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Lucy Projects You Don't Enjoy


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Now I know that this is a board that pays tribute to a wonderful lady who has made some of the best entertainment in the history of American culture, but there must be a few episodes/movies/TV appearances that just, as Ricky would say, "Set the tith on edge".

I, for example, have trouble sitting through:

  • The ILL Rodeo episode circa season 5. 
  • Several episodes from TLS season 2. They're just so bland.
  • The entire TLS season 5.
  • Any HL that has a second half that's a big musical number. Example: The one where she does a show with a monkey.
  • Ma Parker. No further explanation necessary.
  • Lucy's appearance in that 1988 Bob Hope comedy sketch featuring Shields and Diller where they play the hicks.
  • "Lucy Meets The Moustache". I own it, I've only seen it once. The backstage drama overshadows the whole thing in my eyes.
  • The Lucille Ball Comedy hour show-within-a-show feat. Bob Hope. Good premise, God-awful writing.
  • The Magic Carpet. Pregnant Princess Narah clearly did not want to be there.
  • Lucy Moves To NBC show-within-a-show feat. Donald O'Connor. I love Don, but my God is it painful. The rest of the special is fun.
  • An American In Pasadena "Friendship" duet with Gene Kelly. Again, the rest of this special is perfecto, but Red should have been there.

What are some Lucy productions that you shy away from more often than others?

 

Note: Don't turn this into a "Let's Bash Lucy When She Got Old" thread.

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I respect and agree with many of your choices.

 

I've only been able to sit through one viewing of "Three for Two." I have to side with the majority of critics who panned that one. Pairing Ball and Gleason was a brilliant idea, but that vehicle left a lot to be desired.

 

I tend to skip over most of the European themed "I Love Lucy" episodes. With the exception of Swiss Alps, I can't say I'm overly fond of any of them. Most of them aren't bad per se, they're just not personal favorites.

 

I'm very selective when it comes to viewing "Here's Lucy" episodes nowadays. A lot of those were "once was enough" for me. As a rule, I'm partial to seasons 4-6, as I feel the writing quality was more consistent and funnier. I, too, shy away from musical and gorilla themed episodes as a rule. "Generation Gap" is really the only musical episode I can say I enjoy.

 

"Lucy the Rain Goddess" was an abomination on every front. I couldn't even finish it!

 

I'm not crazy about most of her movies that I've seen, "The Fuller Brush Girl" and "Yours, Mine and Ours" being HUGE exceptions. I like some of them okay, but few are exactly must-sees. "The Long Long Trailer" starts out promising but I find it more cringeworthy than funny most of the time. "The Magic Carpet" I enjoyed in a guilty-pleasure sort of way.

 

I won't get into "Mame" again for the sake of having been there and done that; suffice it to say that I take more issue with the direction and editing of the film than I do with her performance, on the whole.

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Yours Mine and Ours and The Fuller Brush Girl are probably the BEST movies she ever did.  Because they utilized all her comedic gifts.  Her Husband's Affairs and Lover Come Back are two movies that I don't care for.. but the LUCY nut in me would watch just to see her move and deliver lines in that OH SO BALL MANOR.. lol

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Here is my list of those things that are a struggle for me to get through.

 

Three for Two- I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not a Jackie Gleason fan so I have to suffer through him. Second the sketches are just not funny. The first scene I just feel sorry for Lucy’s character to have such a jerk of a husband. The second one is just an unfunny takeoff on Hernando’s Hideaway without the good song. The third I wish those 2 annoying kids would just say screw it to their parents and run off and have fun.

 

LDCH-Milton Bearle-Another person I have come to the conclusion that I am not a fan of. So couple him with this unfunny script and horrible music number and I’m done. I like the crossover one done in return better than this crap.

 

The Animal episodes-As a whole I do not like them but they vary for me. The Garbona one is the worst for me. Mooney and the Monkey is pretty bad. Lucy in the Jungle I am fine with. The HL one where they train the monkey’s is probably my second least favorite.

 

ILL- Once the kids show up in The Amateur Hour I’m done. Also the whole Rodeo episode. The musical number I just can’t.

 

Lucy Show- Lucy The Robot. The robot bit is just not funny. I can take Jay as Dennis but as this over grown bratty kid it turns me off. It sucks that the only good behind the scenes we get on TLS is from this episode. Also the Super Lucy one. It’s just too implausible. I can’t stretch my imagination that much.

 

Here’s Lucy-The Petula Clark episode. Lucy is just a pain in the ass in this one. I can forgive the scene at the house as it has motivation behind it, but once at the studio there is no motivation and she is just being stupid.

