Who do you think was the funniest? I think Fred Mertz was the funniest, He was great!

RICKY no doubt about it!

Lucy of course!

Funny--they all were funny, but Funniest--well in that department Miss Ball takes a back seat to no one.

(Thinks). Er... Ricky.

Sometimes Lucy is just too physical and broadly humorous for me. Too many silly faces and falling about. Fred is very good. I like his cutting remarks and sarcasm, but I think Ricky wins it.

:wave:

Originally posted by Mickey
(Thinks). Er... Ricky.

Sometimes Lucy is just too physical and broadly humorous for me. Too many silly faces and falling about. Fred is very good. I like his cutting remarks and sarcasm, but I think Ricky wins it.

:wave: We can't ever disagree either, can we?:lol:

Oh I'm sure we can find something!

:wave:

Lucy. but i think fred was really funny too :)

It's too hard for me to decide, they were all brillant and funny in their own way. I can't single one out as the funniest.

Lucy of course!! hehehe.. i cant help it :D.

Its really hard to say who the funniest person is because they are at their best when they are together -- playing off each other in a way. For instance, Fred wouldn't be funny without Ethel, and Ethel wouldn't be funny without Fred. Their insults back and forth wouldn't be possible without both of them. And Lucy's antics would be nearly as funny without Ricky's reactions to them. Like in scene when Lucy does the Tango with eggs in her shirt, in my opinion the funniest part was Ricky's reaction to it. So I guess what I'm saying is they are all funny in their own way.

Lucy

Fred Mertz is sooo underrated! He always had something funny to say, but usually people say say Fred is their least favorite Well to that I say Fred Mertz forever!!

Originally posted by TheFonz
Who do you think was the funniest? I think Fred Mertz was the funniest, He was great!

1. Lucy
2. Ethel and Ricky (tie)
4. Fred

Well...Ethel was a tad too hippy in her potamus!:lol:

Lucy first, who else? Then the other three in a dead heat. i loved the comment about Ricky though, it's true, his reactions were sometimes as anticipated and as funny as Lucy's antics!

1. Lucy
2. Ethel
3. Ricky and Fred (tie)

Don't get me wrong, i LOVE Fred, but i often catch him acting! You'd think after a hundred movie roles, he'd have gotten it down pat, but he did some major bloopers with the few lines he had. Loved him in the Adagio though, he was better here with more lines and as fully developed routine, not just dropping a gag here and there!

Originally posted by Lucylover22
Fred Mertz is sooo underrated! He always had something funny to say, but usually people say say Fred is their least favorite Well to that I say Fred Mertz forever!!
I agree about him being underrated! He was so funny..I liked that older Tv Land commercial about him and his pants...

Desi always said that wherever they went people were always stopping him and asking about Fred!

I never saw any problem with Fred's acting. The only thing that bothered me about him was those shaky hands, but I'm sure that couldn't be helped.

He always stumbled over his lines and small stuff like that, don't forget he was used to FILM acting, these shows were more like a live play. In the baby show, when he pushes Ricky to the couch, you thought that was real looking?, you can practically see him measuring the push!

I like the occasional stumble. Some actors are too rehearsed! It makes it seem far less natural that way.

:wave:

Just what i needed, another Jane! LOL! Nice to know she has a replacement while she's gone. Lessee, Lucy was the most fanatical rehearsaholic around, and she didn't do too badly, did she? I knew i'd get into trouble criticizing Bill's performance, i LOVED Bill, but as i watch the same shows for like the 500th time, i'm really starting to be bothered by those little things. He practically invented the old gruff character, now they are a staple of good comedy shows and he was extremely good at it, HOWEVER, i'm sometimes surprised by his line delivery, but it was practically a filming of a live play so they let those be and it shows, tis all i'm sayin!

1.Lucy
2. Ethel
3.Ricky
4. Fred

I know, Splain, and I'm not dissing you! I'm not saying that Lucy was over-rehearsed, either - I was just making a general comment in passing, really. Let's see if I can explain (or splain, if you prefer)... I've always liked the 'natural' style of acting. Think Jack Lemmon. You can't see him act. Marlon Brando you can. You can see that what he's doing isn't being the character, it's being an actor acting the character. He's too rehearsed, too unnaturally perfect. Not to say Jack Lemmon didn't rehearse a lot, but his performances were natural. When you have a conversation with somebody you don't know word for word what they are going to say, and neither do you know the exact point of the conversation you are going to come in at. This causes hesitations, and sometimes stumbles, because in real conversation you haven't rehearsed your lines twenty times. I'm not sure I've explained that terribly well, but I know what I mean! I suppose you could argue that Fred went too far, but the character was supposed to be ageing, and you can splain it away like that. Ever watch Doctor Who? William Hartnell was always fluffing his lines, screwing up other peoples' cues, etc. They couldn't always reshoot, so they're obvious in the final cut - but it doesn't matter. He was an old man, playing an old man. It doesn't bother me, anyway.

