I Love Lucy: Season 4

1954 · 30 episodes · ★ 8.8

What Season 4 of I Love Lucy

The fourth season opens with Ricky on the verge of breaking into movies. A Hollywood talent scout wants to test him for a role, which sets off the trip to California. Lucy, still dreaming of stardom and feeling left out of the club, is determined not to be left behind. Traveling with Fred and Ethel Mertz as companions, the two couples cross the country in a secondhand Cadillac, and every stop brings new mix-ups. Once in Los Angeles, Lucy looks for her own break while Ricky tries to get his career off the ground. Her schemes and the tensions among the four of them drive the episodes.

30episodes

Oct 4, 1954aired

May 30, 1955latest episode

12.8 hrtotal runtime

Season 4 Episodes

4x01 The Business Manager
Oct 4, 1954 · 25 min
Ricky hires a business manager, and Lucy finds him tighter with money than Ricky.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Charles Lane, Elizabeth Patterson
4x02 Mertz and Kurtz
Oct 11, 1954 · 25 min
Fred's globetrotting old vaudeville partner, Barney Kurtz, shows up, so Fred says he's a real-estate tycoon (with a red-headed maid to prove it). Actually, Barney's a cook in the Bronx, but his grandson is coming for a visit, so it's on with the show.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Stephen Wootton, Charles Winninger
4x03 Lucy Cries Wolf
Oct 18, 1954 · 26 min
Lucy cries wolf once too often when she decides to see whether Ricky would come to her aid in an emergency. He assures her that he'd rush home from the club "between the 'baba' and the 'lu' " if she were in danger, but that's not enough reassurance for her, and soon she's in a precarious position.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Beppie De Vries, Fred Aldrich, Louis Nicoletti
4x04 The Matchmaker
Oct 25, 1954 · 26 min
Lucy wants to nudge a shy couple to the altar. Lucy's idea: show them how wonderful her and Ricky's marriage is. Her plan: invite them to a quiet at-home dinner. A quiet dinner at the Ricardos'? Who ever heard of such a thing?
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Milton Frome, Sarah Selby, Bennett Green
4x05 Ricky's Movie Offer
Nov 8, 1954 · 26 min
A Hollywood talent scout is coming over to the apartment to audition Ricky for a movie role. But Ricky won't be the only one looking to attract the scout's attention. (Who's that gal in the Marilyn Monroe getup?).
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Frank Nelson, James Dobson, Elizabeth Patterson
4x06 Ricky's Screen Test
Nov 15, 1954 · 25 min
The term "helpmate" takes on a new meaning when Lucy appears on a Hollywood movie lot. The cameras roll for Ricky's screen test -- but when the big moment arrives, Lucy takes the cue.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Clinton Sundberg, Ray Kellogg, Allan Ray, Louis Nicoletti
4x07 Lucy's Mother-in-Law
Nov 22, 1954 · 26 min
Ricky's mother comes to visit, and poor Lucy can't speak Spanish. So she finds a Spanish-speaking mindreader and it works like a charm — as long as he's around.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Mary Emery, Fortunio Bonanova, Virginia Barbour, Pilar Arcos
4x08 Ethel's Birthday
Nov 29, 1954 · 24 min
Despite Ricky's qualms, Lucy decides to help Fred pick out a birthday present for Ethel. The present turns out to be toreador pants, which Ethel decides are not only unflattering but "unfitting." Relations between the two women become strained almost to the shattering point.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Charles Cane, Richard Kean, Mary Lansing
4x09 Ricky's Contract
Dec 6, 1954 · 25 min
As Ricky paces the floor awaiting word from Hollywood about his screen test, Lucy enlists the Mertzes to distract him. The drastic steps taken by the trio to alleviate Ricky's tension boomerang into a king-sized headache for them all.
Directed by William Asher
4x10 Getting Ready
Dec 13, 1954 · 26 min
California, here they come: Lucy and movie-star-to-be Ricky, plus Fred and Ethel, who are tagging along. Their mode of transport: a used Cadillac that Fred bought. And used it is — it's 25 years old and California's a long way away.
Directed by William Asher
4x11 Lucy Learns to Drive
Jan 3, 1955 · 25 min
Ricky makes the mistake of teaching Lucy to drive his brand new car. It's only after showing Ethel how the car works that she crashes into another car and has to get them unhooked and fixed in time.
