Emmy nominees share "red-haired gene"

[Brock]

Joel Ryan of Yahoo!TV explains why this weekend's Best Comedy nominees have a certain redhead to thank:

 

 

If you think about it, this year's Primetime Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series nominees, from the silly to the bleak, all share a single red-haired gene: "I Love Lucy."

"30 Rock" is centered on show business. "Louie," also tangentially about show business, stars Louis C.K. as a fictionalized version of himself. "Modern Family" gets more than a few miles out of Sofia Vergara's accented English. "The Big Bang Theory" is a multicamera show that hinges on the antics of its family of neighbors. The main characters of "Girls" and "Veep," as with "30 Rock," are women.

In other words, three words: "I Love Lucy," which won its first series Emmy and just maybe the most important Emmy in the history of the awards 60 years ago.

"'I Love Lucy' has got to be one of those cross-defining television programs that helps everyone understand what the medium was, and what it can be," says Walter J. Podrazik, curator of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago and co-author of "Watching TV: Six Decades of American Television."

 

MORE: http://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/emmys/2013-emmys-i-love-lucy-comedy-winner-182911516.html

[Annaleigh]

Very awesome article and oh so true!

[Luvsbway]

I read an article in Entertainment Weekly a few months ago about all the female centered shows now. New Girl, Girls, The Mindy Project and how not only do they have females as the main leads but the amount of behind the scenes involvement these woman play in their own shows from writing to directing is becoming very large. They inevitable mention Lucy and Carol in the article as 2 woman who were out in front in their time and paved the way for these new and in many cases fairly young women.

 

I got to thinking that in ILL days Lucy did none of the behind the scenes stuff but was the driving force the show was behind. Only in the 60’s did she become the Studio Head and a large force behind many shows. Although she surround herself with many who were very smart and gave her good advice she did have to make the final decisions. Now days every star of their own show has a Producer credit. This could mean really anything. Back in Lucy’s day it was not the norm to have the star with a Producer credit because then you had to actually do something to get that title. I think that if Lucy were to do a show today I think she would have directed an episode or more of her own show and been given that credit. She had that weird one for HL and I still don’t understand the full circumstances behind that. We know she pretty much did direct her own show in those later years. Was it not a very accepted thing back then for the star to take a larger creative role in their shows? She had more time during the HL years since she didn’t have the studio anymore. I don’t think her directing of Bungle Abby was what sunk that pilot. Did she direct anything other than these 2 projects? Maybe that should have been her career in the 80’s. She could have been comfortable on a sit-com set, told people what to do in her matter of fact way and not have been concerned with her on-camera appearance.

[Annaleigh]

I read an article in Entertainment Weekly a few months ago about all the female centered shows now. New Girl, Girls, The Mindy Project and how not only do they have females as the main leads but the amount of behind the scenes involvement these woman play in their own shows from writing to directing is becoming very large. They inevitable mention Lucy and Carol in the article as 2 woman who were out in front in their time and paved the way for these new and in many cases fairly young women.

 

I got to thinking that in ILL days Lucy did none of the behind the scenes stuff but was the driving force the show was behind. Only in the 60’s did she become the Studio Head and a large force behind many shows. Although she surround herself with many who were very smart and gave her good advice she did have to make the final decisions. Now days every star of their own show has a Producer credit. This could mean really anything. Back in Lucy’s day it was not the norm to have the star with a Producer credit because then you had to actually do something to get that title. I think that if Lucy were to do a show today I think she would have directed an episode or more of her own show and been given that credit. She had that weird one for HL and I still don’t understand the full circumstances behind that. We know she pretty much did direct her own show in those later years. Was it not a very accepted thing back then for the star to take a larger creative role in their shows? She had more time during the HL years since she didn’t have the studio anymore. I don’t think her directing of Bungle Abby was what sunk that pilot. Did she direct anything other than these 2 projects? Maybe that should have been her career in the 80’s. She could have been comfortable on a sit-com set, told people what to do in her matter of fact way and not have been concerned with her on-camera appearance.

Very interesting post. But I can see it all, especially the ending. I wonder how that would've worked out for her? Also I wonder why not many movie roles came to her in the 80's or guest star bits.

