I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy (1951)

35 mistakes in season 4

(11 votes)

Lucy Cries Wolf - S4-E1

Visible crew/equipment: After Lucy phones Ricky and fibs about a man being on the fire escape, when Ethel and Fred rush in looking for Lucy, two actors' tape marks are visible on the floor where Fred and Ethel stand, beside the couch. (00:06:20)

Super Grover

Ricky's Screen Test - S4-E7

Visible crew/equipment: When Ethel is about to open the door because Fred is too "busy" to do it, the shadow of moving boom equipment is visible on the wall to the right. Then after Ethel opens the door to find Lucy dressed in her starlet outfit, when Lucy walks in disappointed that she was recognized, in the next shot facing Ethel the shadow of the moving boom mic can be seen on the door. (00:10:40)

Super Grover

Getting Ready - S4-E11

Revealing mistake: When everyone is examining the car that Fred bought, during a shot showing the front of the car, everyone's shadows are falling on the "street" behind the car, making it obvious that it's a painted backdrop.

Jeff Swanson

First Stop - S4-E14

Revealing mistake: When the bed Lucy and Ricky are in moves as a train goes by look real close and you can see the wheels on it to help move it across the set piece.

Rob245

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Not necessarily an error. My bed frame is on wheels.

Kitty1019

The Matchmaker - S4-E2

Audio problem: About 6 minutes in, a friend of Fred comes to the door and Ricky answers it. The man says Mr. Cardo instead of Mr. Ricardo, but Ricky says yes anyway.

terry s

Lucy and Harpo Marx - S4-E27

Character mistake: When Lucy and Harpo are doing the mirror routine, Harpo grabs the horn on his belt with his right hand. For Lucy to create a "reflection", she would need to use her left hand but she uses her right hand.

The Dancing Star - S4-E28

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.

Steven Lee

First Stop - S4-E14

Visible crew/equipment: The gang stop at the roadside diner was obviously shot in-studio as the bottom seam is quite visible behind the car, and the backdrop shakes a little when Lucy opens the car door.

First Stop - S4-E14

Other mistake: When the Ricardos and Mertzes arrive the first time at One Oak Cabins and Cafe the full moon is amid the tops of the trees. When they arrive the second time the full moon is in exactly the same location amid the tree tops as the first time they arrived. Fortunately, hours later when they make their sneaky escape from the cabin and return to their car the moon is no longer in view.

The Tour - S4-E30

Deliberate mistake: After Fred and Ethel arrive at Richard Widmark's house dressed as mental hospital staff, when Lucy hugs Ricky and holds out the grapefruit for Widmark to sign, the last closeup of the adorable St. Bernard is a flipped shot - note the chair in the hallway which should be to the left of the table, but is now to the right of the table. (00:25:05)

Super Grover

Ethel's Home Town - S4-E16

Continuity mistake: When Ethel asks her old friend Billy to take a group photo of her with Fred and the Ricardos, Ethel poses with everyone as Billy takes only one shot of them together, but when Lucy reads the newspaper article Ethel is posed differently in the cropped "group" picture. (00:12:15 - 00:16:35)

Super Grover

Lucy Cries Wolf - S4-E1

Plot hole: How does Lucy get back up to the apartment bound and gagged? It would seem impossible to hop up all those steps, possibly take several hours if not all night.

Rob245

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?

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Show generally

Question: I know this show is from the time period when a lot of couples had two beds in their room. Just out of curiosity, when did it become acceptable to show a couple's bedroom with a single bed on TV?

Answer: According to Snopes.com, there is no definitive answer, but the mid-1960s is the most verifiable date with "The Munsters" being cited as the first, although others claim "The Brady Bunch" showed the first couple seen in a double bed. An early TV show from the late 1940s titled, "Mary Kay and Johnny" is also thought to have shown the married couple's bedroom as having a double bed, although probably not with them in it. However, this was when TV was aired live, and there are no surviving episodes, only anecdotal accounts.

raywest

Something that is funny is that in the movie "A Christmas Story," they show the parents having two twin beds in their bedroom. In a real situation, they should have shown them having a double bed. Lucy and Ricky had twin beds pushed together in an early episode, which would have been pushing television boundaries in that time.

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