Directed by William Asher
4x12 California, Here We Come!
Jan 10, 1955 · 26 min
The Ricardos and Mertzes head for California. But first, of coures, there are complications. The chief one: Lucy's mother, who shows up and wants to accompany them. Ricky objects (to put it mildly), and when Fred and Ethel overhear him complaining about too many people on the trip, they take it personally. And when the dust from that blowup finally settles, there's packing to do.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Kathryn Card, Elizabeth Patterson
4x13 First Stop
Jan 17, 1955 · 24 min
The Ricardos and Mertzes have a hard time finding accommodations that will please everyone on their trip to California. They finally hit a greasy restaurant where stale cheese sandwiches cost them a dollar apiece. Hoping to find something better elsewhere, Ricky pays the check. The couples leave -- only to return several hours later, fooled by some purposely misleading road signs.
Directed by William Asher · Starring Olin Howland
4x14 Tennessee Bound
Jan 24, 1955 · 25 min
The Ricardo-Mertz westward trek faces a delay — they're all thrown in jail for speeding — in Bent Fork, Tenn., home of Lucy's "cousin" Ernest, who'll do all he can to get them out of the pokey, even if it means marrying one of the sheriff's two daughters, Teensy and Weensy.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Tennessee Ernie Ford, Will Wright, Marilyn Borden, Rosalyn Borden
4x15 Ethel's Home Town
Jan 31, 1955 · 26 min
The Ricardos and the Mertzes stop at Ethel's hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico (Vivian Vance's real-life hometown). Under the impression that Ethel has been called to Hollywood and not Ricky, the townsfolk accord her a monumental ovation. When Ethel refuses to disillusion them -- and even goes so far as to put on a "celebrity act" -- Lucy takes matters into her own hands.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Irving Bacon, Chick Chandler
4x16 L.A. at Last
Feb 7, 1955 · 25 min
Lucy arrives in Hollywood with stars in her eyes. She heads for The Brown Derby, a celebrity hangout, where she encounters Eve Arden and William Holden -- and inadvertently presents Holden with a custard pie in the face. Hollywood legends William Holden and Eve Arden guest-star as themselves.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Eve Arden, William Holden, Harry Bartell, Dayton Lummis
4x17 Don Juan and the Starlets
Feb 14, 1955 · 26 min
Lucy is forced to lend Ricky to five dazzling starlets for a proposed evening of publicity pictures. She tries to wait up for him but falls asleep on the sofa and doesn't awake until late the next morning. When she finds Ricky's bed unused, she jumps to the conclusion that he spent the night out with the starlets and decides she wants a divorce.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Iva Shepard, Dolores Donlon, Maggie Magennis, Shirley Tegge
4x18 Lucy Gets in Pictures
Feb 21, 1955 · 25 min
Lucy finally gets her shot at Hollywood stardom — as a chorus girl photographed in a lavish musical. But she had better not get a swelled head, because the headdress she has to wear is too big as it is.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Lou Krugman, Louis Nicoletti, Onna Conners, Bob Jellison
4x19 The Fashion Show
Feb 28, 1955 · 26 min
Lucy's a model at a charity fashion show, but the redhead — wearing a scratchy tweed suit — is red all over from too much time in the California sun.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Sheila MacRae, Brenda Marshall, Amzie Strickland, Don Loper
4x20 The Hedda Hopper Story
Mar 14, 1955 · 25 min
Lucy takes a dive in an effort to further Ricky's career by creating a big splash in Hedda Hopper's Hollywood column. Her scheme turns out to be "all wet" in an adventure that could only happen to Lucy and Ethel. Hedda Hopper, the renowned Hollywood gossip columnist, guest-stars as herself.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Hedda Hopper, Hy Averback, John Hart, Bob Jellison
4x21 Don Juan is Shelved
Mar 21, 1955 · 26 min
Ricky's movie is shelved, so Lucy schemes to get Ricky another role. The plan: impress MGM studio boss Dore Schary by any means necessary, even if it means that Schary must impress himself. But first, there are 500 fan letters to write.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Philip Ober, Bob Jellison, Kathryn Card
