I Love Lucy - General Discussion

[Scarlett45]

On 1/10/2022 at 7:41 AM, Egg McMuffin said:

Yeah, I don’t agree with that assessment, even if it came from Lucy herself. The problem was that they didn’t share the same values. Desi was outgoing, a partier, and a gambler, and didn’t believe in monogamy. Lucy was much more reserved, and had a stricter moral code. Maybe she meant that they didn’t like each other’s values, which I buy. Sometimes you have to dig a little to get what she means (the infamous interview where she called Desi “a loser”, for example).

If they truly didn’t like each other, then why were they still so involved in each other’s lives even after the divorce and after Desi sold his share of the business? Even in the early 80s, Lucy gave an interview where she said she still spoke to Desi two or three times per week, and was very complimentary of him. You don’t do that with someone you don’t like.

Quoting you and @GHScorpiosRule:

I think the person @GHScorpiosRule was referring to in the movie thread was me. It’s very possible to respect people you don’t like- you respect their talent, intelligence, integrity etc but that doesn’t mean you want to be friends with them. It doesn’t mean being in their presence satisfied you emotionally. 
 

Lucille and Desi “fought as hard as they fucked”(to quote my Mom), and they had a business chemistry together, but not a friendship. Desi was never going to be able to meet Lucille’s emotional needs the way she wanted him to. Yes they grew into a friendship AFTER the years of heartbreak, fighting, the building of a tv empire and the creation of the children they both wanted- but at that point they were both married to other people and the pressure was off. 
 

Edited to add-  the autobiography I was referencing ends in approximately 1962*, with Lucille’s marriage to Gary Morton. Her marriage to Desi and the divorce are still very fresh when she’s writing about her feelings. Of course she would have a different perspective 20years later, seeing how we know they were able to build a real friendship when they were no longer married. 

*I just went to look it up to be sure, it was published in 1996, but the events of the autobiography end in 1962. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

15 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

*I just went to look it up to be sure, it was published in 1996, but the events of the autobiography end in 1962. 

Interesting that Lucille's autobiography was released 7 years after her death. Unless she authorized its release after her death.

I guess it's difficult for me to accept that they didn't like each other when I watch the show and see them together, or even when I watch interviews they've done together.

 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Interesting that Lucille's autobiography was released 7 years after her death. Unless she authorized its release after her death.

I guess it's difficult for me to accept that they didn't like each other when I watch the show and see them together, or even when I watch interviews they've done together.

 

Lucille may have wanted it released after she died, like you suggested. 

I get what you mean, but the word "like" in English can mean a lot of things. I have loved people deeply but did not like them at certain points. I can see a situation where lust, creative chemistry/vision made a passionate relationship, but living together was emotional turmoil. I can see that Lucille probably liked Desi more when she didn't live with him any more, and Desi probably felt better when he wasn't constantly upsetting a woman he cared about, because monogamy was not something he was going to practice. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

HAPPY DANCE! HAPPY DANCE!!!

🙌💃🕺💃🙌

As of today, Decades will be available on Frndly streaming, and DECADES offers I Love Lucy!!!!!! And it also allows for you to record!

Can't wait for the:

"I just had another one of my BRILLIANT Ideas!"

"EtheltoTillieEtheltoTillie..."

"Take itTizzy."

"Nooo, I dun't!"

"You know, a fizzykeyatrist...a head doctor"

"It's so tasty, too!"

"Do you pop out at parties? Are you unpoopular? Welll? ARE You?"

"Now Ricky!!!"

"Lucyyyy! You got some 'splainin' to do!"

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

WAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hollywood Episodes!!! Bummer that it's not "L.A. at Last" so I can see Lucy set her nose on fire! So I'm watching the episode where Lucy got Ricky fired! 

Huh. They're not airing them in order. The second episode is when Lucy decides to make and sell her own salad dressing.

I've noticed that the name of the episode isn't mentioned in the synopsis.

Edited April 20, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I just discovered something. The airing schedule for this show on the Decades channel on the cable provider is different than the streaming schedule.

For instance, today, the two episodes that aired on the network was the Richard Widmark and the first John Wayne episode.

On the streaming app via Frndly, it's the Richard Widmark episode, with the second episode being Ricky telling a Baby Ricky a bedtime story--si, the one where he tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood in Spanish. 

