LUCILLE BALL: Did we all stop loving Lucy?

[TMC]

I Love Lucy used to be seen on TV several times a day. Now I don't see it at all. Did it play itself out? Did it not stand the test of time? Lucille Ball's brand of slapstick is still the best there ever was, but sadly, many people under 30 may have never heard of her. Did Mame and/or the Life With Lucy trainwreck change it? Was it her true bitter personality shining through in all those interviews? It seems The Golden Girls are more celebrated than the greatest comedienne of all time. Thoughts, opinions?

[rcbrad]

Since it has been almost 70 years since this first aired, of course it will seem dated. Even people that are middle aged now, would probably feel it is at least somewhat dated. The fact that it is in black and white, is generally a turn off for younger viewers. I imagine most people under 30 would be at least a little familiar with her and the show, but it is something that they many not care to watch regularly or try to catch all of the episodes. I do not think that her work after her three sitcoms made any negative difference concerning her popularity or legacy. I have seen a number of interviews with her, but I never picked up a "true bitter personality" I am sure I have not seen all of her large amount of interviews or recall the exact content of her interviews, so there may have been some bitterness that I did not come across.

[OH Nuts!]

Stop loving Lucy! Bite your tongue! She’s one of the most fantastic comediennes ever. And I Love Lucy is iconic; I’m proud to have the entire series and NEVER tire of it. Her later shows are great too. I Lucy! The show is still seen by millions. It is ageless.

[TV Guy]

You can’t expect a show that’s almost 70 years old to still be running in broadcast syndication, in the same slots where stations show Big Bang or Seinfeld. The TV business has changed, and certainly Lucy’s audience has narrowed over the years. But the fact that this show is still running on cable and a digital subnet, and is available on DVD and streaming speaks volumes to its continuing popularity.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

You can’t expect a show that’s almost 70 years old to still be running in broadcast syndication, in the same slots where stations show Big Bang or Seinfeld. The TV business has changed, and certainly Lucy’s audience has narrowed over the years. But the fact that this show is still running on cable and a digital subnet, and is available on DVD and streaming speaks volumes to its continuing popularity.

Precisely! It’s not that her audience has narrowed; they’re just viewing the masterpiece through more modern media.

[Steve_uk]

Timeless comedy when we didn't have half the social problems Western society has today.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by Steve_uk

Timeless comedy when we didn't have half the social problems Western society has today.

Timeless is correct. Classic works like I Love Lucy have an ageless quality, which is why the endure through generations.

[Duster76]

TMC raises a lot of issues, let's walk through them in a different order than they were raised:

Did Mame and/or the Life With Lucy trainwreck change it?

I don't think either of these unsuccessful projects had any effect on I Love Lucy.

Was it her true bitter personality shining through in all those interviews?

I know she made comments about All In The Family, and she did an appearance on Joan Rivers late night talk show trying to promote the failing Life With Lucy, but I don't think of either as representative of a "true bitter personality", so I think you need to give specifics, what interviews are you referring to.

It seems The Golden Girls are more celebrated than the greatest comedienne of all time. Thoughts, opinions?

I don't believe The Golden Girls is as important a series as I Love Lucy, and I don't think it is as influential or has the quality of I Love Lucy, that said, it is a very good series and stands out as actually centering around mature adults living their lives. It should indeed be celebrated, and as a series of much more recent vintage it is more popular than I Love Lucy.

Did it play itself out?

Maybe a bit because the episodes has been seen by so many people that there may be some fatigue factor. I want to point out that the colorized episodes appearing on CBS have done very well in the ratings. I also think that some of the things that have come out about the real life marriage issues of Lucy and Desi may have adversely affected the series. Still the series is one of the biggest hits in rerun history, certainly ranking in the top 10.


Lucille Ball's brand of slapstick is still the best there ever was, but sadly, many people under 30 may have never heard of her.

One final comment:

I Love Lucy is so much more than slapstick, that I have to take you to task.

