I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy (1951)

185 mistakes - chronological order

(12 votes)

L.A. at Last! - S4-E17

Continuity mistake: At the start, when the Pontiac convertible turns into the driveway of what should be the Beverly Palms Hotel, the sign with the real name of the hotel can be seen, which reads Beverly Carlton Hotel.

Super Grover

I Love Lucy mistake picture

Hollywood Anniversary - S4-E24

Visible crew/equipment: After Lucy rushes out with the newspaper to tell Ethel about all the movie stars coming to the party, when Lucy returns to the suite and closes the door, we can see the arm of a crew member and a board with "DPI" (Desilu Productions Inc) on it, at the bottom right side of the screen, and a bit of equipment at the top right corner. (00:15:00)

Super Grover

I Love Lucy mistake picture

The Star Upstairs - S4-E25

Continuity mistake: When Lucy's locked out on the penthouse balcony, Ethel places the broom handle through the small round finger hole of the scissors, with the large oval finger hole to the right of the round hole and the blades pointing out, then holds the scissors in place as she puts the broom over the balcony rail. When Lucy retrieves them from the broom, the scissors have flipped over. The blades are pointing out and the broom handle is still through the small round finger hole, but now the large oval hole is to the left of the round hole. (Impossible to do on its own. Try it). (00:19:05)

Super Grover

Lucy and Harpo Marx - S4-E27

Character mistake: When Lucy and Harpo are doing the mirror routine, Harpo grabs the horn on his belt with his right hand. For Lucy to create a "reflection", she would need to use her left hand but she uses her right hand.

The Dancing Star - S4-E28

Revealing mistake: At the end of Lucy and Van Johnson's dance, Ricky and everyone else clap as Lucy walks through the curtain to head "backstage', and in the next shot just as Lucy walks through the curtain we catch a glimpse of Desi Arnaz standing there waiting for his cue. Then in a few moments Ricky, Ethel, Fred, and Caroline all rush in excitedly to congratulate Lucy. (00:24:55)

Super Grover

The Dancing Star - S4-E28

Other mistake: Lucy walks out on the balcony and sees Van Johnson sleeping on a lounge chair by the swimming pool. The photographic backdrop shows automobiles, trees, mountains, the Roosevelt hotel and many other buildings of Hollywood but when Lucy goes to the pool and sits on the lounge chair next to Van Johnson, the background is just a plain painted backdrop with no cars, trees, mountains or buildings. This plain backdrop also appears in the episode with Harpo Marx.

Steven Lee

The Tour - S4-E30

Deliberate mistake: After Fred and Ethel arrive at Richard Widmark's house dressed as mental hospital staff, when Lucy hugs Ricky and holds out the grapefruit for Widmark to sign, the last closeup of the adorable St. Bernard is a flipped shot - note the chair in the hallway which should be to the left of the table, but is now to the right of the table. (00:25:05)

Super Grover

Lucy Visits Grauman's - S5-E1

Plot hole: A block of cement that big would be very heavy, far too heavy for Lucy and Ethel to carry, not to mention someone would have noticed them carrying back to their hotel room.

hifijohn

Lucy Visits Grauman's - S5-E1

Revealing mistake: Lucy, Fred and Ethel are admiring the celebrity footprints in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. In several scenes, the shadows cast by Lucy, Fred, Ethel and a passerby make it very obvious that what appears to be the ticket office, entrance and front wall are actually just a painted backdrop.

Ricky Sells the Car - S5-E4

Visible crew/equipment: When Ethel walks into her hotel room and tells Lucy and Fred about having to push the motorcycle to three different places, the second camera (or other equipment) keeps moving in and out of shot at the right side of the screen. (00:13:00)

Super Grover

Ricky Sells the Car - S5-E4

Continuity mistake: The Mertz' check out of the hotel and are in the garage on a motorcycle. Later they are back in their hotel room with Fred napping in a chair with a hurt shoulder.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Ethel and Fred checked out of room 317, intending to leave. Later, after their motorcycle crashed, Ethel and Fred checked back in and were given room 372 (time codes 00:09:05 and 00:12:15), so Fred (with his hurt shoulder) is napping in the chair in his and Ethel's new room. There's no continuity mistake.

Super Grover

I Love Lucy mistake picture

The Great Train Robbery - S5-E5

Revealing mistake: When Ricky and Lucy find their train compartment, while they stand outside their door talking we can see the actor playing the porter peeking out of the next compartment's door waiting for his cue, and in a few moments he opens the door just as Lucy approaches. (00:02:20)

Super Grover

Homecoming - S5-E6

Visible crew/equipment: During the episode a small tape mark is visible on the floor between the coffee table and the couch, and a T-mark can be seen on the floor near the desk, such as when Lucy starts telling her guests about their "fabulous" trip, Ethel stands at the T-mark and a female guest stands at the tape mark. (00:07:05)

Super Grover

Homecoming - S5-E6

Revealing mistake: In the scene in the Ricardo's kitchen, after Fred enters through the rear entrance the door is left open. Through the doorway one can see at a certain point, not just the NYC real estate in the distance but apparently a blown-up photograph of what "appears" to be a man and woman sitting at a small table in a cafe. However, in a subsequent episode of the same view through the rear door it appears that the exact same background photo shot may actually be, not a man and woman but features on the outside of a building, such as one or more windows.

ralz8163

Lucy Ricardo: How much do you want to bet?
Fred Mertz: Ten dollars.
Ethel Mertz: Well what's the matter with twenty dollars?
Ricky Ricardo: What's the matter with thirty dollars?
Lucy Ricardo: What's the matter with fifty dollars?
Fred Mertz: What was the matter with ten dollars?

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Show generally

Question: I know this show is from the time period when a lot of couples had two beds in their room. Just out of curiosity, when did it become acceptable to show a couple's bedroom with a single bed on TV?

Answer: According to Snopes.com, there is no definitive answer, but the mid-1960s is the most verifiable date with "The Munsters" being cited as the first, although others claim "The Brady Bunch" showed the first couple seen in a double bed. An early TV show from the late 1940s titled, "Mary Kay and Johnny" is also thought to have shown the married couple's bedroom as having a double bed, although probably not with them in it. However, this was when TV was aired live, and there are no surviving episodes, only anecdotal accounts.

raywest

Something that is funny is that in the movie "A Christmas Story," they show the parents having two twin beds in their bedroom. In a real situation, they should have shown them having a double bed. Lucy and Ricky had twin beds pushed together in an early episode, which would have been pushing television boundaries in that time.

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