Weird. I don't know why it's set up like this.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh how niiiiiice it was to have a block of shoes to watch this weekeand!

While the last few Hollywood episodes were out of order/didn’t air*, the European ones were.
”Paris At Last!” has to be my favorite because of the Telephone game aspect of the translations! Sergeant only speaks French; the other cop speaks French and German; the local drunk speaks German and Spanish; and Ricky-Spanish and English!

Ricky: “Where did you get the money!”

Me:😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

*the guide has the episode where Lucy abs Ethel went to steal John Wayne’s footprints, but the actual episode on the streaming platform was one from NY; charm school one.

[legaleagle53]

11 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

”Paris At Last!” has to be my favorite because of the Telephone game aspect of the translations! Sergeant only speaks French; the other cop speaks French and German; the local drunk speaks German and Spanish; and Ricky-Spanish and English!

 

It's a great scene, but it irritates me somewhat, since I speak fluent French, German, and Spanish, and the translation chain really begins to break down between the German and the Spanish before it gets to Lucy and back. And the German/Spanish translator's German is terrible!

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

It's a great scene, but it irritates me somewhat, since I speak fluent French, German, and Spanish, and the translation chain really begins to break down between the German and the Spanish before it gets to Lucy and back. And the German/Spanish translator's German is terrible!

That's why I call it the "Telephone Game" because when I played that as a kid, even when we all were speaking English, by the time it got to the last recipient, the message wasn't anything close to what it was!

I only know a handful of French phrases, and one or two German words. But I can speak conversational Spanish and can understand it if spoken normally. Meaning, when Ricky goes off on a rant, he's talking so fast I can't understand everything he's saying.

But I did understand the local drunk's questions. What was hilarious was Ricky using the same tone as the police officer when asking Lucy where she got the money!😂

And when Lucy is in tears, telling Ricky "I'm at the Bastille!" The delivery of Lucille, no one like her. Irreplaceable. Like how she contorted her mouth to convince the cops that it was HER passport!😂🤣

[Snow Apple]

I like the London episode. A man tried to talk to Lucy and Ethel and Ethel said "We're American. We don't understand English."

Edited May 10, 2022 by Snow Apple

[GHScorpiosRule]

WAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ComCrap FINALLY added Decades, so I can watch my I Love Lucy!!!!! See, FrndlyTV was okay, but they didn't air all of the episodes and they aired them out of order.

On stupidass cable, I get all of them. So I can now "take it izzy" and enjoy one of my favorite shows of all time!!!!!

SUCK IT, MeTV!

Edited May 19, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

Looks like the last few episodes of the final season are airing this week, and we start with Season one next week!

I've got "Lucy Does the Tango" today! The scene with Ricky SMASHING all those eggs inside her shirt, and Lucy trying to cross her arms as all that yolk is leaking, makes me laugh as hard and long as when Lucy sets her nose on fire in William Holden episode. 😂😂

Edited May 23, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Snow Apple]

Even though the country episodes are not as classic as the city apartment shows, there are some gems in there.

The eggs mentioned above.

When the Ricardo's were fighting with the Ramsey's, I look for this exchange every time: Ethel: Lucy!, Lucy: What?, Ethel: ...aren't you going to introduce us? Ethel's delivery cracks me up.

When Lucy finds her missing wedding ring in her hamburger and Ricky place it back on her finger. But before that, Lucy says "I don't want a ring with big diamonds all around it. I want mine, with little diamonds half way around it."

[Egg McMuffin]

I liked the Connecticut episodes. It was a natural progression for the RIcardos to buy a house in the burbs and it reflected what was going on in the US at the time. Getting the Mertzes out there was contrived, to be sure. But the writers as always maximized the setup, doing a string of episodes about finding the house, moving, getting to know the neighbors, etc. Other shows that have shifted locales usually do an episode about the move, and then it’s business as usual. The ILL writers really pioneered the whole idea of a story “arc”.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 5/23/2022 at 5:25 PM, Snow Apple said:

When Lucy finds her missing wedding ring in her hamburger and Ricky place it back on her finger. But before that, Lucy says "I don't want a ring with big diamonds all around it. I want mine, with little diamonds half way around it."

