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What would Lucy in London be like today?


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I love it! Especially the song, and the ballad in between with the carousel and the dancers. My mom and her sisters were little kids in 1966. Wish that was MY childhood. How do you think it would be today? It would probably be some group like One Erection singing instead of people who can actually SING. Or maybe Adele or Ed Shereen. Or even Paul McCartney. Surprised the Beatles didn't cameo or sing since it was the peak of their career. They were more Liverpool instead of London I guess. Oh, and it would be all autotune. gross. And what do you think would go on during the special? Would there be a lot of celebrity cameos? They took her through the shopping district and to a lot of historic sights.

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Why didn't the critics really like it? I heard it didn't get good reviews. Yeah, she would probably try to audition for The X Factor, or Britian's Got Talent. lol. What's The London Eye? "Half a pound of tuppeny rice, half a pound of treacle, that's the way the money goes, Pop goes the weasel!"

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I've only read thumbnail reviews and none of them good.  I think it was just unexpected, especially considering how it stands out among those other 5th season shows.  I like most of the 5th season but The Lucy Show had become rather bland and played it safe.

 

 Nobody gave Lucy any credit for trying something completely different, not then in reviews or in books covering Lucy's career.   The opening sequence at the airport and the initial motorcycle ride to the "On a Wonderful Day" song are brilliant, as is the Lucy in London song, the latter certainly ahead of its time.

Perhaps the critics focused on the downside of the show.  The punting scene where they puncture the life raft is poorly edited.  Don't know what footage the cameraman gave the editor, but it looks pieced together (like the "Marineland" porpoise scene).  And you have to REALLY like Anthony Newley to enjoy his LONG medley at the end.  His singing is an acquired taste. And the sequence is so long, it seems like filler.

I think this is the first time we've seen Lucy without a laugh track (even "KO Kitty" had one).  Though critics and the public always complained about the presence of canned laughter, there's something a little jarring about a comedy from this period without it. Ditto "Lucy Gets Lucky".

The ratings were high, but it was never repeated.  You'd think they would have done so within the spring-summer reruns before "Vacation Playhouse" took over, if for no other reason to recoup some of the expense.   I think the 4th season of HL  (1971-1972-2) was the first time all episodes of a Lucy series from the same season were repeated.

What might be interesting is to see a list of episodes they picked from the season to repeat.  The only ones I know off the top of my head are:

1st season of TLS started with "Electric Mattress".  1st season of HL started the reruns in March with Carol Burnett/Gym Musical which had just been shown in January. (not absolutely positive I'm correct about those).

Why didn't the critics really like it? I heard it didn't get good reviews. Yeah, she would probably try to audition for The X Factor, or Britian's Got Talent. lol. What's The London Eye? "Half a pound of tuppeny rice, half a pound of treacle, that's the way the money goes, Pop goes the weasel!"

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I LOVED that special and YES, Lucy did try something new, it was great from start to finish.  BUT, same as the Broadway audiences, they expected hysterically funny Lucy, the one they watched for decades, but instead got this musical comedy, albeit in a different setting for once.  Newley might have been an acquired taste but those songs he sang were just terrific.

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