C L A U D E Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Thank goodness we're all entitled to our opinions and like what we like so forgive me when I say I don't know how anyone can say that when Season One was nearly on an I Love Lucy level of writing and performance and with so many truly classic episodes, which you can't say about the Hollywood eps, much as I enjoy them as well. Plus, I don't like how it seemed they "dumbed down" the Lucy character the longer it went on, especially when she started out so strong in Season One. To me it wasn't just the loss of Viv and the change in locale that made it seem like almost two different, separate shows: the early Lucy Carmichael was much more sophisticated and clever than Hollywood Lucy, sadly. I don't think the addition of prominent guest stars of the day means they had to have her act like an idiot. Pity. Because season one is a boring character, i can't believe they didn't even know if she would be a HIT. While in the last three seasons she comes into her own, carries the show by herself and gets the higher ratings due to her status, at this point she could have read the phone book and people would have tuned in, even though the writers used the DUMB thing to get laughs, lazy bums, she had honed that character so well at that point that she had become an institution. You seem to forget having two HIT series in a row was a major feat back then and especially the fact that no other woman had ever entered that top echelon of superstar comedians. The audience KNEW at that point that she was no dummy, she was even running a studio, Desi was out of the picture and she was still number one and the love the audience had for her meant that they would watch her in anything and proved it by making her such an icon with her unparalleled success that only Bob Hope and she could get away with rising above their lousy material. Bob and Lucy were BELOVED to the point that people tuned in regardless of the material they were handed. Lucy was everywhere, on talk shows, game shows, guesting on other people's shows, even doing specials of her own, there were interviews with her everywhere and she was celebrated as a great never seen before success story, she headed the Q ratings, everybody knew her, titles were now bestowed on her. To dominate the entertainment business with the top show in the fifties was one thing, but now she was doing it again in the sixties, and she was doing it all, movies, radio, and making herself the undisputed Queen of television as well as running a business empire, all proving she was no dumb bunny in real life as she was portrayed on television. AND i think that the DUMB character in a show is usually loved the most also, look at Betty in Golden Girls, people KNEW she was acting as she was so friggin serious on talk shows and in print interviews. AND as others have said, she would also inject some instances in those shows were her shrewdness or conniving was so genius that it downplayed the dumbness and the audience knew the dumbness was only played for laughs. Ok, enough rambling, you get my point i'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikidiki Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Sorry babe, i do not keep track of these things and my memory gave up on the scorecard long ago. No probs ;-) Happy new year by the way xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 No probs ;-) Happy new year by the way xx Same to you and although i've criticized your comments on various shows of hers, i truly L O V E all your posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arissa4ever Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Because season one is a boring character, i can't believe they didn't even know if she would be a HIT. While in the last three seasons she comes into her own, carries the show by herself and gets the higher ratings due to her status, at this point she could have read the phone book and people would have tuned in, even though the writers used the DUMB thing to get laughs, lazy bums, she had honed that character so well at that point that she had become an institution. You seem to forget having two HIT series in a row was a major feat back then and especially the fact that no other woman had ever entered that top echelon of superstar comedians. The audience KNEW at that point that she was no dummy, she was even running a studio, Desi was out of the picture and she was still number one and the love the audience had for her meant that they would watch her in anything and proved it by making her such an icon with her unparalleled success that only Bob Hope and she could get away with rising above their lousy material. Bob and Lucy were BELOVED to the point that people tuned in regardless of the material they were handed. Lucy was everywhere, on talk shows, game shows, guesting on other people's shows, even doing specials of her own, there were interviews with her everywhere and she was celebrated as a great never seen before success story, she headed the Q ratings, everybody knew her, titles were now bestowed on her. To dominate the entertainment business with the top show in the fifties was one thing, but now she was doing it again in the sixties, and she was doing it all, movies, radio, and making herself the undisputed Queen of television as well as running a business empire, all proving she was no dumb bunny in real life as she was portrayed on television. AND i think