That Time When Lucy Meet The Burtons

Lucy Meets the Burtons
1970 | 30 Minutes | TV-G | Comedy | CBS
Director: Jerry Paris
Writers:
Bob Carroll Jr.
Madelyn Davis
Stars:
Lucille Ball
Elizabeth Taylor
Richard Burton

Richard Burton, the movie star, escapes riotous fans by wearing a plumber's disguise. Lucy Carter mistakes him for a much-needed plumber and brings him back to the office to fix a sink. Lucy later finds a remarkable diamond ring in his discarded overalls. By the time Lucy discovers it is THE famous Elizabeth Taylor diamond ring, it is already stuck on her finger. The end result is a crescendo of comedy as Liz feverishly tries to get the ring off Lucy's finger. Ultimately, Lucy's arms are used as Liz Taylor's while Richard & Liz do a scheduled press party.

If this is your first trip to the Cave welcome and thanks for joining me during the Richard Burton Blogathon hosted by Realweegimidget Reviews. So warm up a Swanson's TV dinner and grab some sofa so we can talk about a time when TV was fun like the time when Lucy Meet the Burtons. As a side note, I had never seen Here's Lucy before this Blogathon and man I'm happy I signed up as this show is just as I Love Lucy. The best part of doing a Blogathon is finding these little gems that you normally would not look for.

This episode marks the return of original “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show” writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis. They were given very short notice to write the script but finished it in a little more than a week. This is was also the first time they’ve written for Lucille Ball since 1964. This show’s plot was built around the real-life publicity achieved when Richard Burton bought his wife Elizabeth Taylor a 68 carat Cartier diamond ring worth over a million dollars. 

I absolutely adore how this episode was written with great jab's like when the hotel manager tells Richard Burton that the Burtons have replaced Lawrence Welk and Liberace on the bus tour of the movie stars homes where Burton replies that it almost makes up for losing the Oscar that year. When Burton asks about leaving through the back door he finds out that the Elizabeth Taylor Fan Club is blocking his escape. The Hotel manager then says Membership to the club requires seeing National Velvet 10 times as Burton chimes in with "Try every day".  

When Elizabeth Taylor makes her first entrance, she can’t help but grin when she is greeted by applause, hoots, and whistles from the studio audience. It is interesting to note how Taylor was not used to stage work like Burton and had little experience with live audiences so it was quite touching to watch as she let the applause linger on a bit. Richard Burton said that he wanted to work with Lucy but the next morning he regretted it and had his agent call to retract the offer. But after he was asked to keep his promise he and Taylor agreed.

For their four days of work on “Here’s Lucy,” the Burtons were each paid $2,500 plus amenities: 

private air transportation, separate limousines, separate trailers, separate bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel and separate security guards but really that's not a lot, right? 

When you combine two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, two of Lucy’s finest writers, one red-hot sitcom director, and the biggest bling in La La Land it is no wonder why this episode is so popular and one that I'm glad I found the time to watch. Here's Lucy has been a fun show to binge watch on a rainy day. And thanks to The Richard Burton Blogathon I have watched a few other episodes like this one with Vincent Price "Lucy Cuts Vincent Price".  They just don't write good tv comedy anymore. This show is a laugh out loud knee-slapping good time. 

If you are a Burton fan and have not seen this wonderful show you owe it to yourself to check it out soon!!! Lucy Meet's The Burtons is a true TV classic!

4 out of 5 Stars!