[Neil]

She is the director of record on Desilu Playhouses "Desilu Revue" although books have stated that Desi had to step in.

She took director credit on only one TLS/HL that I know of, that being "Lucy, the Sheriff" which she shared with the director up to that point Coby Ruskin.  The handful of episodes that remained in the 6th season were directed by Jack Donahue.

I've never heard the Coby Out-Jack In story, but there must have been something there.  Either Coby got sick, quit or was fired.

Aren't there union rules that say you have to join the Directors Guild to get credit?  If so, was Lucy a member?

[JoeySanJoaquin]

She is the director of record on Desilu Playhouses "Desilu Revue" although books have stated that Desi had to step in.

She took director credit on only one TLS/HL that I know of, that being "Lucy, the Sheriff" which she shared with the director up to that point Coby Ruskin.  The handful of episodes that remained in the 6th season were directed by Jack Donahue.

I've never heard the Coby Out-Jack In story, but there must have been something there.  Either Coby got sick, quit or was fired.

Aren't there union rules that say you have to join the Directors Guild to get credit?  If so, was Lucy a member?

Great questions.  I also love the thought that Lucy could have added "guest director" to sitcoms of the day, given the opportunity.  I'm thinking however of several possible reasons why, back then, that may not have been an option: Perhaps considered a "step down" (in the industry's collective eyes, at any rate) to go from movie/TV star to TV director; still not common even into the 80s for women to have as much clout and say-so as she did during her 60's heyday, not only running the studio but starring in her eponymous sitcom, etc. etc. 

 

If they would not have gone for her actually directing shows, perhaps she could have served as "creative consultant" or some such, where she could at least have worked more and gotten a little credit on screen for her efforts.

 

After reading the WUNDAFUL book about the making of the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show, the author makes it quite clear that despite MTM being a unique situation where women writers (whom eventually also became producers, for the most part) were not only encouraged but were seeked out as they were not the norm.  As the show grew more and more successful, more women writers not only found their way to the MTM writers room but also became integral to the eventual Rhoda spinoff, etc.  What's disheartening however was to read that those few "golden years" when MTM the studio was flourishing seemed to be the longest span of time in which women writers were working in such great numbers, at least for the remainder of the decade, if not well into the 80s.

 

I think it's just been in recent years that it's become commonplace to see women in just as many roles as men, aided no doubt with the success of such hyphenates as Tina Fey, Mindy Kalling and many others.

[C L A U D E]

Great questions.  I also love the thought that Lucy could have added "guest director" to sitcoms of the day, given the opportunity.  I'm thinking however of several possible reasons why, back then, that may not have been an option: Perhaps considered a "step down" (in the industry's collective eyes, at any rate) to go from movie/TV star to TV director; still not common even into the 80s for women to have as much clout and say-so as she did during her 60's heyday, not only running the studio but starring in her eponymous sitcom, etc. etc. 

 

If they would not have gone for her actually directing shows, perhaps she could have served as "creative consultant" or some such, where she could at least have worked more and gotten a little credit on screen for her efforts.

 

After reading the WUNDAFUL book about the making of the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show, the author makes it quite clear that despite MTM being a unique situation where women writers (whom eventually also became producers, for the most part) were not only encouraged but were seeked out as they were not the norm.  As the show grew more and more successful, more women writers not only found their way to the MTM writers room but also became integral to the eventual Rhoda spinoff, etc.  What's disheartening however was to read that those few "golden years" when MTM the studio was flourishing seemed to be the longest span of time in which women writers were working in such great numbers, at least for the remainder of the decade, if not well into the 80s.

 

I think it's just been in recent years that it's become commonplace to see women in just as many roles as men, aided no doubt with the success of such hyphenates as Tina Fey, Mindy Kalling and many others.

Yeah, the girl from GIRLS also, Dunham?

[Luvsbway]

Yeah, that one who likes to take her clothes off a lot.

[C L A U D E]

Yeah, that one who likes to take her clothes off a lot.

And she's not exactly MISS PERFECT BODY EITHER, LOL!  But her sense of humor is pretty good.