4x22 Bull Fight Dance
Mar 28, 1955 · 26 min
Lucy literally blackmails Ricky into getting her a part in one of his guest appearances on television. He does get her a role -- as a bull. When Lucy is displeased with the turn of events, she transforms the bull's image from that of a snarling beast to a mincing creature resembling Elsie, the Borden Cow. Look for the classic scene where Lucy upstages Ricky in this episode.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Ross Elliott, Ray Kellogg
4x23 Hollywood Anniversary
Apr 4, 1955 · 26 min
Frantic over having forgotten the date of their wedding anniversary, Ricky tells Lucy that he has a big party planned in a famous nightclub. He doesn't tell her when it is, desperately wiring their marriage license bureau for the correct date. This episode is based on an actual surprise anniversary party that Desi Arnaz threw for Lucy.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Ross Elliott, Harold Stern, Bob Jellison, Kathryn Card
4x24 Mr. and Mrs. TV Show
Apr 11, 1955 · 25 min
Ricky is initially reluctant to host a new TV show when he learns that the sponsor prefers a husband-and-wife format. Nonetheless, he agrees to do the show. But when Lucy learns that he hadn't wanted her in the show at all, she decides to get even by sabotaging the "Breakfast with Lucy and Ricky" dress rehearsal. What Lucy doesn't know is that the so-called rehearsal is actually being broadcast to the entire city of New York in an effort to achieve an unrehearsed, spontaneous look.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: John Litel, Lee Millar
4x25 The Star Upstairs
Apr 18, 1955 · 26 min
Cornel Wilde becomes the one-hundredth movie star Lucy has seen in Hollywood; he is living in the penthouse directly above the Ricardo suite. Determined to get a glimpse of the handsome actor, Lucy disguises herself as a bellboy, then hides under the star's luncheon cart to gain entry into Wilde's suite. Things go smoothly until she finds herself locked out on Cornel's terrace and must make her way down the side of the building using a few blankets as rope. Swashbuckler Cornel Wilde guest-stars as himself in this episode.
Directed by William Asher · Starring Cornel Wilde, Bob Jellison
4x26 In Palm Springs
Apr 25, 1955 · 25 min
Lucy and Ricky and Ethel and Fred are bored with each other so the gals head off to Palm Springs for a break. Rock Hudson guests as himself (and has a hand in getting the couples back together).
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Bob Jellison, Rock Hudson, Kathryn Card
4x27 The Dancing Star
May 2, 1955 · 26 min
Lucy begs Van Johnson to let her dance a number with him at the nightclub to impress her rival Caroline Appleby, who is visiting from New York. Van accepts the challenge by waltzing her across the ballroom floor as his dance partner. Movie star Van Johnson guest-stars as himself.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Van Johnson, Doris Singleton
4x28 Harpo Marx
May 9, 1955 · 26 min
Lucy promised Carolyn Appleby she'd produce some real Hollywood celebrities. Now she's got to deliver. Dressing up as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and other celebrities, she manages to fool the near-sighted Carolyn. However, the real Harpo Marx shows up only to discover Lucy dressed up as him.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Harpo Marx, Doris Singleton
4x29 Ricky Needs an Agent
May 16, 1955 · 26 min
Ricky needs an agent, Lucy figures, so she nominates herself (unbeknownst to Ricky, of course) and heads off to negotiate with a studio executive to land him a role in a movie. Her strategy: use a nonexistent Broadway musical as a bargaining chip. It works too well.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Parley Baer, Helen Kleeb
4x30 The Tour Season Finale
May 30, 1955 · 26 min
Lucy and Ethel are abandoned by their sightseeing bus tour when they try to get a grapefruit from Richard Widmark's garden. When Lucy is stranded inside the garden wall, she and Ethel, who is outside, launch plans to get Lucy out -- but without comparing notes on how. Film star Richard Widmark guest-stars as himself.
Directing: William Asher · Starring: Richard Widmark, Benny Rubin, Juney Ellis, Barbara Pepper