I've been watching a few of the episodes recently and wondered why Lucy looked so pale? Was this her make-up or was she sick?

It was her makeup. I know what you mean, though, she looked very very white in a lot of episodes.

^Exactly, being so pale made her look sort of sickly. You'd think they would have used a darker color make-up on her.

In the later episodes of "The Lucy Show", she looked like a tired drag queen. It was amazing the wild costumes and hair and makeup she wore, even for the 1960s.

In the later episodes of "The Lucy Show", she looked like a tired drag queen.

How rude!

^Exactly, being so pale made her look sort of sickly. You'd think they would have used a darker color make-up on her.
I have to disagree. I loved her pale skin, I thought it was beautiful – especially the way it contrasted with her orange hair, and her bright makeup. She was just gorgeous, in a very porcelain way. Just because someone is totally white doesn't mean they're sick. That could just be her natural skin color, based on home videos that scene of her, it was indeed.

I think her complexion was one of the most, if not the most beautiful I've ever seen. And Vivian was beautiful too, as she looked like her sister.

I have to disagree. I loved her pale skin, I thought it was beautiful – especially the way it contrasted with her orange hair, and her bright makeup. She was just gorgeous, in a very porcelain way. Just because someone is totally white doesn't mean they're sick. That could just be her natural skin color, based on home videos that scene of her, it was indeed.

I think her complexion was one of the most, if not the most beautiful I've ever seen. And Vivian was beautiful too, as she looked like her sister.


Yes she was very beautiful but for some reason she looked much paler on this show than she did on I Love Lucy. That's why I wondered if it was different make-up, sickness or something else.

Yes she was very beautiful but for some reason she looked much paler on this show than she did on I Love Lucy. That's why I wondered if it was different make-up, sickness or something else. I understand. I guess it was the b/w filming of ILL that made her skin look less pale.

I noticed Lucy and Viv both had weird makeup during the second season episodes when the show just started being filmed in color. Vivian always had a really bright blue eye shadow on her eyelids. They tried using bright colors of eye shadow and lipstick on both of them thinking it would probably look good for color film but it didn't. They toned it down about halfway through the 2nd season.

I noticed Lucy and Viv both had weird makeup during the second season episodes when the show just started being filmed in color. Vivian always had a really bright blue eye shadow on her eyelids. They tried using bright colors of eye shadow and lipstick on both of them thinking it would probably look good for color film but it didn't. They toned it down about halfway through the 2nd season.


Women's makeup tended to be gaudy back than! :eek: All that bright eye shadow ( like Endora on Bewitched)!

Women's makeup tended to be gaudy back than! :eek: All that bright eye shadow ( like Endora on Bewitched)!

I think there was more going on than just the makeup styles at the time. The second and third seasons of The Lucy Show, they were filming the show in color but it was still being broadcast by CBS in black and white. The camera directors and lighting folks were probably trying to figure out a way to have them made up so they would still look good for the B&W prime time broadcasts, But they had to tone down because of how it looked on color film, which they knew people would be seeing a few years down the road in reruns. There was probably a lot of experimentation going on with the makeup because trying to satisfy the needs of both B&W and color at the same time, which normally have very different makeup and lighting requirements, is tricky.