One of my first memories of watching the I Love Lucy show was that I thought how much Lucy and Ricky were like my own parents, my mom was Scotch Irish and my Dad was Spanish, ( but his English was better than Ricky's). What fun it is today to have these shows still on and to discover that even my painfully cool teenage son enjoys watching them with me. A new generation of Americans is discovering that they love Lucy too, and it's comforting to know that the rest of us still do. Join me as we stroll back to that New York City apartment and visit Lucy and Ricky.
This 9:00PM, October 15, 1951. From that minute forward, I Love Lucy went on the air, and has never been off since. Television critics of the day were already beginning to tire of the sitcom centered on the institution of marriage. But what is it about that show biz wannabe redhead, her Cuban bandleader husband, and their landlords/best friends/co-conspirators that drove upwards of 40,000,000 viewers a week to tune in - and continues to entertains millions of people the world over? Perhaps the key lies with the show's mastery of the graceful transition from sense to nonsense. Each episode opens with a plausible situation (home economy, child rearing, postdating a check) thrown awry with exaggerated absurdity (Lucy is starched, frozen, stuffed with chocolate, locked in a trunk, and lowered to the deck of a ship by helicopter, just to name a few). Yet somehow, Lucy never seems to lose touch with the audience - the show is human, and so are we.
While the comic brilliance of Lucille Ball and the magic chemistry of the four main characters were the cornerstones of the show, I Love Lucy owes its success in no small part to a band of brilliant creators and innovators. The show gave birth to the rerun, was the first to use three cameras simultaneously filming before a live audience, and overcame many technical obstacles of early television through ingenious lighting, set design, and editing.
I Love Lucy was a comedy tv show about a Cuban bandleader (Ricky) and his American, wacky, red-headed wife. Ricky was a headliner performer at the Tropicana Club and actually, a star. He really did love Lucy very much but love is not everything! He wished that she'd be satisfied to be a wife and mother. She also had enormous love for her husband, but longed to be a star just like Ricky. She would pull every trick in the book to perform at the Tropicana even though it was clear to everyone that she had no real talent. Occasionally she got a taste of show biz but, of course, she always messed up! Perhaps the best-known example was in I Love Lucy episode #30, "Lucy Does A Television Commercial". Lucy got hired to do a commercial about a health product called, "Vitameatavegamin". After several takes it becomes evident that the product is pretty high in alcohol content! Lucy ends out drunk by the end of the episode! In the fourth season of I Love Lucy, Lucy, Ricky and their landlords/friends the Mertzes headed for California where Ricky was being offered a movie contract. These episodes were especially popular as many people of that time had little or no opportunity to travel and it was very exciting to watch! Also, it gave the writers an opportunity to interact Lucy with many top celebrities of the day in California.
The Cast:
Desi Arnaz ................. Ricky Ricardo
William Frawley ............ Fred Mertz
Vivian Vance ............... Ethel Mertz
It has been said that somewhere in the world the I Love Lucy Show is playing at any given time...I hope that it's true and I hope it never stops.
Until our next "Strolling Down Memory Lane With Candy"
May all your days be filled with laughter.
If you'd like to return to the Main Page, Just click below.
