I Love Lucy - General Discussion

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 minutes ago, Kyle said:

I’ve found that many real-life married couples don’t have a lot of onscreen chemistry but the Arnazes are the exception.

As are a few of Bollywood actors who are married to each other and who have played love interests. There could be more, but there are a select few who are my favorites, and I didn't know that they were married when I first saw their movies, and the movies were before and after they were married.

But definitely agree about Lucille and Desi.

[chessiegal]

I've read when Robert Wagner was cast as lead in Hart to Hart and they were looking for the female lead, he immediately rejected having Natalie Wood play the part.

ETA: I think Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have great chemistry in the movie Overboard. But then they weren't married. 😉

Edited December 30, 2021 by chessiegal
Additional info

[Spartan Girl]

The love was there, you could tell. I don’t think Lucy and Ricky would be one of the greatest tv couples ever had it not been for Lucy and Desi’s real-life marriage.

[Spartan Girl]

Ooh! Do you guys remember Barbara Eden in season 6 as the bimbo cousin all the guys got crazy for? Barbara had nothing but nice things to say about Lucy in her memoir when she wrote about that episode: she even fixed up Barbara’s dress for that scene to make it look prettier.

Interestingly enough, Barbara knew about Desi’s reputation and was so afraid of messing up her big opportunity that she went as far as to avoid Desi whenever she was on set. But apparently she didn’t need to go through the trouble because when she finally had to interact with Desi when shooting the country club scene, he was nothing but a gentleman to her. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

10 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Ooh! Do you guys remember Barbara Eden in season 6 as the bimbo cousin all the guys got crazy for? Barbara had nothing but nice things to say about Lucy in her memoir when she wrote about that episode: she even fixed up Barbara’s dress for that scene to make it look prettier.

Interestingly enough, Barbara knew about Desi’s reputation and was so afraid of messing up her big opportunity that she went as far as to avoid Desi whenever she was on set. But apparently she didn’t need to go through the trouble because when she finally had to interact with Desi when shooting the country club scene, he was nothing but a gentleman to her. 

I did read about that. Lucille Ball was said to be wonderful to younger actresses, as Carol Burnett (who became a longtime friend) can attest.

[Egg McMuffin]

Mindy Cohn has told of a time she was at a restaurant and Lucille Ball approached her and said, “You and that Tootie remind me of me and Viv. You are a very funny lady, Ms. Cohn. You keep this up now, because you have a lot to offer.” At the time, “Facts of Life” was up against “Life with Lucy” and soundly beating it in the ratings.

[Scarlett45]

On 1/1/2022 at 8:51 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Ooh! Do you guys remember Barbara Eden in season 6 as the bimbo cousin all the guys got crazy for? Barbara had nothing but nice things to say about Lucy in her memoir when she wrote about that episode: she even fixed up Barbara’s dress for that scene to make it look prettier.

Interestingly enough, Barbara knew about Desi’s reputation and was so afraid of messing up her big opportunity that she went as far as to avoid Desi whenever she was on set. But apparently she didn’t need to go through the trouble because when she finally had to interact with Desi when shooting the country club scene, he was nothing but a gentleman to her. 

Desi had a wondering eye (lots of casual sex and hookups while he was married to both of his wives); but I don’t recall that anyone ever said he was inappropriate with co-workers or harassed women who weren’t interested. 
 

I could see Barbara wanting to be careful because she just had no idea how things would go, and he could mess up her career. 

[Maverick]

 I ran across an episode of ILL on Pluto the other day.  It was on Paramount+ Picks so it's not a regular thing.   I can't believe they don't have an ILL channel but you can get 24/7 Jersey Shore and Three's Company.

 Does anyone have Paramount+ and know if the episode that stream on there are uncut?  

[Spartan Girl]

7 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Desi had a wondering eye (lots of casual sex and hookups while he was married to both of his wives); but I don’t recall that anyone ever said he was inappropriate with co-workers or harassed women who weren’t interested. 
 

I could see Barbara wanting to be careful because she just had no idea how things would go, and he could mess up her career. 

