Why Does Tom Shales Hate Lucille Ball? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JaneTVFan · 09-04-2004, 02:11 PM

In case you don't know, Tom Shales is a very well known TV critic whose columns appear in newspapers all across the nation. He wrote a review of the new Here's Lucy DVD set basically say people should buy it to see the rehearsal footage that's included so that they can see what a bitch Lucille Ball was. Well I did buy it and I got quite the opposite impression of what he and others have been saying. All that negative stuff seems to be hugely exaggerated. Or maybe it's just old fashioned men who can't deal with strong-willed women who behave the same way men do in the same position. As an example of Shales' distortions, read this response to Tom Shales' comments that was posted on the Internet:

From: BillyJoe
Subject: Re: Washington Post review of the "Here's Lucy" DVD

View this article only
Newsgroups: alt.tv.ilovelucy
Date: 2004-08-31 23:07:48 PST

Tom Shales usually writes decent commentary, but he can also set
himself up for people to criticize the critic. His commentary on this
DVD set reveals he didn't do much of his own individual research,
instead lifting a sizable chunk out of the book "Desilu," the only
book with any sort of in-depth account of Lucille Ball's professional
life post-Desi Arnaz. Shales takes the most negative observations
from that book, trying to make them his own, and then tries to conform
his observations of the DVD to match with what he chose to lift from
that book. Case in point, Shales writes the following description of
some blooper footage, included in the DVD set, of a routine being
performed by Lucille Ball and Jack Benny:

"At one point, things do lighten up somewhat. Ball, in a flapper
costume, loses the heel of her shoe and Benny pauses while she
retrieves it.
She in turn becomes annoyed at his silence.

'For God's sake, say, 'What happened?' ' she tells him, feeding him
his next
line. Benny, faintly smiling, says loudly, 'Well, we have to do this
goddamned thing all over again!' The crowd laughs, but one can sense
the
real exasperation behind his comedic exasperation."

This is an outrageous, shameful, and complete mischaracterization of
that footage. Mr. Shales obviously needs to go back and watch again.
A more accurate account of that footage follows (my revisions in
caps):

"At one point, things do lighten up somewhat. Ball, in a flapper
costume, loses the heel of her shoe. SHE WINDS UP REMOVING BOTH
SHOES, TOSSING THEM OFFSTAGE, AND RESUMES HER POSITION, BAREFOOTED.
SHE WAITS FOR BENNY TO SPEAK HIS NEXT LINE. BUT BENNY PAUSES,
CONFUSED AT WHAT SHE'S JUST DONE. HE STANDS LOOKING AT HER WITH A
BEFUDDLED EXPRESSION. THE AUDIENCE IS LAUGHING.

'WHAT . . . ?' BENNY ASKS, TOO CONFUSED TO COMPLETE HIS QUESTION.

'WHAT, WHAT?' LUCY RESPONDS BACK, THE AUDIENCE STILL LAUGHING.

'WHAT HAPPENED?' BENNY ASKS.

'I BROKE MY SHOE. GO ON JACK,' LUCY RESPONDS LAUGHING, GENTLY
PRODDING HIM TO CONTINUE.

BENNY NOW BREAKS INTO LAUGHTER.

'For God's sake, say, 'What happened?' ' LUCY tells him, LAUGHING EVEN
MORE, feeding him his next
line. Benny, faintly smiling, says loudly, 'Well, we have to do this
goddamned thing all over again!' AT THIS REMARK, LUCILLE BALL
COMPLETELY LOSES ALL COMPOSURE, BURSTING INTO ALL-OUT LAUGHTER. LUCY
IS LAUGHING, BENNY IS LAUGHING, THE CROWD IS LAUGHING. IT IS CLEAR
EVERYONE IS HAVING A GREAT TIME.

Petrie Malone · 09-04-2004, 03:29 PM

Don't believe what critics say... it's usually b/s and besides, critics are just plain idiots.

JaneTVFan · 09-04-2004, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DickVanDykeMan
Don't believe what critics say... it's usually b/s and besides, critics are just plain idiots.

You're probably right. I always thought Tom Shales was respectable, though. His column appears in very respectable publications. So it's disappointing to see that he actually makes up lies in his column. He may as well be at the National Inquirer.

Lucyfan4life · 09-05-2004, 11:05 PM

Maybe he IS being a bit harsh. The woman knew what she wanted and how she wanted to do it and nothing was gonna stop her. I'd call that having a good head on your shoulders. Notice how when a guy is a ballbuster (no pun intended) he is well-respected, but when a woman takes control, she suddenly becomes a b*tch? Honestly....

