What episodes are you watching on "The Lucy Show"?

[C L A U D E]

Great review, LOL!  I'm watching part deux of Carol's new roommate for Lucy, today is in Palm Springs, I never tire of these two.

[Luvsbway]

Since Claude was talking about it I watched Lucy fly to London. On the plane when Lucy is trying to get a pic of Mary Jane she asks the passenger played by Maury, "can you do something for me?". Maury says "What?". I yelled back " Can you not say bad things about me after I'm dead?".

[C L A U D E]

Ooooooooooh good one!  I can't watch HIS part of the screen when that ungrateful bastard is on.  Didn't they ask him to do something after the series ended and he said BUT I'M A DIRECTOR NOW!   And yet he never directed anything else till he made a new career out of Lucy bashing.

[Brock]

Lucy & The Missing Stamp

Lucy Goes To Vegas

Lucy & The Ceramic Cat

[Mister Hepburn]

I just watched Lucy and Joan, aka The Widow Carmichael. I'd forgotten how perfect this episode is, nicely paced and always funny. I especially enjoyed the girls' quips about men and wanting them, it gets a little suggestive (if you want it to) and I like that. Lucy's initial struggle with the carts is hilarious, building to her demolishing the display, love it. Adding this one to my favorites list.

[Mister Hepburn]

Since Claude was talking about it I watched Lucy fly to London. On the plane when Lucy is trying to get a pic of Mary Jane she asks the passenger played by Maury, "can you do something for me?". Maury says "What?". I yelled back " Can you not say bad things about me after I'm dead?".

This episode may be my very favorite episode of the series. There's something about trapping Lucy Carmichael in such a small space with Mr. Mooney... It oozes opportunity and the writers, performers, etc don't miss a beat.

[Harrison]

Lucy, the Good Skate

[JoeySanJoaquin]

5th Season "mini-marathon":

George Burns

Submarine

Paul Winchell

Ring-a-Ding Ring

Goes to London

Bean Queen

[Harrison]

Watched this late yesterday evening:

 

"Lucy and the Military Academy" and then fell asleep in the middle of watching "Lucy's College Reunion".

[Mmadluv7]

Just finished watching Lucy and the Countess go to the fat farm and the energy level is amazing. I sometimes wish there was footage of a full show taping from start to finish of a show- How the timing was for costume changes, when the curtains were drawn, IF the curtains were drawn between scenes- was the intro and outdo music live as the scene went through?  Its just SO EXCITING to watch. I can see why Lucy and Gale loved working each week with it. 

[Brock]

Lucy Goes To Vegas

Lucy & The Countess

My Fair Lucy

 

 

Just finished watching Lucy and the Countess go to the fat farm and the energy level is amazing. I sometimes wish there was footage of a full show taping from start to finish of a show- How the timing was for costume changes, when the curtains were drawn, IF the curtains were drawn between scenes- was the intro and outdo music live as the scene went through?  Its just SO EXCITING to watch. I can see why Lucy and Gale loved working each week with it. 

 

Great performances all around in this episode, but I am just not crazy about it. Given Mooney's reverence to the Countess, his behaviour towards her in this episode is just out of character.

[Mmadluv7]

Lucy Goes To Vegas

Lucy & The Countess

My Fair Lucy

 

 

 

Great performances all around in this episode, but I am just not crazy about it. Given Mooney's reverence to the Countess, his behaviour towards her in this episode is just out of character.

 

REALLY!? OH I LOVE how he gushes over the countess  LOLOL - the only problem is that Id wish the character were divorced, or forever in the process of divorcing his wife, instead of being married and repulsed by her. The running joke of never seeing Irma, just as we never see Vivs husband, is nice, but never holds up. Not even in her own house do we see Mrs Mooney (or do we? i dont remember), but we see a monkey, and a robot, and a teenager, and Lucy as a dog, etc. but never Mrs Mooney (for a character thats so demanding, she's never around lol) so - his character being married has always been an unsettling issue for me. But- When he flirts with the countess, and when he becomes overly sweet, its funny to watch lol Its nice to see him not be such a strict, uh "benevolent despot"? towards Lucy lol but he becomes sickeningly sweet lol 

I think that scene plays good, but I think he does some SUPERB work in his later scenes- with the working out, and the huge set crashing over him. He did awesome. MY FAVORITE MOMENT in the show-is the cow scene lol Not only does Lucy get a chance to recreate the famous milk-squirting routine- but she has one of her best friends there- WILLING TO DO THE CRAZIEST THINGS RIGHT BESIDE HER- and its just hilarious to watch. 

 

I love your interpretation of it though-i love seeing the different opinion on the episodes- breaking them down and all. How do you feel about The episode where the countess has to sell the apartment? 

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Lucy Goes To Vegas

Lucy & The Countess

My Fair Lucy

 

 

 

Great performances all around in this episode, but I am just not crazy about it. Given Mooney's reverence to the Countess, his behaviour towards her in this episode is just out of character.

 

Well....one could argue if so inclined that since Mooney's overriding raison d'être was first and foremost the almighy buck, whether in fear of losing it (ie. bank accounts) or spending too much (isn't that why he insisted upon taking the role of the "trainer", so to speak?) of it, would that not fit into his character after all as anything else -- including deferring to the Countess because of his perception of her wealth and social stature -- would take a back seat to his love of the almighty dollar?? Just wonderin'! 

 

[JoeySanJoaquin]

REALLY!? OH I LOVE how he gushes over the countess  LOLOL - the only problem is that Id wish the character were divorced, or forever in the process of divorcing his wife, instead of being married and repulsed by her. The running joke of never seeing Irma, just as we never see Vivs husband, is nice, but never holds up. Not even in her own house do we see Mrs Mooney (or do we? i dont remember), but we see a monkey, and a robot, and a teenager, and Lucy as a dog, etc. but never Mrs Mooney (for a character thats so demanding, she's never around lol) so - his character being married has always been an unsettling issue for me. But- When he flirts with the countess, and when he becomes overly sweet, its funny to watch lol Its nice to see him not be such a strict, uh "benevolent despot"? towards Lucy lol but he becomes sickeningly sweet lol 

I think that scene plays good, but I think he does some SUPERB work in his later scenes- with the working out, and the huge set crashing over him. He did awesome. MY FAVORITE MOMENT in the show-is the cow scene lol Not only does Lucy get a chance to recreate the famous milk-squirting routine- but she has one of her best friends there- WILLING TO DO THE CRAZIEST THINGS RIGHT BESIDE HER- and its just hilarious to watch. 

 

I love your interpretation of it though-i love seeing the different opinion on the episodes- breaking them down and all. How do you feel about The episode where the countess has to sell the apartment? 

 

For some reason, of all the Countess-centric episodes, this is my least favorite, not sure why... but I always (still do) find it fascinating that Southern, who was so at this point cognizant of her girth that she usually wore black/variations thereof, that she actually not only agreed to wear very unflattering sweats but be "put through her paces" being photographed performing such "un-Countess-like" exercise routines!!

 

I have fond memories however of the cow-milking scene, not only because it was obviously a tip of the hat to the ILL episode in which our heroine did the same thing, but because I still remember to this day being over at my grandmother's once, all gathered watching TV and this episode was on, my crotchety old aunt commenting when the scene began, "Oh, she's not milking that cow any more than I am!" when as soon as in the next breath it was quite apparent she WAS (when she was squirting the milk at Rosie) that my little defiant, defending Lucy to the death, already a lifelong fan piped up, "She IS too!!" 

I don't agree with your comment though about the fact we never see the Irma character, I thought it was one of the best running gags of the show, one that's been employed on various sitcoms for years to great effect, including to present day where we hear somewhere in every episode (but NEVER see, and most assuredly never will) Howard's mother on the inimitable Big Bang Theory. 

 

If it ain't broke....

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Just finished watching Lucy and the Countess go to the fat farm and the energy level is amazing. I sometimes wish there was footage of a full show taping from start to finish of a show- How the timing was for costume changes, when the curtains were drawn, IF the curtains were drawn between scenes- was the intro and outdo music live as the scene went through?  Its just SO EXCITING to watch. I can see why Lucy and Gale loved working each week with it. 

That's a cool idea but I would think if anything like that existed, the wizards like Tom and Rick and Jonathan et al who brought us the exemplary TLS DVD releases would have included them with the bonus features on the set(s).  (There was however that rehearsal footage included on one of the later ones that showed them rehearsing the Jay North episode, as I recall. )

 

From all the filmings I've been too, more often than not there are curtains but on "gliders" and wheels so they can be quickly wheeled around/put in place to cover the sets that aren't part of the current action being shot, ostensibly to help the audience focus on the action taking place in front of them.... and they actually have a name familiar in the industry which I'm blanking on at the moment as it has totally gone out of my head!! Grrrr! The joys of aging!!!