Barbara had been propositioned by a lot of well-known married men before, and it was a personal rule of hers never to get involved with them. But no, this wasn’t a MeToo situation: Barbara was just nervous about messing up her breakthrough moment and didn’t want to risk getting on Lucy’s bad side. And she didn’t need to worry, because like I said before, Desi was a gentleman to her.

[Egg McMuffin]

16 hours ago, Maverick said:

 I ran across an episode of ILL on Pluto the other day.  It was on Paramount+ Picks so it's not a regular thing.   I can't believe they don't have an ILL channel but you can get 24/7 Jersey Shore and Three's Company.

 

Yeah - it’s surprising to me that there’s isn’t a general “Lucy” channel since Pluto is owned by ViacomCBS, which owns ILL, the Lucy/Desi hours, The Lucy Show, and Life with Lucy (Here’s Lucy is currently distributed by Paul Brownstein). That’s a lot of content. But I know ILL and Lucy Show are on Hulu too, so perhaps it’s not available to Pluto.

Hulu does not have all the ILL episodes (nor all TLS either). But the ones they have appear to be uncut - all 25/26 minutes. The exception is the first season, where some of the episodes are 23 minutes.

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 hours ago, Maverick said:

Does anyone have Paramount+ and know if the episode that stream on there are uncut?

I just got Paramount + for .99 a month for the first two months, so will check to see if they have all seasons and If they’re uncut. I’ve got the series on dvd, but I’m perverse in that I want to watch this show on TV! F#%!*¥G MeTV for removing it from its schedule. Don’t know why it can’t air in the place of two of the gajillion Andy Griffith Show episodes (and I type this as one who loves that show, too!)

Bitter? Who, me?

Edited January 5, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Egg McMuffin]

I don’t get why a top tier rerun like I Love Lucy has been moved to a second-tier diginet like Decades (Me and Decades have the same owner and apparently have the same content available). How about an hour of ILL and Lucy Show from 6-7 pm on Me? And upgrade the Lucy Show prints while they’re at it (the prints they’ve used on Me/Decades are at least 30 years old and look terrible).

[EtheltoTillie]

I've decided to change my user name in honor of our favorite show.  Formerly GussieK.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh CRAP. I cancelled the subscription to Paramount + because while the episodes are uncut, they don’t have ALL the episodes! What’s the point? Guess I’ll just have to stick in my DVDs when I want to watch.

[Spartan Girl]

18 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Oh CRAP. I cancelled the subscription to Paramount + because while the episodes are uncut, they don’t have ALL the episodes! What’s the point? Guess I’ll just have to stick in my DVDs when I want to watch.

That is just stupid. Why have the show if they aren’t going to have all the episodes? These fucking streaming services, I swear…

[Gemma Violet]

On 1/5/2022 at 5:14 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

F#%!*¥G MeTV for removing it from its schedule.

I used to watch it on TVLand Hallmark every morning while getting dressed for work.  I don't remember MeTV having it on that much, but maybe I missed it.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 8:51 PM, Spartan Girl said:

she even fixed up Barbara’s dress for that scene to make it look prettier.

I recently watched a video of Barbara discussing early TV and she mentioned this very thing.  She said she went to Lucy's dressing room wearing the dress and Lucy was in there with another person (maybe the wardrobe person) and Lucy told Barbara to remove the dress so they could fix it up.  So Lucy and the other lady started sewing dozens of sequins or whatever on the dress.  Barbara said there weren't many big stars who would have done something like that.  

Edited January 7, 2022 by Gemma Violet
Meant Hallmark, not TVLand.

[Maverick]

 Hallmark used to show in the mornings for something like 5 hours.   I don't remember it being on TV Land, at least not since they switched to more modern shows.   MeTV used to show it in a 2 or 3 hour block on Sunday afternoons, then moved to one episode in the early morning.

 I'm wondering if it's less about the channels not showing it and more about CBS not renewing license agreements.  They be trying to limit this show to Paramount+ as much as possible.  

