Not a great fan. Some of her physical humor is absolutely brilliant, but that only means I can tolerate her. Given the choice, I much prefer verbal humor - which is why I like Groucho Marx so much.
I’m not much for sitcoms unless their writing is absolutely first-rate, which pretty much limits me to Absolutely Fabulous (first three series), and maybe one or two others.
Not a big fan of Lucy, but Desi always cracked me up.
When I grow up, I wanna be Fred Mertz.
I have a daughter named Lucy, but not because of Mrs. Ricardo. It’s a fambly name.
Honestly, I like the other elements of the show better than Lucy herself. For my money, Fred and Ethel (and even Ricky) were funnier than Lucy herself.
Surprisingly perhaps for those that know my tastes, I’m not a big fan of Lucy.
I watched her as a kid, of course, along with the rest of America, but perhaps because the two later series came when I was a teenager and were the sort of thing my parents liked, I really hated them.
I’ve never been able to get back into the reruns of the original show either. The plots were too thin and the dialog repetitious and stale. And I can take or leave slapstick. Hers, I leave.
I am a fan of Desi, though (well, not the drinking and womanizing bits). (Zenster, their marriage was amazing for the day and CBS almost didn’t let Desi play himself, but this was in the 1950s, not 1960s, which makes it all the more amazing.) He did marvelous comic takes and doubletakes and his comic anger is the best husbandly anger ever - you know he still loves her all the time he’s yelling. (Compare it to Jackie Gleason on the Honeymooners, who just seems more and more like a wifebeater as the years go by.)
The SNL he hosted in which they cataloged all the failed “ideas” for the series was hilarious, BTW.
I Love Lucy was certainly influential - it was the first show shot on film, which meant they could later show it over and over again. And Desilu studios owned all the rights. And having a studio meant they could rent out the soundstages to others. (Much of this was Desi’s idea, IIRC.) That made them gazillions - although it also lead to the dread rerun.
I love Lucy.
I love Eve Arden of “Our Miss Brooks” even more. Never saw the TV series, but I love the radio series. Movie wasn’t bad either. The mention of Gale Gordon reminded me. As Principal Conklin, Gordon was Eve’s foil before he was with Lucy on “The Lucy Show.” Gordon’s character and the dynamic with Lucy was essentially just a copy from “Our Miss Brooks.”
Isn’t I Love Lucy credited as the first to tape shows that would eventually become the first re-runs? I also recall being told that it was one of the first shows, if not the first, to use more than one camera.
I liked I Love Lucy for individual shows or scenes. Like most tv, not every moment was a gem. Whether it’s because they’ve been shown in re-runs ever since, so that they’re a part of our mental make-up, or because they’re really just that damned good, it says something that so many people still watch and enjoy them.
My favorite episode, from the second series, was when Lucy rehearsed a dance with Ricky. Her jacket and pants were filled with raw eggs, unbeknownst to Ricky. The build-up as they have near misses is nothing compared to the hilarity when Ricky finally pulls Lucy to him and all those dozens of eggs burst. Hee!
I’ve got one word for you…
Vitameatavegamin
All good points. I agree completely.
Liked “I Love Lucy” but not much that followed. I disagree with many who believe she was playing herself. She played the character of Lucy Ricardo. In “real life” she didn’t have that sweaky voice, nor was she some kind of screwball. She was kind of tough and no non sense. Everyone remembers the slapstick episodes, but she could be a bit dry too. Like the time she made a bet that she couldn’t lie, and then had to go to a ladies bridge group. Funny and sort of bitchy too.
I was not saying that she didn’t provide some sort of characterization to her role. Merely, that she carried her own real-life name into the show. Quite a feat for an actress at that time, if you consider it.
Pash (seen a few episodes, not a fan)
I don’t love Lucy or Raymond. Funny to me for about 30 seconds.
And that’s both of 'em put together. Don’t tell me I love you, 'cause I won’t.
According to this new bio, it was not unheard of to film a TV show in 1951 rather than send out kinetoscopes to far-off stations; but it was highly expensive and unusual. What was new–and Desi Arnaz’s idea–was to shoot a TV show in front of a live audience and with three camera set-ups. That’s why when we see most early '50 reruns they look so flat and distorted; we’re seeing the kinetoscope.
I understand her place in history. How she was very important – in the business, in Social & TVHistory and as a woman. Those among us more erudite than me have already done that better than I ever could, tho I’d add Desilu studios as a force in TV for decades was important too, as was the Little Ricky’s Preggers & birth.
I guess the things I enjoy most about ILL the Show: the cameos George Reeves, John Wayne, Bob Hope et al.
My favorite episodes not mentioned were the cycle on the trip out west (Tennessee Ernie Ford anyone? the marriage, jail, trains etc.) and the Indians in NYC were favorites that I haven’t seen mentioned.
I’ll cop to liking her almost as a childhood friend rather than because I find the the show is SO freakin’ funny. In those pre-cable eons across the sands of time Lucy was on ALL the time & I knew every episode. Someone called the comedy “dated” & I think that is right, & the bottom-line for me, but I’d watch. (Also, it hard to watch uncriticaly like I did as a kid the cringe inducing “I’m going to spank you Lucy”, and the threats of physical violence by an enraged Ricky & the fear of the volcanic outburst by Lucy – nut they dealt with uit in the book throw episode and left no doubt where they stood)
Also I really hated the 80’s show (w. an 80 something Gale Gordon that lasted 2-6 shows)
Good lord.
nut they dealt with uit in the book throw episode and left no doubt where they stood)
is dumbas$ for:
but they dealt with it in the “book throw episode” and left no doubt where they stood)
Do the spinoffs even need discussing? They’re almost uniformly bad. <simpsons throwaway> (tugboat Annie voice) Viv? Where’s my cigarettes?</simpsons>
But the original – brilliant. I understand people who can’t stand the whining, the submission to the husband, all that … but there were still brilliantly funny moments all over the place. I agree that many of the best lines went to Ethel.
“Lucy, you poor little green thing, you!”
(Carolyn Appleby) Oh, Lucy, you’re so droll!
(Ethel) Yes, droll IS the word…
Locked up in the steamer trunk, singing songs with the doctor who delivered her…
The highschool girl with a crush on Ricky – “Keep jiggling, Peggy!”
Locked in the freezing meat locker…
The Maharincess of Franistan
“Grace Foster is having an affair with the milkman.”
“The Pleasant Peasant”, with the bounced check – “It bounced … bounced … boun – nn – nn — nn – nced!” “You mean it came back?”
John Wayne and the footprints in wet cement.
The axe murderess on the drive to Florida – “Watercress sandwiches!”
The wedding anniversary party in the coat closet was genuinely touching.
Oh, and that one episode, where Lucy and Ethel play a trick on Fred and Ricky, and it backfires, and then Fred and Ricky play a trick on the girls, and it backfires too.
One thing about the show really depressed me, though, and it’s not the anti-feminism. It was the way LRF&E would have serious fights over terribly petty things. Friendship-ending (until the end of the ep) brawls over things like tv sets, washing machines, etc. Very sad.
I think the one saving grace of the later Lucys was Gale Gordon as Mr. Mooney–brilliant actor, and he and Lucy had real comic chemistry. Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet were originally supposed to play the Mertzes, but both had ironclad contracts with other shows.
I appreciate its place in TV history and how it really was the archetype of many, if not almost all, sitcoms to follow it, but I hate the show.
I am also a male that doesn't like the Three Stooges. And no, I am not gay. Call me weird.