I Love Lucy

S01E03: The Diet

To her dismay, Lucy finds out that she's put on twenty-two pounds since marrying Ricky. When one of the girls in Ricky's new show quits, she tricks him into promising, she can be in the show if she fits into the dancer's size twelve costume.

Overview

Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana where he works, and make life comically frantic in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz, who also happen to be their best friends.

Episodes

The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub

S01E01 The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub

October 15, 1951 7.2 23 min
An argument ensues among the couples when Ethel wants to celebrate the Mertzes's anniversary at the Copacabana while Fred wants to attend the fights. Ethel and Lucy decide that they will go to the club...
Be a Pal

S01E02 Be a Pal

October 22, 1951 8.0 23 min
Thinking Ricky is losing interest in her, Lucy follows the advice of a book Ethel gave her and takes up Ricky's hobbies.
The Diet

S01E03 The Diet

October 29, 1951 8.0 23 min
To her dismay, Lucy finds out that she's put on twenty-two pounds since marrying Ricky. When one of the girls in Ricky's new show quits, she tricks him into promising, she can be in the...
Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her

S01E04 Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her

November 5, 1951 7.5 23 min
After becoming too involved in a murder mystery book, Lucy believes that Ricky is trying to murder her.
The Quiz Show

S01E05 The Quiz Show

November 12, 1951 8.0 23 min
When Lucy needs to balance her household accounts, she decides to go on quiz show. To win the $1,000 cash prize, she has to introduce her "long lost first husband" to Ricky.
The Audition

S01E06 The Audition

November 19, 1951 8.0 23 min
Ricky lands a TV audition at the club. When Buffo the Clown injures himself and cannot make it, Lucy takes his place.
The Séance

S01E07 The Séance

November 26, 1951 5.5 23 min
Lucy tells an important talent agent that Ricky cannot appear in a show because of his horoscope. The agent is also interested in the occult. So Lucy arranges a séance.
Men Are Messy

S01E08 Men Are Messy

December 3, 1951 5.7 23 min
Fed up with Ricky's messiness, Lucy divides the Ricardo apartment in a clean part for her and a messy part for him.
The Fur Coat

S01E09 The Fur Coat

December 10, 1951 8.0 23 min
Ricky returns home with expensive mink coat that he has rented for an act at the club. Lucy jumps to the conclusion that it's her anniversary present.
Lucy Is Jealous of Girl Singer

S01E10 Lucy Is Jealous of Girl Singer

December 17, 1951 7.0 24 min
Lucy is jealous of one of Ricky's dancer at his nightclub after hearing about a gossip column item linking the two.
Drafted

S01E11 Drafted

December 24, 1951 6.0 23 min
When Lucy opens Ricky's a telegram ordering him to appear at Fort Dix, she assumes that he has been drafted. Ethel suspects that Fred has been drafted as well when she hears, Fred is joining...
The Adagio

S01E12 The Adagio

December 31, 1951 6.3 25 min
Lucy thinks she is a perfect fit for Ricky's Parisian apache dance number. But her dance teacher has more than dancing on his mind.
The Benefit

S01E13 The Benefit

January 7, 1952 6.7 26 min
Ethel wants Ricky to a headline a benefit show for her women's club, but Lucy refuses to ask him, unless she can be on the bill too.
The Amateur Hour

S01E14 The Amateur Hour

January 14, 1952 8.0 26 min
Lucy spends too much money on a dress. So she tells Ricky that she will get a job babysitting in order to pay for it.
Lucy Plays Cupid

S01E15 Lucy Plays Cupid

January 21, 1952 7.7 26 min
The Ricardo's neighbor Miss Lewis wants Lucy to deliver a dinner invitation to her grocer. But he misunderstands and thinks the invitation is from Lucy herself.
Lucy Fakes Illness

S01E16 Lucy Fakes Illness

January 28, 1952 7.3 26 min
Lucy pretends to suffer from numerous psychological ailments so that Ricky will feel sorry for her and let her go into show business.
Lucy Writes a Play

S01E17 Lucy Writes a Play

February 4, 1952 4.7 26 min
Lucy writes a play set in Cuba hoping to cast Ricky, But when he refuses, she has to settle for Fred and changes her setting to England.
Breaking the Lease

S01E18 Breaking the Lease

February 11, 1952 5.3 26 min
After a big quarrel between the Ricardos and the Mertzes, Lucy and Ricky decide that they want to move out. Ricky and Lucy become the most undesirable tenants ever so that they can break that...
The Ballet

S01E19 The Ballet

February 18, 1952 6.3 26 min
Lucy learns that there is an opening in one of Ricky's acts for a ballet dancer as well as a burlesque comic.
The Young Fans