[Gemma Violet]

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

 Hallmark used to show in the mornings for something like 5 hours.   I don't remember it being on TV Land, at least not since they switched to more modern shows. 

You're right--my bad.  Hallmark & TV Land are next to each other on my cable system.  It's indeed Hallmark.

[Maverick]

Easy mistake.  The retro channels bleed together after a while, especially with a lot of the shows jumping between them.  I just wish one of the would bring it back. TAGS is on at least three different stations where I'm at and airs a lot.  I can't believe there's not one station that would want to air it which makes me think it's a rights issue, either being withheld or too costly. But then if CBS sees it as a valuable asset then I don't get why they stopped airing it for Christmas. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, Maverick said:

I'm wondering if it's less about the channels not showing it and more about CBS not renewing license agreements.  They be trying to limit this show to Paramount+ as much as possible.  

But if that’s the case, why aren’t ALL the episodes available to watch:stream on Paramount? Like I posted up thread, only a handful of episodes from each season are available. 

[chessiegal]

Can you buy the show on DVDs? I don't know enough about the industry, but the thought crossed my mind that they want people to buy DVDs. I can't imagine if you are paying for a streaming service why they don't offer all the episodes, though.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Can you buy the show on DVDs? I don't know enough about the industry, but the thought crossed my mind that they want people to buy DVDs. I can't imagine if you are paying for a streaming service why they don't offer all the episodes, though.

Yes. I have them, but like I posted, I miss getting to watch on my screen without having to pop in the dvds.

It’s stupid. Paramount doesn’t air all episodes of this show, JAG, Wings… and Peacock doesn’t air all 20 seasons of Law & Order!

I stumbled across another horrid movie about Lucille and Desi (Lucy) starting Rachel York and Danny Pino from 2003. This one made the 1993 Frances Fisher version almost Emmy worthy. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

They had one of the producers come up with the idea to write in Lucille’s pregnancy and birth, when that was DESI’S idea and insistence. 🤬🤬🤬🤬 And portrayed their relationship as Desi bring physicallly and emotionally abusive! And patted themselves on the back with the tag on the end that they remained friends for the rest of their lives after their divorce.🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[Egg McMuffin]

Weigel, which holds the broadcast rights to ILL, has been using it for its Decades channel instead of its MeTV channel over the past few years. I don’t get the reasoning, other than MeTV showed it for years and Weigel may be using it to help prop up the smaller Decades.

Re: streaming: I wonder if music rights have something to do with some of the episodes being missing on the various streaming services. ILL had a lot of music because they were always doing numbers (though you’d think that a lot of that music would have already passed into the public domain).

[GHScorpiosRule]

I’ve gone down the Lucille and Desi rabbit hole! Found this wonderful documentary in two parts: World of Lucy. Part one is her rise and movie career, marriage to Desi and how this show came about; part two is the later years and other shows and appearances. On IMDbTV.

After watching this, I’m even more 🤬🤬🤬at the fast and loose facts the 1993 and 2003 movies did, AND the Lies license Sorkin took with the Kidman/Bardem movie.

And ended last night with “The Audition” and “L.A. at Last!”😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

There is only ONE LUCILLE AND ONE LUCY.

[GHScorpiosRule]

And I learned something new! I knew the skit Lucy did in the unaired/lost pilot and “The Audition” was something Desi and Lucille did, but I never knew the number of Sally Sweet in “The Diet” was also a number they did together when they were on the road! Or that the friendship song was from Du Barry Was a Lady, and that it was movie that Lucille starred in!

AAAAAND, I just found the keepsake ornament of “Lucy Dows a Commercial” ! Too bad no sound or dialogue, like the one I already have where she’s on the phone telling Ricky about a benefit and how she told the club Ricky would perform. And then you hear Ricky blowing up in Spanish!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

One of the things that bums me about the dvds is that there are no subtitles in English. Only Spanish. I just love seeing how Ricly’s mangled English is spelled out!😂😂😂

”Take it easy” is “take it tizzy”

Psychiatrist is “Fizzakeeyatrist”

And of course, we’re all familiar with “splain” and “dun’t”😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Edited January 9, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Spartan Girl]

LOL Ricky mangling English shouldn’t be funny but it is.

