This painting from I Love Lucy decorated walls on The Andy Griffith Show, too

This farm scene is a through line connecting Andy and Lucy's worlds.

The Andy Griffith Show moseyed onto TV three years after I Love Lucy ended. With one show set in the small town of Mayberry and the other set in New York City, you wouldn't think the Ricardos' swank apartment would share much in common with the more modest residences folks on The Andy Griffith Show called home. But fans in the know have long known that The Andy Griffith Show was filmed at Desilu Studios, and for that reason, those TV universes occasionally blended more than one might expect, given the very different natures of these iconic shows, and if you don't believe us, the evidence of this is right there on the wall.

On I Love Lucy, there were several landscape paintings hanging above the organ in the Ricardos' apartment, all done by the popular Western painter Margo Alexander (1894-1965). Whether the artist was a favorite of Lucy's or not is unclear, but she did pose with the painting in a press photo, so it would seem the colorful farm scene must've had some special meaning to the star.

If nothing else, seeing the painting likely transported her right back to the set, which is sort of what happens when you first notice the painting hanging in episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. It's like running into an old friend in a place you never expected to see them. Below see the painting featured in the I Love Lucy episode "Ricardos Change Apartments."

On The Andy Griffith Show, this painting can be seen in at least two episodes. In "Man in the Middle," it decorates the walls in Thelma Lou's home. She hangs it just above her mantle.  The next season, we'd get to see the painting in color. In the sixth season episode "The Church Organ," we see the farm scene painting again, this time hanging in the house of a literal farmer who Andy's trying to buy a used organ from.

All in all, the simple logic is the painting must have been an easy prop on hand, thrown on a wall whenever it was needed, but we like to think this painting serves as a through line connecting Lucy's world with Andy's. Have you ever noticed props from one show on another show you love? Tell us about it in the comments!

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29 Comments

HerbF 54 months ago
It's no surprise that set pieces and props from other Desilu Shows like I LOVE LUCY would turn up on other shows shot on the same lot. Again, No surprise here, really.
50slucyfan 56 months ago
I wonder if the author was inspired by my old blog posts at http://www.50slucy.com/category/the-andy-griffith-show
AleksandrBalanda 62 months ago
The nautical wallpaper in the Brady Bunch boys' room looks very similar to mine in our old family house. And on the show "Mad about You" they had the same print of Grant Wood's "Young Corn"
Sooner 63 months ago
I was hanging over a piano, not an organ.
FelineHappy Sooner 54 months ago
That must have been very uncomfortable. LOL
Lucyneenah19701 63 months ago
I Love Lucy is my favorite show! Please air it again, MeTV!
Claude Lucyneenah19701 63 months ago
Amen!!! Bring back I Love Lucy....PLEASE!!! It's been years now since I've seen a single episode of Lucy.
Michelle 63 months ago
I wish they would get rid of Alf. I always felt it was a ridiculous show.
Because of my uncle, The Riffleman is my FAVORITE ME TV show!
I 💘 ME TV!
JeffTanner 63 months ago
MeTV, First off, That is NOT an organ in the Ricardo's apartment, it is a PIANO! Same with The ANdy Griffith Show, it is a Piano.
KathyMcKinny JeffTanner 60 months ago
uhh NO, the entire episode was about buying a new ORGAN for the church. Piano in Lucy, Organ in Andy Griffith.
ELEANOR 63 months ago
There's a picture of a clown in the boy's room on the Brady Bunch. I can't figure out if that is a studio decoration or a picture brought in by one of the kids. I think they were allowed to bring in some own things.
KathyMcKinny EleanorLawson 60 months ago
Indeed, they were allowed to bring in personal items. The giraffe you see in some episodes is directly from Maureen McCormick's bedroom. I heard her say this in an interview.
HerbF ELEANOR 54 months ago
That Clown picture was a studio prop - that and the old TV The Boys had on "The Brady Bunch" later pop up as props in the Girl's apartment on "Laverne and Shirley" - Paramount recycling old props - they did it for years.
HelenHeubelVopasek 63 months ago
In the episode "Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo", there is a painting print on the wall of the Mertz's room in Nice, France. It is called "The Dancer Camargo" - an outdoor scene of several early 18th century noblemen & women watching a couple dancing in the foreground. You can't tell of course, but the painting is done in the most wonderful gold and green colors! I instantly recognized this print because I own a copy - it had belonged to my parents. When they were married in 1950, my Mom saw it in a NYC shop during their honeymood, and purchased it, in a gilt frame. It always hung on the wall over our sofa, and was still there when my Mom passed 10 years ago. I now have the framed print. It is nice to know that I have this one little thing in common with the show, outside of the fact that the "I Love Lucy" show and I are the same age! I am a long time fan of this best ever sitcom!
Nice story Helen.
See picture of the print here http://www.50slucy.com/the-mertzes-in-monte-carlo-nicholas-lancret-framed-print.html
Bill 63 months ago
There was no organ in the Ricardo's aparment. There was a piano in the living room.
ETristanBooth Bill 63 months ago
Yes. That's what I scrolled down here to say.
Thomas 63 months ago
https://youtu.be/rUQ9h_Gy70E This is a link to a video about the uses of Desilu's 40 acre backlot, used for Andy Griffith, Star Trek, the Untouchables and Gomer Pyle. Go to YouTube and search Desilu 40 acre backlog and you will get other more in depth videos of this piece of Hollywood history. Also YouTube the Bewitched house, and learn about the fake suburban neighborhood called Warner Ranch and all the shows that were filmed there.
Bill_K Thomas 63 months ago
Thomas:

