I LOVE LUCY

Lucy's sleepless nights caring for the baby prompt Ricky to hire a maid. Before the woman arrives, Lucy and Ethel discuss how to handle household help. Lucy has even prepared a list of do's and don'ts that she intends to read to her new employee.

When Mrs. Porter arrives, she has her own list of do's and don'ts. The maid's first chore is to fix Lucy's lunch, a pitiful peanut butter sandwich. The maid had already polished off a jar of jelly, half a roast beef, and an entire head of lettuce (Mrs. Porter: "If I didn't have a salad, I'd have starved to death!").

In short, the maid takes over the entire Ricardo household, and Lucy wants to fire her but she can't muster up enough courage to do so. Instead, she transforms the apartment into a pigpen, hoping the maid will leave in disgust. Only after messing up the house does Lucy learn that Ricky already had dismissed the servant.

Special Notes: Verna Felton, who plays the maid, also appears in I Love Lucy: Sales Resistance (1953) as a housewife Lucy meets when going door to door trying to sell a vacuum cleaner.

Bloopers: When Lucy explains the "who gets up with the baby" compromise to Ricky, she flubs her line by saying "heard" when she meant "hears." She corrects herself and that take made the final cut. Just as Lucy unfolds the legs of the card table, she falls asleep, then when the camera angle changes, there's a set of numbers that mysteriously show up underneath the table.