I can’t believe Nicole actually won the Golden Globe for playing Lucy. Actually, knowing the HFP, I can, but still. If she wins the Oscar I’ll go crazy.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

LOL Ricky mangling English shouldn’t be funny but it is.

I know! There is this sketch they did after I Love Lucy Ended and they were still doing the Lucy-Desi Hour, and it's hilarious. They're playing themselves, and Desi keeps pronouncing Westinghouse as WestinGouse. William Frawley and Vivian Vance also play themselves. The Westinghouse executive is the same guy who played the director in "Lucy Does a Commercial" episode.

UGH, on Kidman's win.

Someone posted in the movie thread about how Lucille stated in her autobiography, that while she and Desi were "attracted" to each other and respected each other, they didn't like each other. Which I find weird. How can you respect someone you don't like?

I remember all the interviews and home movies, and I gotta tell you, I see plenty of liking, loving, and respecting. But I'm just a fan. And Lucille knew what she knew.

And my hate for MeTV grows by leaps and bounds as they are the first network to ensure the ending of this great show's run at 69 years. I'm not the only one, otherwise, why did they disable their message option on FaceBook, where you could contact them for direct answers?

Yes, I will die on this hill, because I've watched this show since I was wee. It's always been on television, and stupid cable took it away from the local channels that used to air this show. I'm tempted to get an over the air antenna thingie, since Decades is available "over the air" in Baltimore, which is about a half hour from where I live.

And "Drafted" aired on Christmas Eve! All the cable networks cut out the two minute ending, where you see Ricky, Lucy, Fred, and Ethel dressed as Santa, singing Jingle Bells, and then the real Santa shows up! Yup, just like the one we've seen in the Christmas episodes that CBS aired, until they, too, the bastards, stopped airing them.

[Egg McMuffin]

9 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Someone posted in the movie thread about how Lucille stated in her autobiography, that while she and Desi were "attracted" to each other and respected each other, they didn't like each other. Which I find weird. How can you respect someone you don't like?

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.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, 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.

This Times a 10000000000000!!!!

There was that letter Desi wrote to Lucy at the Kennedy Center Awards! And how he's always credited her for his success. That they remained friends until his death.

 

[chessiegal]

53 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I'm tempted to get an over the air antenna thingie, since Decades is available "over the air" in Baltimore, which is about a half hour from where I live.

Good luck with that. If you find one that works, let me know. I bought a Mohu antenna that is supposed to be good for at least 60 miles. I'm less than 30 miles from both DC and Baltimore. I can get 2 stations with it - MPT and one of the major networks, can't remember which, since I bought it years ago when my cable dropped Decades and replaced it with StartTV. I'm still bitter.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Good luck with that. If you find one that works, let me know. I bought a Mohu antenna that is supposed to be good for at least 60 miles. I'm less than 30 miles from both DC and Baltimore. I can get 2 stations with it - MPT and one of the major networks, can't remember which, since I bought it years ago when my cable dropped Decades and replaced it with StartTV. I'm still bitter.

Well it's also "available on the air" in DC, which is 10 miles north of me.

So, I'll try and see if I can get an antenna that is both UHF and VHF, whatever that means.

[Spartan Girl]

@Egg McMuffin and @GHScorpiosRule I feel like that statement was Lucy trying to act tough about the whole thing, or maybe she meant that they didn’t “like each other” (i.e. get along) when they were married. Like it was stated, you don’t remain that close with an ex you don’t like, even “for the sake of the kids.”

[chessiegal]

34 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

So, I'll try and see if I can get an antenna that is both UHF and VHF, whatever that means.

Just curious, have you ever been in a world where over the air was your only option to watch tv? I remember a time when there was only VHF (very high frequency) and we got 3 stations - ABC, CBS, and NBC. Then along came UHF (ultra high frequency) where I believe most PBS stations broadcast on.

I just checked Hulu, and they said this about why not all I Love Lucy shows are available. Apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Quote

Why are so many I Love Lucy episodes missing from Hulu?

