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Vivian's best work on "The Lucy Show"


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I personally find the Vivian Bagley character harder to take than Ethel Mertz in many instances. Too haughty and overbearing to be as lovable as Mrs. Mertz much of the time. However, that's not to say that Vivian wasn't able to bring her warmth and humor to the character when it counted. Which TLS episodes do you think capture Vivian at her best?

 

Lucy's Barbershop Quartet: This is one case where her frustration with Lucy is justified and funny in equal measure. The support she receives from Carole and Dorothy during the rehearsal scene is also terrific.

 

Lucy & Viv Put in a Shower: In my opinion, their best joint comedy scene on the whole series. "THAT WAS A DUMB THING TO DO!!" Plus the final scene is very touching.

 

Lucy Buys a Boat: I like Viv in this show less for her characterization than for her adeptness at playing off Lucy. Just a primo example of how well they played together as a team.

 

Volunteer Firemen: The sight of Viv hooking the hose up to the water cooler will always be a classic to me.

 

Lucy Gets Her Maid: "Coffee Coffee Cha Cha Cha!" Need more be said?

 

There are others, of course, but these are the ones that spring to mind for me.

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I like your choices.

 

For me though the best all-round Viv performance is Lucy & Arthur Godfrey which allowed her to show off her comedy and her spectacular way with a musical number, in which, in my opinion, she totally stole the show from the star.

Excellent point. For me, "Steamboat Bessie" is the only reason to watch that episode.

 

Although she wasn't featured much in it, her comedy bit distracting Cesare Danova in "Lucy Meets a Millionaire" was a highlight.

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I LOVE Lucy Buys a Boat. Perfect episode all the way. From the Lux beauty soap commercials to Lucy using a loaf of bread as a pillow for sleeping . . . I love how Viv shouts "And all I wanted to do was to go to the lake and lie in a hammock!" while they try to get the mast in the house. They could've covered it up with some tarps. haha

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Trying to tell Lucy that Agnes Schmidlapp is really Ethel Merman in the middle of Lucy's singing lesson ala Professor Gitterman.

 

When she gets the call from Kathleen that there's a run on the bank in "Gets a Job At....".  Also in that episode, the way she walks as she and Lucy are pretending to be bank robbers.  In fact "Gets a Job" is one of the best of the season.  Always like it when more of their woman-friends are involved.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I enjoy any of the episodes where she and Lucy get to do physical comedy together - putting in the shower together, building a boat, building the rumpus room, etc.

It was too bad that the writers decided to de-emphasize the slapstick and physical comedy after the first season. I know the biographies give different reasons for that: in "Loving Lucy," for example, they write they producers didn't want Lucy to get injured doing physical stunts, and in "Desilu," the authors write that Lucy had received a lot of homophobic comments about "two old ladies doing comedy together with no male influence around," so they brought in Gale and decided to focus more on verbal hi-jinx.

 

Whatever the reason behind the decision, after they de-emphasized the slapstick/physical comedy piece, it did seem like Vivian's character had a lot less to do - and by the third season, you could tell that she was getting bored with the role and it showed in her acting. Too bad, because (at least in my opinion,) the show took a major dive creatively once she left.
 

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I

I enjoy any of the episodes where she and Lucy get to do physical comedy together - putting in the shower together, building a boat, building the rumpus room, etc.

It was too bad that the writers decided to de-emphasize the slapstick and physical comedy after the first season. I know the biographies give different reasons for that: in "Loving Lucy," for example, they write they producers didn't want Lucy to get injured doing physical stunts, and in "Desilu," the authors write that Lucy had received a lot of homophobic comments about "two old ladies doing comedy together with no male influence around," so they brought in Gale and decided to focus more on verbal hi-jinx.

 

Whatever the reason behind the decision, after they de-emphasized the slapstick/physical comedy piece, it did seem like Vivian's character had a lot less to do - and by the third season, you could tell that she was getting bored with the role and it showed in her acting. Too bad, because (at least in my opinion,) the show took a major dive creatively once she left.

 

I agree. Viv's disinterest is apparent in several third season shows. She doesn't quite have the spark she had during the first year. But it doesn't detract from her stellar moments, Steamboat Bessie being the highlight of her work that year, IMO.

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I

I agree. Viv's disinterest is apparent in several third season shows. She doesn't quite have the spark she had during the first year. But it doesn't detract from her stellar moments, Steamboat Bessie being the highlight of her work that year, IMO.

I not only couldn't agree more Brian but I've often wondered if she'd been given more material to perform more often like "Bessie" if she might have stuck around longer...but sadly we'll never know! :blink:

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I not only couldn't agree more Brian but I've often wondered if she'd been given more material to perform more often like "Bessie" if she might have stuck around longer...but sadly we'll never know! :blink:

Exactly. After Mooney was introduced, the amount of standout material for Vivian seriously diminished. No wonder she grew unhappy doing the show. Especially since she was commuting from the east coast to do it.

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