S01E20 The Young Fans

February 25, 1952 6.5 26 min
A shy young teenager named Peggy has a major crush on Ricky. Ricky, however, is tired of all this "attention" that this girl is giving him, so asks Lucy to have a talk with her....
New Neighbors

S01E21 New Neighbors

March 3, 1952 7.0 25 min
Lucy becomes afraid that one of her new neighbors is threatening to kill her and convinces the others that the neighbors are trying to kill them...which gets them into big trouble.
Fred and Ethel Fight

S01E22 Fred and Ethel Fight

March 10, 1952 7.0 26 min
Fred and Ethel have been going at each others' throats for the past few days now, and aren't talking to each other any more. (Fred: She called my mother a weasel!)To get them back together,...
The Moustache

S01E23 The Moustache

March 17, 1952 7.0 26 min
Lucy dislikes Ricky's new moustache. In order to take revenge, she glues a moustache and beard on to her face. Then, Ricky agrees to shave his moustache off, as long as Lucy gets rid of...
The Gossip

S01E24 The Gossip

March 24, 1952 7.5 25 min
Ricky is disgusted by Lucy's obsession with gossiping about other people. According to Ricky, Lucy acts as if it is her ""life's blood."" Fred, too, is disturbed by Ethel's love of gossiping. The two girls...
Pioneer Women

S01E25 Pioneer Women

March 31, 1952 6.5 25 min
Having been bet by their husbands that they can't do without modern conveniences, Lucy and Ethel churn butter and bake bread from scratch-an eighteen foot loaf! But then Lucy demands that Ricky live as if...
The Marriage License

S01E26 The Marriage License

April 7, 1952 5.5 25 min
Lucy thinks she and Ricky aren't legally married because his name was misspelled on their marriage license. So she wants them to renew their vows at the same place in Connecticut where Ricky first proposed...
The Kleptomaniac

S01E27 The Kleptomaniac

April 14, 1952 6.5 24 min
When Ricky finds a closet full of valuables that Lucy has collected for a bazaar, he mistakenly thinks that she's become a kleptomaniac. He secretly calls in a doctor to hypnotize her, but Lucy is...
Cuban Pals

S01E28 Cuban Pals

April 21, 1952 4.5 24 min
Lucy burns with jealousy when she gets an eyeful of Ricky's dance parter Renita (Lita Baron) from the "old days" in Cuba. She was a child then, but no more! Determined to keep them apart,...
The Freezer

S01E29 The Freezer

April 28, 1952 7.0 24 min
Where's the beef? It's in Lucy and Ethel's new walk-in freezer (according to Lucy, the "human popsicle"). Of course, Ricky and Fred have a beef with their wives, because they paid $483 for it. The...
Lucy Does a TV Commercial

S01E30 Lucy Does a TV Commercial

May 5, 1952 6.7 24 min
Desperate to be in Ricky's new television commercial, Lucy makes every attempt to get her way; which eventually pays off. But her one-and-only chance flops when she is forced to test the sponsor's product over-and-over,...
The Publicity Agent

S01E31 The Publicity Agent

May 12, 1952 2.0 24 min
Lucy poses as a princess for a publicity stunt.
Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio

S01E32 Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio

May 19, 1952 3.0 24 min
Lucy secretly books Ricky on a radio quiz show.
Lucy's Schedule

S01E33 Lucy's Schedule

May 26, 1952 2.0 25 min
Ricky puts Lucy on a rigid time schedule.
Ricky Thinks He Is Getting Bald

S01E34 Ricky Thinks He Is Getting Bald

June 2, 1952 2.0 25 min
Ricky fears that he is going bald, so Lucy takes it into her head to help him: she stages a "bald people's party" to show him that he's not so bad, after all. But when...
Ricky Asks for a Raise

S01E35 Ricky Asks for a Raise

June 9, 1952 5.0 24 min
Ricky asks for a raise, but his boss (Gale Gordon) turns him down, prompting Lucy to prove just how popular a performer he is. Her scheme involves making a lot of bogus reservations at the...

Cast

Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucy Ricardo
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Ricky Ricardo
Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance
Ethel Mertz
William Frawley
William Frawley
Fred Mertz

You May Also Like

Dragnet

Dragnet

1967 6.9
Pie in the Sky

Pie in the Sky

1994 8.2
The Abbott and Costello Show

The Abbott and Costello Show

1952 7.1
A History of Britain

A History of Britain

2000 8.4
Fear Thy Neighbor

Fear Thy Neighbor

2014 8.0

Scribbles and Ink

2019 8.0