A lot of that is about rights, Licensing and especially music rights where financial agreements can't be met, so therefore those episode are cut out of the line up.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

20 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Just curious, have you ever been in a world where over the air was your only option to watch tv? I remember a time when there was only VHF (very high frequency) and we got 3 stations - ABC, CBS, and NBC. Then along came UHF (ultra high frequency) where I believe most PBS stations broadcast on.

I just checked Hulu, and they said this about why not all I Love Lucy shows are available. Apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Why are so many I Love Lucy episodes missing from Hulu?

A lot of that is about rights, Licensing and especially music rights where financial agreements can't be met, so therefore those episode are cut out of the line up.

Nope. Never have. The one HD antenna I found on Amazon said it could pick up to 80 channels.

Oh, for Fuck's sake! Music rights? I'm assuming all the songs that Desi/Ricky sang? These streaming platforms have more money, yet couldn't reach an agreement, but MeTV and Hallmark were able to play ALL the episodes?

[Egg McMuffin]

You’re hitting on an area of interest for me, so apologies in advance for the long post.

I haven’t had cable for years. I have an antenna that can get stations from 60 miles away. But the antenna is mounted on my roof, my house is on a hill, I have unobstructed views in the direction where most of the local broadcasting towers are located, and I have a preamplifier which helps strengthen the signal internally. I have a pretty optimal setup. I previously had an attic mount antenna in a different house, and I got fewer stations that way. If your antenna is inside, then it greatly reduces then distance from which your can receive signals.

A lot depends on signal frequency too. VHF frequencies used to be optimal back in the old days, but in the days of digital, UHF frequencies are preferred, because they travel further. Most stations are actually no longer broadcasting on the channel that they identify on air (for example, our local Channel 5 actually broadcasts on a much higher UHF signal).

Decades and MeTV and others are actually over-the air (OTA) station that cable companies will carry if they are subchannels of a major station. For example, MeTV is a subchannel of our local ABC affiliate. And that ABC station has the ability to say to the cable companies, “You can only carry the ABC main station if you also carry our MeTV subchannel.”

Decades was originally a subchannel of all the CBS owned and operated stations (not all CBS affiliates - just the ones that CBS actually owns in major cities like NY, LA, Philadelphia, etc). So CBS was able to force cable providers to carry Decades too. A few years back, CBS O&O stations decided to drop Decades in favor of Start TV. So Start replaced Decades on cable systems serving those areas. If there is no local affiliate carrying an OTA station, then it generally won’t be on a local cable system.

[SmithW6079]

Hulu's explanation about why all the episodes of "I Love Lucy" aren't on the streaming service sound like a cop-out to me, other than "we don't want to pay for them."

You can respect someone you don't like. For instance, I have a coworker who is very good at their job, and I respect that, but I don't like them. Other than interacting for work, I wouldn't hang out with them at all.

[Maverick]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

hese streaming platforms have more money, yet couldn't reach an agreement, but MeTV and Hallmark were able to play ALL the episodes?

Music rights are highly complicated but in general they're specific to medium which the program is being delivered.  When the rights for ILL were being negotiated for to air in syndication, streaming, DVDs and probably VHS tapes didn't exist.  So just because the studio had the rights for the music broadcast reruns, they didn't have the rights to sell that music on a DVD or to show it on a streaming service. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 minutes ago, Maverick said:

Music rights are highly complicated but in general they're specific to medium which the program is being delivered.  When the rights for ILL were being negotiated for to air in syndication, streaming, DVDs and probably VHS tapes didn't exist.  So just because the studio had the rights for the music broadcast reruns, they didn't have the rights to sell that music on a DVD or to show it on a streaming service. 

Well, I have the entire series on dvd as well as the first season's Collector's Edition and I can tell you that all the songs I remember Ricky singing on the syndicated versions, are on the dvds.

But I'm just banging my head against the wall now, because it doesn't look like this show will ever come back to MeTV.

