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Plot[]
Neighborhood teen Peggy Dawson has a huge crush on Ricky, and Ricky's sick of her tagging along beside him. Peggy even tells Lucy that she wants him to be her escort for an upcoming school dance. Lucy tries to reason with the teen, asking her if there are any young gentlemen her own age who she finds appealing. Peggy says that most boys her age are "so icky," but there is this one fellow, Arthur. The downside is that Arthur doesn't know how to dance. Lucy says that she'll teach Arthur to dance, and she does so. The consequence is that Arthur develops a crush on Lucy. Peggy angrily thinks that Lucy stole away her beau, and she says that she deserves to get Ricky's affections as compensation. Similarly, Arthur wants to have a "man-to-man talk" with Ricky about who gets Lucy's heart.
Lucy and Ricky need a plan to deter the two lovesick teens. But what? The Ricardos keep reiterating how much older they are than Peggy and Arthur, but nothing seems to work. They decide that they haven't portrayed themselves old ENOUGH, so they dress themselves up as stereotypical senior citizens, complete with weak, quavering voices, snowy hair, a wheelchair, and their lips folded over their teeth to portray toothlessness. This plan works, and the two teens run off, horrified at the sight of their former loves "falling apart before their very eyes." Peggy and Arthur are holding hands as they dash off, suggesting that they are on their way to becoming sweethearts
Trivia[]
- Janet Waldo, the actress who played Peggy Dawson, later became the voice of Judy on The Jetsons.
- Richard Crenna, who played awkward Arthur, was really 24 at the time this episode was filmed. He continued playing the role of a gawky teenager until he was 27.
- Janet Waldo was actually in the early stages of pregnancy when this episode filmed. She kept worrying if her clothes properly hid her "condition." Lucy teased her during the "jiggling" scenes, telling her not to bounce too hard, lest she miscarry.
- Old Ricky says how he uses "shoe black" on his hair. In real life, Desi Arnaz's hair became gray very early. It isn't clear when exactly in the show's history he started having to die his hair black for the character Ricky Ricardo, but this practice was well set into place by the sixth season. Another view of the future in this episode is how Old Lucy wears a wig. Starting with the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (episode #3), Lucy wore a wig for the rest of her life.
- While Lucy had early versions of her famous "bun" hairdo in the first 19 episodes of the show, this episode is the one in which she first wears the bun they way that is remembered so iconically today.
- This is one of only two episodes where neither Fred NOR Ethel appears. The other is "Lucy Plays Cupid".
- This episode has some of the strongest innuendos in the series. Arthur seems to have a sort of sexual revolution/awakening while dancing with Lucy, and the "jiggling" line about Peggy is just so wrong!
Quotes[]
- Lucy: Just go in there and be mean and nasty and unattractive.
Ricky: I'm not that good an actor...
- Lucy: Do you know it's love and not infatuation?
Peggy: Oh, yes. My infatuations only last a little while. This has been going on for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!
- Peggy: [Ricky] must be pushing 23!
Lucy: Yeah, he's pushing 23, alright. In fact, he's pushed it all the way to 35! I suppose you think that I'm pushing 23, too?
Peggy: Oh, no! A woman can always tell another woman's age!
- Lucy: Look, Arthur, some people are men and some people are women. They're made that way so they can dance together!
- Arthur: (tightly clutching Lucy) Gosh, this is the first time I've ever had my arms around a woman. Now I know what all the fellas are talkin' about!
- Ricky: Why are you whispering?
- Old Lucy: (about Old Ricky) Yeah, he's ba-ba'ed his last "lu"!
- Old Ricky: Keep jigglin', Peggy! Please keep jigglin'!
- Old Ricky: (to Peggy) You're a MUCH better jiggler than Lucy!
- Old Lucy: (to Arthur) Aw, sonny, do you like my hair? (pulls off wig) Well, you can have it!