Ann Sothern: In 1965 Viv Vance decided to leave the Lucy Show and "Lu-squeal" phoned and offered me a running part as Countess Framboise--that's cheese, you know. [Note: Actually, Framboise means raspberry. Cheese in French is fromage.] And I did 7 to 8 of these over the season and had a ball.

But Lucy was in bossy mode, she'd show me how to do every line, every reaction shot. And frankly I did not want to be tied down as her second-in-command. So I departed.

I did the voice for My Mother the Car [1965]. I'd record episodes in the studio and decamp--easiest money I ever made. Desi Arnaz then tried to package me and Eve Arden as The Mothers in Law and CBS said our styles were too similar and I agreed. NBC then bought it and ran it Sunday's at 8:30 against Ed Sullivan! So it did go on the air with Kaye Ballard replacing me, but didn't survive very long.

This is an excerpt from a 1974 interview with Ann Sothern by James Bowden. It can be found in the Fall 2016 issue of Films of the Golden Age (#86) in the article "Ann Sothern : The Smartest Girl in Town." It's an excellent 20 page article with many photos. The information in the brackets above is from the author, not me.

I couldn't stand Ann's character on The Lucy Show - so unlikeable. Frankly, Vivian's character wasn't all that likeable either - she didn't have the warmth of Ethel Mertz in this series. But at least she and Lucy had chemistry together, it evoked the glory days of Lucy and Ethel.

I couldn't stand Ann's character on The Lucy Show - so unlikeable. Frankly, Vivian's character wasn't all that likeable either - she didn't have the warmth of Ethel Mertz in this series. But at least she and Lucy had chemistry together, it evoked the glory days of Lucy and Ethel.

I don't find Ann's character unlikeable, just boring. And I love Vivian Bagley. She cracks me up all the time.

Thanks for posting the article, gidgetgrape.

'Lu-squeal'? A bit catty there on Miss.Sothern's part, IMO.

Well, Miss Sothern when she was a rising start DID help furbish the still- unknown Lucille's first Los Angeles home in time for her to fulfill her longtime dream of reuniting her entire family under one roof again so I can see why Lucy felt a bit beholden to her.

Yes, I can somewhat understand Miss Sothern not wanting to be micromanaged on a fulltime basis. However; considering that they did not work together in any of Lucy's subsequent series and I'm not sure they had much to do with each other after Miss Sothern's turn here, I'm wondering how good friends they stayed to the end of Lucy's life.

Lucy had toyed with the idea of Ann Sothern becoming a regular, but Sothern wanted too much money, so she didn't join the show as a regular. You just couldn't replace Vivian Vance. I liked Mary Jane Croft and never understood why she wasn't used more (or better) on The Lucy Show and especially Here's Lucy.

Lucy had toyed with the idea of Ann Sothern becoming a regular, but Sothern wanted too much money, so she didn't join the show as a regular. You just couldn't replace Vivian Vance. I liked Mary Jane Croft and never understood why she wasn't used more (or better) on The Lucy Show and especially Here's Lucy.

I've mentioned this before, but at least once I saw Lucille Ball quoted as saying just what you wrote: No one could replace Vivian Vance. So she didn't even try. Mary Jane Croft should never be seen as a replacement for Vivian Vance because she wasn't. She was not Lucy's sidekick. She was more of a plot device. There were only a couple episodes over the years where she was even used in a Vivian Vance type capacity. The only ones that come to mind are the Sheldon Leonard episode of The Lucy Show, where Lucy and Mary Jane are hiding out disguised as cleaning women, and the "Not So Popular Mechanics" episode of Here's Lucy, where Mary Jane is trying to help Lucy repair a car. Apart from those very rare instances, Mary Jane was only used as a prop to help launch Lucy into some misadventure involving Lucy and Mooney/Uncle Harry, or Lucy and Kim and/or Craig, or Lucy and a guest star. She would usually appear in an opening scene and maybe the closing scene, but then be completely absent from the main action in between. Vivian Vance, on the other hand, was Lucy's actual sidekick, right there alongside her in almost every scene.

Ann Sothern also wanted co-star billing, and there was no way Lucy was going to give that up. She became convinced that she was the only thing people wanted to see and the only person who could get the laughs, even though I Love Lucy was an ensemble piece. That's why Mary Jane was so underused and had terrible billing. Instead, it was ALL ABOUT Lucy, reading off cue cards in that froggy voice of hers, and finding reasons to do production numbers.

Ann Sothern also wanted co-star billing, and there was no way Lucy was going to give that up. She became convinced that she was the only thing people wanted to see and the only person who could get the laughs, even though I Love Lucy was an ensemble piece. That's why Mary Jane was so underused and had terrible billing. Instead, it was ALL ABOUT Lucy, reading off cue cards in that froggy voice of hers, and finding reasons to do production numbers.

Actually, during those years after Vivian Vance left the show, Lucy brought on a lot of big-name guest stars and often gave them center stage.