that the DUMB character in a show is usually loved the most also, look at Betty in Golden Girls, people KNEW she was acting as she was so friggin serious on talk shows and in print interviews. AND as others have said, she would also inject some instances in those shows were her shrewdness or conniving was so genius that it downplayed the dumbness and the audience knew the dumbness was only played for laughs. Ok, enough rambling, you get my point i'm sure. You deserve a muffin basket for this post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 You deserve a muffin basket for this post. I DO??? Make it triple chocolate, chocolate chip, LOL! Thanks for becoming one of my FRIENDS on here Arissa4ever, i love all your posts also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Because season one is a boring character, i can't believe they didn't even know if she would be a HIT. While in the last three seasons she comes into her own, carries the show by herself and gets the higher ratings due to her status, at this point she could have read the phone book and people would have tuned in, even though the writers used the DUMB thing to get laughs, lazy bums, she had honed that character so well at that point that she had become an institution. You seem to forget having two HIT series in a row was a major feat back then and especially the fact that no other woman had ever entered that top echelon of superstar comedians. The audience KNEW at that point that she was no dummy, she was even running a studio, Desi was out of the picture and she was still number one and the love the audience had for her meant that they would watch her in anything and proved it by making her such an icon with her unparalleled success that only Bob Hope and she could get away with rising above their lousy material. Bob and Lucy were BELOVED to the point that people tuned in regardless of the material they were handed. Lucy was everywhere, on talk shows, game shows, guesting on other people's shows, even doing specials of her own, there were interviews with her everywhere and she was celebrated as a great never seen before success story, she headed the Q ratings, everybody knew her, titles were now bestowed on her. To dominate the entertainment business with the top show in the fifties was one thing, but now she was doing it again in the sixties, and she was doing it all, movies, radio, and making herself the undisputed Queen of television as well as running a business empire, all proving she was no dumb bunny in real life as she was portrayed on television. AND i think that the DUMB character in a show is usually loved the most also, look at Betty in Golden Girls, people KNEW she was acting as she was so friggin serious on talk shows and in print interviews. AND as others have said, she would also inject some instances in those shows were her shrewdness or conniving was so genius that it downplayed the dumbness and the audience knew the dumbness was only played for laughs. Ok, enough rambling, you get my point i'm sure. Well, again we're entitled to our own opinions and observations but I agree with very little of what you're saying here. No, I certainly haven't forgotten that she enjoyed the success of TWO successive hit shows, something no other performer save a handful could relate to: add to that list Bob Newhart and Dick Van Dyke, perhaps Ann Sothern (although each of her shows, I think, ran only 3 seasons a piece) and Carroll O'Connor, to name a few and of course, all those long after she blazed the trail. I'm having a really hard time buying that you actually think Lucy Carmichael, at least Season One version, was boring??? Really? I wouldn't have thought such a "boring" character would be running around on stilts, putting up a TV antenna or installing a shower. And so what if for whatever combination of reasons the later three seasons of TLS garnered higher ratings and awards for our heroine? I seriously doubt it had anything to do with how "dumb" the character was written and portrayed. Besides, who can honestly explain the vagaries of the Emmy nominating process (or the tallying of Nielsen ratings for that matter!) and more to the point, why certain folks/shows are nominated at all not to mention repeatedly, while other worthwhile recipients were overlooked year after year (the late great Elizabeth Montgomery comes immediately to mind, for example.). I may not be following you correctly, but it seems that you're saying that Lucy wasn't a "dummy" in real life even though in "reel" life she was portrayed increasingly so; I never meant to imply that and I don't think that was the case anyway and finally, don't really get what one has to do with the other. I was simply pointing out that I personally feel that as each season went on, she (Lucy Carmichael) became, for lack of a probably more accurate word, "dumber." I much preferred the character in her original form perhaps in part because I perceived her to be basically an "(slightly) older and wiser" Lucy Ricardo. Let's face it: throughout the course of her 4 successive sitcoms, she was basically playing Lucy Ricardo, just in mature form as she aged gracefully over three decades. I don't find the Betty White/Rose comparison compelling either because as written and brilliantly portrayed by our favorite octogenarian, she wasn't dumb but rather, naive which is why she took so much said so literally and responded in kind. As you point out, she did have flashes