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Favorite Lucy Christmas episode


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I think it's a tossup between TLS Together for Christmas or Lucy The Choirmaster. Not entirely too crazy about the ILL one. Plus there's only 3 all together. 

 

While I enjoyed the 1965 one, the season 1 episode is definitely more memorable and quotable. One thing I can't get over is when Chris enters the living room from the kitchen, wanting to ask Lucy a question about the aftershave. Just the angle of the camera and how it doesn't follow her. She walks straight from the kitchen over to the living room, off camera. 

 

And just before Viv puts her tree topper on, you can clearly see that there's literally no top branch on her tree. And when she and Lucy rush to put their 2 trees together you can see Viv stick the top into a pole. I guess back in 1962, the TV reception wasn't so good and people wouldn't be able to tell that it was a prop fake tree. 

 

In the Choirmaster episode, I think the best scene was Lucy shopping for a tree. Even though all the trees were most likely fake (and the one she picked was the one from the ILL episode) they looked pretty real. I couldn't believe when she took all the giftcards off the presents in Mr. Mooney's office. But the "AUNT CLARA WOULD LOOK PRETTY SILLY STANDING OUT IN THE RAIN HOLDING UP A BASEBALL BAT!" line was gold. So was Lucy trying to give all the cues during the 12 Days number. 

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I watched both last night. Some observations. In Choirmaster the audiable gasps from the women in the audience as Lucy removes the gift tags is hilarious. I never noticed before how loud they were.

 

In Together there is a long shot of the living room as the choir sings and if you look at Viv she wipes a tear away and she has her hand around Lucy's back. I always liked how Viv joined in the singing.

 

I love this episode because it is well written. I also think the warmth and emotions between Lucy and Viv at the end is very genuine and probably slightly unscripted. You can tell how good of friends they were.

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Together for Christmas is my favorite, hands down. The depiction of the two families celebrating Christmas with different traditions is hilarious and touching. I agree about the ending. The admiration Lucy and Vivian had for each other is crystal clear in that scene.

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I actually always noticed the gasps. And of course "She's gonna chop it down!!!" I heard someone say something when Lucy walked into the kitchen. 

 

And yes you can see the admiration between Lucy and Viv at the end of that one. Hard to believe that they didn't get along at first, when they first met. Love how they didn't have the audience applaud at the end. 

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I love both also...but may have a more sentimental attachment to "Choirmaster" as it was shown every Christmas morning on CBS.  It's really a nice little episode.  A little light on "plot" but the idea of having Lucy mime the lyrics to "12 Days" was inspired.  Another LOL moment: The cutaway shots of Mooney reacting as Lucy goes into her "cues" --so taken aback that he misses his cue, despite Lucy repeatedly pointing at him.  Notice that this time his "partridge in a pear tree" is an octave higher.

Was this kid with laryn-yitis REALLY their bass??

Lucy is SO lovable in this episode.  Under "the little things they do", I would list Lucy's 2nd apology to the audience right after they screw up the lyrics.  Looking around as saying "Pardon us. Do forgive us"; and her little peck on the cheek of Lloyd Corrigan.

And the gasp as Lucy takes the cards from the gifts is priceless--such a spontaneous and genuine audience reaction.

 

Lucy's $20 tree in 1965 adjusted for inflation translates to almost $150 today!!  No wonder she made it to broke.  (Fred's $5 tree purchase would set him back $44 in 2013)

 

But nothing compares to "she's going to chop it down" in "Together".

Has anyone else ever noticed how HEAVILY scored the little scene is of Lucy and Viv's cold war before they start debating who's going to tell the children? Nicely done and very ambitious.

And here's my annual bemoan-ation (my own made-up word) about there being no "Here's Lucy" Christmas episode when it was just begging for one.  Just think what Milt Josefsburg could have done with Lucy decorating Harry's house, complete with faulty-wired lights.

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I was tree shopping with my aunt and I didn't even see trees that cost 150 dollars where we were. The highest I saw was about 60. She got hers for about 30. 

 

I never even noticed that "Pardon us, do forgive us" thing. But I always LOL at Mr. Mooney's annoyed "And a partridge in a pear tree." And the kid couldn't even somehow unlock his skates, even a day or so later? I also just noticed that in Lucy's apartment, there seems to be a section of mat that is a slightly lighter shade of green than her carpet, to make it easier for him to roll on skates I guess. But we're supposed to believe that he's skating on a carpet? And some of those boys in the top row looked to be at least 15 years old and they still had high pitched voices. 

 

Yeah I wish there was a HL Christmas episode. At least they DID have Christmas in their universe, it's when Mr. Mooney got that magnum of champagne seen in Memoirs. 

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