This was on yesterday and while I had two days’ worth saved, and “The Barbecue” was last, I watched it first because of what you wrote! Even though their real life marriage was falling apart in the last season (I mentioned how I noticed Desi was no longer wearing his wedding ring), both still had the chemistry and made me laugh until the end.

[Scarlett45]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:48 AM, Egg McMuffin said:

I liked the Connecticut episodes. It was a natural progression for the RIcardos to buy a house in the burbs and it reflected what was going on in the US at the time. Getting the Mertzes out there was contrived, to be sure. But the writers as always maximized the setup, doing a string of episodes about finding the house, moving, getting to know the neighbors, etc. Other shows that have shifted locales usually do an episode about the move, and then it’s business as usual. The ILL writers really pioneered the whole idea of a story “arc”.

They really did. I Love Lucy was the first show to do “reruns” but they seemed to understand (far more than some sitcoms of even the 70s and the 80s did) that people would rewatch these episodes and things should be CONSISTENT! I think they could do this because they kept the cast relatively small, planned out story arcs that had natural endings (like the trips to LA/Europe). 
 

Rewatching shows like The Golden Girls they could never keep the details of the core characters straight(ages, number of kids, siblings etc), which is glaring upon rewatch. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

18 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

They really did. I Love Lucy was the first show to do “reruns” but they seemed to understand (far more than some sitcoms of even the 70s and the 80s did) that people would rewatch these episodes and things should be CONSISTENT! I think they could do this because they kept the cast relatively small, planned out story arcs that had natural endings (like the trips to LA/Europe). 

But they, and I mean this show, messed up with the "Ragtime" episode.

Ricky refuses to bring his band over to play at the country club, so Lucy, drags out her Sax, Fred, his fiddle, which he hasn't played in years, Little Ricky, of course, on the drums, and Ethel, the piano.

But they acted like Ethel hadn't played in FOREVVVVVVVERRRR and she couldn't tell which was the C key or the A. And Little Ricky had to show her.

Then they decided to play "Sweet Sue" a song that ETHEL PLAYED on the piano when they were in New York! Remember? The four of them were singing and dancing to it? And then when Fred and Ethel go downstairs to bed, Lucy and Ricky sing and dance to it again, and Ethel calls, all cranky and tells them to stop making all that noise. It was the episode which ended with Fred giving them the 99-year lease.

But in "Ragtime", Ethel was HORRIBLE at the Piano, which, just no. But it was PLOT! So that Ricky would bring "a couple of the boys" from his band. 

But I did love that song about a woman being "OOMPH-SMAR-TAR!"😂😂

[Egg McMuffin]

They had inconsistencies but I’d say that they were relatively low for a show that was producing about 30 episodes per year. It helped that only five writers worked on the show over its six seasons (plus the three years of specials afterward). The writing staff was tiny compared to shows today.

[Snow Apple]

The Europe and LA episodes are standouts but the Florida arc was good too. It starts when Lucy and Ethel were forced to ride with a stranger and each thought the other was the murderer they heard about on the radio. I think about this episode whenever I see or read a reference about watercress sandwiches.

I also liked the Florida episode when they were stranded on an island because of Lucy's schemes to keep the men from a beauty pageant but it backfired.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Snow Apple

[Blergh]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:11 PM, Snow Apple said:

 nded on an island because of Lucy's schemes to keep the men from a beauty pageant but it backfired.

I liked it when Lucy asked Ethel to give her credit for the stranding them on the island supposedly preventing them from interacting with the beauty contestants to which Ethel responded,

"ONE credit doesn't wipe out fifteen years of DEBITS!"

BTW, Keith Thibodeaux has recaledl that the supposed island 'native' played by Georgia-born Claude Akins was 'really nice but had REALLY bad breath!'

 Yep, it's funny what sticks in one's memory from the time one's  a small child! LOL

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh, I LOVE this (note: this is sarcasm):

As part of the Summer of MeTV, this asshat MeTV is airing a block of I Love Lucy next Sunday! They can do that, but they can't or refuse to bring back the show to air regularly????!! Bastards.

Of course it's set to record on my DVR. I'm not one to cut my nose to spite my face. But I'll continue to curse and put a pox on this once great network.

[chessiegal]

I'd forgotten this show debuted in 1951. I was 1 year old. My parents didn't get a tv until around 1954.

