Susie MacNamara (Sothern) is a former stage actress, a
WAC veteran of
World War II and single woman who works as the private secretary for theatrical agent Peter Sands (Porter) at the fictional New York theatrical agency International Artists Inc. Susie's honest, good-natured attempts to help Mr. Sands, especially in romantic matters, always leads to comedic complications. Susie is usually assisted by her best friend, Violet "Vi" Praskins (
Ann Tyrrell), the office's nervous and bumbling receptionist. Recurring characters include
Jesse White as Mickey "Cagey" Calhoun, a chief competitor and loudmouthed agent business rival to Susie and Sands; and
Joan Banks as Sylvia Platt, a fellow secretary frenemy of Susie. One of the show's trademarks was the set decoration portraying a 1950s state-of-the-art executive office, with stylish decor,
IBM typewriters and the latest office telephone gear from
Western Electric. There are occasional references to a young actress, never seen, who was a client of Mr. Sands named Harriet Lake (Sothern's real name).
Series ending '', "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana", L-R:
Ann Sothern,
Rudy Vallee,
Lucille Ball,
Desi Arnaz,
Cesar Romero,
Vivian Vance and
William Frawley (1957) Although ratings had dropped in its fifth season, CBS renewed the series for a sixth season in Spring 1957. However, Sothern discovered that producer
Jack Chertok sold the series rights to
Metromedia without consulting or compensating her. Sothern, who owed back taxes to the
Internal Revenue Service, sued Chertok and departed the series. In November, Sothern reprised the character of Susie MacNamara for the premiere episode of
The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later shown in repeats as
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour). In this installment, entitled "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" (which was originally a 75-minute episode), Sothern appeared opposite series regulars
Lucille Ball,
Desi Arnaz,
Vivian Vance,
William Frawley and
Richard Keith as well as guest stars
Hedda Hopper,
Rudy Vallee and
Cesar Romero. As a result of the success of the special, Sothern developed a new series with Ball and Arnaz through
Desilu. The resulting series,
The Ann Sothern Show, would air for three seasons on CBS from 1958 to 1961. The series employed much of the same cast and writers as
Private Secretary. ==Episodes==