I am familiar with that site. I learned about it from checking Superman websites. You've got first season episodes of "The Adventures of Superman" (with George Reeves) filmed on RKO Backlots which were late bought out by Desilu and you can make out several structures that began appearing on "The Andy Griffith Show" and You also have the first season "Star Trek" episode "City on the Edge of Forever" with William Shatner's "Captain Kirk" and Joan Collins "Edith Keeler" walking down a New York City Street circa 1930 passing a "Radio" repair shop, a Barber Shop and a Grocery Store in that order just as you would have passed Emmett's "TV" Repair shop, Floyd's Barber Shop and Foley's Grocery Store in Mayberry
MrsPhilHarris Thomas 63 months ago
I watched something that showed the Bewitched house. Kind of ruined the illusion.
dwango77 Bill_K 63 months ago
Don't forget that not only was "Mayberry" the set for Star Trek's "City on the Edge of Forever", it was also the set for another Star Trek episode, "Miri". Ironically, Michael J. Pollard guest starred in both The Andy Griffith show (Cousin Virgil) and Miri (Jahn).
Wiseguy MrsPhilHarris 61 months ago
In a I Dream of Jeannie episode, the interior of Dr. Bellow's house was clearly the interior Bewitched set.
HerbF Wiseguy 54 months ago
Sometimes, there are other times it's a redress of one of the standing sets - there's a couple of occasions it's clearly the same set used for Roger's apartment with some minor changes. Must have been based on availability of the Bewitched Sets not being used on a particular day.
gatorgirl 63 months ago
i just noticed on mannix the other night that a painting of an ugly cat was used in one episode as "art" from a painter and then hung on the wall of apartment in another episode totally unrelated.
MarinaCoates 63 months ago
The horse painting in The Dick Van Dyke show appears on That Girl. I made 3D renderings of the homes from I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show, just as they were on TV but including the 4th wall so it feels like a real home. Then I made a video walk-through tour showing views not possible on the show. https://mockingbirdlane.design
MrsPhilHarris MarinaCoates 63 months ago
That's fantastic!
KathyMcKinny MrsPhilHarris 60 months ago
that is a great job, but I don't recall 2 sofas in the living room
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