Lucy lived the 1950's, reflecting the American experience.

Lucy had a baby on her series during the peak of the baby boomer generation, do you realize how relatable that was to families across America.

Lucy drove across country in the 1950's as the interstate highway was coming together, do you realize how exciting a premise that was. When Lucy passed away a picture of the two couples driving across the George Washington Bridge appeared in papers from coast to coast, that remains one of the most famous TV scenes in American history.

Lucy went to Europe, do you realize how significant that was to so many people who had made that same crossing in the previous decades and thought they had seen their homeland for the last time.

Lucy moved to the suburbs, the suburban boom of the 50's reshaped the landscape of the entire country. Between 1945 and 1964 400,000 people moved from Brooklyn, New York to the surrounding suburbs (this is one of the reasons the Dodgers left Brooklyn).

Lucy interacted with her real life city surroundings, with episodes that featured the Staten Island Ferry, the subway system, Yankee Stadium.

A study was done during the initial run of the series, one of the questions for response was what do you like best about the series, people identified the friendship between the couples (I wish we had a couple to do things with), another common mention, I wish I had a friend like Ethel. What makes this so important, in big cities throughout the country there was an increasing sense of isolation as people move to apartments and crime rates began to rise and doors were closed and locked at the end of the day.

Lucy was a feminist, she wanted her own career, she wanted to do what she wanted to do. For little girls and young women watching the series, this image would resonate in ways we would see in the decades to come.

I think I Love Lucy hasn't even peaked yet, I believe in the years to come the show will be rediscovered, it might be the most important TV series of the 20th century when you recognize what was done in front of and behind the camera.

[Duster76]

TMC raises a lot of issues, let's walk through them in a different order than they were raised:

Did Mame and/or the Life With Lucy trainwreck change it?

I don't think either of these unsuccessful projects had any effect on I Love Lucy.

Was it her true bitter personality shining through in all those interviews?

I know she made comments about All In The Family, and she did an appearance on Joan Rivers late night talk show trying to promote the failing Life With Lucy, but I don't think of either as representative of a "true bitter personality", so I think you need to give specifics, what interviews are you referring to.

It seems The Golden Girls are more celebrated than the greatest comedienne of all time. Thoughts, opinions?

I don't believe The Golden Girls is as important a series as I Love Lucy, and I don't think it is as influential or has the quality of I Love Lucy, that said, it is a very good series and stands out as actually centering around mature adults living their lives. It should indeed be celebrated, and as a series of much more recent vintage it is more popular than I Love Lucy.

Did it play itself out?

Maybe a bit because the episodes has been seen by so many people that there may be some fatigue factor. I want to point out that the colorized episodes appearing on CBS have done very well in the ratings. I also think that some of the things that have come out about the real life marriage issues of Lucy and Desi may have adversely affected the series. Still the series is one of the biggest hits in rerun history, certainly ranking in the top 10.


Lucille Ball's brand of slapstick is still the best there ever was, but sadly, many people under 30 may have never heard of her.

One final comment:

I Love Lucy is so much more than slapstick, that I have to take you to task.

Lucy lived the 1950's, reflecting the American experience.

Lucy had a baby on her series during the peak of the baby boomer generation, do you realize how relatable that was to families across America.

Lucy drove across country in the 1950's as the interstate highway was coming together, do you realize how exciting a premise that was. When Lucy passed away a picture of the two couples driving across the George Washington Bridge appeared in papers from coast to coast, that remains one of the most famous TV scenes in American history.

Lucy went to Europe, do you realize how significant that was to so many people who had made that same crossing in the previous decades and thought they had seen their homeland for the last time.

Lucy moved to the suburbs, the suburban boom of the 50's reshaped the landscape of the entire country. Between 1945 and 1964 400,000 people moved from Brooklyn, New York to the surrounding suburbs (this is one of the reasons the Dodgers left Brooklyn).

