Quote:
Originally posted by oldshows
Desi, in my opinion, doesn't receive enough credit for the success of I Love Lucy. The guy never received an Emmy nomination and never got credit for running the show because everyone assumed Lucy ran things. Well of course it was actually Desi that made sure everything was in place for the show's success. He made sure Bob and Madelyn produced great scripts and when they didn't, he always gave them helpful, constructive suggestions which they used to make a not so good script into a great one. He also made sure all the props, costumes, cameras, ect were going well kept everyone on the set happy, and kept everything flowing smooth. He continued doing so for the superior first season of The Lucy Show as well. Well, after he left The Lucy Show at the end of the first season, Gary started taking over some of the roles Desi was doing, mainly the person the writers had to pitch a script too. Unfortunately, his abilities to recoginize poor scripts wasn't nearly that of Desi's. As a result, Lucy started finding herself in situations that were simply ridiculous and without any logical premises. Gary also wouldn't tone down Lucy's on set tiradesand let her criticize people in negatives ways, ways Desi never let her do and always did himself in a constructive, helpful manner. As a result, she lost many good people like her writers, who left after 2nd season of The Lucy Show. Then Gary wasn't exactly nice to Vivian either, which, in my opinion, helped lead to her departure from The Lucy Show after season 3. Well, by season 4, Gary had done so many things wrong Desi would have done right, The Lucy Show wasn't nearly as good as it was under Desi in Season 1. And it never got any better either not saying there weren't a few standout episodes during that time. Here's Lucy showed a pickup from The Lucy Show. With a whole new plot and the addition of Desi Jr and Lucie things were really going good especially in season 3 when Bob and Madelyn returned as writers. Unfortunately Desi Jr left at the end of season 3 and Gary, who by then had complete control, let everything go downhill, especially in Season 5.
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Bob and Madelyn returned in Season 4 (They wrote the famous "Burton-Taylor" episode in season 3, but that was it)
I believe both Lucie and Desi Jr. have said that Gary handled more of the business (day to day) activities in connection with Lucy in the 60's and 70's. If what's written in "I Loved Lucy" is correct, I believe he took more control over her career in the late 70's and 80's and yes then he didn't make the best decisions (and if what's written is true the money and not the creative usually clouded that decision which is unfortunate).
During the "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" years, Lucy ran a tight ship. Anytime she had a conflict about whether a script was good or not she ALWAYS turned to Desi for advice.
TLS and HL not matching up to ILL, in my opinion, is unfortunately
as with all shows being on the air for a long time the quality starts to wane. Lucille Ball was on the air for over 20+ years playing the "Lucy" character and unfortunately it's hard to keep coming up with "great episodes" putting the character in new situations, therefore it looks "stale" and "weak" even if the same amount of effort is being put into it each week