Does anyone know why Carolyn Applebee was suddenly called "Lillian" after season 2? :confused:

This is what Doris Singleton says in "The Lucy Book" :

I started out as Lillian Appleby on the show, but then Lucy decided she didn't like that. She wanted me to use my own name, but I didn't like that. So she said "OK, you're Caroline Appleby and your husbands name is Charley". And my husbands name really is Charley. She said, "At least that I can remember!"

It was really strange when Carolyn Applebee suddenly had really bad eyesight when she never even wore glasses before ! When she went to visit Lucy and Ethel in Hollywood expecting to meet all the big stars Lucy said they met! Lucy took her glasses and Carolyn thought she lost them, and she was as blind as a bat and couldn't even tell that they were all Lucy wearing masks of the different movie stars!

IMO, they should have always called her "Carolyn Applebee." Suddenly calling her "Lillian" was really stupid.
I also was like WTF about the glasses thing when Carolyn visited Lucy in California. Were we supposed to believe that she always wore contact lenses before this?

IMO, they should have always called her "Carolyn Applebee." Suddenly calling her "Lillian" was really stupid.
I also was like WTF about the glasses thing when Carolyn visited Lucy in California. Were we supposed to believe that she always wore contact lenses before this?

Yeah really! I don't think contact lenses were even invented yet? Were they? :confused:

Yeah really! I don't think contact lenses were even invented yet? Were they? :confused:
Well, it was the 50s, so I don't know. I'm from the 70s. All I know is that Carolyn never wore glasses before that episode and she never talked about contact lenses.
I just hate inconsistencies.
I hate that "Carolyn" turned into "Lillian" and I hate that they inexplicably made her nearly blind.
Lazy writing IMO.

Almost the same plot line was in Lucy's third show ,Here's Lucy! Lucy's friend Viv was visiting ( Vivian Vance) and she suddenly needed glasses too and never on the other times she guest starred did she wear glasses !Her eyes SUDDENLY went bad ! And she wore the biggest, thickest, ugly glasses you could imagine! No woman would pick out that style of glasses!

Lawrence Welk was supposed to visit, and didn't show up or something like that ,I don't remember exactly? But I remember Lucy was trying to fool Viv with a wax dummy of Welk, and she convinced Viv not to wear her glasses, cause "boys never make passes at girls who wear glasses! LOL!!!


http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTA2MDU5MjMyOTleQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU4MDA1NDUyMjIx._V1_SY317_CR104,0,214,317_AL_.jpg

Here are the episodes Doris Singleton appears in:
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0044781/filmoseries#tt0043208

The Club Election (16 February 1953)
Lucy Is a Matchmaker (25 May 1953)
The Camping Trip (8 June 1953)
Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress (19 October 1953)
Baby Pictures (2 November 1953)
Lucy Tells the Truth (9 November 1953)
Lucy's Club Dance (12 April 1954)
The Dancing Star (2 May 1955)
Lucy and Harpo Marx (9 May 1955)
Lucy and Superman (14 January 1957)

The change in name occurs between her 1st & 2nd appearance per IMDB, just 2 months apart. However, we don't hear her name said on screen until "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress."
At first I would have thought it was a writing issue, but Pugh & Davis wrote all episodes she appeared on. It would seem that Doris Singleton's explanation ins in "The Lucy Book" is most likely the right reason.
Back then when repeats were nonexistent, they probably thought no one would catch this.
But, were we are.

In episode "Club Election" she is called Lillian
Then in "Lucy Tells the Truth" I'm pretty sure she is back to being called Carolyn.

Stupid!

Yeah really! I don't think contact lenses were even invented yet? Were they? :confused:
Believe it or not, contact lenses were invented in the 1800's and were commercially available by 1940 or so. My father wore them in the 1950's.



It was really strange when Carolyn Applebee suddenly had really bad eyesight when she never even wore glasses before ! When she went to visit Lucy and Ethel in Hollywood expecting to meet all the big stars Lucy said they met! Lucy took her glasses and Carolyn thought she lost them, and she was as blind as a bat and couldn't even tell that they were all Lucy wearing masks of the different movie stars!

As has been said on these boards many times, writers were concerned with writing each show as it came along, and didn't always keep track or care what happened last week or last season.

It was really strange when Carolyn Applebee suddenly had really bad eyesight when she never even wore glasses before ! When she went to visit Lucy and Ethel in Hollywood expecting to meet all the big stars Lucy said they met! Lucy took her glasses and Carolyn thought she lost them, and she was as blind as a bat and couldn't even tell that they were all Lucy wearing masks of the different movie stars!

Something else strange, in one of those Hollywood episodes (I can't remember which one), Lucy refers to her as Lillian Appleby again! But the next time she was on, her name went back to Carolyn.

Many of the character names on this series were names of people Lucille Ball knew in real life (it helped Ms. Ball remember names of characters in the script). One of Lucy's teachers from grade school in Jamestown was Lillian Appleby, so that's how character's name was created originally. But maybe for some reason Lucy felt uncomfortable using her teacher's name on the show (or maybe her old teacher complained?), so they changed it to Carolyn.

Maybe you guys are being a little too picky about a sitcom that hardworking folks would come home to and watch to relax.

Maybe you guys are being a little too picky about a sitcom that hardworking folks would come home to and watch to relax.


That's what we do here! ;) It's fun getting into the little details of the old shows and discussing them here! :)

Maybe you guys are being a little too picky about a sitcom that hardworking folks would come home to and watch to relax.
At least we are still discussing a show that has been off the air for approximately sixty years.

At least we are still discussing a show that has been off the air for approximately sixty years.

Exactly! What else would be the point of forums about sitcoms without discussions?

Anyway, going by this photo that Doris sent me years ago, it seems that "Carolyn" is the name that stuck with her.

Exactly! What else would be the point of forums about sitcoms without discussions?

Anyway, going by this photo that Doris sent me years ago, it seems that "Carolyn" is the name that stuck with her.^^^ Cool picture! :)
That's from the episode "Lucy Tells the Truth." I loved that episode.

Exactly! What else would be the point of forums about sitcoms without discussions?

Anyway, going by this photo that Doris sent me years ago, it seems that "Carolyn" is the name that stuck with her.


How cool!!! ;)

I would much rather see discussions like this than political debates that are popping up on some of the other classic sitcom boards.

Yeah, political debates can become toxic.

Cool picture!
That's from the episode "Lucy Tells the Truth." I loved that episode.
So do I.

"Carolyn, "When are you going to get a new deck of cards, We've been playing with the same deck since I have known you."

Cool picture!
That's from the episode "Lucy Tells the Truth." I loved that episode.
So do I.

"Carolyn, "When are you going to get a new deck of cards, We've been playing with the same deck since I have known you."


Also she said Carolyn's new Chinese modern furniture looked like something you'd see in a nightmare after eating bad Chinese food! :lol: