The Lucy Show: Season 03

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Season three of The Lucy Show is something of a watershed for the series. To be sure, most of the episodes adhere to the formula established during the first two seasons, with wacky widow Lucy Carmichael (Lucille Ball) and her divorced best friend and housemate Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance) getting mixed up in zany, farcical I Love Lucy-style situations, and with Lucy and Viv trying their best to be both parents and pals to their children, Lucy's daughter Chris (Candy Moore) and son Jerry (Jimmy Garrett); and Viv's son Sherman (Ralph Hart). However, more and more episodes were devoted to the love-hate relationship between Lucy and bank president Theodore J. Mooney (Gale Gordon), who controlled Lucy's weekly allowance and who was regularly driven to fits of hilarious frenzy whenever Lucy hatched one of her many get-rich-quick schemes or one of her "clever" subterfuges to wheedle more money from the banks. Clearly, it would not be long before The Lucy Show would focus almost exclusively on the misadventures of Lucy and Mr. Mooney -- or at least, it was clear to co-star Vivian Vance, who decided to leave the series at the end of the third season (though she would return for several "guest" appearances over the next several years). The Lucy Show's future heavy reliance upon guest stars was already making itself felt during season three. Both Jack Benny and Bob Hope appear in the episode "Lucy and the Plumber" while future episodes this season bear such titles as "Lucy Meets Arthur Godfrey" and "Lucy Meets Danny Kaye." Also, "Lucy and the Countess" marks the first of several guest appearances by Ann Sothern as Countess Framboise, who turns out to be Lucy Carmichael's old school chum Rosie Harrigan. During the next season, Sothern would be teamed with Lucy as an ersatz Vivian Bagley in a number of comic misadventures. The Lucy Show finished its third season with a 26.6 Nielsen rating, making it America's eighth most popular series. Hal Erickson, Rovi Read Less

Season three of The Lucy Show is something of a watershed for the series. To be sure, most of the episodes adhere to the formula established during the first two seasons, with wacky widow Lucy Carmichael (Lucille Ball) and her divorced best friend and housemate Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance) getting mixed up in zany, farcical I Love Lucy-style situations, and with Lucy and Viv trying their best to be both parents and pals to their children, Lucy's daughter Chris (Candy Moore) and son Jerry (Jimmy Garrett); and Viv's son ... Read More