Other mistake: Lucy walks out on the balcony and sees Van Johnson sleeping on a lounge chair by the swimming pool. The photographic backdrop shows automobiles, trees, mountains, the Roosevelt hotel and many other buildings of Hollywood but when Lucy goes to the pool and sits on the lounge chair next to Van Johnson, the background is just a plain painted backdrop with no cars, trees, mountains or buildings. This plain backdrop also appears in the episode with Harpo Marx.

I Love Lucy (1951)
1 other mistake in The Dancing Star - chronological order
Starring: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley

Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio - S1-E32
Visible crew/equipment: At the start, after Fred and Ethel walk in, when Lucy and Ethel walk away from the kitchen shutters carrying things, the stage microphone and stand can be seen at the right side of the screen. (Later in the episode, when Lucy and Ricky appear in the quiz segment an identical microphone is on stage with them). (00:00:35)
Lucy Ricardo: How much do you want to bet?
Fred Mertz: Ten dollars.
Ethel Mertz: Well what's the matter with twenty dollars?
Ricky Ricardo: What's the matter with thirty dollars?
Lucy Ricardo: What's the matter with fifty dollars?
Fred Mertz: What was the matter with ten dollars?
Trivia: Fred and Ethel's bickering relationship didn't require much acting; in real life Vivian Vance and William Frawley didn't care for each other at all.





Answer: There is no reason. It's a just a silly plot device, typical of the era. Women characters were often portrayed as making uninformed assumptions or decisions.
raywest ★