Date Filmed: September 8, 1951

 Date Aired: November 5, 1951

 Rating: 36.5/56

 Sponsor: Philip Morris & Co.

 Producer: Jess Oppenheimer

 Director: Marc Daniels

 Writers: Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr.

 Cast:

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

Lucy has been reading a novel, The Mockingbird Murder Mystery, which has placed her completely on edge.  Adding to her fright, Ethel has read Lucy's fortune and announced that her death is imminent.  When Lucy overhears part of a conversation with Jerry -- Ricky's agent -- about the names of dogs for a new act.  Lucy only hears the names and Ricky's announcement that he'll "probably miss her some... but in a couple of weeks I can get a new one."  Lucy believes Ricky is referring to her, and will soon be bumping her off.  Lucy decides to take matters into her own hands, and begins preparing to outthwart Ricky's attempts to kill her...

This was the first I Love Lucy episode filmed.  Filming had originally been scheduled for the day before (Friday, September 7), but unexpected technical delays forced the already nervous cast and crew to wait another day.

It was just before filming this episode that Jess Oppenheimer suggested Desi go out and "warm up" the audience.  He would do so for most of his and Lucille's television career.

Lucy was later asked about the filming of this episode.  "All I remember about that night was trying to protect my stomach.  Lucie had just been born by Caesarean section and I was wearing a huge bandage over my stomach.  I was more concerned with that than anything else.  When the laughs started coming, I was very relieved.  I remember saying, 'Whew!  It's working.'"

It has long been reported that this episode was held a few weeks due to technical problems.  However, Dann Cahn (the film editor), recently said "that really wasn't so....  CBS, Philip Morris, the Biow advertising agency, and the crew were all involved in deciding which show would be the first one."  Director Marc Daniels, however, did remember serious technical problems that hampered the episode.  "After that first film came back from the lab, we all had a look at it on Monday morning.  It was painfully clear that using four cameras and doing the show without stopping was not only ludicrous, but hurt the show's pace.  I asked them, 'Why can't we stop between scenes?  What's the big deal?'  They felt that an audience wouldn't sit still that long.  'They sit there two or three hours to see a stage play.  What's an extra half-hour?' I argued."  Only three cameras were used from then on.  Daniels' argumetn won and out, and it was decided after this that the audience could wait during longer costume, makeup and set changes.  Many later episodes would have been impossible to film without this provision.

There were many features on the set that changed from this episode to the next.  The Ricardo apartment had different furniture -- the following week the Early-American settee in the living room was replaced by a love seat.  The onstage windows have no glass, and the closets have no clothes.  The club set at the end is simply a curtain with the bandstand placed in front of it.

Vivian Vance's makeup and hair were done so that she looks rather young.  Lucy would never allow that to happen again.  It wouldn't have made sense in some later storylines, because the Mertzes are sometimes portrayed as much older than the Ricardos (with literal examples).

A short scene involving Lucy and the milkman on the back porch was written, but never filmed.

Editing this episode proved to be a difficult episode.  George Fox, whom CBS had installed as film operations manager, built the special Moviola that held four reels of film (rather than one).  It was a major advance for editing, and won Desilu great respect.

An edited print of this episode was shown to a makeshift audience on Friday evening, September 14, after a rehearsing of the second show.  The reaction -- although not overly enthusiastic -- left the cast and crew hopeful.  However, Desi was still nervous, and had the episode previewed again, this time along with the second episode ("The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub") in a movie theatre in Riverside, California.  The reaction was the same.