Shanda Lear · 09-06-2004, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JaneTVFan
In case you don't know, Tom Shales is a very well known TV critic whose columns appear in newspapers all across the nation. He wrote a review of the new Here's Lucy DVD set basically say people should buy it to see the rehearsal footage that's included so that they can see what a bitch Lucille Ball was.

She was just a perfectionist.

A man will say she was a bitch.

Lucyfan4life · 09-06-2004, 03:36 PM

Doesn't that make you sick? Men....are there any good ones left on this earth for me?

That Other Fan · 09-14-2004, 12:43 AM

I've been saying for awhile that critics and certain biographers in general have been to harsh or simply exaggerated what Lucille Ball was like during rehearsal. They like to portray her as a harsh ***** who became that way simply because she was wronged by Desi. Alot of the "exasperating" behind the scenes moments mentioned in some of the bios regarding HL are on the DVD.... obviously those "moments" aren't as "harsh" as they were reported.

NostalgiaAce777 · 09-14-2004, 12:43 PM

Which Episodes does the Here's Lucy set contain?

Lucyfan4life · 09-15-2004, 12:21 AM

I've noticed what TOF is talking about. I don't think she's being harsh from what I saw of the rehearsal footage. If it was my show, I would have run it the same way. That's just the work of a woman who wanted her cast to turn out the best performances that she knew they were capable of doing. I thought it was interesting that when they were doing I Love Lucy she always listened to Desi because he knew what was good for her; she sort of stood in his shadow when it came to technical stuff, and then once they divorced it was all hers and no one was going to get in her way. That's what a woman has to do when she's alone in the world with a bunch of men around her....take charge and let them know who's boss.

It's like a baby being thrown in with a pack of wolves....they have to learn to tolerate one another. I don't consider myself a feminist or whatever but I am never going to let any man boss me around, and she sure as hell wasn't going to either.....well, except for Desi, but she trusted his instinct on what would work for her, but that's a different story. Divorce or no divorce, there was L-O-V-E, and you don't mess around with that.

09-04-2004, 02:11 PM	#1
JaneTVFan Member Forum Regular Join Date: Nov 06, 2001 Posts: 641	Why Does Tom Shales Hate Lucille Ball? In case you don't know, Tom Shales is a very well known TV critic whose columns appear in newspapers all across the nation. He wrote a review of the new Here's Lucy DVD set basically say people should buy it to see the rehearsal footage that's included so that they can see what a bitch Lucille Ball was. Well I did buy it and I got quite the opposite impression of what he and others have been saying. All that negative stuff seems to be hugely exaggerated. Or maybe it's just old fashioned men who can't deal with strong-willed women who behave the same way men do in the same position. As an example of Shales' distortions, read this response to Tom Shales' comments that was posted on the Internet: From: BillyJoe Subject: Re: Washington Post review of the "Here's Lucy" DVD View this article only Newsgroups: alt.tv.ilovelucy Date: 2004-08-31 23:07:48 PST Tom Shales usually writes decent commentary, but he can also set himself up for people to criticize the critic. His commentary on this DVD set reveals he didn't do much of his own individual research, instead lifting a sizable chunk out of the book "Desilu," the only book with any sort of in-depth account of Lucille Ball's professional life post-Desi Arnaz. Shales takes the most negative observations from that book, trying to make them his own, and then tries to conform his observations of the DVD to match with what he chose to lift from that book. Case in point, Shales writes the following description of some blooper footage, included in the DVD set, of a routine being performed by Lucille Ball and Jack Benny: "At one point, things do lighten up somewhat. Ball, in a flapper costume, loses the heel of her shoe and Benny pauses while she retrieves it. She in turn becomes annoyed at his silence. 'For God's sake, say, 'What happened?' ' she tells him, feeding him his next line. Benny, faintly smiling, says loudly, 'Well, we have to do this goddamned thing all over again!' The crowd laughs, but one can sense the real exasperation behind his comedic exasperation." This is an outrageous, shameful, and complete mischaracterization of that footage. Mr. Shales obviously needs to go back and watch again. A more accurate account of that footage follows (my revisions in caps): "At one point, things do lighten up somewhat. Ball, in a flapper costume, loses the heel of her shoe. SHE WINDS UP REMOVING BOTH SHOES, TOSSING THEM OFFSTAGE, AND RESUMES HER POSITION, BAREFOOTED. SHE WAITS FOR BENNY TO SPEAK HIS NEXT LINE. BUT BENNY PAUSES, CONFUSED AT WHAT SHE'S JUST DONE. HE STANDS LOOKING AT HER WITH A BEFUDDLED EXPRESSION. THE AUDIENCE IS LAUGHING. 'WHAT . . . ?' BENNY ASKS, TOO CONFUSED TO COMPLETE HIS QUESTION. 'WHAT, WHAT?' LUCY RESPONDS BACK, THE AUDIENCE STILL LAUGHING. 'WHAT HAPPENED?' BENNY ASKS. 'I BROKE MY SHOE. GO ON JACK,' LUCY RESPONDS LAUGHING, GENTLY PRODDING HIM TO CONTINUE. BENNY NOW BREAKS INTO LAUGHTER. 'For God's sake, say, 'What happened?' ' LUCY tells him, LAUGHING EVEN MORE, feeding him his next line. Benny, faintly smiling, says loudly, 'Well, we have to do this goddamned thing all over again!' AT THIS REMARK, LUCILLE BALL COMPLETELY LOSES ALL COMPOSURE, BURSTING INTO ALL-OUT LAUGHTER. LUCY IS LAUGHING, BENNY IS LAUGHING, THE CROWD IS LAUGHING. IT IS CLEAR EVERYONE IS HAVING A GREAT TIME.