[Maverick]

 Yes, because they negotiated the rights to release it on DVD separately.   And they would have to negotiate the rights for streaming separately, which they've apparently opted not to do. 

[Egg McMuffin]

I think sometime in the past 35 years, with the ascent of home video, Viacom secured the music rights for that channel. ILL has generated a lot of revenue on VHS and DVD. But the powers that be didn’t anticipate streaming. So now they have to go back and negotiate the rights again. Considering that streaming is rising and DVD, broadcast, and cable are declining, they’d be wise to do so.

 

 

[Egg McMuffin]

I guess we don’t have a separate forum for the Lucy Show, so I’ll post this here. I’ve caught a few episodes on Decades in the past few weeks and boy is it awful. It’s bearable for the first few years, when she shared the house with Viv and the kids. But once it moves to California and she becomes Mooney’s secretary, with cheezy guest stars galore, it’s near unwatchable.

The worst is the bizarre “kaleidoscope” opening and all the weird clips of Lucy: Lucy chewing on what appears to be a very tough piece of meat while holding a bottle of ketchup. Lucy chewing on something else, dressed as a cowboy, with a teabag hanging off her mouth. Lucy bawling while a bottle or hose or something is fizzing uncontrollably. Lucy trapped in what seems to be a straightjacket, with a mentally deranged look on her face. All while a nightmarish, off-key version of the Lucy Show theme plays in the background. I vaguely remember this coming on a local UHF station after some cartoon I liked, and I’d rush to turn the TV off before that frightening opening began.

Who thought this was even remotely appealing I wonder? I blame the second husband.

[Maverick]

2 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Who thought this was even remotely appealing I wonder? I blame the second husband.

 The viewing audience.  All of Lucy's shows were top 10 hits until Life with Lucy in the 80s.  By then the TV landscape and public's taste had changed.   But before then her shows were winners and on more than one occasion the network had to coax her into continuing.   I agree the later shows are weaker and largely tread on the popularity of ILL.  Here's Lucy wasn't as bad since you had Lucie and Desir Jr. to add a different dynamic.   The hardest part of watching that show now is the decor.  I know the early 70s was bad in general, but that set looked like someone dredged it up for the subbasement of design hell, puked on it and said "Action!"  

[marypat57]

On 1/6/2022 at 11:22 PM, Maverick said:

 …….I don't remember it being on TV Land, at least not since they switched to more modern shows…

I won a trip to the TV Land premiere party held at the Paramount Studios in 1996.  One of my local radio stations held a contest where you had to correctly identify 5 tv show theme songs in order after hearing brief snippets of them.  Being the vast resource of mostly useless information I was at the time, I was able to do it quickly and correctly.  Back in those days, not too many people had cell phones, and for some reason, it seemed that it was easier to get through to a contest line on a cell phone.  At that time, I think I was still using one of those gigantic “brick” phones.

I loved TV Land when they showed the 50s and early 60s shows, complete with some of the original commercials.  My mother would tell stories about the time when I was very young (maybe 2), and we lived in an apartment building with a small grocery/deli on the street level.  The store owner could point to a product on his shelf and I would sing the commercial that went with it.

[Egg McMuffin]

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

 The viewing audience.  All of Lucy's shows were top 10 hits until Life with Lucy in the 80s.  By then the TV landscape and public's taste had changed.   But before then her shows were winners and on more than one occasion the network had to coax her into continuing.   I agree the later shows are weaker and largely tread on the popularity of ILL.  Here's Lucy wasn't as bad since you had Lucie and Desir Jr. to add a different dynamic.   The hardest part of watching that show now is the decor.  I know the early 70s was bad in general, but that set looked like someone dredged it up for the subbasement of design hell, puked on it and said "Action!"  

It was definitely a different time - there were only three major networks and with a star of Lucille Ball’s caliber, she was able to get into the top 10 with a clearly inferior product. But that doesn’t excuse her and her team, since it was so easy for them to see the better show she had starred in such a short time before. Vivian Vance knew it wasn’t good - when she was negotiating a deal for a fourth season, before she ultimately left, she was asking for more creative input because she knew the show had declined.

