Lucy and the new neighbors Season One

[drewfussclass101]

Hey guys,

So i am an Hugh Fan of ILL, but not a big fan of season one for whatever reason, dont know if its the layout, or the apartment...i dont know why but i HATE the first apartment but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this episode.

(In the O'Brians apt)

Ethel: Lucy is this chair 19 century provential?
Lucy: Looks like 20th century ugly! LOL gets me everytime.

I also love the scene where lucy gets trapped in the apt and stuck in the closet and tries to hind under the umbrella and escapes by acting like a chair.

[Ireneparalegal]

I agree, I abhor their first apartment. The furniture and the place is so damn small. It looks more like a closet than a living room.


Yeah, that comment by Lucy is hilarious.

[comedyfreak]

Is it the episode where Ricky forbids Lucy from going over ther and she does anyway, LOL. The guy is played by Dr. Bellows.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by drewfussclass101

Hey guys,

So i am an Hugh Fan of ILL, but not a big fan of season one for whatever reason, dont know if its the layout, or the apartment...i dont know why but i HATE the first apartment but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this episode.

I don't like the apartment too much in the early episodes. For one thing, without a visible window, it feels kind of inhospitable. But by the time they reached the pregnancy episodes, that apartment had been transformed considerably. The furniture was much, much nicer. There were nice, big paintings hanging on the walls. There were plants. It had a much warmer feeling. I suppose early on, with the budget for the show being so small, they didn't have the ability to pay attention to details such as set decoration. But over time, as the show became a huge hit, it became prosperous and they were able to put money into fixing up the set. And after less than two years, they moved out of the tiny General Services Studios to Motion Picture Center where they had a much larger stage and could expand their set. And later they were doing quite a bit of on location shooting to set up scenes (e.g., the scene in "Desert Island" discussed today coming on to the beach, and the shots of a moving subway train in "Lucy and the Loving Cup"). None of these things would have been possible in the first season with the budget they had at that time.

As for not liking the first season as much as the other seasons, I think your feelings are pretty typical. And I think it has to do with the fact that filming a TV sitcom was a brand new thing at that time. It probably wasn't clear early on exactly what they were trying to accomplish. For one thing, the actors had not established their characters yet. For example, Lucy seems really daffy and stupid in the early episodes, not at all the clever, shrewd character we're familiar with. And can you imagine Lucy in a later episode thinking Ricky wants to murder her? Or no-nonsense Ethel suggesting such a thing to Lucy? Even Ricky seems kind of dopey. And the scripts early on were extremely far-fetched and sometimes illogical (e.g., Lucy and Ethel disguising themselves and not being recognized by their own husbands; a six-foot loaf of bread suddenly popping out of the oven; Ricky and a frenchman pretending to have a duel in the bedroom and actually shooting guns at the ceiling (and neither Lucy or the Mertzes calling the police).

The show really played like a cartoon in the early episodes with the silly storylines and over-the-top performances from the regular actors and guest actors: the storylines were not believable and the characters did not seem real. But from the second season on, the writers began to write scripts that people could actually relate to, and the characters began to feel like real people, people you could imagine meeting in real life. It became a totally different show. It's interesting that, in the second season when the show hit its stride, NBC debuted "I Married Joan," which was supposed to be it's answer to "I Love Lucy." The producers of "I Married Joan" were clearly trying to duplicate what "I Love Lucy" had been in its first season: a cartoon. I think the fact that "I Love Lucy" matured and evolved way beyond what it started out to be, while "I Married Joan" didn't evolve in this way, is one of the main reasons we're watching "I Love Lucy" to this day, while "I Married Joan" has largely been forgotten.

[Madame X]

The filming technique seemed different in the first season. The apartment was dark and shadowy. They attempted to lighten it up by having light coming through blinds that weren't there. The brickwork on the fireplace side made the room seem darker and smaller. On the opposite wall there were shutters above and below the open wall that seperated the living room and kitchen and that made the room look smaller too. I never did understand why there was a step up into the kitchen. The kitchen floor was unfinished and had a huge seam running down the center that they didn't even try to conceal.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Madame X

I never did understand why there was a step up into the kitchen. The kitchen floor was unfinished and had a huge seam running down the center that they didn't even try to conceal.

Funny, I never noticed that seam before! Good observation. Regarding the step up into the kitchen, my guess is that was put in for technical reasons. Lucy and Desi wanted things to be as realistic as possible. They wanted real operations appliances, and a sink with actual running water. Because those studios had concrete floors, I suspect they had to elevate the floor in the kitchen to conceal the wiring for the appliances and plumbing for the sink that was sitting on top of the concrete floor.

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Funny, I never noticed that seam before! Good observation. Regarding the step up into the kitchen, my guess is that was put in for technical reasons. Lucy and Desi wanted things to be as realistic as possible. They wanted real operations appliances, and a sink with actual running water. Because those studios had concrete floors, I suspect they had to elevate the floor in the kitchen to conceal the wiring for the appliances and plumbing for the sink that was sitting on top of the concrete floor.

