"I Love Lucy" - It's so Tasty II Quiz

Answer: "Cheddar. Chester!"

The lady sitting next to Lucy on an airplane trip from Europe to New York gets a bit too inquisitive about Lucy's 'baby'. Actually Lucy is smuggling a piece of cheese dressed as a baby.
Lucille Ball was born August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. After leaving school (15-years-old) to become an actress, she auditioned for the John Murray Anderson Drama School in New York City with her mother's encouragement. The school rejected her and told her she had no talent.

Answer: "Unless you go down to Canal Street."

Mario, the gondolier Lucy and Rickey met the year before in Italy shows up as an unexpected guest. Fred is not as helpful to Mario as he could be. He'd rather be funny. Eventually Mario gets a job in New York as a pizza cook. Ball became a model and changed her name to Diane Belmont.

Her modeling career was successful and she also worked as a showgirl for Earl Carrol. She continued modeling for Hattie Carnegie. Carnegie chose her in 1933 to be the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl. The exposure helped her and she was noticed in Hollywood where she began working in movies.

Her first role was in 1933 in Eddie Cantor's musical, "Roman Scandals".

Answer: "You'd be scared? Think of the queen."

This episode takes place in London. Ricky has connections and tries to arrange for the group to meet the Queen. Fred enjoys a quick quip at Ethel's expense.
Lucille Ball's switch to acting was successful and by the end of the 40s she had starred or appeared in over 60 films including "Stagedoor" starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, and "Follow the Fleet" starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in which Lucy appears with blond hair.

Answer: "That's good, 'cause I'm awful thirsty."

Lucy takes ballet lessons in order to do a bit in Ricky's act. The instructor's frustration knows no bounds. Lucy quits ballet and tries vaudeville instead. Eventually she sneaks into the act and instead of dancing she throws a pie in Ricky's face. Lucille married Cuban singer/band leader Desi Arnez in 1940 but the strain of working on different projects almost ended their marriage.

They decided that they needed to work together or their marriage would fail. They took an original idea to CBS for a show about a marriage between a zany red-head and a Cuban musician.

They were told by the studio administration that no one would believe such a marriage could exist and rejected the idea. They then started their own production company called "Desilu", and turned their show idea into a vaudeville act which toured the vaudeville circuit and was hugely popular and well reviewed. CBS still refused to consider the show so they financed their own pilot episode.

The show, called, "I Love Lucy" was first shown in October of 1951, and quickly became the most popular television show in the world. CBS finally picked it up during the first episode.

Answer: "I love buttered grass!"

Lucy and Ethel get a ride to Florida in a car driven by the Bride of Frankenstein! Elsa Lanchester plays the driver who eventually throws the girls out of the car because she suspects them of being wanted criminals. Lucy and Ethel have to hitch-hike the rest of the way.
In its six years of production, "I Love Lucy" won more than 200 awards, including 5 Emmys.
After 179 episodes of the "I Love Lucy Show," Lucy and Desi decided to end the show in order to return to a more normal family life. The show had saved their marriage, but toward the end the strain was putting too much pressure on them. They ended "I Love Lucy" and began a new show with a less difficult dead-lines, a one hour show called, "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour." The company they had formed, "Desilu", became a powerful corporation and produced many hit shows including "Mission Impossible" and "Star Trek".

Answer: "Happens to me every day of my life."

Lucy and Ethel exchange 'girl talk' while in Italy. They accept the hospitality of a simple farmer who is kind enough to let them sleep in the barn with the goats and oxen.
Eventually Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960. They had been married for 20 years. Desi gradually left show business but Lucy bought her ex-husband's share of Desilu for 3 million dollars, making her the first woman to head a giant production company.

Answer: "You've got a fly on the lens."

New neighbors move in and Lucy and Ethel check them out from the window of their Upper East Side apartment through binoculars. Later, Lucy hides in their apartment and hears them rehearsing a play. She thinks the new neighbors are hostile enemy agents. In 1962, Lucille created a new show, "The Lucy Show." It ran successfully for 6 years, and starred Lucy and her real life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., and Vivian Vance, who had played Ethel on "I Love Lucy".

Her next project was the popular "Here's Lucy," which ran until 1974 and included many guest performances by the biggest film and TV stars at the time, including Carol Burnett, John Wayne, Paul Winchell, and Sidney Sheldon.

Answer: "And they call ME Superman."

Ricky and Superman find they have something in common. George Reeves, who played Superman on the TV show, "The Adventures of Superman" was a guest. Even he can't believe when Lucy dresses in a Superman costume (to entertain the children at Little Ricky's birthday party) and hides out on the ledge of the apartment. Before she can make her big entrance through the window, Lucy ends up locked outside and it starts to rain.
In 1967, Lucille Ball sold Desilu Productions for $17 million, netting some $10 million.
She remarried in 1968 to Gary Morton who helped her form "Lucille Ball Productions."

Answer: "Well I don't care. It might grow hair."

Lucy and Ricky sing a number at the Tropicana night club with guest, Bob Hope. Ricky is ready to throw Lucy out of the act but Bob refuses to do the act unless Lucy is in it too.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Lucille appeared occasionally on TV, and in 1985 starred in the TV movie "Stone Pillow", about a homeless woman. At age 75, she began another TV show, "Life with Lucy," a half hour comedy show which ran for two months.
She appeared at the 1989 Academy Awards together with Bob Hope. This was her last public appearance.

Answer: "Who's acting?"

Lucy and Ethel are forever on a quest for new and better hats and dresses. Lucy decides to get a job to pay for a new dress. She ends up babysitting for mischievous twins and entering a talent contest with them. Lucy wins first prize when one of the twins' pet frog gets loose and ends up in Lucy's shirt, causing her to do a wild dance on stage.
On in April, 1989 Lucille Ball had open heart surgery. A week later, on April 26, she suffered a ruptured aorta and died at the age of 77 years. "I Love Lucy" has been one of the most popular TV shows ever made.
While Lucy was a great actress, singer, dancer, and businessperson, it was her comedic talent that truly set her apart and captured the hearts of all who saw her. Her comedic timing in her deliveries was perfect and her physical comedy was simply hysterical. Martha!