Five years after I Love Lucy aired its final half-hour episode, Lucille Ball returned to weekly television in The Lucy Show. Airing from 1962 to 1968, the series was a hit with viewers, landing in the top 10 all six seasons. While it lacked the husband/wife humor of I Love Lucy, the series originally explored fresh material as the new Lucy character, Lucy Carmichael, was the mother of a teenage daughter and pre-teen son, a landlady to her best friend (Vivian Vance) and her friend’s son, and a widow looking to date. She had to  handle home repairs for her crowded household, while also looking for ways to make money.

The first season of the show was excellent, with Lucy and Vivian still at their best and four former I Love Lucy writers responsible for all of the scripts. The second and third seasons were still funny but inconsistent as new writers also contributed to the show. Even though it was more popular than ever, the series dropped considerably in quality when the format changed during the fourth season. Lucy moved from the East to West coast, her children were in schools away from home, she was no longer a homeowner, and Vivian Vance only made a few guest appearances in the show’s final three years. Most of the original themes were gone as well. With all of the original writers, producers, director, and cast members gone, those three seasons were considerably weaker than the first three. However, there were some bad episodes even in the early seasons. Here are my least favorites.

“Lucy and the Return of Iron Man”

After Lucy moves to California, the early episodes of the fourth season are driftless. Lucy had no connections, so she often dealt with strangers. Gale Gordon, who joined the series in the second season, was still an asset, but his role in California initially seemed pointless. The series found some purpose when Lucy went to work for his Mr. Mooney character around mid-season.

But before that happened, one of Lucy’s better California adventures involved appearing in male drag to work as a movie stuntman dubbed Iron Man Carmichael. It was a stretch, but it was funny, the first time. The second time? Not so much. While Lucy’s motivation (money) was clear the first time she disguised herself as Iron Man, this story is poorly constructed and too dependent on coincidences. Lucy’s performance is not as amusing this time as she does less to disguise the fact that Iron Man is actually a woman. The character would return one more time this season before being thankfully retired.

“Viv Moves Out” 

A rare stinker from the show’s second season, this episode is too similar to the type of story that would become all too prevalent in later seasons. The story lacks credibility, as Viv moves out of Lucy’s house after a minor argument.

Like many of the California episodes, this one involves a guest star (Roberta Sherwood), too much singing, and too little plot. Lucy was expected to lift weak material like this on charm alone. Even she couldn’t make a lame bit that has her peeling a potato to music come alive.

“Lucy and Carol Burnett—Part II”

The series’ final season was not big on continuity. This was the second episode of a two-parter in which Lucy attended flight attendant school for no discernible reason, as she went back to being a secretary the next week. Carol Burnett would play a different character than she had previously in the series.

After graduating, the flight attendant candidates put on a show. As one does after graduating??? The episode is nearly a complete waste of time, presenting a series of musical sketches about the early days of aviation. No, really. To bring an extra layer of cheese, all the future flight attendants perform like polished theater pros.

“Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet”

Easily the worst episode of the dynamic first season, this segment forgot to develop a plot. Lucy tries to get in the act (Viv’s barbershop quartet), but without the conflict she caused in I Love Lucy. Lucy Carmichael isn’t even a comically horrible singer like Lucy Ricardo.

The centerpiece scene has a vocal coach trying to get Lucy to project. As if that was ever an issue with her. Rather than the usual well-constructed comedy scenes of the first season, it’s just flimsy shtick. Since there’s no real conflict, it’s no surprise that the episode sputters to a humorless conclusion.

“Lucy and Carol in Palm Springs”

Carol Burnett made a hilarious appearance the week before in a season five episode, as Lucy generously let her have most of the comedy. Returning the next week, Burnett had the misfortune of appearing in a poorly scripted episode with few laughs.

Lucy Carmichael is unappealing in this segment as she lies time and again to get out of work, stay at a hotel for free, and impress a man by pretending to be a safari hunter. Lucy characters were known to fib, but usually to get out of a situation. Here, she just seems  dishonest. The plot goes nowhere, and musical numbers fill in the time. It’s a shame two of Carol Burnett’s Lucy episodes didn’t do either one of them any favors.

“Lucy and the Submarine”

Lucy is in male drag again, but the script foolishly has her staying out of sight for much of the episode, so there’s no sustained comedy.

In a tasteless move, Mr. Mooney uncharacteristically lies about his service record and then blames Mrs. Carmichael for the trouble that ensues. This is a big mistake as it makes his bluster much less funny than usual. Mooney is not usually dishonest. Just angry. Very angry.

“Lucy and the Monsters”

From the third season, this fantasy episode plays like a bad segment of The Munsters. The script forces Lucy to act childishly and ridiculously. The usually fearless Lucy is supposed to be spooked by a horror movie.

The horror spoof that follows is jokey and just plain corny. It throws everything against the wall and even throws in a random gorilla for maximum silliness.    

“Lucy Takes Up Golf”

If you thought golf on TV was boring before, just watch this episode from the second season. It’s like a bizarro version of an earlier episode, “Lucy Goes Duck Hunting,” where Lucy takes up a sport to please a boyfriend. Unlike that fun-filled segment, this one has almost no laughs.

Oddly, Lucy has no chemistry with real-life husband Gary Morton, who plays the new boyfriend. There’s lots of golfing and plenty of weak golf jokes. A tacked-on bit about a runaway golf cart is way too little, way too late.

“Lucy, the Rain Goddess”

This episode would have us believe in 1966 Lucy could stumble upon a murderous native tribe that thinks she’s a rain goddess—a white-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed rain goddess with a modern hairdo and thick makeup. 

Such a dumb story yields almost no humor, so the script relies on a torrent of stupid jokes and over-the-top guest performances. Lucy is the only asset. She’s game throughout and even milks a laugh or two out of a too-long rain dance sequence. This plot would be largely recycled by one of the same writers on Gilligan’s Island, where absurdity was often the order of the day.

“Mooney, the Monkey”

From the fifth season, this is easily the worst episode of the series. One of the many strengths of I Love Lucy was its patience in setting up a story to make it credible. Compare that to this episode of The Lucy Show where just a little weak suggestion from Lucy’s friend Mary Jane has Lucy believing she is constantly seeing a monkey instead of Mr. Mooney.

Not once does she stop to consider that it could actually be a monkey. It would be slightly more palatable if the incredibly stupid plot yielded any laughs, but it doesn’t. The script keeps repeating the unfunny scenario of Lucy walking into a room just as the monkey appears. Give Lucy credit for trying to make it funny, but even she can’t do it.