seriously consider securing a regular gig in radio. She observed “that radio interfered less with a normal home life than any other entertainment medium, a fact borne out by the experience of such happily married radio greats as Mary Livingstone and Jack Benny, Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa, Gracie Allen and George Burns, and Harriet and Ozzie Nelson.”

Lucy’s agent Don Sharpe discussed her desire for a radio sitcom with Harry Ackerman, CBS’ vice president of programming. Ackerman had recently finished a book authored by Isabel Scott Rorick entitled Mr. & Mrs. Cugat: The Record of a Happy Marriage, which detailed the wacky marital bliss between a bandleader and his wife. (A bandleader and his wife? Hey…you know…there just might be a series in…oh, never mind…) Ackerman felt the novel “had terrific possibilities for a radio show” and Lucy was asked about starring in a sitcom based on Rorick’s book. Lucy was certainly game, although she lobbied CBS heavily to let husband Desi play opposite her. The network balked, stating firmly that Arnaz would hardly be believable in the role of her husband. (Lucy lost this round, but would triumph three years later when a similar debate erupted during the drawing-board stages of I Love Lucy.)

My Favorite Husband premiered over CBS on July 5, 1948 as a “one shot filler,” a half-hour comedy spotlighting the misadventures of a “daffy but intelligent” housewife and her husband, “the vice president of a Midwestern bank.” The critical and audience response was incredible; so positive that it convinced the network to give the audition a green light as a regular series starting July 23. Actor Lee Bowman, who originally played the part of husband George to Lucy’s Liz, had to bow out of the regular series due to contractual obligations, and so actor Richard Denning inherited his role.

The early My Favorite Husband scripts were penned by the veteran comedy writing team of Frank Fox and Bill Davenport, but when their regular writing assignment (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) returned after its summer hiatus, a new team of writers needed to be put in place. Fox and Davenport recommended to Ackerman two staff writers from the CBS Pacific coast network, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr., as their replacements. Ackerman also brought veteran comedy writer Jess Oppenheimer aboard; Oppenheimer had written for such radio stars as Edgar Bergen and Al Jolson, and most recently had scripted Fanny Brice’s The Baby Snooks Show. It was under the supervision of these three scribes that Husband really began to hit its comic stride.

Jess revamped the character of Liz Cugat, making her more childlike and impulsive (not unlike Baby Snooks—or Lucy Ricardo, for that matter), and toning down her socialite aspects, but retaining Liz’s housewife qualities. He decided to rename the couple from “Cugat” to “Cooper” and demoted George from vice-president to third vice-president of the bank. Oppenheimer was even handed the assignment of taking over the directing and producing chores of the show; it was thought his skill at handling the troublesome Fanny Brice on Snooks could no doubt be stretched to dealing with the equally temperamental Lucy.

But perhaps the most important change to Husband made by Oppenheimer was adding the characters of Rudolph Atterbury—the president of the bank that employed George—and his wife, Iris. The role of Rudolph was originated by actor Joseph Kearns, but it wasn’t until radio veteran Gale Gordon took over the role on March 11, 1949 that Lucy found the perfect comedy foil for her shenanigans. Two weeks later, the Iris character was introduced, played by comic actress Bea Benaderet.

I listened to “Liz Changes Her Mind,” a broadcast from June 24, 1949 last night. It is an interesting episode, due to the fact that it was the only episode of My Favorite Husband to be repeated (rearing its head again on September 30, 1950). (It also has a connection to I Love Lucy, which will be revealed at the end of this post—how's that for foreshadowing?) Late for a lunch date with the Atterburys, George is gently chiding Liz about her constant inability to reach a decision on anything, be it the dress she’s wearing (which is why they’re late) or choosing a parking spot. They no sooner arrive at the restaurant and are seated when Liz decides she’d like to change tables:

LIZ: Oh look! Some people are leaving that table by the window…if we move over there, we can have a view while we’re eating…

GEORGE (sotto voce to Liz) Remember what I told you, Liz…(loudly) uh, this table is fine…

LIZ: Oh come on, George…you’d like to move, wouldn’t you, Iris?

IRIS: Well, I…

LIZ: You’d like to move too, wouldn’t you, Mr. Atterbury…?

