Lucy Tells the Truth – I Love Lucy episode 72, season 3, originally aired 11/9/1953
Ricky, Ethel and Fred tease Lucy about her lying. Or fibbing, or little white lies, or exaggerations, however she tries to defend her actions. Getting her dander up, she bets Ricky (and Fred and Ethel) 100 dollars that she can go 24 hours without telling a lie. The next day, at a bridge club gathering, Lucy begins to realize how difficult it will be as Ethel takes advantage of the situation to have Lucy give her honest opinion about Carolyn Appleby’s furniture and another friend’s hat, while having to divulge her real age, weight, and hair color. But, to give her credit, it looks like she is going to win the bet. Until …
That evening, when Ricky goes to audition for a television show, and Lucy decides to go along and audition as well — having to give her experience as an entertainer, which she has none. So she lists having worked at Ricardo’s for the last 11 years. What kind of place is it, asks the ever-crusty Charles Lane? “It’s a three ring circus.” replies Lucy – not technically lying. But when she is turned down for her lack of experience, the last audition is an Italian man, who doesn’t speak English. Does anyone here speak Italian? Lucy volunteers!
Lucy is apparently as fluent in Italian as she is in Spanish – unknown to her, the man is a knife thrower, and after a few moments of ‘mistranslating’ his Italian, she becomes his impromptu assistant in his knife-throwing act, frightening her half to death until Ricky demonstrates the knife throwing gimmick. Ricky feels so sorry for his wife that he volunteers to pay the bet (even though, technically, he won, since Lucy lied about being able to speak Italian), and all ends happily.
Lucy Tells the Truth is available on the season 3 I Love Lucy DVD collection.
funny quotes from Lucy Tells the Truth – I Love Lucy
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): It is not fibbing. I just like to … color things a little.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): I wish I’d known, I’d have bought you some watercolors.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): You can’t tell the truth, people will think you’re lying. You have to lie so people will think you’re telling the truth.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): I can’t spend the afternoon with three women and have to tell the truth. I’ll call Carolyn and tell her I’m sick [realizes] Ewww!
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [commenting on Carolyn Appleby’s new Chinese furniture] It looks like a bad dream you’d have after eating too much Chinese food.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Well, Marian, if that’s the kind of hat you wanted, you certainly got a good one!
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Marian, stop cackling. I’ve been waiting 10 years for you to lay that egg.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): If you weren’t such a tightwad, she wouldn’t have to look so tacky.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): What’s this idea of me being a coward? I’m not afraid of anything!
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): Yeah, he proves it every time he goes on stage.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): She sure told him, huh Tightwad?
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): You said it, Tacky.