Garry Marshall on Lucy

[Brock]

[leenorman]

Sorry, I found THAT VERY DIFFICULT TO LISTEN TO; [should have been filmed with captioning]; I know he's an elderly man; have no idea how long ago this was; but, his garbled way of speaking, NO WONDER HE WAS A WRITER!!!! 

 

Sorry for the rant; but, the only word he pronounced you could minimally understand from the rest was SHT!!! 

 

Now, I gotta go back and see what he DID write; have a look at the chronology for corrections....SH!!! 

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Sorry, I found THAT VERY DIFFICULT TO LISTEN TO; [should have been filmed with captioning]; I know he's an elderly man; have no idea how long ago this was; but, his garbled way of speaking, NO WONDER HE WAS A WRITER!!!! 

 

Sorry for the rant; but, the only word he pronounced you could minimally understand from the rest was SHT!!! 

 

Now, I gotta go back and see what he DID write; have a look at the chronology for corrections....SH!!! 

I noticed this on his recent "Odd Couple" (the reboot) appearance, kinda hard to make out what he's saying AND he has that prounounced "thing" (growth of some sort?) on the left side of his mouth/cheek, does anyone know if he's battling cancer or some other malady? Plus, he IS about 90 years old so he's probably not talking with as much ...I dunno, authority as he used to. 

 

Oh and Joyce there are closed captions on that video (click the CC) on the bottom but read them more for their entertainment value as their accuracy is practically nil! (e.g. there's even a reference made about you-know-who with the "bitch" word but I'm pretty sure that's NOT what he really said!)

 

[Mmadluv7]

 

Its so funny Brock, after I hear his story of her writing "This is sh*t!" on the script, I look over to the left and see your grinning Lucy gif lol 

[Neil]

He and Jerry Belson wrote 11 Lucy Shows for 2 seasons (the 3rd and 4th) not three years as he says.  I wonder what "that kid" wrote for her that she liked.

Here are the episodes:

Good Skate

Gets the Bird

The Monsters/Dream

My Fair Lucy

Lucy and Countess Lose Weight

Disc Jockey

and for the 4th:

Golden Greek

Countess/Horse Guest

Sleeping Beauty (Clint Walker)

Lucy Saves Milton Berle

Clint Walker-part 2 (red sweater)

 

IMO, his Lucy writing never rose above "OK".  Other than Madelyn, "Lucy" was never written by a woman (not counting LWL) which I think was a mistake.  These middle-aged gag-ster men had no clue what made a successful Lucy show.   The only exceptions were Lila Garrett (relation to Jimmy?) who was part of the "Choirmaster" script credit; and of course the "idea woman" herself Hilda Josefsburg.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

He and Jerry Belson wrote 11 Lucy Shows for 2 seasons (the 3rd and 4th) not three years as he says.  I wonder what "that kid" wrote for her that she liked.

Here are the episodes:

Good Skate

Gets the Bird

The Monsters/Dream

My Fair Lucy

Lucy and Countess Lose Weight

Disc Jockey

and for the 4th:

Golden Greek

Countess/Horse Guest

Sleeping Beauty (Clint Walker)

Lucy Saves Milton Berle

Clint Walker-part 2 (red sweater)

 

IMO, his Lucy writing never rose above "OK".  Other than Madelyn, "Lucy" was never written by a woman (not counting LWL) which I think was a mistake.  These middle-aged gag-ster men had no clue what made a successful Lucy show.   The only exceptions were Lila Garrett (relation to Jimmy?) who was part of the "Choirmaster" script credit; and of course the "idea woman" herself Hilda Josefsburg.

Yes that always has been a curious one especially since Lucy remarked on more than one occasion how she marveled at Bob & Madelyn being able to write so ably about a married couple despite not being married (initially) at the time neither to anyone nor each other, which makes me wonder why she didn't (IF she didn't) seek out the few female TV writers working at the time which, I'm sure would have "softened" the character somewhat (was the post-Ricardo versions of the Lucy character never more appealing than when she was dating a potential suitor (right or wrong for her)??)  You listed the Clint Walker eps as some of those that Marshall & Belson wrote which were two of my favorites because she was if only slightly, more vulnerable and thus more appealing.