 

Pantomime- I’ve never been a fan of this art form so it’s tedious for me to sit through. Lucy does it brilliantly every time though. Lucy conducting the symphony or the Chaplin sketch are 2 great standouts. I’m bored to tears though with the Poor Everyone Else number with Red and the Mikey Rooney Lucy Show episode is my low point.

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-Milton Berle Comedy Hour is one I show to friends once in awhile just because it's so bad. Then, right as soon as Ricky punches Mildred, I say "Wait- it gets even worse." and they don't believe me until they witness the glory of the stunt doubles in the swinging bucket.

 

-Although I'm not fond of the Mickey Rooney pantomiming, I love Poor Us and can really dig Red and his "Silent Spots", as they were called. The man had a gift for the visuals.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alright.... not to say I don't enjoy this episode I am about to discuss... I just don't enjoy the set up or the beginning.  In fact in later years of The Lucy Show some of the plot or lines to elicit laughter are so  forced I want to scream... IN fact, that is my problem with Here's Lucy.  And on to the episode I watched the other night.  It's called Lucy Flies to London.  The second half is just perfect "Lucy silliness" of course it is since Bob and Madeline wrote the air plane part.  It is the first half of this episode that really REALLY bugged me last night.    "I feed my doggie Arf Arf..."   When the HELL did this woman get a dog???  Why is she entering a dog food contest?  I JUST CAN'T FIND THIS HUMOROUS...AND I want to slap her for green lighting this stupid opening scene!

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I'm not crazy about most of her movies that I've seen, "The Fuller Brush Girl" and "Yours, Mine and Ours" being HUGE exceptions. I like some of them okay, but few are exactly must-sees. "The Long Long Trailer" starts out promising but I find it more cringeworthy than funny most of the time. "The Magic Carpet" I enjoyed in a guilty-pleasure sort of way.

 

I think I have said this before but if Lucy had never set foot in a television studio I would have been a big fan of her as an actress from her movies alone - I think her comedy genius is brazen as early as the 1938-39 Anabel movies.  I think her best movie IMO is Miss Grant Takes Richmond and possibly got her the ILL deal with CBS as much as My Favorite Husband did because it was a big hit and she not only carried it she stole it from a major star, William Holden.  Easy To Wed - oh man she is delicious in that one!! Sharp as a tack and brillant in Best Foot Forward which could have been a walk-through role; a sexy, bewitching deliciously hardboiled bimbo in Dance Girl Dance,  a meaner, more neurotic, and ultimately more vulnerable verison of this character in The Big Street (one of Jane Fonda's favorite film performances); so glamorous and able to make a potboiler like Two Smart People entertaining, a sensational film noir heroine in Lured, a wacky riot in The Fuller Brush Girl  - and that's not even getting into her great post-ILL movies!

 

Lucy always downplayed her movie stardom, often saying she was just a B queen which of course is absolutely not true, she was out of B's by the end of 1939.  She just was not super popular like the icons Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck or the pinupgirls Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamour, Lana Turner but she was actually bigger than a lot of 40's stars who are considered major stars - Lauren Bacall (who never carried a movie in her life), Rhonda Fleming, Yvonne De Carlo, Lizabeth Scott, Ida Lupino, Merle Oberon, Eleanor Parker, etc. 

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This is a really great assessment of her movie work. I count her breakout role to be in Stage Door. She made a lasting impression and I have a hunch this character was probably the trueist to her real personality. I know the director did try to incorporate real things about the actresses into the script and Lucy gets it here with the wardrobe, the straight forward attitude but also gets a soft side too.

 

You are right about the Annabel movies as well. The first real comedic performance where she got to shine and carry the movie. And carry it she does. Some think it’s unfortunate that the series didn’t continue but the second installment was just plain boring. I think they could have come up with stuff a lot better but if that is the next best thing you could write then just stop now.

 

Miss Grant Takes Richmond-This doesn’t get a lot of viewings for me. I’m not really sure why because she is comedic perfection in this and I like Bill Holden. Maybe it’s the story line. Not sure. That secretarially school scene is great because it’s pure physical comedy and Lucy doing so classy.

 

By the time Fuller Bruch Girl comes along I think she was working in what she was learning about comedy by doing My Favorite Husband and incorporating that into the character. This is also the single most physical comedy she has ever done in one piece and she physically paid the price for it.

 

Easy to Wed is the best of the comedy at MGM and I agree with the word delicious. I have said it before but I don’t know how she could be that gorgeous, adorable and funny all at the same time. A great director on this picture told her to just let go in this and that she did. MGM was just too stupid to see the talent.