But then I like seeing Desi giggle in the background, so I guess I'm a sucker for ILL's more casual approach!

Originally posted by TheFonz

I agree about him being underrated! He was so funny..I liked that older Tv Land commercial about him and his pants... I love that ad!:lol: :crazy:

Funny you would pick Lemmon, my all time favorite actor, since he died, i went with Tom Hanks, never missed one of Lemmon's movies BECAUSE he was the best actor, watched Missing this weekend, he LOVED Lucy, went to a few of her tributes, but he was vocal about her dictatorial directing style. Back to Fred, did you know he only took out his dialogue out of a script and studied that and ONLY that part, so he NEVER knew what the other actors would say or do, so that could explain what i was referring to, i just meant being a film actor, he might have been spoiled by retakes when flubs happened, and of course on the show, that seldom was the case!

It's weird, I guess, but I really don't tend to notice him messing things up. Maybe 'cause it's a show I like! I bet if it was something I hate, I'd notice all the mistakes, and use them as a reason to knock the show!

And yes, Jack Lemmon was a great actor. Missing is a very good film. He spoke about it in a BBC documentary about three years ago I think - when Walter Matthau was still alive, anyway. He said it was very tough to film, playing a father looking for a lost son, when he has a son of his own. Shame that he only got to record one DVD commentary before he died. He was a very interesting guy to listen to. Okay, veering slightly off topic now! Chris Lemmon is good too, actually. Bloody good pianist.

:wave:

Since i've been on these boards, almost a year now, i've heard all sorts of things that i NEVER noticed on the show, after all those viewings, i like many others can get bored because i know everything about the episode i'll be watching, so without realizing it, you start noticing little things that you didn't when you were enjoying the comedy and nothing else. Also, when you've posted 5000 posts or more on the boards, you get tired of repeating the same things over and over and you start touchy subjects like this one, then, you're sorry you did. Yes, i sometimes see Bill acting, i see Desi overacting, i see Viv even give a bad line reading, but it's so seldom, and they were the perfect cast, the greatest ensemble in any TV show ever and yes, you're right, it's nitpicking!

And yes, you're right, Chris Lemmon is very talented, must be in the genes, like Lucie and Desi jr! He even inherited his father's great way of speaking!

Hey, nitpick all you like. The point of these boards is that you can say whatever you like and to hell with what anybody else thinks.

I'm impressed that you've heard of Chris Lemmon, mind. I thought I was the only one. I know I'm the world's only 'Thunder In Paradise' fan. :)

You've got to remember that we get all the American talk shows up here in Canada, as well as all their other shows of course, so on talk shows, they would show up together or individually and always talk about the other, sort of relationship i wish i had had with my dad, or Lucie could have had with her mom, or Desi jr with. . . well, you get the idea. Anyway, they always spoke so well of each other, it tells you that his acting wasn't the only great thing about Jack, he managed to also have a great marriage, and raise a well adjusted, talented son. I've seen Chris' work many times and he is indeed very talented, chip off the old block, if you will!

Actually apparently they used to have a pretty strained relationship for a while, 'cause Jack divorced Chris's mother when he was only about a year old, so they didn't see much of each other for a while. Can take a lot to get round something like that. I remember Jack saying in an interview a couple of years ago how awkward things were for a while, and how glad he was that they'd fixed it. Ever see them doing a duet on the piano? Now that was good!

Did Desi snr and jnr ever perform together? In many ways it's a shame they didn't use the real kids in ILL, 'cause some of the scenes between Ricky and Ricky jnr were very good. The drum duet in the Cuba episode was very well done. That was a very talented little kid!

:wave:

That's the thing, i saw Chris at the end of Jack's life, when everything had been smoothed out. As for Desi jr, yes he performed with his dad and sister on a Kraft Music Hall special i think, as well as Saturday Night Live once when Desi was asked to host. They finally thought to ask Lucy when she was dying in the hospital, it's called GUILT!