of cleverness, being shrewd; although I wouldn't go so far to say she was ever conniving -- that sounds more like the Sophia character to me than the Rose one. Just my two centavos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Well, again we're entitled to our own opinions and observations but I agree with very little of what you're saying here. No, I certainly haven't forgotten that she enjoyed the success of TWO successive hit shows, something no other performer save a handful could relate to: add to that list Bob Newhart and Dick Van Dyke, perhaps Ann Sothern (although each of her shows, I think, ran only 3 seasons a piece) and Carroll O'Connor, to name a few and of course, all those long after she blazed the trail. I'm having a really hard time buying that you actually think Lucy Carmichael, at least Season One version, was boring??? Really? I wouldn't have thought such a "boring" character would be running around on stilts, putting up a TV antenna or installing a shower. And so what if for whatever combination of reasons the later three seasons of TLS garnered higher ratings and awards for our heroine? I seriously doubt it had anything to do with how "dumb" the character was written and portrayed. Besides, who can honestly explain the vagaries of the Emmy nominating process (or the tallying of Nielsen ratings for that matter!) and more to the point, why certain folks/shows are nominated at all not to mention repeatedly, while other worthwhile recipients were overlooked year after year (the late great Elizabeth Montgomery comes immediately to mind, for example.). I may not be following you correctly, but it seems that you're saying that Lucy wasn't a "dummy" in real life even though in "reel" life she was portrayed increasingly so; I never meant to imply that and I don't think that was the case anyway and finally, don't really get what one has to do with the other. I was simply pointing out that I personally feel that as each season went on, she (Lucy Carmichael) became, for lack of a probably more accurate word, "dumber." I much preferred the character in her original form perhaps in part because I perceived her to be basically an "(slightly) older and wiser" Lucy Ricardo. Let's face it: throughout the course of her 4 successive sitcoms, she was basically playing Lucy Ricardo, just in mature form as she aged gracefully over three decades. I don't find the Betty White/Rose comparison compelling either because as written and brilliantly portrayed by our favorite octogenarian, she wasn't dumb but rather, naive which is why she took so much said so literally and responded in kind. As you point out, she did have flashes of cleverness, being shrewd; although I wouldn't go so far to say she was ever conniving -- that sounds more like the Sophia character to me than the Rose one. Just my two centavos! Unfortunately, when i start rambling, i fail at writing and i was talking about Lucy, not Betty, i mention Betty and then go back to talking about Lucy and her character being shrewd and conniving and so on. As for the dummy character, i still claim they are the most beloved on tv, Edith Bunker, Rose Nylund, Joey Tribiani to name but three along with Lucy grew in our hearts, maybe because part of us feels superior to them, i dunno. I am saying that the shows in season one are B O R I N G, the set ups take forever to deliver that one scene that saves the show, stilts, trampolene, sitting on a popcorn maker, whatever, whereas in later seasons, you're enjoying seeing the Queen of comedy from beginning to end, you seem to forget i am this H U G E Lucille Ball fan, not a Viv fan, not a Desi fan, certainly not a Gale Gordon fan BUT, i admit they all contributed greatly with their contributions and i have learned to appreciate them more decades later but it was The L U C Y show and i, like millions of others tuned in to see LUCILLE BALL, everybody else on the show did not matter as much, the writing was inconsequential, the guest stars BIG NAMES at the time but i tuned in to LUCY as the world did back then. What time has done is it has emphasized how great some of her supporting players really were as even she pointed out over the decades, most of the writing has HELD UP and although the guest stars might not be known by as many today, it is still timeless comedy performed by the cream of the crop. Please Joe, stop analyzing everything i say, i am expressing MY opinion, not writing a Lucy thesis, i state my case, my own personal taste, my own recollections and by no means do i intend to offend fans of Viv, or Gale or the writers or her kids or anyone else, i have just built her up in my own mind to the point that i still see what i saw then and appreciated then and still do now. Yes, tastes change over the decades, mine have but my basic love of anything and everything she ever did is based on her raising me, i sat forever in front of that tv being entertained, laughing, and getting that warm feeling that i will always be thankful for, call it loyalty, call it wanting to show my appreciation, i might not say it well, but what i say comes from my heart and even decades later, it has not changed in any way. Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Unfortunately, when i start rambling, i fail at writing and i was talking about Lucy, not Betty, i mention Betty and then go back to talking about Lucy and her character being shrewd and conniving and so on. As for the dummy character, i still claim they are the most beloved on tv, Edith Bunker, Rose Nylund, Joey Tribiani to name but three along with Lucy grew in our hearts, maybe because part of us feels superior to them, i dunno. I am saying that the shows in season one are B O R I N G, the set ups take forever to deliver that one scene that saves the show, stilts, trampolene, sitting on a popcorn maker, whatever, whereas in later seasons, you're enjoying seeing the Queen of comedy from beginning to end, you seem to forget i am this H U G E Lucille Ball fan, not a Viv fan, not a Desi fan, certainly not a Gale Gordon fan BUT, i admit they all contributed greatly with their contributions and i have learned to appreciate them more decades later but it was The L U C Y show and i, like millions of others tuned in to see LUCILLE BALL, everybody else on the show did not matter as much, the writing was inconsequential, the guest stars BIG NAMES at the time but i tuned in to LUCY as the world did back then. What time has done is it has emphasized how great some of her supporting players really were as even she pointed out over the decades, most of the writing has HELD UP and although the guest stars might not be known by as many today, it is still timeless comedy performed by the cream of the crop. Please Joe, stop analyzing everything i say, i am expressing MY opinion, not writing a Lucy thesis, i state my case, my own personal taste, my own recollections and by no means do i intend to offend fans of Viv, or Gale or the writers or her kids or anyone else, i have just built her up in my own mind to the point that i still see what i saw then and appreciated then and still do now. Yes, tastes change over the decades, mine have but my basic love of anything and everything she ever did is based on her raising me, i sat forever in front of that tv being entertained, laughing, and getting that warm feeling that i will always be thankful for, call it loyalty, call it wanting to show my appreciation, i might not say it well, but what i say comes from my heart and even decades later, it has not changed in any way. Sorry! First of all, how'd you respond so fast when I just posted?? And after taking an hour to figure out what I wanted to say!! Well we just are looking at this from different angles I guess and you made a couple of telling remarks here that remind me of someone else who also didn't care about any of the ancilliary stuff, that it was all about her. Well, while I don't think it works quite that way, trust me when I tell you -- believe it or not -- I'm just as big a Lucille Ball fan as you are. Sorry too you think I'm analyzing you, that wasn't my intention, I just thought I was entitled as anyone else here to give my opinions but I can keep them to myself if need be but again, trust me, I still feel the same way about her after over 50 years for pretty much all the same reasons. Peace out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 First of all, how'd you respond so fast when I just posted?? And after taking an hour to figure out what I wanted to say!! Well we just are looking at this from different angles I guess and you made a couple of telling remarks here that remind me of someone else who also didn't care about any of the ancilliary stuff, that it was all about her. Well, while I don't think it works quite that way, trust me when I tell you -- believe it or not -- I'm just as big a Lucille Ball fan as you are. Sorry too you think I'm analyzing you, that wasn't my intention, I just thought I was entitled as anyone else here to give my opinions but I can keep them to myself if need be but again, trust me, I still feel the same way about her after over 50 years for pretty much all the same reasons. Peace out. I'm busy working the graveyard shift and coming on here, read it and HAD to answer. Of course you are entitled to your opinion also and i KNOW you are as big a fan of hers as i am, we CAN disagree on thins and still be great friends you know. What i meant was i'm just writing, saying it like i feel, and not verbalizing it properly, i just write and do not worry, at my age, about what people think about what i say. You can analyze anything of mine that you want, i may take forever in saying it and not do it properly but i'm trying to say it right, not always succeeding of course. And remember it WAS called The LUCY show and to me, it was always all about HER, she was the comedic genius who could turn tripe into gold and YES, i do admit that if she had gone to a more Mary Tyler Moore type of thing of surrounding herself with other people who could have done the gist of the comedy and just react to them, it might have helped her as she got really old but then again, there was nobody who could do comedy as well as her anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 And does GRACE feel the same way Will? Finally, someone who agrees with me that the last three seasons were better and funnier than the first three, LOL! It was called The Lucy Show and the last three seasons were all about L U C Y. As for her Emmys, i would love to know which eps she submitted and therefore won her those two Emmys. I still say her talents really shone in those last three seasons and she was then the undisputed Queen of Television, First Lady and all that and she was the BIGGEST star on television and one of the biggest stars in the world AND she owned and ran Desilu from '62 to '67 so maybe Hollywood just decided to reward her and