California, Here We Come! Part III Quiz

Answer: They got lost.

Lucy was driving the night they got lost and ended up in Tennessee. When they discovered that the only way "back to civilization" was to go through Bent Fork, Cousin Ernie's hometown, Ricky took the wheel. In an effort to avoid Ernie, they sped through town "like a bobcat with a burr on his tail" and were arrested and taken to the jail.

Answer: about as popular as a skunk at a picnic

Ernie (Tennessee Ernie Ford, in his third "Lucy" episode as Cousin Ernie Ford) has a number of hilarious colloquialisms in this episode. His saying that the sheriff is about as popular as a skunk at a picnic lets us know how he feels about the sheriff!

Answer: since the preacher dropped his uppers in the well

Another one of Ernie's funny phrases. They had asked Ernie how he found out they were in town, and this was Ernie's way of telling them the whole town (fifty-four people!) knew.

Answer: "They're as alike as two peas in a pod...or two watermelons in a patch.

Teensy and Weensy (portrayed by the famous Borden Twins) were a bit on the large side. Dressed in skin-tight shirts, sweaters tied at the waist, and jeans rolled up at the cuffs, they probably appeared much larger than they actually were.

Answer: He accidentally proposed to Weensy, and Teensy said she "wasn't going to play second fiddle."

The sheriff was desperate to "marry off" his girls, and would have even welcomed Ernie as a son-in-law. Ernie realized that if he proposed to Teensy, the sheriff would let everyone out of jail. However, when he took Teensy aside to propose, he "grabbed hold of the wrong one." Weensy couldn't stand him, and Teensy, her feelings now hurt, would not "play second fiddle."

Answer: a bad echo

Lucy and Ethel had gotten out of the car, while Ricky and Fred slept in the back seat. When Deke told them they were in Tennessee, Ricky and Fred, roused from their slumber, echoed, "TENNESSEE?" "TENNESSEE?" Deke glanced at the car and said, "You got a bad echo in that car!"

Answer: four files and a guitar

Ernie came prepared to break Lucy out of jail. The plan was to saw the bars in two with the files, while Ernie played his guitar and sang, to drown out the sawing noise. The whole gang sang "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and successfully sawed through the bars, but the music cheered the sheriff, who decided to let Lucy out of jail.

When he opened the door, there she stood, holding on to the severed bars! In the next scene, they were all in jail!

Answer: He said they were "just made for the wide screen."

In a last desperate attempt to get the Ricardos and Mertzes released from jail, Ernie told the sheriff that Ricky would "be de-lighted to haul 'em into Hollywood!" He explained to Ricky that the girls wanted to be in movies and, with their girth, were "just made for the wide screen." Ricky apologetically explained to the sheriff that he simply could not take the girls with him.

Answer: "You've got quite a hitch in your gitalong."

"You've got quite a hitch in your gitalong" was a line spoken by Ernie, but not in this episode. He said this to the "wicked city woman," aka Lucy, in his first episode, "Cousin Ernie Visits."

Answer: "Cousin Jailbird!"

Ernie came into the jail, shaking hands with each of his "cousins" and calling each by name. Lucy, locked in her jail cell, was the last to be greeted, and Ernie couldn't resist calling her a jailbird.