Desilu

In the plot to, “I Love Lucy,” Lucy would come up with a zany scheme that would backfire horribly and then Rickie would shake his head and say, “Lucy, you have some ‘splainin’ to do.” Assumingly, he beat her off camera, as it was the '50’s and he’d be blacklisted as a Commie if he didn’t.

Lucy was always trying to find a new way to break into the Cabana Club where Rickie played, perhaps by hiding in his bongos. Strangely, going in through the front door never occurred to her. Rickie never wanted her to go to the Cabana Club, presumably because it was no place for lady, as it wasn’t the kitchen. How did they meet on the show then? Lucy was a ginger and Rickie was a Puertorican big band leader. Wouldn’t it make sense that Lucy came in to the Cabana Club and saw him play and it went from there? It’s not like a big band club in the ‘50’s was the toughest bar you could find yourself in. There’s probably rowdier tea shops.

I was thinking about how Rickie was so dead-set against Lucy showing up, and realized it was probably for the same reasons every musician doesn’t want their spouse showing up unannounced at their gigs: because they’re busy banging groupies. Rickie was probably showing his Little Rickie to all the ladies, and he didn’t want his wife cock-blocking him. When you think about it that way, dressing in drag to go to a shitty club with shitty music just to see your own husband play doesn’t seem so unreasonable.