LOL @ your comment about the sets. From what I’ve read, those later Lucy shows were run on a tight budget and they sure weren’t spending on the sets.

[Gemma Violet]

On 1/10/2022 at 4:48 PM, Egg McMuffin said:

I guess we don’t have a separate forum for the Lucy Show, so I’ll post this here. I’ve caught a few episodes on Decades in the past few weeks and boy is it awful. It’s bearable for the first few years, when she shared the house with Viv and the kids. But once it moves to California and she becomes Mooney’s secretary, with cheezy guest stars galore, it’s near unwatchable.

The worst is the bizarre “kaleidoscope” opening and all the weird clips of Lucy: Lucy chewing on what appears to be a very tough piece of meat while holding a bottle of ketchup. Lucy chewing on something else, dressed as a cowboy, with a teabag hanging off her mouth. Lucy bawling while a bottle or hose or something is fizzing uncontrollably. Lucy trapped in what seems to be a straightjacket, with a mentally deranged look on her face. All while a nightmarish, off-key version of the Lucy Show theme plays in the background. I vaguely remember this coming on a local UHF station after some cartoon I liked, and I’d rush to turn the TV off before that frightening opening began.

Who thought this was even remotely appealing I wonder? I blame the second husband.

I have good memories of The Lucy Show from my younger days.  Last week I watched some of the episodes that are up on Amazon.  Hadn't seen them in 40 years or more, maybe since I was a teen or in my early twenties.  I'll admit, as I'm looking through the eyes of a 65-year old, they aren't quite as good as I remember them, BUT I still enjoyed them, even now.  Of course, I had seen them a few times growing up in syndication, so it was fun to see a couple of them again and remember certain things like Milton Berle with salad on his head and Lucy getting drunk in front of Jacques Bergerac.  (The ones I saw recently were Lucy and the French Movie Star and Lucy Meets the Berles.) 

I never minded the opening or the opening theme.  By the way, the "teabag" hanging out of Lucy's mouth was, IIRC, a packet of chewing tobacco.  She was rolling a cigarette and the bag got caught in her teeth.  The "straight jacket" was a bag, possibly a bank bag to put money in.  The hose may have been a fire extinguisher hose.  (I'm going by what I remember 40 years ago, so don't quote me--lol.)  

Edited January 11, 2022 by Gemma Violet

[BetterButter]

‘Lucy and Desi’ Documentary Directed by Amy Poehler Heading to Prime Video This March

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oooooh! Look what I found!!!!

 

[Egg McMuffin]

That’s a great clip and proof of how much the Arnazes valued their writers.

[GHScorpiosRule]

20 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

That’s a great clip and proof of how much the Arnazes valued their writers.

Yes, they did. And I don't know if Desi was credited, but I noticed in the last half of season one's closing credits, he's listed as an executive producer. The man was a HUGE reason for the success of this show behind the scenes.

And I don't care how silly or ridiculous it was, but the scene in "The Freezer" where Lucy is stuck and icicles have formed on her eyelashes and chin, and she's crying have me rolling!🤣😅 Especially where Ricky is begging her not to cry and imitates crying, and then shaking his head no to her-as a way to tell her not to do that. Getting ready to watch the remaining of the first season-the finale is "Ricky Thinks He's Going Bald" is right  up there with "L.A. At Last!"--the scene where Lucy puts Ricky through all those hair torture devices, eggs, mayo, mustard!😅😅

And with all these new Lucy/Ricky/Lucille/Desi projects popping up, AGAIN, I have to ask, why MeTV won't bring this show back into its rotation.

[Egg McMuffin]

Desi was credited as the executive producer for the second half of season 1 through end of season 5, while Jess Oppenheimer was the producer and head writer. Back then, the producer was the showrunner and responsible for the creative side of the show, while the executive producer was the business affairs person for the studio and liaison with the network. After Oppenheimer left, Desi became the producer/showrunner for the final season, and Oppenheimer’s longtime deputies Madelyn Pugh Martin and Bob Carroll took over as head writers.