finally looked at her as the superstar she had become, a powerhouse in entertainment who could do anything including leading the ratings, and we all know usually, the biggest HITS do NOT get awards, the not seen by anybody shows are the ones that win big, it's rare that a number one hit gets awards, even today GLEE is not the norm, the usual winners like 30 Rock and The Office don't have that much of an audience. You hit it right on. I am a huge Lucille Ball fan and Lucy shone in the last three seasons. To posts about a dumber character, I disagree; Lucy reacted differently in different situations. In Lucy and The Bean Queen, a classic show, Lucy shows she cannot cheat a company because she honestly likes the product. That takes a humble and smart woman. Lucy was best alone because we had already seen her in a great ensemble cast show, I Love Lucy, and she can now shine. I think that is why Here's Lucy doesn't do it for me at times because her kids and Gale take over the show and sometimes it seems Lucy is just a supporting character to their laughs. I don't mind them sharing the spotlight but I love Lucy and only like a lot of her supporting cast. One example is Lucy Fights the System, the last Here's Lucy. Lucie Arnaz steals the show and Lucy mainly sets up Lucie's laughs. The only Lucy laugh is about her age and this joke has been heard before. Surely Gale and the pie line "I knew it would end like this" are classic but I think Here's Lucy too many times did not have enough Lucy in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 You hit it right on. I am a huge Lucille Ball fan and Lucy shone in the last three seasons. To posts about a dumber character, I disagree; Lucy reacted differently in different situations. In Lucy and The Bean Queen, a classic show, Lucy shows she cannot cheat a company because she honestly likes the product. That takes a humble and smart woman. Lucy was best alone because we had already seen her in a great ensemble cast show, I Love Lucy, and she can now shine. I think that is why Here's Lucy doesn't do it for me at times because her kids and Gale take over the show and sometimes it seems Lucy is just a supporting character to their laughs. I don't mind them sharing the spotlight but I love Lucy and only like a lot of her supporting cast. One example is Lucy Fights the System, the last Here's Lucy. Lucie Arnaz steals the show and Lucy mainly sets up Lucie's laughs. The only Lucy laugh is about her age and this joke has been heard before. Surely Gale and the pie line "I knew it would end like this" are classic but I think Here's Lucy too many times did not have enough Lucy in it. Funny you should say that, i started hating Here's Lucy when the focus went onto Lucie instead of Lucy, again, it was called Here's L U C Y and people tuned in to see Lucille Ball. I loved the idea of having her REAL kids on the show, Lucy bridging the generation gap was a terrific plot idea. The reviews called the kids NO TALENT at the beginning but that was very unfair, it was Lucy and her group who insisted on that unreal reading of the lines, screaming them out as if they were doing a Broadway show without microphones. That made their acting seem fake and the writing did not help either. If witty and clever scripts by great writers had been available to them, it would have been a very different show. Anyhoo, after three great years with the kids, this show HL, pulled the total opposite of The Lucy Show, now it was the reverse, the last three years were all downhill from the glorious first three seasons. I understand they ran out of situations for her after over twenty years and Lucy, being the great stage mother she was wanted to help her daughter out but Lucie Arnaz proved she could be a giant on Broadway, a terrific singer dancer in musicals but she was not the great comic actress her mother was, as evidenced by her over the top and so fake Susie Shoppenhower that i cannot even watch or that failed pilot with the screeching co star who deserved an award for overacting, think Carol Burnett's Carol Krowsmeyer on speed, i forget the character and the actress' name but she would have been more suited for the exaggerated unfunny sketches of SNL rather than a top ten situation comedy. Well, the ratings took a real dive when the focus left Lucy and went to Lucie, some shows were ok, but the ones that went overboard never delivered the laughs because of what i said before about The Lucy Show, people tuned in to see the Queen of Comedy, not the pretender to the throne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 You hit it right on. I am a huge Lucille Ball fan and Lucy shone in the last three seasons. To posts about a dumber character, I disagree; Lucy reacted differently in different situations. In Lucy and The Bean Queen, a classic show, Lucy shows she cannot cheat a company because she honestly likes the product. That takes a humble and smart woman. Lucy was best alone because we had already seen her in a great ensemble cast show, I Love Lucy, and she can now shine. I think that is why Here's Lucy doesn't do it for me at times because her kids and Gale take over the show and sometimes it seems Lucy is just a supporting character to their laughs. I don't mind them sharing the spotlight but I love Lucy and only like a lot of her supporting cast. One example is Lucy Fights the System, the last Here's Lucy. Lucie Arnaz steals the show and Lucy mainly sets up Lucie's laughs. The