Another View of the Mertz' Apartment

[Madame X]

Here's an unusual camera angle that shows how small the Mertz' apartment really was!

[Ireneparalegal]

That carpet is weird. Is the room square shaped (or at least supposed to be) because the way the carpet is, it makes the room look like it is not square, it looks diagonally shaped. What scene is this?

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

That carpet is weird. Is the room square shaped (or at least supposed to be) because the way the carpet is, it makes the room look like it is not square, it looks diagonally shaped. What scene is this?

The room most likely is not square shaped as usually sets that are used in front of an audience (as opposed to those built for filming without an audience) have walls that extend diagonally from (instead of perpendicular to) the back wall so that people from extreme ends of the studio audience can have better visibility. If the walls were perpendicular, those members of the studio audience would not be able to see some areas of the set. Note that the Ricardo living room and bedroom are this way as well.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

The room most likely is not square shaped as usually sets that are used in front of an audience (as opposed to those built for filming without an audience) have walls that extend diagonally from (instead of perpendicular to) the back wall so that people from extreme ends of the studio audience can have better visibility. If the walls were perpendicular, those members of the studio audience would not be able to see some areas of the set. Note that the Ricardo living room and bedroom are this way as well.

you are right. I am not thinking here.

[Madame X]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

What scene is this?

I can't recall right now. I guess I've looked at too many scenes!

[Ireneparalegal]

I just noticed Fred has a light bulb in his hand and there is a lamp on the table. Damn! what scene is it? I feel like I know it but can't figure it out.

[comedyfreak]

Well, I guess Fred gave up and decided to take a nap instead. Being a Landlord is not easy, LOL.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

Well, I guess Fred gave up and decided to take a nap instead. Being a Landlord is not easy, LOL.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

you are right. I am not thinking here.

Hey, it happens to the best of us. But your comment made me think about some of the technical aspects of filming the show, and the show's set design. I got to thinking that all the walls on the set are diagonal, except the one separating the living room from the kitchen. And what's interesting about that is that, because of that wall not being angled, and thus obtructing the view of some of the audience members, notice how in the scenes in the kitchen, the actors are usually positioned at the front of the kitchen where they won't be hidden from the view of any audience members by that wall? The kitchen table is way up at the front. The kitchen sink is at the end of the counter closest to the audience, as is the stove. And wisely, they put in those louver shutters so that in those rare scenes where there is action at the back end of the kitchen, like the "wicked city woman" scene in the Ernie Ford episode where Lucy is hiding behind the door, they have the shutters open, aparently so studio audience members can see through to the action at the back of the kitchen. But normally, those shutters are closed. And then there's that hallway between the living room and kitchen. If you think about it logically, it makes no sense to have a hallway there. Hallways are intended to connect two or more rooms to a common room. But that hallway only goes to one room: Lucy and Ricky's bedroom. So in the real world, it would make no sense to have a hallway there because it would just be wasted space. But I figure the set designers only put in that hallway so that they could have the necessary diagonal walls in the bedroom and living room, rather than having a single, perpendicular wall separating the two rooms that would obstruct the view of studio audience members.

[Ireneparalegal]

Oh my that is a great pic!!! What an aerial view! I love it. Thank you for providing that. That is just awesome. Can you find one of the Connecticut house? That one always confused me.

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Oh my that is a great pic!!! What an aerial view! I love it. Thank you for providing that. That is just awesome. Can you find one of the Connecticut house? That one always confused me.

I haven't seen one of the Connecticut house, but will post one if I can. But I used to watch carefully as the camera panned different parts of the living room to figure out how it was laid out. What about it confuses you? As far as I can tell, at the far right side of the living room set is the wall with the door going into the kitchen. At the far left is the wall with the door leading into the den. And speaking of those angled walls, there are a lot of them on this set to make all this work. The stairway is at a bit of an angle, as is the wall with the front door; I think this wall would be parallel to the staircase if the staircase were to extend further forward). So the stairway (and thus, the wall with the front door) extends from the back wall (i.e., the wall with the fireplace) at about a 135 degree angle. The wall connecting the front door wall to the staircase (i.e., the wall with the grandfather clock), if it were to extend further to the right would, I think, run parallel to the back wall with the fireplace. Does what I'm saying make sense?

[NOVARick]

I have to wonder how much set layout mattered when this is what the studio audience was looking at anyway. Sheeesh! This is from "Lucy Hires a Maid." Notice the open shutters to the kitchen.

[NOVARick]

Here's another view from the studio audience perspective. Notice the "no smoking" sign at the bottom right-hand corner. Tell that to Philip Morris!

[Madame X]

I know what Irene means about the Connecticut house. Something is strange. The den door is shown on the right, the same wall as the kitchen door, but they act like the den is on the left. If you watch the chicken raising episode, you can see the oddity.

The set seems to be circular or semi-circular.

They walk from the den. The den door is to the right of the front door.


They walk passed the stairs.


Then passed the fireplace.


Passed the window and back door.


Into the kitchen.


So, they exited a door on the right hand side of the front door, walked "across" the room, and entered a door in the wall of the same side they started from!

Then when they shoo the chicks back, they shoo them toward the fireplace side, opposite of where they came from.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by NOVARick

I haven't seen one of the Connecticut house, but will post one if I can. But I used to watch carefully as the camera panned different parts of the living room to figure out how it was laid out. What about it confuses you? As far as I can tell, at the far right side of the living room set is the wall with the door going into the kitchen. At the far left is the wall with the door leading into the den. And speaking of those angled walls, there are a lot of them on this set to make all this work. The stairway is at a bit of an angle, as is the wall with the front door; I think this wall would be parallel to the staircase if the staircase were to extend further forward). So the stairway (and thus, the wall with the front door) extends from the back wall (i.e., the wall with the fireplace) at about a 135 degree angle. The wall connecting the front door wall to the staircase (i.e., the wall with the grandfather clock), if it were to extend further to the right would, I think, run parallel to the back wall with the fireplace. Does what I'm saying make sense?

THANK YOU MADAME X...YOU EXPLAINED IT PERFECTLY, THAT IS HOW I SEE IT. What confuses me is that it almost seems like the set is round or oval somehow. I can't explain. Let me see, the camera pans from the door that goes to the backyard (barbecue area) and turns toward the left to the den. It really confuses me in the baby chicks episode. Can someone do a layout somehow?