The Best Episodes Written By Jess Oppenheimer

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #1 - Lucy Meets Charles Boyer

   S5:E193/5/1956

   Charles Boyer deals with a star-crazed Lucy in this guest appearance. The setting: Paris, where the Ricardos and Mertzes are lunching at a sidewalk cafe. Boyer is at a nearby table, and when Lucy and Ethel spot him they immediately repair to the ladies room to plot their approach. Ricky tries to stop the assault but nobody can defend against the star-struck Lucy.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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2. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #2 - Lucy in the Swiss Alps

   S5:E213/26/1956

   In Switzerland, the Ricardos and Mertzes are caught in an abandoned cabin during an avalanche. It’s one of Lucy’s own making (of course), and it leads to some soul-searching and confessions. But not by Ricky: “We might be saved!” They are — by an oompah band playing “La Cucaracha.”

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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3. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #3 - Lucy's Bicycle Trip

   S5:E244/23/1956

   The Ricardos and Mertzes pedal their way from Italy to the French Riviera. It's a bumpy ride, thanks (of course) to Lucy, who left her passport in her purse, which she locked in a suitcase, which she sent ahead to their hotel in Nice. That presents problems when they get to the Italian-French border.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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4. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #4 - 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.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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5. 

   9.0/10(3 votes)

   #5 - The Ricardos Change Apartments

   S2:E265/18/1953

   Now that they have Little Ricky, Lucy insists they need more room, and wants to change apartments with one of the other tenants (Mrs. Benson.) She convinces a reluctant Ricky by cluttering their apartment with baby things and assorted junk.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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6. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #6 - 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.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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7. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #7 - 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!

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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8. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #8 - 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.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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9. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #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.

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   Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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10. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #10 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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11. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #11 - 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!

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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12. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #12 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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13. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #13 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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14. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #14 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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15. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #15 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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16. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #16 - 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.

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17. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #17 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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18. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #18 - 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.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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19. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #19 - Lucy Becomes a Sculptress

    S2:E151/12/1953

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

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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20. 

    8.3/10(4 votes)

    #20 - The Gossip

    S1:E243/24/1952

    Ricky is disgusted by Lucy's obsession with gossiping about other people. According to Ricky, Lucy acts as if it is her ""life's blood."" Fred, too, is disturbed by Ethel's love of gossiping. The two girls then point out that both Ricky and Fred have been known to gossip, also. The boys then challenge the girls to a bet: They will see who can go without gossiping the longest, and the winners will receive breakfast in bed for a month. The bet commences, and everything is going fine until Ricky comes up with a plan to cheat so that he and Fred can win.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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21. 

    8.2/10(5 votes)

    #21 - The Diet

    S1:E310/29/1951

    To her dismay, Lucy finds out that she's put on twenty-two pounds since marrying Ricky. When one of the girls in Ricky's new show quits, she tricks him into promising, she can be in the show if she fits into the dancer's size twelve costume.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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22. 

    8.2/10(6 votes)

    #22 - The Amateur Hour

    S1:E141/14/1952

    Lucy spends too much money on a dress. So she tells Ricky that she will get a job babysitting in order to pay for it.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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23. 

    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #23 - One of Our Olives is Missing

    S3:E711/4/1967

    A country singer accidentally swallows a KAOS transmitter disguised as an olive. Max has to protect her from KAOS agents.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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24. 

    8.0/10(5 votes)

    #24 - Lucy Plays Cupid

    S1:E151/21/1952

    The Ricardo's neighbor Miss Lewis wants Lucy to deliver a dinner invitation to her grocer. But he misunderstands and thinks the invitation is from Lucy herself.

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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25. 

    8.0/10(4 votes)

    #25 - The Freezer

    S1:E294/28/1952

    Where's the beef? It's in Lucy and Ethel's new walk-in freezer (according to Lucy, the "human popsicle"). Of course, Ricky and Fred have a beef with their wives, because they paid $483 for it. The meat company won't take it back, and they can't sell it to customers waiting in the local butcher shop, so they're stuck with it. And speaking of stuck, Lucy gets herself locked in the freezer!

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    Writer:Jess Oppenheimer

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