That was my guess too. They probably had all sorts of wires and pipes under the raised floor. They must have solved those problems with the second apartment set.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Madame X

That was my guess too. They probably had all sorts of wires and pipes under the raised floor. They must have solved those problems with the second apartment set.

Was there not a step into the kitchen in the second apartment? I don't remember.

[Katya]

I agree the first season is different and not as good as the other seasons Lucy is very childlike in the first season,a number of episodes don't include either Fred or Ethel or both,the show as a rather stagey feel to me where as it was more realitic in the later seasons and more beliviable-no matter what off the wall thing was going on.Way too much focus on Ricky's nightclub in fact that was true of the first two season I think the nighclub think got rather stale.They did evelove though and the show got better,I think especially in that first season they were still playing around with the format so I think that accounts for some of the weakneses.I do love the New Neighbors episode though it's one of my early favorites.

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Was there not a step into the kitchen in the second apartment? I don't remember.

No, there wasn't.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

Funny, I never noticed that seam before! Good observation. Regarding the step up into the kitchen, my guess is that was put in for technical reasons. Lucy and Desi wanted things to be as realistic as possible. They wanted real operations appliances, and a sink with actual running water. Because those studios had concrete floors, I suspect they had to elevate the floor in the kitchen to conceal the wiring for the appliances and plumbing for the sink that was sitting on top of the concrete floor.

I too never noticed that seam. Great Job Stacy!!! I tell ya, while watching the show, things are moving at a pace that doesn't really give you time to stop and look or notice things like that. I need to play with a DVD disc in the computer.

I accept that explanation for the floors. That seems so logical and like you said, it gave them the oppportunity to make the appliances more realistic.

Was the brick wall removed PRIOR to them moving out of that apartment? Or did it remain there until they moved out?

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I too never noticed that seam. Great Job Stacy!!! I tell ya, while watching the show, things are moving at a pace that doesn't really give you time to stop and look or notice things like that. I need to play with a DVD disc in the computer.

I accept that explanation for the floors. That seems so logical and like you said, it gave them the oppportunity to make the appliances more realistic.

Was the brick wall removed PRIOR to them moving out of that apartment? Or did it remain there until they moved out?

I believe that the brick wall was in the old apartment, and the smooth wall was in the new apartment.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I too never noticed that seam. Great Job Stacy!!! I tell ya, while watching the show, things are moving at a pace that doesn't really give you time to stop and look or notice things like that. I need to play with a DVD disc in the computer.

I accept that explanation for the floors. That seems so logical and like you said, it gave them the oppportunity to make the appliances more realistic.

Was the brick wall removed PRIOR to them moving out of that apartment? Or did it remain there until they moved out?

I can almost guarantee that isn't real brick. I forget what the material is, but the Hollywood studios create a fake brick from some plastic-like material. Warner Brothers has an excellent studio tour where you can walk around on the sets of movies and TV shows. There one area on their lot where they have streets made to resemble New York and Chicago. These have been used in countless movies and in TV shows like FRIENDS. Whenever you see exterior shots of the coffee shop on FRIENDS, the supposedly brick buildings you see are NOT brick, nor are they buildings for that matter, just facades. On TV, it looks just like you're looking at a New York street, but it's a totally phony outdoor set in Burbank, CA. No buildings, no bricks or mortar.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

I can almost guarantee that isn't real brick. I forget what the material is, but the Hollywood studios create a fake brick from some plastic-like material. Warner Brothers has an excellent studio tour where you can walk around on the sets of movies and TV shows. There one area on their lot where they have streets made to resemble New York and Chicago. These have been used in countless movies and in TV shows like FRIENDS. Whenever you see exterior shots of the coffee shop on FRIENDS, the supposedly brick buildings you see are NOT brick, nor are they buildings for that matter, just facades. On TV, it looks just like you're looking at a New York street, but it's a totally phony outdoor set in Burbank, CA. No buildings, no bricks or mortar.

Yes, I do realize it is not real brick. I simply call it that for argument's sake. We have seen "brick" used throughout ILL. In the Tropicana scenes, in the scene where Lucy and Ricky are filming his screen test. I know there are lots more of that "brick" outside of the apartment.

[OH Nuts!]

I live in NYC so I'm used to small apts. It's the price you pay to be in the thick of things. Not so much the layout, but what I LOVED about this episode was how screwed up Lucy got things...and hiding in the closet and coming out into the O'Briens apt as a chair was hilarious. And of course, it doesn't end well for Lucy, as the O'Briens move out, the Mertz's sock Ricky for any rent missed, the cop's not too pleased and Ricky, starts speaking at her rapdily in Spanish--a sure sign her's really steamed--Lucy sure had a lot of 'splainin' to do this time!