 

I appreciate the great work she did in Best Foot Forward but another one that I should like more because of how good she is but again I think the plot bores me.

 

Dance Girl Dance gets repeated viewings by me. A role that fit her so well and she got everything out of it. Poor Maureen really gets run over in this one.

 

Two Smart People- I have no idea why I like this movie so much but I do. It’s the movie that has no idea what it wants to be but her acting style is so different in this. More nuanced I think. And it doesn’t hurt that she is stunning and paired with a really great leading man to balance it out.

 

Lured-Oh how I wish she would have done more film noir movies. She proved it again in Dark Corner.

 

Why she played down that movie career is sad. She did tons of great ones, but I have heard her quoted as saying she never liked any of the movies she did. Some of that may be because when she was under contracts she just did everything they told her to do and when she left that system she admitted herself she wasn’t too picky about her projects. Also with her inferiority complex I think a lot of the time she didn’t see how good she was even in the bad ones.

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I think I have said this before but if Lucy had never set foot in a television studio I would have been a big fan of her as an actress from her movies alone - I think her comedy genius is brazen as early as the 1938-39 Anabel movies.  I think her best movie IMO is Miss Grant Takes Richmond and possibly got her the ILL deal with CBS as much as My Favorite Husband did because it was a big hit and she not only carried it she stole it from a major star, William Holden.  Easy To Wed - oh man she is delicious in that one!! Sharp as a tack and brillant in Best Foot Forward which could have been a walk-through role; a sexy, bewitching deliciously hardboiled bimbo in Dance Girl Dance,  a meaner, more neurotic, and ultimately more vulnerable verison of this character in The Big Street (one of Jane Fonda's favorite film performances); so glamorous and able to make a potboiler like Two Smart People entertaining, a sensational film noir heroine in Lured, a wacky riot in The Fuller Brush Girl  - and that's not even getting into her great post-ILL movies!

 

Lucy always downplayed her movie stardom, often saying she was just a B queen which of course is absolutely not true, she was out of B's by the end of 1939.  She just was not super popular like the icons Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck or the pinupgirls Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamour, Lana Turner but she was actually bigger than a lot of 40's stars who are considered major stars - Lauren Bacall (who never carried a movie in her life), Rhonda Fleming, Yvonne De Carlo, Lizabeth Scott, Ida Lupino, Merle Oberon, Eleanor Parker, etc. 

Oh wow, that was fantastic, thanks.

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Why she played down that movie career is sad. She did tons of great ones, but I have heard her quoted as saying she never liked any of the movies she did. Some of that may be because when she was under contracts she just did everything they told her to do and when she left that system she admitted herself she wasn’t too picky about her projects. Also with her inferiority complex I think a lot of the time she didn’t see how good she was even in the bad ones.

Probably her disappointment in not having gotten bigger in movies but easily doing that in television, and like i said before, her saying herself that if you weren't in movies in Hollywood, you were nothing.

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I think I have said this before but if Lucy had never set foot in a television studio I would have been a big fan of her as an actress from her movies alone - I think her comedy genius is brazen as early as the 1938-39 Anabel movies.  I think her best movie IMO is Miss Grant Takes Richmond and possibly got her the ILL deal with CBS as much as My Favorite Husband did because it was a big hit and she not only carried it she stole it from a major star, William Holden.  Easy To Wed - oh man she is delicious in that one!! Sharp as a tack and brillant in Best Foot Forward which could have been a walk-through role; a sexy, bewitching deliciously hardboiled bimbo in Dance Girl Dance,  a meaner, more neurotic, and ultimately more vulnerable verison of this character in The Big Street (one of Jane Fonda's favorite film performances); so glamorous and able to make a potboiler like Two Smart People entertaining, a sensational film noir heroine in Lured, a wacky riot in The Fuller Brush Girl  - and that's not even getting into her great post-ILL movies!

 

Lucy always downplayed her movie stardom, often saying she was just a B queen which of course is absolutely not true, she was out of B's by the end of 1939.  She just was not super popular like the icons Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck or the pinupgirls Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamour, Lana Turner but she was actually bigger than a lot of 40's stars who are considered major stars - Lauren Bacall (who never carried a movie in her life), Rhonda Fleming, Yvonne De Carlo, Lizabeth Scott, Ida Lupino, Merle Oberon, Eleanor Parker, etc. 

And nowadays, almost nobody my age could name a single one of these people, except for Lucy. 

 

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends randomly brought up Katharine Hepburn... It was weird.