[HyeChaps]

While watching the marathon today, I kept my eyes open for Desi's high heels.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Thanks be to the TV GODS  for having mercy on me so I could watch today’s marathon! Stoopid Xfinity/ComCRAP did some kind of update which stopped the ability to record any of my shows on MeTV, MeTV+, and Decades between Friday and yesterday. It was finally resolved this morning.

Ahem.

”Lucy Does a TV Commercial” always a guarantee that I will 😂😂😂😂😂😂

and “Lucy is Enciente” had me bawling from the minute Ricky paused and realized he was the one who was going to be a father. I love this episode so so much. I wish they would make an ornament with Ricky singing or Lucy telling him she tried to tell him with Ricky yelling “I’m gonna be a father!”

But really, Lucy asked Ethel NOT to tell Fred until after she, Lucy, told Ricky. But did she listen? No. Both showed up while Lucy was trying to to tell Ricky!

And it always makes me sad when I notice that Desi is no longer wearing his wedding ring in the show.

And ooooh! Desi, Jr. on Ed Sullivan and Lucille in the audience!

[Egg McMuffin]

I don’t understand why MeTV doesn’t show an hour of ILL after Andy Griffith, at 9:00 pm. I’ve gotta think it would rate better than the Gomer/Green Acres hour.

[GHScorpiosRule]

17 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

I don’t understand why MeTV doesn’t show an hour of ILL after Andy Griffith, at 9:00 pm. I’ve gotta think it would rate better than the Gomer/Green Acres hour.

I know, right? I think they didn’t want to deal with the many fans wanting to know why they dropped this show, and disabled their messaging on Facebook. And  NO ONE responds to the emails or even Twitter. They’re shameless bastards.

The marathon yesterday was wonderful! I swear I think they aired the unedited episodes! At least for “Lucy is Enciente” because I don’t remember seeing that musical number Ricky was rehearsing before Lucy showed up, to try and tell Ricky about the baby.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yesterday had two other gems:

"Fred and Ethel Fight" which had Desi, I believe, not Ricky, breaking out of character, the way he tried to muffle his laughter when both Fred and Ethel were going on about Ethel calling Fred's mother a weasel; or rather, that she looked like a weasel.

Then that led to Ricky and Lucy arguing over who apologized first over their last argument.

What had me rolling was when Ricky went off in Spanish, Lucy gets up and says;

"How DARE you say that to me?" Or something like that. And Ricky's all smug, oh yeah? what did I say?

Lucy: "I don't know, but how DARE you!"

Me: 😂😂

And then we had, "The Moustache" though it should have been titled "The Beard" because that was the focus. Again, I couldn't tell if it was Ricky laughing, or Desi breaking character!

[chessiegal]

I signed up for frndlytv streaming service when they added the Decades channel, which I lost several years ago on my cable service. I watch The Mary Tyler Moore Show weekdays. I Love Lucy comes on before it, and I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying it. It's not like I've never seen it before. I guess I'd forgotten how good it is.

[Egg McMuffin]

It’s a great show. Lucy’s physical comedy gets all the attention, but I just love listening to the witty dialogue between those four well-drawn characters, performed by four fine actors with a lot of chemistry. Lucille Ball didn’t really have that in her other series.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just finished watching “Lucy’s Club Dance” and not only is it from this episode that I have the Hallmark Keepsake ornament that has the one way conversation about how Ricky should lead their orchestra, with his garbled Spanish yelling at her, I had TOTALLY forgotten that Ricky’s band members showed up in drag at the end to performs “12th Street Ragtime” because of the article in the paper!😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[GHScorpiosRule]

I knew I wasn’t going crazy! When  she was first mentioned, they called her Lillian Appleby in the episode where she said her hubby managed the station; the. She was Caroline during the battle  of the babies. Then when they reached Hollywood, when Lucy was sending out postcards, she was Lillian again. THEN, in the Van Johnson and Harpo episodes, she was Caroline Appleby again! As Ricky would say: “Ay yi yi!!”