Lucy interacted with her real life city surroundings, with episodes that featured the Staten Island Ferry, the subway system, Yankee Stadium.

A study was done during the initial run of the series, one of the questions for response was what do you like best about the series, people identified the friendship between the couples (I wish we had a couple to do things with), another common mention, I wish I had a friend like Ethel. What makes this so important, in big cities throughout the country there was an increasing sense of isolation as people move to apartments and crime rates began to rise and doors were closed and locked at the end of the day.

Lucy was a feminist, she wanted her own career, she wanted to do what she wanted to do. For little girls and young women watching the series, this image would resonate in ways we would see in the decades to come.

I think I Love Lucy hasn't even peaked yet, I believe in the years to come the show will be rediscovered, it might be the most important TV series of the 20th century when you recognize what was done in front of and behind the camera.

[opus]

Heck, CBS still runs occasional primetime specials of the original to decent ratings (yes, colorized, but that's a discussion for another thread)

[treky]

Originally Posted by TMC

I Love Lucy used to be seen on TV several times a day. Now I don't see it at all. Did it play itself out? Did it not stand the test of time? Lucille Ball's brand of slapstick is still the best there ever was, but sadly, many people under 30 may have never heard of her. Did Mame and/or the Life With Lucy trainwreck change it? Was it her true bitter personality shining through in all those interviews? It seems The Golden Girls are more celebrated than the greatest comedienne of all time. Thoughts, opinions?

it airs on Decades for 2 hours every weekday morning.

[Steve_uk]

Originally Posted by Duster76

TMC raises a lot of issues, let's walk through them in a different order than they were raised:

Did Mame and/or the Life With Lucy trainwreck change it?

I don't think either of these unsuccessful projects had any effect on I Love Lucy.

Was it her true bitter personality shining through in all those interviews?

I know she made comments about All In The Family, and she did an appearance on Joan Rivers late night talk show trying to promote the failing Life With Lucy, but I don't think of either as representative of a "true bitter personality", so I think you need to give specifics, what interviews are you referring to.

It seems The Golden Girls are more celebrated than the greatest comedienne of all time. Thoughts, opinions?

I don't believe The Golden Girls is as important a series as I Love Lucy, and I don't think it is as influential or has the quality of I Love Lucy, that said, it is a very good series and stands out as actually centering around mature adults living their lives. It should indeed be celebrated, and as a series of much more recent vintage it is more popular than I Love Lucy.

Did it play itself out?

Maybe a bit because the episodes has been seen by so many people that there may be some fatigue factor. I want to point out that the colorized episodes appearing on CBS have done very well in the ratings. I also think that some of the things that have come out about the real life marriage issues of Lucy and Desi may have adversely affected the series. Still the series is one of the biggest hits in rerun history, certainly ranking in the top 10.


Lucille Ball's brand of slapstick is still the best there ever was, but sadly, many people under 30 may have never heard of her.

One final comment:

I Love Lucy is so much more than slapstick, that I have to take you to task.

Lucy lived the 1950's, reflecting the American experience.

Lucy had a baby on her series during the peak of the baby boomer generation, do you realize how relatable that was to families across America.

Lucy drove across country in the 1950's as the interstate highway was coming together, do you realize how exciting a premise that was. When Lucy passed away a picture of the two couples driving across the George Washington Bridge appeared in papers from coast to coast, that remains one of the most famous TV scenes in American history.

Lucy went to Europe, do you realize how significant that was to so many people who had made that same crossing in the previous decades and thought they had seen their homeland for the last time.

Lucy moved to the suburbs, the suburban boom of the 50's reshaped the landscape of the entire country. Between 1945 and 1964 400,000 people moved from Brooklyn, New York to the surrounding suburbs (this is one of the reasons the Dodgers left Brooklyn).

Lucy interacted with her real life city surroundings, with episodes that featured the Staten Island Ferry, the subway system, Yankee Stadium.