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And nowadays, almost nobody my age could name a single one of these people, except for Lucy. 

 

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends randomly brought up Katharine Hepburn... It was weird.

Well, that's certainly true, the other day i was thinking the same thing about Bob Hope.  Or even Jack Benny or Milton Berle, they're mostly forgotten now.

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Well, that's certainly true, the other day i was thinking the same thing about Bob Hope.  Or even Jack Benny or Milton Berle, they're mostly forgotten now.

I wouldn't say forgotten- there's just a lot of young people who have never heard of them. Lots of adults still think of them fondly.

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I think I have said this before but if Lucy had never set foot in a television studio I would have been a big fan of her as an actress from her movies alone - I think her comedy genius is brazen as early as the 1938-39 Anabel movies.  I think her best movie IMO is Miss Grant Takes Richmond and possibly got her the ILL deal with CBS as much as My Favorite Husband did because it was a big hit and she not only carried it she stole it from a major star, William Holden.  Easy To Wed - oh man she is delicious in that one!! Sharp as a tack and brillant in Best Foot Forward which could have been a walk-through role; a sexy, bewitching deliciously hardboiled bimbo in Dance Girl Dance,  a meaner, more neurotic, and ultimately more vulnerable verison of this character in The Big Street (one of Jane Fonda's favorite film performances); so glamorous and able to make a potboiler like Two Smart People entertaining, a sensational film noir heroine in Lured, a wacky riot in The Fuller Brush Girl  - and that's not even getting into her great post-ILL movies!

 

Lucy always downplayed her movie stardom, often saying she was just a B queen which of course is absolutely not true, she was out of B's by the end of 1939.  She just was not super popular like the icons Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck or the pinupgirls Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamour, Lana Turner but she was actually bigger than a lot of 40's stars who are considered major stars - Lauren Bacall (who never carried a movie in her life), Rhonda Fleming, Yvonne De Carlo, Lizabeth Scott, Ida Lupino, Merle Oberon, Eleanor Parker, etc.

 

To be fair, I haven't seen every movie she made. Many I just haven't gotten ahold of yet. The ones I have seen I certainly like, I just can't say that any of them are personal favorites. Whatever qualms I have with them, however, have nothing to do with Lucille. As others have said, she often rose above the material given to her. I look forward to seeing the Annabel films especially.

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Although I am a huge Lucy fan the following are just some things I can't sit through:

 

1.  Some of the early I Love Lucy episodes (mainly season 1) like The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub, Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Kill Her and Men Are Messy,  but I understand that the show was new and the show was finding its' way.  IMO It's the only series that got better with each season.

 

2.  Lucy Takes Up Golf from The Lucy Show with Gary Morton guest starring  (I forget if it's from season two or three), Mooney the Monkey from season five of TLS and two episodes from season six of TLS - Lucy and Frankie Avalon and Lucy and Ernie Ford.

 

3.  Lucy and Ma Parker the single worst Lucy show ever.  Also, Lucy In the Jungle, Lucy's African Safari, Lucy and Ernie Ford's Fun Farm and Lucy, The Sheriff - all five of these episodes are from Here's Lucy.

 

4.  I think Lucy Moves to NBC is her worst special.  She never should have left CBS to do this crappy special.  Also, Lucy Comes To Nashville which is not a Lucille Ball special but CBS stuck her name to it to attract viewers.  

 

5.  All the bit part movies of the 1930's - Lucy was learning her craft during this period.

 

6.  The Magic Carpet (which Lucy hated herself) but got paid a pretty good salary for starring in it has to be the worst movie she ever made.  Other movies I can't sit through are Too Many Girls, Best Foot Forward and Forever Darling.

 

7.  Most of her appearances on the terrible Bob Hope Specials.

 

I can't include Life With Lucy because I only saw four episodes out of the eight episodes that aired.  I didn't like the pilot but I did like Lucy and John Ritter, Lucy and Audrey Meadows (Mother of the Bride) and Love Among The Two By Fours w/Peter Graves.  I think this show wasn't given a fair chance and with a little tinkering could have been a hit.  I also think it should be released on DVD.

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To be fair, I haven't seen every movie she made. Many I just haven't gotten ahold of yet. The ones I have seen I certainly like, I just can't say that any of them are personal favorites. Whatever qualms I have with them, however, have nothing to do with Lucille. As others have said, she often rose above the material given to her. I look forward to seeing the Annabel films especially.

Thought it was funny that the horse in the famous White House caper of The Lucy show was named Annabell, LOL!

