Top Ten Episodes of Season Three

[upperco]

http://jacksonupperco.com/2014/06/10...-season-three/

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by upperco

http://jacksonupperco.com/2014/06/10...-season-three/

Different strokes for different strokes, I guess. This is your least favorite season, but for me, it's a tossup between S2 and S3 as the best of the series.

I have to ask you why you refer to the Taylor/Burton episode as "infamous"? That is one of my favorite episodes ever, and I think everyone pulled off a great performance and it deserved all the publicity (and high ratings) it received. And I think the critical response was positive. So I'm not getting why you would call it infamous. Is it because of Burton's diary?

As for your top ten list, I agree with seven of them. The episode with Carol Burnett is my least favorite of her guest appearances on a Lucy show, and one of my least favorites of this season. I hate the whole let's-put-on-a-show premise. And as much as I love Vivian Vance, I hate those two Hawaiian episodes. I agree with the other seven episodes on your list, but I would replace those three with "Lucy Cuts Vincent's Price," "Lucy's Vacation," and "Lucy and the Raffle" (which I think is the second or third funniest episode after Taylor/Burton. Almost making my top ten would be "Lucy, the Diamond Cutter" (my favorite Wally Cox appearance on this series); "Lucy and the Drum Contest" (a favorite because it's a sweet episode with rarely seen sentimentality); and "Lucy and the 20-20 Vision."

[upperco]

Hi, LittleRickyII! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Different strokes for different strokes, I guess. This is your least favorite season, but for me, it's a tossup between S2 and S3 as the best of the series.

Yes, I have never been impressed with Season Three -- think it's such a grating year. The stories are repetitive, Lucy's character is often witless, and the scripts are some of the dumbest she ever got on this series. The biggest crime for me: easily forgettable installments. Season Two has grown on me; this one has never. (However, I think Season Four actually has some of the worst installments of the series -- mixed in with some really strong ones -- but I'll save that for next week.)

I have to ask you why you refer to the Taylor/Burton episode as "infamous"? That is one of my favorite episodes ever, and I think everyone pulled off a great performance and it deserved all the publicity (and high ratings) it received. And I think the critical response was positive. So I'm not getting why you would call it infamous. Is it because of Burton's diary?

Yes, because of the supposed tension between them. I'm in agreement with you about strong performances. Yet it is definitely not a favorite of mine -- chiefly because of an unoriginal script. I shall quote my sentiments from the post: "Even though the premise is a trite jumble of previous Lucy plots, the excitement over the teaming of these great celebrities elevates all of the performances and carries the episode well beyond the realm of most installments." An enjoyable one, but I definitely don't think it's near the series' best.

As for your top ten list, I agree with seven of them. The episode with Carol Burnett is my least favorite of her guest appearances on a Lucy show, and one of my least favorites of this season. I hate the whole let's-put-on-a-show premise. And as much as I love Vivian Vance, I hate those two Hawaiian episodes. I agree with the other seven episodes on your list, but I would replace those three with "Lucy Cuts Vincent's Price," "Lucy's Vacation," and "Lucy and the Raffle" (which I think is the second or third funniest episode after Taylor/Burton. Almost making my top ten would be "Lucy, the Diamond Cutter" (my favorite Wally Cox appearance on this series); "Lucy and the Drum Contest" (a favorite because it's a sweet episode with rarely seen sentimentality); and "Lucy and the 20-20 Vision."

I usually do not like the show-within-a-show installments either and I think this may be the only year in which more than one makes my list. However, I think the comedy found in these largely musical episodes is more enjoyable than most of the other installments of the year, including a few of the ones you mentioned above. I also used to not care for the Hawaiian installments -- as I generally don't think Lucy's single-camera audienceless shows have the necessary amount of humor -- but these episodes have really impressed me as of late, especially in comparison to the others from the season. (However, I do like "Lucy And The 20-20 Vision" and I included it among the honorable mentions. It's the one that I feel most deserved to graduate to the official list.) Love Cox, but have never gotten into "Lucy And The Diamond Cutter." As you've said, different strokes for different folks.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by upperco

Hi, LittleRickyII! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Yes, I have never been impressed with Season Three -- think it's such a grating year. The stories are repetitive, Lucy's character is often witless, and the scripts are some of the dumbest she ever got on this series. The biggest crime for me: easily forgettable installments. Season Two has grown on me; this one has never. (However, I think Season Four actually has some of the worst installments of the series -- mixed in with some really strong ones -- but I'll save that for next week.)

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I do agree there are some low points, as there were each season. But still I find I usually come away satisfied with these S3 entries. As for S4, that most definitely is my least favorite season.

Originally Posted by upperco

Yes, because of the supposed tension between them. I'm in agreement with you about strong performances. Yet it is definitely not a favorite of mine -- chiefly because of an unoriginal script. I shall quote my sentiments from the post: "Even though the premise is a trite jumble of previous Lucy plots, the excitement over the teaming of these great celebrities elevates all of the performances and carries the episode well beyond the realm of most installments." An enjoyable one, but I definitely don't think it's near the series' best.

Yes, this episode is largely a rehash of previous scripts, but that doesn't detract from my enjoyment for one reason: it's genuinely funny. A number of times on this show they would do a routine that was a remake of some Lucy scene from years past, and of course this is no exception with that climax scene at the end with Lucy behind the curtain; clearly it's a rehash of "The Handcuffs" episode of I Love Lucy, and the "Lucy, the Music Lover" episode of The Lucy Show. But what sets this apart from all the other times Lucy redid an old routine is that it is superior to the previous attempts. I have never really warmed up to the I Love Lucy "Handcuffs" version, which I don't find all that funny because the execution is a bit off. When it was redone in "Lucy, the Music Lover," it was much funnier. And this time with the Burtons, it's simply hilarious.

On another topic -- "Lucy's Wedding Party" -- you wrote this: "Essentially, all the Greek dancing and chanting is little more than a mildly amusing time waster." Not a time waster at all! I have to say I love that scene. While I don't like the show-within-a-show musical episodes, I don't mind a few minutes set aside in an episode for a song or a dance if it makes sense within the context of the plot. And in the case of a Greek wedding party, it would actually make no sense for there not to be dancing. I love Greek music (and I love Greece!), and bringing us the excitement of a Greek dance and music (Zorba's Dance, in this case), with Lucy nervously trying to participate, it's just plain fun.