Life With Lucy: The Show That Cursed Lucille Ball? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

callmetootie · 07-26-2001, 03:25 PM

Isn't it strange that a short time after Life With Lucy went off the air, Lucy passed away? Was the show sealed with a curse? It is the poltergesit of sitcoms?

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Andrew Carden

dawsongirl · 07-29-2001, 02:35 AM

I suppose if you call 2 1/2 years short.

TV Guy · 07-30-2001, 12:56 PM

Lucille Ball died at 78, which is a pretty normal lifespan. We should all be so cursed <g>.

LWL was just an ill-conceived comeback for her. A lot of people don't have the stamina to work full-time at age 75, and Lucille Ball was one of them. She had problems remembering her lines, and her delivery was really flat (very little inflection in her voice). Add to this the problems with the writing, and a mediocre supporting cast, and you have a recipe for disaster.

NCVARick · 08-22-2001, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TV Guy:
Lucille Ball died at 78, which is a pretty normal lifespan. We should all be so cursed <g>.

LWL was just an ill-conceived comeback for her. A lot of people don't have the stamina to work full-time at age 75, and Lucille Ball was one of them. She had problems remembering her lines, and her delivery was really flat (very little inflection in her voice). Add to this the problems with the writing, and a mediocre supporting cast, and you have a recipe for disaster.

And besides all this (which you are correct to note), this woman, who was well-known for endless rehearsing no longer had the energy to do that and would call it a day fairly early (5:00 or so). Add to this the fact the show was aired on Saturday night, a night when most folks are out unless something special and unique is on TV. Given that reruns of much better "Lucy" could be seen every day of the week, there was nothing special and unique about this show. Lucy's biggest competition when she did LWL was probably her own younger self, which people could overdose on. She should have taken a totally different direction at this point in her career and done something very different than "Lucy."

BundyBoy10 · 04-25-2003, 09:10 AM

This show should of never been made. It made Lucille look bad...

SPLAIN · 04-25-2003, 10:41 AM

Get somebody to make you copies of the shows, they are not that bad and some of them are quite good, especially the one with Audrey Meadows as her sister and the wedding, excellent show!

tvboy · 04-25-2003, 04:28 PM

Cmon LWL could have gotten better if only given a chance and Audrey Meadows could have become a regular and eventually she and Lucy could have moved out and gotten a place of their own and interacted with some unique and crazy people in town a la newhart. Lucy was and still is the best female sitcom star the only other two actresses who can even compare are Carol Burnett & Mary Tyler Moore. Lucy also would have been great on the Golden Girls I can honestly see her in the Bea Arthur or Betty White role.

Brandon · 04-25-2003, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by callmetootie
Isn't it strange that a short time after Life With Lucy went off the air, Lucy passed away? Was the show sealed with a curse? It is the poltergesit of sitcoms?

------------------
Andrew Carden

no... she was really old when she died...

SPLAIN · 04-28-2003, 11:28 AM

She could have done the Betty White role on Golden Girls, but she was more Bea Arthur in real life though! LOL!

JaneTVFan · 05-04-2003, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Get somebody to make you copies of the shows, they are not that bad and some of them are quite good, especially the one with Audrey Meadows as her sister and the wedding, excellent show!

LWL was not that bad, but it was not that good, either. Compare the 8 episodes of LWL that were aired with the first 8 episodes of Here's Lucy and you'll see HL was far superior, which says a lot! I think LWL was pretty much on par with some of the other mediocre fare that was on the air at that time, like Perfect Strangers and Alf. The big problem with LWL is that people expected the show to be up to the standards of the Lucy shows of the past, but the show didn't deliver, so viewers were disappointed.

SPLAIN · 05-05-2003, 02:21 PM

Well said, but when i look at those shows today compared to the crap that's on nowadays, it sure looks better to me than it did back in '86. We just thought that with the same writers and director, and the flawless Lucy, it would be a hit, we ll times had changed and the writing was horrible. But it did have some nice moments though, here and there.

I Love Carol Burnett! · 12-27-2003, 08:59 PM

I belive near the end of LWL Lucille Ball gave up she was tired I think tired of tv she thought she wanted to do another series, but I think deep in heart she knew she couldn't

I LOVE LUCY

bb25 · 12-28-2003, 05:15 PM

Yeah, I agree she could have been great on the Golden Girls, but none of them were as old as Lucy at that time, and it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I think her number was just up...