only Lucy laugh is about her age and this joke has been heard before. Surely Gale and the pie line "I knew it would end like this" are classic but I think Here's Lucy too many times did not have enough Lucy in it. No, to act the way she did on The Bean Queen meant she was honest, that's all, not smart. But again, every book is very clear that the problem with her character was the uneven writing that was never consistent, she went from shrewd and clever and conniving on ILL to scatterbrained and worse on the later series. To make it easier to get cheap laughs instead of being creative. The powers that be, whether they were the executive producers or even Lucy and gary, whoever RAN the show should have made it clear to the writers where they could go, how they could define her character. Of course they HAD established ground rules but same as there was no continuity in the writing of ILL, there was very little in the later series also. But i do understand that their job was to get a hit comedy in the can in four days and that they did beautifully considering thay had the greatest comedic actress of all time and a character so enshrined in the national conciousness that anything she did, whether it made sense or not, got laughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 You hit it right on. I am a huge Lucille Ball fan and Lucy shone in the last three seasons. To posts about a dumber character, I disagree; Lucy reacted differently in different situations. In Lucy and The Bean Queen, a classic show, Lucy shows she cannot cheat a company because she honestly likes the product. That takes a humble and smart woman. Lucy was best alone because we had already seen her in a great ensemble cast show, I Love Lucy, and she can now shine. I think that is why Here's Lucy doesn't do it for me at times because her kids and Gale take over the show and sometimes it seems Lucy is just a supporting character to their laughs. I don't mind them sharing the spotlight but I love Lucy and only like a lot of her supporting cast. One example is Lucy Fights the System, the last Here's Lucy. Lucie Arnaz steals the show and Lucy mainly sets up Lucie's laughs. The only Lucy laugh is about her age and this joke has been heard before. Surely Gale and the pie line "I knew it would end like this" are classic but I think Here's Lucy too many times did not have enough Lucy in it. You know Will, it takes a lot of guts to say what you did, it goes against the grain here, the Viv lovers, Gale lovers and Lucie lovers will be up in arms, but i hope they understand what we are saying, while i admire, truly admire all the great work done by all three and others on the various Lucy series, my focus has always been and always will be the reason i along with millions around the world tuned in to see the show, Lucille Ball. I'm collecting these series as they show the brilliance of Lucy the comic genius and i do realize that the great talents around her were priceless also and i never intended to make disparaging remarks about any of them, just trying to state HONESTLY what i really think of the shows. MY opinion of the shows. And many agree with us but are afraid to buck the trend and come on here and state the fact that they do. We're not putting down the co stars, but merely stating that nobody but nobosy could beat the Queen of comedy at what she did, that's the reason we're still watching every show a half century later, but the excellent writers and terrific co stars also share in that legacy. BUT, like Desi once said, give Lucy 90 percent of the credit and divvy up the balance among the writers, directors, and co stars, we were just props, damned good props but props nonetheless, or words to that effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Sorry about the rant, it's all Brock's fault, i saw that pic of her at the Emmy luncheon and it all just came back to me as to how much i worshipped her back then, LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Sorry about the rant, it's all Brock's fault... Naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Naturally. Sorry, but i just LOVE that pic you put up of her next to Anne Francis, she positively GLOWS in that shot, getting Emmy nominated and being at the top of her field again and on her own this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikidiki Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Funny you should say that, i started hating Here's Lucy when the focus went onto Lucie instead of Lucy, again, it was called Here's L U C Y and people tuned in to see Lucille Ball. I loved the idea of having her REAL kids on the show, Lucy bridging the generation gap was a terrific plot idea. The reviews called the kids NO TALENT at the beginning but that was very unfair, it was Lucy and her group who insisted on that unreal reading of the lines, screaming them out as if they were doing a Broadway show without microphones. That made their acting seem fake and the writing did not help either. If witty and clever scripts by great writers had been available to them, it would have been a very different show. Anyhoo, after three great years with the kids, this show HL, pulled the total opposite of The Lucy Show, now it was the reverse, the last three years were all downhill from the glorious first three seasons. I understand they ran out of situations for her after over twenty years and Lucy, being the great stage mother she was wanted to help her daughter