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Lucille Ball's Most Heartfelt 'I Love Lucy' Episode Revealed

A middle-aged woman stands indoors, wearing a brown fur-like garment with ruffled details around the shoulders against a blue backdrop.

The fabulous TV icon Lucille Ball revealed her favorite ‘I Love Lucy’ episode on ‘The Dick Cavett Show’ in 1974. Host Dick Cavett tells Lucille that an audience member asked what her favorite show was over the commercial break.

A middle-aged female wearing a luxurious light brown fur coat with ruffled details sits on an elegant chair in front of a blue curtain, likely in a studio or stage setting.

Lucille responded with the word ‘Grapes,’ and people broke into wild applause. She says, “It was an episode we had made years ago where I had gone to Italy, and I was trying to get into showbiz, and I was chosen by some Italian director with a whole bunch of women.

Lucille continues, “And I thought I was getting into show business, but I wasn’t. I was a grape stomper. And I was sent out to a field, and they said, ‘stomp the grapes.’”

Two talk show hosts in mid-20th century style attire seated on beige armchairs with dried flower decorations, simple studio background

She says she couldn’t understand the language, so she just jumped in. Lucille said they needed to get real, short, Italian-speaking women, and it was tough for them to find them.

She said they had to go to the grape vineyard areas. Lucille told Dick that she was in a vat with this one lady, and she would get in a fight and have to kick her legs up.

A woman with blonde updo and feathered garment, seated next to a formally dressed man on a light-colored armchair or couch in an indoor studio setting typical of the 1970s-early 1980s.

Lucille says she started stomping and made a dance out of it. Eventually, she slipped, accidentally hitting the lady who took offense. Lucille finishes the story, saying, “And she let me have it.”

The story captivated the audience at ‘The Dick Cavett Show.’ Lucille charmed the crowd with her behind-the-scenes tale of one of her favorite episodes of ‘I Love Lucy.’