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| Lucy Calls The President - 1977 |
Coming up on this edition of TV Tuesday is a Lucille Ball television special from 1977 entitled "Lucy Calls The President". Here, Lucy plays an Indiana housewife who gets the news that President Jimmy Carter is coming to dinner at her house. All kinds of chaos ensues.
The show's cast includes Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, Ed McMahon, Mary Wickes, Mary Jane Croft, James Brodhead, Steve Allen, and Lillian Carter.
Lucy Carter calls the office of President Jimmy Carter on one of his phone-in days. She wants to advocate for a camp for underprivileged children that is being threatened by developers. She's in for a shock when she actually gets put through to the president.
She's in for an even greater shock when President Carter announces that he will be driving through the area the next day and wants to discuss the matter further with her in person.
Lucy and her best friend and neighbor Viv get busy making plans for the president's arrival, which now includes a dinner. Lucy's husband Floyd and his father Omar just stand back helpless in the wake of these two powerhouses.
Naturally, everyone in town wants a chance to meet the president, including Aunt Millie and the Mayor and his wife.
Lucy wants to greet the president properly, so she has those who can play an instrument rehearse "Hail To The Chief". It doesn't exactly sound very nice.
"We're practicing Hail To The Chief so we can play it when President Carter gets here. How does it sound?" she asks her father-in-law. Omar smirks and says, "Like you voted for Ford."
On the day of the president's visit, Lucy is even interviewed by Steve Allen for his program "The People Watchers". She has a really hard time adjusting to the equipment and the television cameras.
There's also a really fun conversation that was held earlier in relation to Steve Allen between Lucy and Viv.
Viv: Oh, I just love Steve Allen. He reminds me so much of my husband.
Lucy: Leonard is like Steve Allen?
Viv: Yeah.
They both wear glasses. As a
matter of fact, they could be twins if Leonard was taller, and thinner, and younger, and cuter.
The interview ends in disaster when Lucy's father-law accidentally turns on the sprinklers.
Things get crazier when the Secret Service shows up to perform a security inspection. Lucy's husband Floyd accidentally thinks one of them is a prowler and hits them on the head with a skillet!
Lucy and Viv get busy preparing the courses for the dinner. Viv proudly shows Lucy the cake she made bearing a likeness of President Carter.
Of course (in classic Lucy and Viv style), things get a little out of hand when the two ladies start cake decorating. "This kitchen isn't big enough for both of us!" exclaims Viv. "Well, you're certainly big enough for both of us!" says Lucy in reply.
The Secret Service even gets in on the action! They were outside the kitchen and thought a shootout was going down!
Tragedy strikes when Lucy tastes some peanut brittle and breaks her two front teeth. She's terribly upset.
But not as upset as she is when she accidentally steps in the potato salad and then proceeds to sit on Viv's cake!
An emergency in Washington means that President Carter can't come to dinner. However, his mother, Miss Lillian, phones Lucy and tells her that she would still be very happy to come.
Lucy forgets all of the bad things that have happened once the call is ended. She picks up Viv's cake and says, "Quick, Viv, get some more icing. You know, we got to put Jimmy back together again before his momma sees him."
Cast rundown:
Lucille Ball..................................Lucy Whittaker
Vivian Vance...............................Viv
Gale Gordon................................Omar Whittaker
Ed McMahon................................Floyd Whittaker
Mary Wickes................................Millie Baker
Mary Jane Croft...........................Midge Bowser
James Brodhead..........................Mayor Wally Bowser
Steve Allen.................................Himself
Lillian Carter................................Herself
And that's it for Lucy Calles The President. This was the final time that Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance appeared together onscreen. Vivian was suffering from cancer at the time of filming, and the disease would take her life two years later. This was also the final performance of Mary Jane Croft.
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