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The Pigeon

Lou Costello and Bud Abbott in The Pigeon, The Abbott and Costello Show season 2

Episode 47, The PigeonThe Abbott and Costello Show season 2, originally aired March 27, 1954

In The Pigeon, a beautiful next-door neighbor, Ruby Norton, wants to rid herself of her mobster boyfriend, Steve Terry, so she can marry another man. She hatches a plan to make Terry think that Lou is her lover so that he will kill Lou and go to jail!

The Pigeon – Act I

The Pigeon begins with Lou Costello trying to fix Bud Abbott’s breakfast in their apartment. It’s a funny slapstick movie, as he’s trying to plug in a variety of electronic devices into one extension. It’s effectively a octopus of cables. And then, in a slapstick bit, Lou tries to shave with an electric razor as the breakfast is cooking, drops the razor down his pajama shirt, and gets wrapped up in it! Eventually, Bud rescues him from the mess.

Lou Costello drops his electric razor down his shirt

Meanwhile, across the hall, lovely Ruby Norton is being proposed to by her gangster boyfriend, Steve Terry. Her very jealous boyfriend! Who makes it plain that, if he ever finds her cheating on him, he’ll kill the other man! After he leaves her apartment, she brings her other boyfriend out of the closet, where he’s been hiding! And Ruby has a plan …. If she makes the gangster think that Lou’s her boyfriend, then the gangster will murder Lou! And he’ll go to prison, and then Ruby and her boyfriend Bob can get married!

Ruby kissing the pigeon, Lou Costello - to set him up for murder!

Act II – The Pigeon

So, Ruby pretends to fall in love with Lou, turning his head. She takes him on a picnic, in order to to take a photograph of the two of them together. A photo that she gets published in the newspaper, so her boyfriend will see it and kill Lou! But in the meanwhile, a hobo steals Ruby’s purse — so she sends “brave” Lou to chase after him and recover it! The hobo’s.long gone, but Lou mistakes a scarecrow for him … at first. Then, he tries to impress Ruby by beating up the scarecrow, pretending it’s the hobo. But the scarecrow’s winning!

Back at the boardinghouse, the photo’s in the paper, and Terry’s on a rampage! There’s a funny chase scene, reminiscent of the Three Stooges’ “hallway” chases, where Lou goes in one door, out another, while being chased. Eventually, Sid Fields and Bud Abbott explain to Terry that Lou’s not Ruby’s boyfriend. So they go into Abbott and Costello’s room for some refreshments …. Where Ruby’s chosen to hide from Terry! A terrified Lou runs through the apartment door, and through the front door of the apartment building, ending the episode.

Lou Costello and Terry meet in the hallway in "The Pigeon"

Cast of characters

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