out but Lucie Arnaz proved she could be a giant on Broadway, a terrific singer dancer in musicals but she was not the great comic actress her mother was, as evidenced by her over the top and so fake Susie Shoppenhower that i cannot even watch or that failed pilot with the screeching co star who deserved an award for overacting, think Carol Burnett's Carol Krowsmeyer on speed, i forget the character and the actress' name but she would have been more suited for the exaggerated unfunny sketches of SNL rather than a top ten situation comedy. Well, the ratings took a real dive when the focus left Lucy and went to Lucie, some shows were ok, but the ones that went overboard never delivered the laughs because of what i said before about The Lucy Show, people tuned in to see the Queen of Comedy, not the pretender to the throne. I have to actually disagree with you on that one sorry Claude. Yes, whilst Lucie was featured more heavily in the final 3 seasons and the ratings did decrease, I don't think Lucie was the catalyst for that. I just think that times were changing and a new generation had begun watching television. It's not as though every show was just about Lucie and not Lucy. I actually find the final 3 seasons of Here's Lucy to be much better than the first 3 seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Lucie is actually only in 12 of the 24 episodes of the last season. And in one of those, "Lucy Is a Birdsitter" she has about 30 seconds of screentime. I'm sure Lucy's broken leg also contributed to much of the greater screentime she might have received during the fifth season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Lucie is actually only in 12 of the 24 episodes of the last season. And in one of those, "Lucy Is a Birdsitter" she has about 30 seconds of screentime. I'm sure Lucy's broken leg also contributed to much of the greater screentime she might have received during the fifth season. REALLY? Had no idea, thought Lucie was in 36 of the 24 eps in the last season, LOL! I LOVED the ones where Lucy was in the wheelchair with the broken leg, having her unable to do physical comedy forced her writers to give her better material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 I have to actually disagree with you on that one sorry Claude. Yes, whilst Lucie was featured more heavily in the final 3 seasons and the ratings did decrease, I don't think Lucie was the catalyst for that. I just think that times were changing and a new generation had begun watching television. It's not as though every show was just about Lucie and not Lucy. I actually find the final 3 seasons of Here's Lucy to be much better than the first 3 seasons. Well, it wasn't just Lucie, tuning in every week to see uncle Harry screaming at her was no laughing matter either, they should have made their relationship a mite warmer, which they did but not enough. I mean, even Lucy, upon reflection said later, i was getting too old to be yelled at by uncle Harry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikidiki Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Well, it wasn't just Lucie, tuning in every week to see uncle Harry screaming at her was no laughing matter either, they should have made their relationship a mite warmer, which they did but not enough. I mean, even Lucy, upon reflection said later, i was getting too old to be yelled at by uncle Harry. I can't believe she said that YET still decided then to go ahead with Life With Lucy where Curtis still yelled at her, or was that Gary's idea to get her to do that short lived show? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Well, it wasn't just Lucie, tuning in every week to see uncle Harry screaming at her was no laughing matter either, they should have made their relationship a mite warmer, which they did but not enough. I mean, even Lucy, upon reflection said later, i was getting too old to be yelled at by uncle Harry. Lucy and Harry's relationship was much warmer by season five then it was at the beginning. We see them happily having dinner together, going to the movies, and playing games.This was an excellent contribution by Bob and Madelyn and the other writers went along with it (although Bob O'Brien less so). (Fox and Jacobs' "Lucy and the Group Encounter" is an episode that seems like it would have worked better in the earlier seasons.) In the first season, Harry wouldn't even let Lucy call him by his first name in the office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark bale Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 I must admit Lucie's constant "Mother" every week got on my nerves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 I can't believe she said that YET still decided then to go ahead with Life With Lucy where Curtis still yelled at her, or was that Gary's idea to get her to do that short lived show? :rolleyes: Yes, it was gary's bright idea to get the old gang together, anything to get his hands on that 125 thou a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 I must admit Lucie's constant "Mother" every week got on my nerves. I know i've said this a thousand times but i'm old and am supposed to repeat myself constantly so here goes 1001. My office co workers and some friends complained to me at teh time that they stopped watching as they just could not take that constant yelling at her, the decibel level was just too high for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.