RUDOLPH: Well, I…

LIZ: See, George…it’s three to one…

GEORGE: But our stuff is already here…

LIZ: Well, we’ll take it with us…Iris, you carry the butter plates…Mr. Atterbury, the napkins…George, here, you take the water glasses and I’ll carry the silverware…hurry up, someone else is heading for it…(SFX: dishes clattering, assorted muttering) Good! We beat them…everybody pass the things around now…

RUDOLPH: Here’s a plate of water, Iris…uh…hand me a glass of butter…

LIZ: Has everyone everything they need?

GEORGE: Yes…I have three knives…

IRIS: I beat you, I have a full house…three forks and a pair of spoons…

RUDOLPH: You’d better call the waiter…he’s looking under the table for us…

The waiter—beautifully played by Frank Nelson—is ready to take the couples’ order, and it's here that Liz’s indecision gets a full workout:

LIZ: Let’s see…oh, everything looks so good…I’ll have the…um…uh…um…uh…

WAITER: Sorry…we’re all out of “um uh”…

LIZ: Very amusing…I’ll have the roast beef…

WAITER: One roast beef…

GEORGE: What would you like, Iris?

IRIS: I think I’ll try the lamb chops…

WAITER: One lamb chops…

RUDOLPH: George, what looks good to you?

LIZ: Lamb chops, huh…oh, that sounds good…and they’re not fattening, either…waiter, change mine to lamb chops, please…

WAITER: Yes, ma’am…two lamb chops…

LIZ: That’s two for each of us…

WAITER: Yes, ma’am…

LIZ: …and I don’t want too much fat on them, but I like them thick…

WAITER: Would you like me to trot the lamb by? You can pick out the chops you want…

LIZ: Well!

GEORGE: Liz, don’t make a scene…

RUDOLPH: Well, go ahead, George, you order…

GEORGE: I’d like the sirloin steak…

WAITER: Yes sir, one sirloin steak…how would you like it?

GEORGE: Rare…and thick and juicy…

WAITER: Right…and you, sir?

RUDOLPH: Well, I think I’ll have a nice…

LIZ (interrupting) Gee, George…you made that steak sound so tasty and…

WAITER (resignedly): How would you like it, madam…well, medium or rare?

LIZ: Rare.

RUDOLPH (after a pause, then quickly): I’d like the pork chops!

WAITER: Yes, sir! Now…what would you like to drink?

LIZ: I’d like…

WAITER: You order last!

IRIS: Coffee.

RUDOLPH: Coffee for me, too.

GEORGE: Milk.

WAITER: And what would you like, madam?

LIZ (after a pause) Pork chops, huh?

WAITER (wailing) Oh no…

LIZ: Would it be too much trouble to change my order?

WAITER (with heavy sarcasm) Why no! Whatever gave you that idea???

LIZ: Well, I think I’d like pork chops…

WAITER: Yes, ma’am…

LIZ (another pause) Well…why don’t you write it down?

WAITER: I wrote it down for you when he ordered it! (sticking out his tongue) Nyaaah!!!

LIZ (returning fire): Nyaaah!!!

WAITER: Now, let’s see if I got this straight…lamb chops for you, steak for you, pork chops for you…and a new eraser for me…

No sooner have they placed their orders when Liz decides she wants to switch tables again because she’s uncomfortable sitting near the drafty window (RUDOLPH: “Stand by for another troop movement.”). In the ensuing relocation, she manages to bump into the waiter who’s returned with a tray of appetizers, spilling shrimp cocktails all over the hapless Rudolph. George decides he’s had enough, and lays down the law to Liz that she has to finish what she starts. So, the next day, Liz takes the initiative to clean out the hall desk—and in doing so, finds an old letter she left unfinished in which she was planning to leave George. She decides to teach her husband a lesson by completing the letter with some help from the Cooper’s maid, Katie (Ruth Perrott):

KATIE: Oh, Mrs. Cooper…you’re not really gonna send it to him…

LIZ: You heard the man, I certainly am, Katie…I’m merely obeying orders…now, let’s see…”George, when you read this, I will be far away…I’m going home to Mother…I never want to see you again, you big…” You big…um…gee, it’s hard to choose…

KATIE: You want me to suggest some?

LIZ: No…I’ll just say “you big brute.” There you are…”Signed, tearfully, Liz.” Now I’ll mail it special delivery so he’ll get it this afternoon…

KATIE: How do you think Mr. Cooper will react when he thinks you’re leaving him?