[Gemma Violet]

I periodically post a link in these threads to a Youtube channel that maps out TV homes.  I don't remember if I've ever posted the one on the ILL apartment.  Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fcvi1mtlo0&t=974s

Also, this one was uploaded just this week--the country home:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeW3va87LCQ

[SmithW6079]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:41 AM, Gemma Violet said:

I periodically post a link in these threads to a Youtube channel that maps out TV homes.  I don't remember if I've ever posted the one on the ILL apartment.  Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fcvi1mtlo0&t=974s

Also, this one was uploaded just this week--the country home:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeW3va87LCQ

I love that channel. I haven't seen these. Thanks for posting the links. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I am rewatching season two and AGAIN, without Fail, the ending of "Lucy is Enceinte" has me in TEARS. So emotional. Desi and Lucille's real-life feelings just fill the screen and my heart. And the way Desi kisses Lucille's neck and then just drops his head against it. I've said it before: No one will CONVINCE me that that wasn't Desi and Lucille. Not Lucy and Ricky.

And then the opening of "Pregnant Women are Unpredictable" had me in stiches! 😂😂 as Lucy "drowns" the doll who is the "practice baby" she tries to bathe and put cloth diapers on!

And what kills me in "Lucy Hires an English Tutor" is how Ricky can't pronounce "boughs" when he's reading. I know it was played for laughs, but he did sing "Rock-a-Bye Baby" two episodes previously. Clearly he had to read the lyrics to learn them, right?

[Snow Apple]

I love Lucy is Enceinte. Not only for the emotional ending and song, but so many good bits.

Fred gives Lucy a baseball signed by the greatest player of all time. Lucy: "Oh. Spalding."

Ethel: "Yeah, baby. That's the word my grandmother made up for little people"

Lucy keeps trying to make her speech to Ricky: "Ricky, darling...." only to keep getting interrupted.

[GHScorpiosRule]

49 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Lucy keeps trying to make her speech to Ricky: "Ricky, darling...." only to keep getting interrupted.

I KNOW! What irks me is that Lucy asked Ethel NOT to tell Fred until she had a chance to tell Ricky! But what happens? Both Ethel AND FRED come knocking to ask if she's told him yet!

So Fred knew before Ricky!

[chessiegal]

I'm watching an episode where Ricky tells Lucy if she's going to act like a child, he's going to treat her like a child. He picks her up and puts her across his lap and proceeds to hit her rear end repeatedly and hard. That sure wouldn't fly today.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I’m just seriously BUMMED that CBS stopped airing the Christmas and whatever episode in color!

I remember how hideous that tweed suit looked in color! And on a sun burned Lucy!🤣🤣😂😂😂

[Bethany]

While I was never a huge fan of I Love Lucy I am a huge fan of Lucille Ball so I was happy to get a copy of Laughing with Lucy: My Life with America's Leading Lady of Comedy for Christmas.  It was written by Madelyn Pugh one of the writers for the show.  As she herself says its not a book that is filled with Hollywood gossip but it's a very interesting look at the early days of television and especially how I Love Lucy evolved.  If anyone out there hasn't read this book I'd really recommend it.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Elizabeth Anne

[GHScorpiosRule]

Meant to post this much earlier-like this morning! But work got in the way.

Show started with the first season today.

[Gemma Violet]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Show started with the first season today.

What channel?

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

What channel?

Decades.

[Gemma Violet]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Decades.

OK, thanks.  I don't get that channel.  

[HyeChaps]

Coming to Pluto on February 14

[chessiegal]

Frndly streaming service carries Decades. I signed up for Decades. I wanted to watch MTM, The Bob Newhart Show, and Newhart.

 

[Fool to cry]

"I have become Mirth. The Amuser of worlds."

[GreekGeek]

On 11/9/2022 at 11:18 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

 

And what kills me in "Lucy Hires an English Tutor" is how Ricky can't pronounce "boughs" when he's reading. I know it was played for laughs, but he did sing "Rock-a-Bye Baby" two episodes previously. Clearly he had to read the lyrics to learn them, right?

Not necessarily. He could have learned the lyrics without ever seeing them written out. They're not that complicated, even for someone whose first language isn't English.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, GreekGeek said:

Not necessarily. He could have learned the lyrics without ever seeing them written out. They're not that complicated, even for someone whose first language isn't English.

Yeah, seems like English is known for traps like that. Spelling is a free for all.

[Gemma Violet]

Regarding my post upthread about the Youtube channel that maps out TV homes, here's a recent video on the Ricardo's Hollywood apartment:

 

 

[Gemma Violet]

This channel popped up on Youtube.  Lots of colorized clips: