What is your favorite Lucy Show opening credit?

I voted for the black and white version. I love the others as well, but that one is the best, IMO.

The black and white cartoon version. The kalediscope opening was used too much in the 60's and besides Family Affair did a better job at it.

I vote for the B&W animated opening as well (too bad we never got to see it in color). As for the kaleidescope opening, I don't know if you guys read jumptheshark.com, but here is what a poster said about that opening:

What was with that “kaleidoscope” opening? I’ve never dropped acid and have no plans to ever do so, but something tells me a bad acid trip would look and sound something like that. You got Lucy looking bugged-eye while chewing something, Lucy looking winded and ghastly poking her head out of a sack, Lucy the cowboy with a teabag (??) hanging off her mustache (!) etc., and with music that sounds like the Desi Arnaz orchestra’s soundtrack for a nightmare. In fact I remember as a little kid “Lucy Show” reruns airing right after “Captain Kangaroo”, the only kids show on at that time. Rarely was I fast enough to get to the TV and change the channel before that frightening opening would start .

Originally posted by TV Guy
I vote for the B&W animated opening as well (too bad we never got to see it in color). As for the kaleidescope opening, I don't know if you guys read jumptheshark.com, but here is what a poster said about that opening:

What was with that “kaleidoscope” opening? I’ve never dropped acid and have no plans to ever do so, but something tells me a bad acid trip would look and sound something like that. You got Lucy looking bugged-eye while chewing something, Lucy looking winded and ghastly poking her head out of a sack, Lucy the cowboy with a teabag (??) hanging off her mustache (!) etc., and with music that sounds like the Desi Arnaz orchestra’s soundtrack for a nightmare. In fact I remember as a little kid “Lucy Show” reruns airing right after “Captain Kangaroo”, the only kids show on at that time. Rarely was I fast enough to get to the TV and change the channel before that frightening opening would start .

LOL, I read that post a few weeks ago on JTS and laughed hysterically. I still at least chuckle when I read it. He didn't mention Lucy bawling while she appeared to be holding a hose that was spraying indoors. That part of the opening credits helped get me in trouble when I was a kid. I remember getting a paddling from my mom when I was very young because I was getting wet by messing around w/ a hose outside. I remember wanting to act "like a movie star" and for years I couldn't remember why until I saw TLS reruns much later and remembered the bit w/ the hose. I'd most likely seen TLS reruns on CBS daytime when I was very young and picked up the hose bit from there.

I recently paid a lot of $ for a TLS VHS off of EBay specifically because it was from the early color seasons (2&3) which can rarely be found on VHS or DVD. The TLS eps from the LA years (seasons 4-6) seem to be a dime a dozen on DVD now. I bought a DVD set of 10 eps from Best Buy and have watched both the 1st season B&W eps but have only bothered watching one of the LA-based eps so far. The LA eps are more about Lucy interacting w/ movie stars instead of getting into trouble w/ Viv.

BTW, I voted for the B&W opening. I'd rank the 3rd season opening w/ the action shots 2nd, the 2nd season w/ still color pics 3rd, and the kaleidoscope last. There's a TLS site, I forget the link now, which also has a briefly seen opening where Lucy's head pops out of a jack-in-the-box after a bunch of balls bounce around the screen. According to the site, it appeared briefly in the 4th or 5th season, but Lucy didn't like it because it was too "pop". Strangely enough, the opening it reminds me the most of is the opening from the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, w/ all the rolling balls in that opening.

I definitely like the 3rd season opening best.

Not all of the LA eps are bad. In fact, I enjoy quite a few more than some of the early ones. Some recommended ones:

"Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard" hysterical!!!
"Lucy and the French Movie Star" best drunk bit she ever did!
"Lucy Flies to London"
"Lucy Meets the Law"
"Lucy Meets the Berles"

This is only 5, but there are more that are just as entertaining...don't write the LA eps off before trying them!

Originally posted by jehobden
LOL, I read that post a few weeks ago on JTS and laughed hysterically. I still at least chuckle when I read it. He didn't mention Lucy bawling while she appeared to be holding a hose that was spraying indoors.



I always thought that was a newly-opened bottle of champagne.

There's a TLS site, I forget the link now, which also has a briefly seen opening where Lucy's head pops out of a jack-in-the-box after a bunch of balls bounce around the screen. According to the site, it appeared briefly in the 4th or 5th season, but Lucy didn't like it because it was too "pop".

Yeah, I've seen that -- it was used for a few episodes at the beginning of the fifth season. They quickly switched back to the kaleidescope. In reruns, the kaleidescope has been pasted onto the shows that originally had the jack-in-the-box opening, but they retained the jack-in-the-box music. Also, the writer and director credits for these episodes continue to appear over a "still" shot of the three bouncing balls. So it's still easy to see which episodes had the discarded opening.

I vote for the B&W animated opening as well (too bad we never got to see it in color). As for the kaleidescope opening, I don't know if you guys read jumptheshark.com, but here is what a poster said about that opening:

What was with that “kaleidoscope” opening? I’ve never dropped acid and have no plans to ever do so, but something tells me a bad acid trip would look and sound something like that. You got Lucy looking bugged-eye while chewing something, Lucy looking winded and ghastly poking her head out of a sack, Lucy the cowboy with a teabag (??) hanging off her mustache (!) etc., and with music that sounds like the Desi Arnaz orchestra’s soundtrack for a nightmare. In fact I remember as a little kid “Lucy Show” reruns airing right after “Captain Kangaroo”, the only kids show on at that time. Rarely was I fast enough to get to the TV and change the channel before that frightening opening would start .

Apparently TV Guy didn't change the channel fast enough because he seems to remember every last detail of that opening. My only comment about that opening is that the musical arrangement doesn't seem fitting for a sitcom, particularly a zany one like Lucy's. Close your eyes and just listen to the music and you might thing you're listening to the opening of a western show rather than a sitcom.

Yeah, definitely the first season black and white opening is my favorite. I was born in 1961 so I never watched early Lucy Shows when they originally ran, but when CBS aired them at 10am est in daily reruns (Donna Reed was at 9:30). I loved those first and 2nd season shows, they were the best, and incidentally Lucy still had her oriignal I Love Lucy writers for those two seasons, that's why the episodes seemed better than the later ones.

I have some episodes with original commercials, and the black and white Lucy and Viv characters morph into chocolate and vanilla puddings in fluted glasses (Jello sponsor). Cast commercials I have also include Lux Soap and Swan Dishwashing Detergent. However, only Viv, the 3 kids and Eddie (Viv's boyfriend) appeared in the commercials I have. Lucy I don't think ever appeared in them, she hated doing them. They did the commercials that evening after they filmed the episode.

The kaleidoscope opening is by far the most remembered I guess simply because it tan for three seasons as opposed to the other openings which were only one season each. I hated it when NIK substituted the cartoon stick figures opening for the black and white episodes by putting in the kaleidoscope opening in black and white and substituting the voice over announcer Roy Rowan "Co-Starring Gale Gordon" with "Co-Starring Vivian Vance". Have no idea why they had to resort to that. Pretty stupid since the episode is in all black and white anyway.

I think the third season opening was the best. Those clips they used just seemed to fit perfectly with that music. :dance:

Answer: the fourth season (1964-'65), which was only seen in black & white
[the montage which included Lucy on stilts]. Sorry Lucy didn't really care for that one.


There were FOUR opening titles for the series, three of which were only filmed in black & white (the show was presented on CBS in b&w during its first three seasons, even though it was filmed in color from season two beginning in the fall of '63, because the network didn't telecast ANY shows in color until September of 1965)-

Opening title 1 (1962-'63)- the animated Lucy and Viv try to hammer the letters of the show's title on screen correctly...

Opening title 2 (1963-'64)- the montage of stills that eventually fill the screen
[including one of Viv]...

Opening title 3 (1964-'65)- the montage of slapstick sequences from earlier seasons....

Opening title 4 (1965-'68)- the famous 'kaleidoscope' opening [the ONLY color title viewers see these days]---with an additional title that was altered
when CBS began rebroadcasting the '63-'65 episodes in FULL COLOR in the spring of 1966 {at first, they were used for spring and summer reruns, and
later on the CBS daytime edition from 1968-'72}. Those titles substitute Vivian Vance's name as co-star instead of Gale Gordon. And those color prints (with the altered title) are the ones we see today.

'RTususian', keep in mind that "THE LUCY SHOW", during most of its original CBS run, was sponsored on alternate weeks by General Foods {Jell-O, etc.} and Lever Brothers {Swan Soap and Liquid, etc.}. Lucy preferred not to appear in the "integrated" cast commercials because she didn't want to tie herself up with sponsor endorsements...she was too busy trying to control Desilu, anyway. Viv, on the other hand, was only too happy to act as "shill" for Lever (and Swan Liquid) because that meant extra money--and more time to appear "on her own". I haven't seen any spots she might have done for Jell-O, though....I know Jack Benny did during the two years ('62-'64) HE
was co-sponsored by Jell-O [GF] on CBS!

Answer: the fourth season (1964-'65), which was only seen in black & white
[the montage which included Lucy on stilts]. Sorry Lucy didn't really care for that one.


There were FOUR opening titles for the series, three of which were only filmed in black & white (the show was presented on CBS in b&w during its first three seasons, even though it was filmed in color from season two beginning in the fall of '63, because the network didn't telecast ANY shows in color until September of 1965)-

Opening title 1 (1962-'63)- the animated Lucy and Viv try to hammer the letters of the show's title on screen correctly...

Opening title 2 (1963-'64)- the montage of stills that eventually fill the screen
[including one of Viv]...

Opening title 3 (1964-'65)- the montage of slapstick sequences from earlier seasons....

Opening title 4 (1965-'68)- the famous 'kaleidoscope' opening [the ONLY color title viewers see these days]---with an additional title that was altered
when CBS began rebroadcasting the '63-'65 episodes in FULL COLOR in the spring of 1966 {at first, they were used for spring and summer reruns, and
later on the CBS daytime edition from 1968-'72}. Those titles substitute Vivian Vance's name as co-star instead of Gale Gordon. And those color prints (with the altered title) are the ones we see today.
There were actually five openings...one was a jack-in-the-box opening that was used only for a few episodes starting with "Lucy & George Burns" in the fifth season. And only the first opening was created in black and white...all the others were created in color, but only the kaleidoscope opening was originally aired in color (since CBS didn't have the policy for airing sitcoms in color until the episodes with the kaleidoscope opening were created). CBS aired the other openings in color, when "The Lucy Show" went into reruns later, after its original run. Also, the kaleidoscope opening is not the only one that's aired now...some TV stations still air episodes with their original openings. :)

...I DID forget about the short-lived 1966-'67 opening title {"the jack in the box"}...but I don't remember seeing the second and third season titles in color, though. When WOR-TV (Channel 9) in N.Y. got the rights to repeat "THE LUCY SHOW" in the early '70s, they did show prints with the original opening titles through the first three seasons...I believe WPIX-TV
(Channel 11) did the same when they got them after 1976.