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Sitcoms worthy of comparison to "I Love Lucy"


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Just thought of another one ...

 

BewitchedLike I Love Lucy, it didn't feature your typical couple. With Lucy, it had an interracial couple and with Bewitched, it had a mortal married to an immortal one who was a witch. In both series, the stars' lead characters had husbands who wanted them to be submissive, in the home, and a mother. And nothing else. Lucy had the ambition of being in the show but was always told "NO" by Ricky. Samantha was denied using her magic/witchcraft by Darrin on regular basis even if it benefited him. In both of the series' second season, pregnancy and giving birth were incorporated into the program's plot lines. From there, we saw their offspring grow from a baby to a talking child in subsequent seasons. Later in their runs, both series made a visit to Europe. They also had another trips as well --- Lucy went to Hollywood, Florida, & Cuba and Bewitched went to Salem. Also, a running gag in both I Love Lucy and Bewitched were the mother-in-laws always getting their son-in-law's name wrong.

 

It should be noted that William Asher, a director of I Love Lucy, went on to direct Bewitched. The Bewitched episode, "Samantha's Power Failure", bears a great resemblance to "Job Switching", the first episode that Asher directed of I Love Lucy.

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I haven't watched the whole run of Bewitched but I have heard it said before how many plot lines it had similar to ILL.

 

It's easy to tell they shared the same director, William Asher. There's one show that has Uncle Arthur and Serena dipping bananas in chocolate that is very similar to Job Switching. Serena even has the line "they used to call me the big dipper!"

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No love for The MTM Show in this thread?

 

Other than the two lead characters being female and both being groundbreaking shows, I see really no comparison between it and I Love Lucy.

 

The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a workplace comedy and so it's best, I think, for it to be compared to the likes of The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, Cheers, Wings, Murphy Brown, and even The Dick Van Dyke Show and That Girl and to a lesser degree, The Lucy Show.

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Other than the two lead characters being female and both being groundbreaking shows, I see really no comparison between it and I Love Lucy.

 

The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a workplace comedy and so it's best, I think, for it to be compared to the likes of The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, Cheers, Wings, Murphy Brown, and even The Dick Van Dyke Show and That Girl and to a lesser degree, The Lucy Show.

 

 

It is comparable not just in the two "lead" characters being women and it breaking new ground on television, but in the fact it started off as a female driven show which quickly evolved into very much an ensemble piece that saw the value in moving these workplace situations very much into the domestic realm. Each character/actor had distinct moments to shine and its lead star was not afraid, and secure enough to let her support shine in their own right. It's a show which has writing that is, like ILL, still as fresh today as when it was written.

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I'll make an embarrassing confession. I like Gilligan's Island. It doesn't compare in quality to I Love Lucy, but it makes me laugh and I think it was wonderfuly cast.

Nothing wrong with you or anyone else liking any show, it's just that when critics pick the worst shows ever made, those three are often named, tis all.  I watched it too, made no sense but it was sometimes funny.

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Home Improvement was a sitcom that often made me laugh. While it is no I Love Lucy, for comparisons sake, the relationship between Tim & his TV wife Jill was loving, funny & well written (like the Ricardos). The relationship between Tim & Al is a bit like the male version of Lucy & Ethel :) .

 

 I agree! I love that show. The relationship between TIm and Jill was great and real.

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Nothing wrong with you or anyone else liking any show, it's just that when critics pick the worst shows ever made, those three are often named, tis all.  I watched it too, made no sense but it was sometimes funny.

 

Mister Ed was considered one of worst shows ever made? Gilligan's Island too? Why?

 

These are classics!

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