LIZ: Oh, I know exactly how…he’ll come rushing home and beg me to stay…he’ll think I found out something he’s done…

KATIE: Supposing he hasn’t done anything?

LIZ: Katie…when a man’s wife is leaving him, he doesn’t say “Did I do something she found out about?” He says, “Which one did she find out about?”

At the bank, George and Rudolph are just getting ready to leave when George’s new secretary arrives with a special delivery letter—only it isn’t Liz’s. It’s a letter from her old State U. sorority, inviting her to a meet-and-greet reunion with her fellow sisters (GEORGE: “Delta Upsilon Delta…D-U-D…oh, that’s Liz’s sorority! Doesn’t Iris belong to the same one?” RUDOLPH: “Yes…she’s a DUD, too.”). The two men decide that the wives should attend the function and get away from them for a weekend, and rush off to tell Liz and Iris—but unbeknownst to the men, Liz’s “finished” letter arrives a second after their departure. Liz and Iris wait for their husbands’ return (Liz has filled Iris in on her little scheme) and as they so often say in sitcoms, the wacky complications ensue:

LIZ: Did you get a letter at the bank today?

GEORGE: Oh, your letter!

LIZ (coldly) Yes…my letter…

GEORGE: I’m glad you reminded me…I forgot all about it…

LIZ: Well, thanks a lot…weren’t you a little surprised when you opened it?

GEORGE: Well, as a matter of fact, I was…I couldn’t figure it out at first…

RUDOLPH: It sure sounded funny when he read it to me…

LIZ (horrified) George Cooper! You didn’t read my letter to Mr. Atterbury!

GEORGE: Well, sure…why not? Oh, let’s talk about it after dinner, it’s not important…

LIZ: Not important? We’ll talk about it after dinner? What do you have to say about it?

GEORGE: Well…I think you ought to go!

LIZ (sobbing) You think I ought to go?

GEORGE: Well, sure! Don’t worry about me, I’ll get along fine! (Liz engages in some patented Lucy-type crying) I don’t know why you’re crying, it’ll be wonderful for both of us! (more crying)

IRIS: George Cooper, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!

RUDOLPH: Now you keep out of this, Iris, this is their affair…

IRIS: Rudolph Atterbury…I think you even agree with that heel…

RUDOLPH: I do!

IRIS: What???

RUDOLPH: As a matter of fact, since Liz is going, I think you ought to go, too!

I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that everything is cleared up at the program’s end (“It was all a simple misunderstanding”), but no doubt many of you are probably experiencing a little déjà vu. “Haven’t we seen (or in this case, heard) this story before?” You are quite correct—it’s Episode 49 of I Love Lucy, “Lucy Changes Her Mind.”

My Favorite Husband became a victim of its own success. CBS pleaded with Lucy to transplant her successful radio sitcom to television, but Lucy remained firm this time—she would not do the series without husband Desi. So the network relented, and in the process created the colossal comedy hit we know today. (Husband did manage to make the transition to television, in a version that starred Joan Caufield and Barry Nelson in the Liz and George roles; it lasted just two seasons.) Many of the I Love Lucy scripts were, in fact, re-written from a hefty backlog of old My Favorite Husband drafts—mainly because Husband’s former scribes—Oppenheimer, Pugh and Carroll, Jr.—went with the Arnazes to work on the new TV program. The I Love Lucy version even hired Frank Nelson to reprise his original radio appearance as the waiter, and the episode was telecast on March 30, 1953.

My Favorite Husband is kind of an underrated little OTR treat; it offers the listener the first opportunity to experience the comedy magic that would ultimately transform Lucy into a television superstar (her Jell-O commercials with announcer Bob Lemond are a joy to listen to, too). I was never too crazy about Richard Denning, however—but to give him his due, he also later made a big splash into television, appearing opposite Barbara Britton in the TV version of the radio mystery series Mr. and Mrs. North. When North's original stars—Joseph Curtin and Alice Frost—bowed out of those roles, Denning and Britton replaced them as the fun-loving mystery duo until the show’s cancellation on April 18, 1955. But if you’re a true-blue Lucy fan, I can heartily recommend My Favorite Husband—just pop in a CD and “Jell-O, everybody!”