The Worst Episodes of I Love Lucy

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Worst Episode
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   #1 - The Saxophone

   S2:E29/22/1952

   When Lucy fails her saxophone audition for Ricky's band, she tries to stop him from going on the road by pretending there's another man in her life. Ricky gets back at her by hiring several "lovers," and hiding them in Lucy's closet. But Lucy gets the last laugh in the end!

   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
2. 

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   #2 - The Anniversary Present

   S2:E39/29/1952

   Lucy thinks that Ricky is pitching woo with a sophisticated neighbor. The woman is actually a jeweler who Ricky has commissioned to fashion a pearl necklace to surprise Lucy with on their anniversary. Lucy takes to spying before the deal can go down and almost loses out on her big surprise.

   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
3. 

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   #3 - The Handcuffs

   S2:E410/6/1952

   After Lucy snaps a pair of antique handcuffs on herself and Ricky, they realize there's no key. A locksmith is found, but not before the Ricardos go to bed handcuffed together, and Ricky has to do a TV show with his "attached" wife trying to upstage him.

   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
4. 

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   #4 - The Operetta

   S2:E510/13/1952

   Lucy's women's club wants to stage an operetta, but they're completely broke. (Lucy, the treasurer, seems to have spent it all to pay her own bills.) Thus, Lucy and Ethel write and star in the musical, but when their postdated check bounces for the costumes and scenery, the rental company repossesses everything in midperformance.

   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
5. 

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   #5 - Vacation from Marriage

   S2:E610/27/1952

   The Ricardos and the Mertzes take a week off from their in-a-rut marriages. But each spouse misses the other too much, and despite a last-ditch attempt to make each other jealous, they all decide that they'd rather be in a rut with their mates.

   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
6. 

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   #6 - The Courtroom

   S2:E711/10/1952

   The Ricardos give the Mertzes a television set for their anniversary, but Ricky's zealous tuning causes it to blow up. Fred retaliates by breaking the Ricardos' set (by kicking it!) The foursome end up in court, where they manage to destroy the judge's TV, too!

   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
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   #7 - Redecorating

   S2:E811/24/1952

   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.

   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
8. 

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   #8 - Ricky Loses His Voice

   S2:E912/1/1952

   Ricky's laryngitis makes it impossible for him to perform in a big reopening show for the Tropicana. So Lucy substitutes herself, the ex-vaudivillian Mertzes, and a chorus line of middle-aged showgirls from the Flapper Follies of 1927. Look for Barbara Pepper as one of the showgirls.

   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
9. 

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   #9 - Lucy Is Enceinte

   S2:E1012/8/1952

   Lucy is delighted to learn she is pregnant-but how to tell Ricky? At lunch, he's too preoccupied with work to listen to her, then it's off to the club-where Lucy finds the right moment and just the right way to tell him.

   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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   Director:William Asher

   Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
10. 

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    #10 - Pregnant Women are Unpredictable

    S2:E1112/15/1952

    Lucy thinks Ricky cares more about the baby they're having than about her, especially after he buys her presents like bonnets and rattles. But when he takes her out for a night on the town, she thinks he's lost interest in the baby.

    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
11. 

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    #11 - Lucy's Showbiz Swan Song

    S2:E1212/22/1952

    Despite her pregnancy, Lucy wants to appear in Ricky's Gay Nineties revue at the Tropicana. After a disastrous audition, Lucy disguises herself and sneaks into the barbershop quartet number, and then proceeds to ruin it.

    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
12. 

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    #12 - Lucy Hires an English Tutor

    S2:E1312/29/1952

    Lucy hires an English tutor so that Ricky won't give their yet-to-be-born baby bad speaking habits. The lessons are free, but Lucy does promise the tutor a payback: he'll get to sing at the Tropicana. Of course, Lucy neglects to tell Ricky this.

    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
13. 

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    #13 - Ricky Has Labor Pains

    S2:E141/5/1953

    Ricky develops "labor pains" because he is jealous of the attention being lavished on the expectant Lucy. So she decides to throw him a "daddy shower," which Fred turns into a "stag party," which Lucy and Ethel crash.

    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
14. 

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    #14 - Lucy Becomes a Sculptress

    S2:E151/12/1953

    Lucy decides to explore her artistic side and takes up sculpting.

    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
15. 

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    #15 - Lucy Goes to the Hospital

    S2:E161/19/1953

    Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse for pregnant Lucy's trip to the hospital. It turns out to be predictably chaotic, but Lucy does deliver Little Ricky.

    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer

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    Director:William Asher

    Writers:Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr., Jess Oppenheimer
16. 

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    #16 - Sales Resistance

    S2:E171/26/1953

    Convinced his wife is a sucker for a sales pitch, Ricky demands that she return the vacuum cleaner she bought from a door-to-door salesman. Instead, she tries (unsuccessfully) to sell it. Ricky insists that he'll return it-and ends up buying a refrigerator.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
17. 

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    #17 - The Inferiority Complex

    S2:E182/2/1953

    When no one laughs at her jokes or wants her to be their bridge partner, Lucy comes to the conclusion that she is inferior to everyone else. Worried by Lucy's behavior, Ricky goes to the psychiatrist (or "fizz-a-key-a-tryst" as Ricky pronounces it,) to find the remedy. But it turns out that this doctor's "remedy" isn't exactly what Ricky had in mind.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
18. 

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    #18 - The Club Election

    S2:E192/16/1953

    Because they both want to be president of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League, Lucy and Ethel both engage in cut-throat competition. Prior to the elections, Lucy and Ethel independently engage in a little "spywork." It seems that half the club plans on voting for Lucy and the other half plans to vote for Ethel. But there is one undecided vote--that of the new member, Ruth Knickerbocker. So Lucy and Ethel both go to extremes to sway Knickerbocker's vote.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
19. 

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    #19 - The Black Eye

    S2:E203/9/1953

    Lucy misses catching a book tossed to her by Ricky, and winds up with a black eye that Fred and Ethel are convinced was intentional. Trying to patch things up for the Ricardos, Fred sends Lucy flowers, but inadvertently uses his own name instead of Ricky's.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
20. 

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    #20 - Lucy Changes Her Mind

    S2:E213/30/1953

    Whether it's getting dressed or ordering dinner at a restaurant, Lucy seems unable to finish anything without changing her mind. Ricky loses his temper, so Lucy tries to play a trick with an old, unfinished love letter to a beau from high school. Fred warns Ricky of Lucy's plot, and Lucy is soon in over her head.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
21. 

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    #21 - No Children Allowed

    S2:E224/20/1953

    When a cranky tenant (Elizabeth Patterson, in her first appearance as Mrs. Trumble,) threatens to move because of Little Ricky's loud crying, Ethel makes it clear that her friendship with Lucy is more important than a rental agreement. But Ethel doesn't let the Ricardos forget her loyalty.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
22. 

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    #22 - Lucy Hires a Maid

    S2:E234/27/1953

    Lucy's sleepless nights with the new baby are exhausting, so the Ricardos hire a maid. Unfortunately, this new maid turns out to be a terrible shrew, who takes better care of herself than of Lucy or the apartment. Unable to get the gumption to fire her, Lucy wrecks the apartment, hoping it will make the maid quit.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown
23. 

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    #23 - The Indian Show

    S2:E245/4/1953

    Even the arrival of the baby hasn't dampened Lucy's showbiz aspirations. Wanting to get into the new Indian act at the Tropicana, Lucy pays off one of the performers and appears herself, carrying Little Ricky papoose-style on her back.

    Director:William Asher

    Writer:Unknown

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