 

While there were a handful of other early-60s women writers that I'm aware of besides Miss Garrett (who also wrote for "Bewitched" (a few of my favorites, at that), "Petticoat Junction", "Get Smart" and went on to write for "Maude", "All in the Family" etc. in the 70s) such as Peggy Chantler Dick ("Hazel"; "Dennis the Menace"; "Bewitched" and many more) and Louella MacFarlane (also "Hazel", "Dennis the Menace" etc.) there do seem to have been very few during the TLS timeframe still I wonder if Lucy made any effort to reach out to them or if it just wasn't viable because the few that were already working weren't available (or perhaps not interested?) or if it was because the producers then were all male and didn't think it was important to do so.

 

Guess we may never know!

[leenorman]

Perhaps Tom Watson could fill us in on female writers for Lucy other than Madelyn; He would certainly know Lucille's

favorites.

[Mot Morenzi]

Sorry, I found THAT VERY DIFFICULT TO LISTEN TO; [should have been filmed with captioning]; I know he's an elderly man; have no idea how long ago this was; but, his garbled way of speaking, NO WONDER HE WAS A WRITER!!!! 

 

Sorry for the rant; but, the only word he pronounced you could minimally understand from the rest was SHT!!! 

 

Now, I gotta go back and see what he DID write; have a look at the chronology for corrections....SH!!! 

Have you heard Penny recently? She's even harder to decipher.

[Neil]

True.  The pool of sitcom writers in the 60s was pretty shallow.  Was it because there just weren't other writers capable of putting together a 24 minute show?  Or was it because the established clique 'circled the wagons' and wouldn't let new blood in?

 

I was thinking at first it was the latter but look at the lesser-known one-show freelance writers Lucy hired and the miserable scripts they submitted.  "Rain Goddess" "Mooney the Monkey": need I say more?

Marshall is his autobiography talks of his work on the Dick Van Dyke show with justifiable pride but intimates that writing for The Lucy Show was slumming.

 

 But it takes considerable skill to put together a satisfying Lucy Show: keeping her feminine, creating dialogue that sounds natural but funny, avoiding obvious 'joke' set-ups, writing situations that allow Lucy to shine while laying the groundwork that keeps it somewhat believable.  Every post Bob-Madelyn writer should have been made to watch "Lucy, the Music Lover" 12 times before they submitted a script. 

 

Marshall had some good ones (the two "Clint" episodes you mention among them) but then again he wrote "Milton Berle" and "Golden Greek". 

 

As the series progressed there were fewer and fewer outside writers.  The 6th season scripts were, with the exception of one or two, all written by either Bob O'Brien or the Josefsburg/Singer team. 

 

 

 

Yes that always has been a curious one especially since Lucy remarked on more than one occasion how she marveled at Bob & Madelyn being able to write so ably about a married couple despite not being married (initially) at the time neither to anyone nor each other, which makes me wonder why she didn't (IF she didn't) seek out the few female TV writers working at the time which, I'm sure would have "softened" the character somewhat (was the post-Ricardo versions of the Lucy character never more appealing than when she was dating a potential suitor (right or wrong for her)??)  You listed the Clint Walker eps as some of those that Marshall & Belson wrote which were two of my favorites because she was if only slightly, more vulnerable and thus more appealing.

 

While there were a handful of other early-60s women writers that I'm aware of besides Miss Garrett (who also wrote for "Bewitched" (a few of my favorites, at that), "Petticoat Junction", "Get Smart" and went on to write for "Maude", "All in the Family" etc. in the 70s) such as Peggy Chantler Dick ("Hazel"; "Dennis the Menace"; "Bewitched" and many more) and Louella MacFarlane (also "Hazel", "Dennis the Menace" etc.) there do seem to have been very few during the TLS timeframe still I wonder if Lucy made any effort to reach out to them or if it just wasn't viable because the few that were already working weren't available (or perhaps not interested?) or if it was because the producers then were all male and didn't think it was important to do so.

 

Guess we may never know!

[leenorman]

Have you heard Penny recently? She's even harder to decipher.

 

No, I haven't; but, I loved 'SQUIGGY" and whatshisname in L&S;

 

My granddaughter, Lakin, [born on Ludille's birthday; and to whom I dedicate mychronology], as a youngster always looked for shirts, or other items, with a HUGE L on and it reminded me of Laverne.  Thanks for a lovely reminder.  Loving you, JK