A study was done during the initial run of the series, one of the questions for response was what do you like best about the series, people identified the friendship between the couples (I wish we had a couple to do things with), another common mention, I wish I had a friend like Ethel. What makes this so important, in big cities throughout the country there was an increasing sense of isolation as people move to apartments and crime rates began to rise and doors were closed and locked at the end of the day.

Lucy was a feminist, she wanted her own career, she wanted to do what she wanted to do. For little girls and young women watching the series, this image would resonate in ways we would see in the decades to come.

I think I Love Lucy hasn't even peaked yet, I believe in the years to come the show will be rediscovered, it might be the most important TV series of the 20th century when you recognize what was done in front of and behind the camera.

Apparently there were rumours that the Golden Girls actresses didn't get along in real life, though whether you believe Joan Rivers is another matter. It's true what they say though: comedy is a serious business.

Was Lucy the first mass market comedienne, and in this respect she was unique. Living in gentler times when society was more bonded together in fellowship(at least if you were white) people felt more relaxed, whereas often in the Golden Girls the comedy was targeted at someone's weakness, the cruelty manifesting itself in the winner-takes-all culture of the Reagan and Thatcher years.

I think there probably was a fatigue factor as the shows lost their impact as paradoxically the actors had to play out ever more unrealistic scripts.

It was a shame we never got to see much of Florida apart from a supermarket and a park bench.

All characters were feminists but didn't they want men in their lives and maybe secretly couldn't manage without them?

[Liz81]

No way! Could never stop loving Lucy and I know a lot of people still feel the same way. They still air reruns and even merchandises are still out there. There's a cool antique store in my area and they sell a vinyl record of "Wildcat" and some other stuff of "I Love Lucy" and in Lucy's hometown in Jamestown are those two museums and other places dedicated to Lucy all over town and people still visit them. On her birthdays, there are festivals for her too in Jamestown. She's still loved!

[Greenbeans]

I'll bump this just because I am getting tired of the game threads hogging up the forums.

Yes, it is dated in a way. When Ricky spanks Lucy. I cringe. Likewise, when Ricky and Fred can't make a meal without ruining the kitchen it is equally bad.

I tend to like individual episodes other than the entire series. Lucy trying to get in the show gets old.

A lot of episodes do hold up - the washing machine, the airplane cheese episode, the chickens. That stuff still holds up but it's very doubtful if anyone under 30 will ever watch it. But, the colorized version on the holidays does pretty good in the ratings, so it probably gets some younger viewers.

I think on the whole, it is dated but a lot of episodes hold up.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by Greenbeans

I'll bump this just because I am getting tired of the game threads hogging up the forums.

Yes, it is dated in a way. When Ricky spanks Lucy. I cringe. Likewise, when Ricky and Fred can't make a meal without ruining the kitchen it is equally bad.

I tend to like individual episodes other than the entire series. Lucy trying to get in the show gets old.

A lot of episodes do hold up - the washing machine, the airplane cheese episode, the chickens. That stuff still holds up but it's very doubtful if anyone under 30 will ever watch it. But, the colorized version on the holidays does pretty good in the ratings, so it probably gets some younger viewers.

I think on the whole, it is dated but a lot of episodes hold up.

Thank you for the bump! You raise some interesting points. Yes, there is rampant gender stereotyping - but I’m able to forgive it as virtually all shows are a product of their times. And maybe because I’m older (60s) and grew up closer to this time.

We all have our own takes. The show may get tired for you but NEVER for me. Not sure about 30’s ever watching it; I personally think the “classic” eps like “Lucy Does A Commercial” appeal to ALL ages. I’m not sure if the anachronisms are a deal breaker for others, especially since you admit many of the eps do”hold up”. And this was the first show to REALLY capitalize on physical comedy. Lucy was pure genius there.

I know many go gaga over the color, but I prefer the B & W, which feels more authentic to me.