[Luvsbway]

I had always wondered how a reveal worked in a show where the audience seemed shocked or surprised. While working on Drew I saw how they used those wheeled curtain boards to create the reveal to the audience. Pretty tricky to time it but not get caught on camera as the action is happening on the same part of the set.

[Mmadluv7]

 

My Fair Lucy

 

My fair Lucy disappointed me towards the end of the second part of the show.

I think some of the magic of a Lucy episode was seeing it work out in Lucy's favor- or seeing it blow up in her face, but in a non threatening way. 

 Here, she doesn't wiggle out of the situation and nothing gets accomplished- and though she dresses up in two different great costumes, the scene where she's scratching her back is great until she breaks it.

Maybe Mrs Ryker- or whatever her name was here lol could have been upset at what Lucy was doing, but the husband could have then noticed that the paint was turning colors and was actually made of a temperature sensitive paint- some appraiser or the designer himself says how that doubles the value- and all credited to Lucy- the guy over powers his wife, tells her to shut up, gives the money to the countess and Lucy and they win- rather than, they leave, empty handed, broke, and with nothing to show for it. I mean- I also feel a little bad for the Ryker lady because..well..after all, its a special unveiling, she was mean, but I felt bad for her things being broken by a clumsy itchy Lucy- and the countess turning on her and then leaving was just underwhelming.  

[Mmadluv7]

 

I don't agree with your comment though about the fact we never see the Irma character, I thought it was one of the best running gags of the show, one that's been employed on various sitcoms for years to great effect, including to present day where we hear somewhere in every episode (but NEVER see, and most assuredly never will) Howard's mother on the inimitable Big Bang Theory. 

 

If it ain't broke....

 

 

Don't get me wrong, the joke works, just not for the Mooney character.

Look at it for Vivs character. We know he wouldn't show up, because he sounds like Fred Mertz, and the audience can picture her being married to that kind of a guy- so when she refers to him as a bum, or a penny pencher, it always serves as a good joke, because we can picture it- now, with Irma, she sounds interesting- She sounds like she's funny to look at, funny to hear, and funny to watch, she sounds like a hoot- but we never ever see her.

She seems like such an over the top character, and so dependent on Mooney, yet we never get a chance to see that, and so it just becomes yet another "take my wife please" joke.

 I understand that they were trying to be clever in keeping her away, but it just seemed to be an empty plot hole for his character. I mean, when is she ever there, even when the situation goes in her favor- she's not there-We can see Lucy fly over a group of reporters and pick up a computer the size of an out house, but we can't see Irma? not even a shadow? where was Mrs Mooney when she thought her son was being scalped!? or when she thought her son was eloping? Where was she when her husband was locked in a bank for days? We hear Theodore say his wife has compassion for him as a husband at times, but then, he stays over at a lodge and does a rain dance without her. It just doesn't fit, at some point- you expect to see her and never do- it just doesn't work the way Vivs husband did- or the way Fang did with Phyllis Diller. Had they had been in the process of getting a divorce- THEN wed understand the emotions of wanting him sometimes, and other times detesting him. Him going away on the boat with her to try and recapture love, and then wanting to ditch her in the next season- it makes more sense IMO. 

[Mmadluv7]

 

 

From all the filmings I've been too, more often than not there are curtains but on "gliders" and wheels so they can be quickly wheeled around/put in place to cover the sets that aren't part of the current action being shot, ostensibly to help the audience focus on the action taking place in front of them.... and they actually have a name familiar in the industry which I'm blanking on at the moment as it has totally gone out of my head!! Grrrr! The joys of aging!!!

 

Ive been at a lot of tapings, and the earlier tapings had the curtains around the sets, then later, as time went on I would see these large boards.

The last taping I went to, there were no curtains or large boards. The scenes that were special, were put on a monitor up front and played for laughs, and then the reaction scenes were shot in front of us, so the entire concept of it being shot like a non stop play was gone when I began to go 2 shows- so Im always inquisitive about how Lucy had done it. I know she operated it like a play- but I want to know the times between scenes, and all of that- the less time between scenes, the better IMO

[Luvsbway]

Check out HL episode Lucy The Conclusion Jumper. Watch Lucy's watch and you can get an idea how long it took to film that one. Her watch face is rather large and I noticed it one time. It's noticeable the whole way through. Really only seemed to take an hour.

