Lucy Learns to Drive – I Love Lucy season 4, originally aired January 3, 1955
Ricky buys a new Pontiac convertible for the trip to Hollywood, and against his better judgement, he tries to teach Lucy how to drive. Despite trying to make a U-turn in the Holland Tunnel, Lucy thinks that she’s a fit driving instructor for Ethel, and quickly manages to lock the fenders of Ricky’s new car and the old car that Fred bought in the previous episode.
She tries to get the cars to the auto mechanic, but the bumpers unlock, and she is first passed by her own car, and then hit by it, locking the bumpers in the reverse order. When Ricky comes home, she tries to plead ignorance, but all is resolved – even though Lucy lied about getting insurance on the car, Ricky had already taken care of it. The cars are soon repaired and ready for their trip to California.
Lucy Learns to Drive is available on DVD as part of the I Love Lucy season 4 DVD collection.
Funny quotes from I Love Lucy – Learning to Drive
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Did you ever see anything that looked so terrible?
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): Yeah, Fred!
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [commenting on Fred losing $400]: It was too much for him. He’s retired from reality.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): I used Fred’s old car as a down payment, so Fred gets his money back.
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): [awakening from his ‘catatonic’ state]: What’s that?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [replying to Ricky’s offer to teach her how to drive]: Those are the most beautiful words that I ever heard – “I’ll titch you”.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): Where are you going?
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): To rehearsal.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): Aren’t you going to take your car?
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): No. I may never drive again.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): You made a U-turn in the Holland tunnel?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): If I skipped my next henna rinse, I think my hair will have turned snow white.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): What are you going to say to Ricky?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): How about “goodbye”?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [looking at the cars she wrecked] Ethel, how do you suppose those cars got that way?
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): What cars?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [winking] That’s right.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [telling Ethel that she should learn to drive as well]: That way, you’re not so much dead weight.
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): Well perhaps I’ll develop other talents like folding up road maps and keeping an eye out for clean restrooms.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [to Ethel]: Look, if Fred comes back, you tell him that the man came for the Cadillac, and that Ricky has the Pontiac downtown. If the man comes for the Cadillac, you tell him that Fred has it out for one last farewell spin. If Ricky comes home you tell him the man came for the Cadillac, and Fred took the Pontiac downtown to have it washed. Okay?
Trivia about I Love Lucy – Driving Lessons
- Lucy offers to teach Ethel how to drive a car in this episode, even though in episode #64, The Camping Trip, Ethel knew how to drive.
- The 1955 Pontiac convertible seen starting with this episode was part of a product placement deal with General Motors.
- Madelyn Pugh Davis mentions in her book, Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America’s Leading Lady of Comedy, that each of the writers received a new car because of this placement deal for about two years.