# did My Favorite Martian share a common pedigree with I Love Lucy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390 "2014-12-05T10:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/1 "2014-12-05T10:17:58Z")
… or did they merely share an already-common idiomatic expression? It’s pretty common knowledge that the television program _I Love Lucy_ originated as a radio comedy called _My Favorite Husband_ (or if it’s not common knowledge, it’s at least easy to find out, the internet being what it is). Were there any other titles in popular culture that followed the pattern of _My Favorite [insert noun here]_? I’m curious to know if the name of the Bill Bixby/Ray Walston vehicle was an homage to Lucy and Desi’s radio program. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/2 "2014-12-05T10:55:13Z")
It certainly sounds plausible. The first two seasons of _My Favorite Martian_ were filmed at DesiLu Studios and Lucy was the sole owner of DesiLu then. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/3 "2014-12-05T16:44:34Z")
According to IMDB “My Favorite Wife” starring Cary Grant came out in 1940, I’m sure the experts here will find older examples. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/4 "2014-12-05T16:54:09Z")
There’s also **My Favorite Brunette** from 1947. **My Favorite Husband** dates from 1948. **My Favorite Blonde** dates from 1942, as did the Porky Pig cartoon **My Favorite Duck**. **My Favorite Wife** also shows up as a silent film title in 1929, but the IMDB has nothing other than the title. I suppose that **My Favorite Husband** might have some influence, but I suspect **My Favorite Martian** was the idea of the show’s producers, not the production company. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/5 "2014-12-05T17:00:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m curious to know if the name of the Bill Bixby/Ray Walston vehicle was an homage to Lucy and Desi’s radio program. [NITPICK] Actually Desi was not involved in the radio show. Richard Denning played Lucy’s husband. When the network wanted to move the show to television Lucy refused to do it unless they agreed to have Desi play her husband. The network gave in, albeit reluctantly. [/NITPICK] ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/6 "2014-12-05T17:29:15Z")
Thank you for fighting my ignorance! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/7 "2014-12-06T17:40:23Z")
Movie: _My Favorite Year_. (Best of the "My Favorite…"s in my opinion.) Song: Cheryl Crow’s _My Favorite Mistake_, re-used as an episode title on _Grey’s Anatomy_, season 3. (But as usual, the song is not used in the episode.) Checking the [Tommy Westphall Universe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Westphall#The_Tommy_Westphall_Universe_Hypothesis) list shows that _ILL_ is in the [Universe](https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B28oPRYmK5pLRkxrc250SjlqQnM/edit?pli=1), but _MFM_ isn’t. So no series of crossovers is known. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/8 "2014-12-06T19:04:27Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > [NITPICK] Actually Desi was not involved in the radio show. Richard Denning played Lucy’s husband. When the network wanted to move the show to television Lucy refused to do it unless they agreed to have Desi play her husband. The network gave in, albeit reluctantly. [/NITPICK] Some of the scripts for MFH were recycled for ILL - the other week, I heard an episode of MFH all about Lucy’s poor time management, leading to her husband setting up a schedule for her, which was almost identical to the ILL episode from the first season “Lucy’s Schedule.” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/9 "2014-12-07T08:56:00Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > […] My Favorite Martian […] Oh, wait. This thread isn’t about me, is it? _slinks out_ ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-favorite-martian-share-a-common-pedigree-with-i-love-lucy/706390/10 "2014-12-07T18:11:03Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Oh, wait. This thread isn’t about me, is it? It _could_ be. What are you giving out to get to the top of lists?