[Mmadluv7]

Check out HL episode Lucy The Conclusion Jumper. Watch Lucy's watch and you can get an idea how long it took to film that one. Her watch face is rather large and I noticed it one time. It's noticeable the whole way through. Really only seemed to take an hour.

 

 

um, YOU are my new best friend. LOLOL Its AMAZING how you pay such close attention to details and things like that while watching!! Ill check it out- and Im sure by that time, things did go by smoothly- but this must mean that  Friday thru Wed. was prep time for all of those gags and props and sets too be tested and worked so that everything ran smoothly the day of. Seems to be a heavy heavy task- and imagine that thoroughbred mentality of Lucy and Desi lol - ALL OF THAT RESPONSIBILITY and STILL having to be a star, and a responsible person, and a caring parent, and a astute boss and manager- You can see that they were major power houses who changed the game. 

[JoeySanJoaquin]

I had always wondered how a reveal worked in a show where the audience seemed shocked or surprised. While working on Drew I saw how they used those wheeled curtain boards to create the reveal to the audience. Pretty tricky to time it but not get caught on camera as the action is happening on the same part of the set.

So Luvs you know what I'm talking about!!! What are they called, gliders?? It's on the tip of my tongue and I just can't think of it!! Thanks!  

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Don't get me wrong, the joke works, just not for the Mooney character.

Look at it for Vivs character. We know he wouldn't show up, because he sounds like Fred Mertz, and the audience can picture her being married to that kind of a guy- so when she refers to him as a bum, or a penny pencher, it always serves as a good joke, because we can picture it- now, with Irma, she sounds interesting- She sounds like she's funny to look at, funny to hear, and funny to watch, she sounds like a hoot- but we never ever see her.

She seems like such an over the top character, and so dependent on Mooney, yet we never get a chance to see that, and so it just becomes yet another "take my wife please" joke.

 I understand that they were trying to be clever in keeping her away, but it just seemed to be an empty plot hole for his character. I mean, when is she ever there, even when the situation goes in her favor- she's not there-We can see Lucy fly over a group of reporters and pick up a computer the size of an out house, but we can't see Irma? not even a shadow? where was Mrs Mooney when she thought her son was being scalped!? or when she thought her son was eloping? Where was she when her husband was locked in a bank for days? We hear Theodore say his wife has compassion for him as a husband at times, but then, he stays over at a lodge and does a rain dance without her. It just doesn't fit, at some point- you expect to see her and never do- it just doesn't work the way Vivs husband did- or the way Fang did with Phyllis Diller. Had they had been in the process of getting a divorce- THEN wed understand the emotions of wanting him sometimes, and other times detesting him. Him going away on the boat with her to try and recapture love, and then wanting to ditch her in the next season- it makes more sense IMO. 

"..makes more sense"?? Well that's part of the problem: you're weighing way too much logic into a simple sitcom plot, for a show (like its predecessor) that as more time goes on, we know as ardent fans was not known for its consistency and continuity!!

 

I maintain the decision to keep Irma off-camera, a la Carlton the Doorman in "Rhoda" and Mrs. whatshisface's mother in Big Bang Theory is not only a conscious decision but a wise one: the audience individually and collectively can use its imagination as to what they think in their minds Mrs. Mooney might look like... without ever having their bubble burst because they never had to actually see "the real deal"!  

[Luvsbway]

So Luvs you know what I'm talking about!!! What are they called, gliders?? It's on the tip of my tongue and I just can't think of it!! Thanks!

Wish I could help but I don't know what they are called, just what they look like.

[Brock]

REALLY!? OH I LOVE how he gushes over the countess  LOLOL

 

Maybe I wasn't clear, I love how he gushes over the Countess too but that's why this episode bugs me a bit. It would be more in character for the episode if Mooney thinks he's letting Lucy suffer but is, in reality, slipping Rosie food every once in a while to keep her in the style to which she has become accustomed -- and the style in which Mooney is so in awe.

 

Anyway, I re-watched this episode tonight and another point against this episode in my books is Carole Cook is right there but she is basically given nothing to do. The woman is pure gold. Use her! LOL

 

Lucy & The Countess Lose Weight

Lucy & The Old Mansion

Lucy & Arthur Godfrey