09-04-2004, 03:29 PM	#2
Petrie Malone Former Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 20, 2003 Location: PIB Posts: 510	Don't believe what critics say... it's usually b/s and besides, critics are just plain idiots.
	__________________ Proud member (not a lurker) of PIB message boards!

09-14-2004, 12:43 AM	#7
That Other Fan Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 27, 2001 Posts: 191	I've been saying for awhile that critics and certain biographers in general have been to harsh or simply exaggerated what Lucille Ball was like during rehearsal. They like to portray her as a harsh ***** who became that way simply because she was wronged by Desi. Alot of the "exasperating" behind the scenes moments mentioned in some of the bios regarding HL are on the DVD.... obviously those "moments" aren't as "harsh" as they were reported.
	__________________ Lucille Ball to Elizabeth Taylor: "You wash your hair in champagne? Oh really, I wash my hair in beer" (Here's Lucy, 1971 "Lucy MeetsThe Burtons")

09-14-2004, 12:43 PM	#8
NostalgiaAce777 The Furmite Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 23, 2004 Location: Long to be living Floridays, BlueSkies and Ultraviolet Rays, Lookin for Better Days Posts: 283	Which Episodes does the Here's Lucy set contain?
	__________________ If we weren't all crazy we would all go insane...Jimmy Buffett, Changes in Lattitudes Changes in Attitudes

09-05-2004, 11:05 PM	#4
Lucyfan4life The Chatsworth Girl Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 03, 2004 Location: New Gloucester, Maine Posts: 54	Maybe he IS being a bit harsh. The woman knew what she wanted and how she wanted to do it and nothing was gonna stop her. I'd call that having a good head on your shoulders. Notice how when a guy is a ballbuster (no pun intended) he is well-respected, but when a woman takes control, she suddenly becomes a b*tch? Honestly....

09-06-2004, 03:36 PM	#6
Lucyfan4life The Chatsworth Girl Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 03, 2004 Location: New Gloucester, Maine Posts: 54	Doesn't that make you sick? Men....are there any good ones left on this earth for me?

09-15-2004, 12:21 AM	#9
Lucyfan4life The Chatsworth Girl Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 03, 2004 Location: New Gloucester, Maine Posts: 54	I've noticed what TOF is talking about. I don't think she's being harsh from what I saw of the rehearsal footage. If it was my show, I would have run it the same way. That's just the work of a woman who wanted her cast to turn out the best performances that she knew they were capable of doing. I thought it was interesting that when they were doing I Love Lucy she always listened to Desi because he knew what was good for her; she sort of stood in his shadow when it came to technical stuff, and then once they divorced it was all hers and no one was going to get in her way. That's what a woman has to do when she's alone in the world with a bunch of men around her....take charge and let them know who's boss. It's like a baby being thrown in with a pack of wolves....they have to learn to tolerate one another. I don't consider myself a feminist or whatever but I am never going to let any man boss me around, and she sure as hell wasn't going to either.....well, except for Desi, but she trusted his instinct on what would work for her, but that's a different story. Divorce or no divorce, there was L-O-V-E, and you don't mess around with that.