Why exactly did Vivian Vance leave the show? - Page 3 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

lucy&vivfan · 11-14-2013, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jehobden

They just appear less & less often until they don't appear at all.
TLS kids appeared less often in S3 than they had the previous 2 seasons, and then at the start of S4, Jerry appeared once (and once more around Christmas) as he was going off to military school, and Chris was off to college. I guess Lucy needed a job w/ Mr. Mooney because she was spending all her trust fund on her kids' education.
Viv & Sherman were written out together, as Viv stayed back East and somehow had someone (her ex I suppose) watch Sherman whenever she went out to visit Lucy in LA in the later seasons. Viv's recurring character in Here's Lucy was different, again, since her full name was Vivian Roberta Jones, which was actually Vivian Vance's birth name, so in a way she was playing herself on Here's Lucy.

The kids really were not necessary....I mean, it was all about Lucy & Vivian. I've heard many affiliated with the show say, over the years in countless interviews, the only point for having the kids was to "show proof" the Lucy and Viv characters were "straight"; otherwise, two middle-aged women living together had too strong of lesbian overtones back that time.

missy's pop pop · 12-03-2013, 10:58 PM

It is no secret that Vivian Vance almost didn't appear at all in "The Lucy Show." In THE I LOVE LUCY BOOK (1985), Bart Andrews quoted an interview with Vivian Vance before her death in which Lucille Ball approached her in 1962 with the pilot script for what became "The Lucy Show."

Vivian's response was swift: "Lucy, don't take it out. I won't read it."

She did, however, and it at least temporarily solved the quandry Lucy was facing. She didn't want to do the show with Viv, but she didn't want to do the show without Viv. Lucy knew that it would be a challenge to do a comedy without Desi, and Viv was, and still turned out to be, her best sidekick. Lucy knew to that Viv had her new marriage and home in Connecticut, and her award-winning work in the state mental health association. In fact, her husband, John Dodds, approved Viv appearing on the show because he thought it would make her happy.

It wasn't the same without Ricky and Fred, while it was a good show on its own.

12-03-2013, 10:58 PM	#32
missy's pop pop Hooray for "Hazel!" Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 19, 2013 Location: St. Louis Posts: 396	Lucy didn't want to do it with Viv. She didn't want to do it WITHOUT Viv, either... It is no secret that Vivian Vance almost didn't appear at all in "The Lucy Show." In *THE I LOVE LUCY BOOK* (1985), Bart Andrews quoted an interview with Vivian Vance before her death in which Lucille Ball approached her in 1962 with the pilot script for what became "The Lucy Show." Vivian's response was swift: "Lucy, don't take it out. I won't read it." She did, however, and it at least temporarily solved the quandry Lucy was facing. She didn't want to do the show with Viv, but she didn't want to do the show without Viv. Lucy knew that it would be a challenge to do a comedy without Desi, and Viv was, and still turned out to be, her best sidekick. Lucy knew to that Viv had her new marriage and home in Connecticut, and her award-winning work in the state mental health association. In fact, her husband, John Dodds, approved Viv appearing on the show because he thought it would make her happy. It wasn't the same without Ricky and Fred, while it was a good show on its own.