SPLAIN · 12-29-2003, 02:49 PM

Lucy would have been terrific on The Golden Girls, if you knew their ages in real life, you'd see that age didn't matter, what would have been the problem about Lucy being older anyway? But her hubby must have been too busy playing golf than being concerned about her career and happiness.

bb25 · 12-29-2003, 08:24 PM

True, but I'm pretty sure that the 4 main Golden Girls were only in their middle to late 50s (the age Lucy was during TLS), and that's a big difference from 75...

07-26-2001, 03:25 PM	#1
callmetootie Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 06, 2001 Location: Clifton Park, NY Posts: 4,768	Life With Lucy: The Show That Cursed Lucille Ball? Isn't it strange that a short time after Life With Lucy went off the air, Lucy passed away? Was the show sealed with a curse? It is the poltergesit of sitcoms? ------------------ Andrew Carden

04-25-2003, 04:28 PM	#7
tvboy Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 24, 2003 Location: oakville Posts: 5	It could of been Cmon LWL could have gotten better if only given a chance and Audrey Meadows could have become a regular and eventually she and Lucy could have moved out and gotten a place of their own and interacted with some unique and crazy people in town a la newhart. Lucy was and still is the best female sitcom star the only other two actresses who can even compare are Carol Burnett & Mary Tyler Moore. Lucy also would have been great on the Golden Girls I can honestly see her in the Bea Arthur or Betty White role.

12-27-2003, 08:59 PM	#12
I Love Carol Burnett! My Queen Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 20, 2003 Location: Wishing I was in CA with Carol Burnett Posts: 5,441	I belive near the end of LWL Lucille Ball gave up she was tired I think tired of tv she thought she wanted to do another series, but I think deep in heart she knew she couldn't I LOVE LUCY
	__________________ I Love Carol Burnett! I'm so glad we had this time together, just to have a laugh or sing a song, seems we just get started and before you know it comes the time we have to say..so long. Good Night Everyone!

07-29-2001, 02:35 AM	#2
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,128	I suppose if you call 2 1/2 years short.

07-30-2001, 12:56 PM	#3
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	Lucille Ball died at 78, which is a pretty normal lifespan. We should all be so cursed <g>. LWL was just an ill-conceived comeback for her. A lot of people don't have the stamina to work full-time at age 75, and Lucille Ball was one of them. She had problems remembering her lines, and her delivery was really flat (very little inflection in her voice). Add to this the problems with the writing, and a mediocre supporting cast, and you have a recipe for disaster.

04-25-2003, 09:10 AM	#5
BundyBoy10 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 24, 2002 Posts: 311	This show should of never been made. It made Lucille look bad...

04-25-2003, 10:41 AM	#6
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Get somebody to make you copies of the shows, they are not that bad and some of them are quite good, especially the one with Audrey Meadows as her sister and the wedding, excellent show!

04-28-2003, 11:28 AM	#9
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	She could have done the Betty White role on Golden Girls, but she was more Bea Arthur in real life though! LOL!

05-05-2003, 02:21 PM	#11
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Well said, but when i look at those shows today compared to the crap that's on nowadays, it sure looks better to me than it did back in '86. We just thought that with the same writers and director, and the flawless Lucy, it would be a hit, we ll times had changed and the writing was horrible. But it did have some nice moments though, here and there.

12-28-2003, 05:15 PM	#13
bb25 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 22, 2002 Posts: 784	Yeah, I agree she could have been great on the Golden Girls, but none of them were as old as Lucy at that time, and it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I think her number was just up...

12-29-2003, 02:49 PM	#14
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Lucy would have been terrific on The Golden Girls, if you knew their ages in real life, you'd see that age didn't matter, what would have been the problem about Lucy being older anyway? But her hubby must have been too busy playing golf than being concerned about her career and happiness.

12-29-2003, 08:24 PM	#15
bb25 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 22, 2002 Posts: 784	True, but I'm pretty sure that the 4 main Golden Girls were only in their middle to late 50s (the age Lucy was during TLS), and that's a big difference from 75...