The essential episodes of I Love Lucy
Watch these 15 in order and you've got I Love Lucy — each pick states its reason.
- 01
The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub
It's the Mertzes' eighteenth wedding anniversary. Ethel longs to celebrate it by going to the Copacabana, while Fred wants to attend the fights. As can be guessed, an argument soon ensues among the couples. Ethel and Lucy decide that they will go to the club-with dates! Now, this is perfectly fine with Fred, but Ricky is worried. So he and Fred call an old friend, Ginny Jones, for dates so that they can go to the nightclub and spy on their wives. Coincidentally, Lucy and Ethel have also called Ginny about getting dates to go to the club. When Ginny tells the girls about the boys' plans, Lucy decides that she and Ethel will impersonate the boys' blind dates. Thus, the two of them enter the Ricardo apartment decked out like country bumpkins, which makes for some superb Lucille Ball schtick.
- 02
Ricky returns home with a $3,500 mink coat that he has rented for an act at the club. Lucy immediately jumps to the conclusion that it's her anniversary present. Lucy is so delighted with her "present" that she eats, sleeps, and even does the dishes wearing the mink. Ricky decides to get the coat back by having Fred dress up as a theif and "steal" it, but before he does, a REAL burglar almost makes off with the coat! When Lucy learns from Ethel of his plan, she decides to teach her hubby a lesson. Buying a cheap imitation mink, she decides to "restyle" it (with a pair of scissors)in full view of Ricky.
- 03
Lucy dislikes Ricky's new moustache. In order to take revenge, she glues a moustache and beard on to her face. Then, Ricky agrees to shave his moustache off, as long as Lucy gets rid of hers. Lucy tries to get the facial hair off, and is unsuccessful. They try to get a special substance to take the glue off, to find out that it is not made anymore.
- 04
Lucy secretly books Ricky on a radio quiz show.
- 05
Ricky puts Lucy on a rigid time schedule.
- 06
Waiting to find out if she has won a home furnishing contest, Lucy won't leave the house, much to Ricky's annoyance. He tells Fred to call her and say that she's won. In her joy, Lucy sells all the old furniture, leaving Ricky with the job of buying it back.
- 07
When Lucy buys a gadget in response to an ad, Ricky gets angry.
- 08
Lucy and Ricky are both engrossed in a thrilling novel, and decide to read it aloud to enjoy it at the same time. When Ricky tosses the book to Lucy for her to put it away, it accidentally hits her in the face, giving her a black eye. Trouble begins when Fred and Ethel overhear the dialogue from the novel and, seeing the black eye, fear the worst. When Ethel will not accept the truth, Lucy concocts a "juicy story" about her falling in love with another man, which only leads to further trouble.
- 09
Lucy seems unable to finish anything without changing her mind. Ricky loses his temper over it, so Lucy tries to play a trick on him with an old, unfinished love letter to a beau from high school. However, Fred finds out from Ethel and warns Ricky of Lucy's plot.
- 10
Ricky and Fred are excited about watching a lengthy boxing match on TV. While Ricky and Fred stay glued to the set, Lucy and Ethel are mistaken for thieves and taken to the police station, while their husbands do not realize they are gone
- 11
ired of Ricky and Fred's attitude towards them, the girls demand equal rights. Ricky and Fred turn the tables on them when, out to dinner, they call for separate checks, and Ethel and Lucy, lacking any money in their purses, must wash dishes to pay for their meals.
- 12
Ricky hires a business manager (Charles Lane), and Lucy finds him tighter with money than Ricky. After Lucy gets several months behind in all the bills, Ricky hires Mr. Hickox, a no-nonsense business manager who puts her on a strict budget. Lucy comes up with a scheme to get some extra money that soon has her rolling in cash.
- 13
Lucy and Ethel have made off with the cement slab of John Wayne's footprints. Now the police are called in to investigate. John Wayne guest stars.
- 14
After Ricky makes fun of Lucy's new hat, she puts on a trophy that Ricky is supposed to present at a ceremony. She finds out it goes on a lot easier than it comes off.
- 15
The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue
Lucy becomes involved in community affairs and almost gets expelled from the neighborhood.
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