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Although I am a huge Lucy fan the following are just some things I can't sit through:

 

1.  Some of the early I Love Lucy episodes (mainly season 1) like The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub, Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Kill Her and Men Are Messy,  but I understand that the show was new and the show was finding its' way.  IMO It's the only series that got better with each season.

 

2.  Lucy Takes Up Golf from The Lucy Show with Gary Morton guest starring  (I forget if it's from season two or three), Mooney the Monkey from season five of TLS and two episodes from season six of TLS - Lucy and Frankie Avalon and Lucy and Ernie Ford.

 

3.  Lucy and Ma Parker the single worst Lucy show ever.  Also, Lucy In the Jungle, Lucy's African Safari, Lucy and Ernie Ford's Fun Farm and Lucy, The Sheriff - all five of these episodes are from Here's Lucy.

 

4.  I think Lucy Moves to NBC is her worst special.  She never should have left CBS to do this crappy special.  Also, Lucy Comes To Nashville which is not a Lucille Ball special but CBS stuck her name to it to attract viewers.  

 

5.  All the bit part movies of the 1930's - Lucy was learning her craft during this period.

 

6.  The Magic Carpet (which Lucy hated herself) but got paid a pretty good salary for starring in it has to be the worst movie she ever made.  Other movies I can't sit through are Too Many Girls, Best Foot Forward and Forever Darling.

 

7.  Most of her appearances on the terrible Bob Hope Specials.

 

I can't include Life With Lucy because I only saw four episodes out of the eight episodes that aired.  I didn't like the pilot but I did like Lucy and John Ritter, Lucy and Audrey Meadows (Mother of the Bride) and Love Among The Two By Fours w/Peter Graves.  I think this show wasn't given a fair chance and with a little tinkering could have been a hit.  I also think it should be released on DVD.

Somewhat harsh but more than a little accurate, LOL!

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Although I am a huge Lucy fan the following are just some things I can't sit through:

 

1.  Some of the early I Love Lucy episodes (mainly season 1) like The Girls Want To Go To A Nightclub, Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Kill Her and Men Are Messy,  but I understand that the show was new and the show was finding its' way.  IMO It's the only series that got better with each season.

 

2.  Lucy Takes Up Golf from The Lucy Show with Gary Morton guest starring  (I forget if it's from season two or three), Mooney the Monkey from season five of TLS and two episodes from season six of TLS - Lucy and Frankie Avalon and Lucy and Ernie Ford.

 

3.  Lucy and Ma Parker the single worst Lucy show ever.  Also, Lucy In the Jungle, Lucy's African Safari, Lucy and Ernie Ford's Fun Farm and Lucy, The Sheriff - all five of these episodes are from Here's Lucy.

 

4.  I think Lucy Moves to NBC is her worst special.  She never should have left CBS to do this crappy special.  Also, Lucy Comes To Nashville which is not a Lucille Ball special but CBS stuck her name to it to attract viewers.  

 

5.  All the bit part movies of the 1930's - Lucy was learning her craft during this period.

 

6.  The Magic Carpet (which Lucy hated herself) but got paid a pretty good salary for starring in it has to be the worst movie she ever made.  Other movies I can't sit through are Too Many Girls, Best Foot Forward and Forever Darling.

 

7.  Most of her appearances on the terrible Bob Hope Specials.

 

I can't include Life With Lucy because I only saw four episodes out of the eight episodes that aired.  I didn't like the pilot but I did like Lucy and John Ritter, Lucy and Audrey Meadows (Mother of the Bride) and Love Among The Two By Fours w/Peter Graves.  I think this show wasn't given a fair chance and with a little tinkering could have been a hit.  I also think it should be released on DVD.

There was a time where I couldn't even sit through the opening credits of LWL, just because I knew what was going on backstage. I've learned to appreciate it for what it is and now I'd like to see all 13.

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There was a time where I couldn't even sit through the opening credits of LWL, just because I knew what was going on backstage. I've learned to appreciate it for what it is and now I'd like to see all 13.

Are you kidding moi?  The opening credits featured the show's one redeeming feature, that excellent song by Eydie Gorme.

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Watching season one of The Lucy show, i am amazed at how little was going on, like they wanted to feature a less wacky, not at all like Lucy Ricardo character in this one, so as not to have to pay Jess i guess, LOL!  When she cried for the first time, i still saw a bit of Ms Ricardo in there.

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There was a time where I couldn't even sit through the opening credits of LWL, just because I knew what was going on backstage. I've learned to appreciate it for what it is and now I'd like to see all 13.

If beau E V E R comes back here, i'll get him to make you copies.

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