So what if Lucy had come to television not with ILL, but with an adaptation of her popular radio series, "My Favorite Husband". Instead of being "Lucy" she would have been "Liz" and instead of Desi we would have had Richard Denning as her husband (her radio husband who went on years later to play the "governor" on Hawaii Five-O) and Bea Benedict (instead of Viv) and Gale Gordon as her older best friends. The show would still have had some of the same creative hands behind it such as Madelyn and Jess. Do you think this series would have lasted as long as ILL? and most importantly, would it have eventually attained the same level of success as a cultural icon?

My view is that the show potentially could have lasted as long as ILL (six seasons) becuz Lucy would still have been spectacular, but without the contributions of Desi, Bill, and Viv--and the emotional center piece which was the true life love affair of Lucy and Desi the show would not have reached the emotional/iconic cultural level that I Love Lucy did and would not have been shown continuously since 1951 like "Lucy" has been.

It mght have lasted six years on the air, but it wouldn't be remembered with the same admiration and fondness. No way. Remember that without Desi taking part as an actor he probably would have been touring, and therefore not involved in the other respects as well, which would likely mean not such clean, clear copies of the shows to re-broadcast, probably not the ground breaking three-camera-shooting process, maybe not a live audience, little or no music - it would have been just another show, which just happened to have a particularly talented female lead. Not the great show it was with Desi on board. Also, no Fred and Ethel. Maybe no Max Factor makeup, which helped to make the show look better compared to others of the time. Great jokes, perhaps, but not that great chemistry. No zing.

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Well, i can't argue with these two experts here, who made their usual good points. I think Lucy was the show, Jess Oppenheimer a major influence like Desi, you people always seem to forget his contributions. I hated the musical interludes when i was a kid, but would miss them if they weren't there now. Bea Benederet and Gale Gordon are great, but Viv and Bill were better. Deep down, i think, how can you know for sure if it would have endured 50 or more years with Denning, i agree that the LOVE factor of the two was a main ingredient in the show, the warmth of the baby show would not exist with Denning. The fact that they were married in real life was too important a factor to ignore, and even the fracturing the English language an integral part of the show that we've grown to LOVE over the years., To be honest as much as i Love Lucy and think she was the show, that show was four perfect people with Jess being the 5th that made that show an institution! Like Jess said, it was the combo that came together at the perfect time, and the public took to it BECAUSE they were really married and they felt they were eavesdropping on that wacky couple and living vicariously through her antics!

Fair point, I know that I tend to overlook Jess Oppenheimer. Probably because he's not up there on screen! (Except during "The Audition"). Not just him though of course. There were three main writers, weren't there?

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Good point, how embarrassing, the show would be nothing without those great writers, especially Bob and Madelyn, coming up with like 30 shows in 30 weeks. Nowadays, dozens of writers contribute to a show, and it's still lousy! Lucy, who could be ruthless at times, ALWAYS acknowledged their incredible contribution to the shows! If they ever look at these boards, they should know that we all feel this way, even though we seldom mention it!

Are any of them still alive? 'Cause it would be great to have some audio commentaries on the DVDs.

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Of course they are, they are interviewed about the show all the time. They used to be referred to as THE KIDS, as they were very young back then. AND, coming up with all those marital situations, and neither one of them was married at the time, although Lucy tried repeatedly to get them together. They also were called three Bobs and a Babe. As the other two who came on at the end of I Love Lucy were called Bob, and one of them died a while back! The two Bobs went on to write for Maude and All in the Family, while the first Bob and Madelyn went on to the Mothers in Law for Desi and then Alice which ran for like nine years! All excellent writers! Every time i see a show, i relish the dialogue which is so clever, and always so real!

Great! Somebody get them to do some audio commentaries then!

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They should, because there aren't that many of them left from that show that are still alive!