Connecticut episodes

[YoAdrian]

I have heard a few times that these episodes aren't good(except for the chicken episode). I have been watching a few and I think they are still funny. The one where Lucy buys matinee tickets for a show when they are supposed to go to a night one. The Country Club Dance. The one where she is jealous of Ethel and Betty's friendship etc....

On another note, why do they call Connecticut the country. It is far from the country. It is like moving to NJ or Long Island, or living in Chicago and moving to the suburbs etc....

[tdr]

I think they call it "the country" because there are houses on large tracts; Ricky says they own 2 acres. So it's houses being far apart compared to New York, where the shops, offices, and apartment buildings are so sid-by-side with little grass or trees except in the parks that makes "country" to them. To me in Texas, it's quite different; farms in the hundreds of acres, ranches in the thousands, government lands in the millions.

[Ireneparalegal]

I agree with TDR above. Ricky also referred themselves as suburbanites. I guess Connecticut back in those days would have been considered the country.

[SPLAIN]

Exactly, BACK THEN, it was considered COUNTRY, can you imagine somebody there NOW raising chickens? LOL! I never liked the sixth season shows, though you do mention good ones, i think they had run out of ideas by then, the writers were tired, they've said that themselves. Back to the topic of the acreage. When they bought their ranchito in Chatsworth, they had four acres i think, they had chickens and even a cow, now that acreage has been subdivided so many times, everybody's on top of one another, Desi's own words, LOL!

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by SPLAIN

Exactly, BACK THEN, it was considered COUNTRY, can you imagine somebody there NOW raising chickens? LOL! I never liked the sixth season shows, though you do mention good ones, i think they had run out of ideas by then, the writers were tired, they've said that themselves. Back to the topic of the acreage. When they bought their ranchito in Chatsworth, they had four acres i think, they had chickens and even a cow, now that acreage has been subdivided so many times, everybody's on top of one another, Desi's own words, LOL!

Chatsworth is not very far from where I live. And believe me, it would not be called the "country"... It has areas of suburbs and other areas where it would mostly be considered ranch style area, but you really have to have a large amount of land, and area surrounding your land to have it even considered the country.

BTW, Chatsworth is now considered (seriously) the porn capitol of the world. That is where 99% of the porn movies are made, manufactured, distributed, etc. It is a beautiful town, gorgeous land, many celebs live there, etc. I am sure Lucy and Desi would be shocked to know their beloved Chatsworth has become known for something like that.

[SPLAIN]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Chatsworth is not very far from where I live. And believe me, it would not be called the "country"... It has areas of suburbs and other areas where it would mostly be considered ranch style area, but you really have to have a large amount of land, and area surrounding your land to have it even considered the country.

BTW, Chatsworth is now considered (seriously) the porn capitol of the world. That is where 99% of the porn movies are made, manufactured, distributed, etc. It is a beautiful town, gorgeous land, many celebs live there, etc. I am sure Lucy and Desi would be shocked to know their beloved Chatsworth has become known for something like that.

Oh i know, i've been there by satellite and it looks really cramped. So, you're telling me i should zero in on some windows to see what's being FILMED there, LOL! Yes, Lucy would be appalled to find out it's the headquarters of the US porn industry, LOL!

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by SPLAIN

Oh i know, i've been there by satellite and it looks really cramped. So, you're telling me i should zero in on some windows to see what's being FILMED there, LOL! Yes, Lucy would be appalled to find out it's the headquarters of the US porn industry, LOL!

"...zero in on some windows..." Google Earth perhaps? You would never know that abt Chatsworth if you were there, it's not like it is a town with whores walking around half-naked or filming taking place on street corners. It is a beautiful place, absolutely gorgeous. But some of those buildings are corporate headquarters, offices related to that business, etc.

[NOVARick]

I think it's all a matter of perspective. I grew up in a town of less than 20,000. I never considered myself as being in the country when I was growing up. The country meant driving outside of town a few miles where there weren't neighborhoods. But my New York City and Chicago friends tell me my little town was "the country." To them, if you can't easily walk from your house to shops and bars and anything else you need, you're in the country. And by that definition, suburbs count as the country.

[tdr]

That's all quite true. I live what has for years been reported as "the fastest growing county in America." We're north of Dallas, an area which 20 years ago was still lonely highways to drive are now bristling with 'country estates'
and country club communities, as well as row-after-row of 3 and 4 bedroom suburban homes. I can remember land in this county going for $500/acre or less, but now the worst land around goes for 2-3 thousand, and the new planned editions it of course goes for many thousands. A lot of old farm families became wealthy because of what's happened the last 20 years or so.

I get the idea that 'we' are going through what Stamford and Westport did decades ago, except it's not commuter rail that's that's the big thing in transport, but SUV's and sports cars.

Putting this thread together with the one about B&W v. color and how B&W was used in 'classics' to help create the mood, that reminds me of "A Stop at Willoughby," the TZ ep in which a man is tired and frustrated with his job as a New York ad exec who cummutes daily to Westport, and lives there and keeps his job because of his wife "with an appetite" (for upper class living, status, clubs, et al). I would never want to spoil this ep for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it's like the "other side" of what ILL presents of people wanting to move to the suburbs ["the country" to city dwellers].

[Ireneparalegal]

I guess when you live in a New York apartment building like the Ricardos and Mertzes, anything with grass is considered "the country"...

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I guess when you live in a New York apartment building like the Ricardos and Mertzes, anything with grass is considered "the country"...

Oooh busted! As a New Yorker, I've got to say you got that right!

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by rich p

Oooh busted! As a New Yorker, I've got to say you got that right!

Also, remember how Lucy referred to town as "the village"...what on earth??? I get a kick when she says that. I sometimes imagine this small, tiny, Holland-like town with elves or small people walking around... Call me crazy, but I have had that image in my head a few times when she says that. The hardware store was referred to as "The village hardware"...

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Also, remember how Lucy referred to town as "the village"...what on earth??? I get a kick when she says that. I sometimes imagine this small, tiny, Holland-like town with elves or small people walking around... Call me crazy, but I have had that image in my head a few times when she says that. The hardware store was referred to as "The village hardware"...

Maybe this is an east versus west thing. I often refer to the commercial area of a small town as the village. Please note, I said small town, not small people.

[Lodee]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Also, remember how Lucy referred to town as "the village"...what on earth??? I get a kick when she says that. I sometimes imagine this small, tiny, Holland-like town with elves or small people walking around... Call me crazy, but I have had that image in my head a few times when she says that. The hardware store was referred to as "The village hardware"...

We still call a lot of the small towns around here villages! I guess it's all relative, isn't it.

YoAdrian, I like almost all the Connecticut episodes too. I even like the statue one.

[tdr]

With a pardonable other refrence to how these new 'communities' develop that I see, they are very strict in their zoning, quite expectedly. And on some of the main thoroughfares are located small shopping plazas, many with a simple name, like "the Village" or "Plaza North."