"The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" better than "I Love Lucy?" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

That Other Fan · 11-10-2003, 05:29 PM

Is there anyone willing to admit preferring TLS and/or HL over ILL?

Come on...just on person

I'll admit that when I first discovered Lucy via "The Lucy Show," watching that and I Love Lucy, it just seemed that she was so much more funnier in TLS.

Bugiddle · 11-10-2003, 06:47 PM

I remember seeing reruns of "The Lucy Show" when I was a little kid, and again when I was an adult, and I did really enjoy that show. It seemed that Vivian and Lucy had an even greater rapport with each other when the "men" (Desi and William Frawley) were not around. I can't remember that many episodes of it, but one that stands out is when Lucy is trying to fix her plumbing, I think, and she nearly drowns in the shower stall! That episode was really funny, I thought.

The order in which I like the various Lucy shows are the same order in which they aired:

1. I Love Lucy
2. The Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour
3. The Lucy Show
4. Here's Lucy

"The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" are hardly ever seen anymore, unfortunately, and so maybe many fans of "I Love Lucy" have never seen them (or at least haven't seen them since they originally aired.) I was an elementary school kid when "Here's Lucy" aired, and I really enjoyed her interactions with Gale Gordon, and seeing her teenage kids on the show. (Wasn't Gale also her boss on The Lucy Show?)

It would be great if "TV Land" would play episodes from all four series back-to-back on at least one night a week, or for a special night. (Maybe they have done that before - I don't know, as I just recently started receiving "TV Land".)

I think each of the series had its own special qualities.

Diane

Amber8611 · 11-10-2003, 09:17 PM

I became introduced to Lucy through The Lucy Show and it was my favorite show since I was a year old (it even beat out Barney as my favorite!). I'm now more familiar with I Love Lucy, as I don't clearly remember every episode of The Lucy Show, plus I have every episode of ILL on tape. I actually like all three shows the same, but ILL might be just a tad better because it had the perfect cast and crew, where as the last three season of TLS were pretty inconsistant and a few of the scripts were poor. I haven't seen enough of HL to really compare it, but from what I have seen it's great! This is tough, but I'll ty to put Lucy's shows in order from favorite to least favorite.

1. I Love Lucy
2. The Lucy Show (first three seasons)
3. Here's Lucy
4. TLS (last three seasons)
5. The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour

I know I split up The Lucy Show, but I like the first three seasons so much better than the last, lol. I didn't add LWL to that list, because I've only seen two episodes so I couldn't really make a fair comparison to the others. All of Lucy's shows were excellent though!

bb25 · 11-11-2003, 12:06 AM

I Love Lucy is a milestone classic sitcom, no doubt about that. So having said that, why do the powers that be seek to keep the rest of Lucy's work away from the public?? I simply don't understand why it's ok to rerun ILL for 50 years straight, yet TLS & HL are barely ever seen. It makes no sense. I will always love "I Love Lucy" the best, but why can't we enjoy the rest of Lucy's work? I think it's a rip-off...

Mr. Television · 11-11-2003, 12:20 AM

The Lucy Show was always my favorite Lucy show.

SPLAIN · 11-11-2003, 03:01 PM

Always a tough question, but this is my thing, i know every I Love Lucy by heart and those specials keep showing the same scenes over and over until the whole world will be sick of them, so lately i have discovered Here's Lucy and it is such a joy to see her when she was Queen, the scripts might not be as good, but Lucy working with her kids, or her beloved Viv on teh Lucy show is preferable to seing the same things over and over. Don't get me wrong, I Love Lucy has been seen the world over, for 50 years so it is a classic that is timeless but i agree that they should let the world see her other work, it stands on it's own and is in some cases just as good. They are trying to milk every penny they can out of I Love Lucy before they tackle the other two shows to answer your question as to why we don't see those two series. I say put out all 500 plus of her shows and let US decide what we prefer, and they will do that eventually, i just hope i live to see it!

623e68thst · 11-12-2003, 09:29 PM

I watched "The Lucy Show" before I ever heard of "I Love Lucy". In fact, I think I was in college before I caught on that most of the world considered "I Love Lucy" to be Lucy's major show.

I was born in the mid-60's. So when I was 3 or 4, "The Lucy Show" was airing in reruns in a prime mid-morning slot, when I was likely to be watching. I don't remember if "I Love Lucy" was even showing in reruns in our area at that time. If it was, it was an off-peak time.

I have a hard time choosing between those two shows. "I Love Lucy" is such a classic, but "The Lucy Show" was my first.

I think they were both better than "Here's Lucy". I remember watching some "Here's Lucy" episodes in prime time.

SPLAIN · 11-13-2003, 10:23 AM

It depends on which eps you saw. Some with big name stars were classics, but others with animals were horrible. Lucy was normal and a housewife with kids on The Lucy Show, but there's more Lucy The Queen of television on Here's Lucy, like that thing where the audience went nuts for everything Lucy did on Life with Lucy, she could get a laugh with a straight line, because she was an icon so beloved, the history of her being Queen played into it. Also, when Lucy loved working with someone, it showed, and on Here's Lucy she works with her kids and has a great time and when Lucy enjoyed herself, we, the audience enjoyed ourselves, sorta like when she did a musical number on a Hope special, she was in heaven and so were we!

Christopher · 11-16-2003, 03:42 PM

I like The Lucy Show better. It was more funnier when it was just Vivian and Lucy imo.

bb25 · 11-16-2003, 10:59 PM

That's true...in actuality, it was more just Lucy & Ricky on ILL, truthfully, Viv really didn't get that much darn screen time until TLS came along...

LucyFan · 11-17-2003, 01:01 AM

I can't choose which I'd prefer the most. I love all of her shows about the same to the point of anything that has Lucy in it has to be good. All 5 shows of hers are worthwhile to watch, IMO.

SPLAIN · 11-17-2003, 10:42 AM

True, and very well said, as usual!

Iloveviv · 02-04-2004, 04:42 AM

I break "The Lucy Show" into two different years-- The Vivian years, and the non-Vivian years.

I think the first season 1962-1963, was Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance's finest work -- they were truly the female Laurel and Hardy. Without Desi or Bill Frawley, Viv's part was beefed up and she was no longer a generation older than Lucy Ricardo.....she was Lucy Carmichael's comtemporary.

After the second season, Lucy lost her original writers, and the show started getting stale (actually some of the second year shows felt like they were missing something).

Ethel didn't start having a MAJOR part on I LOVE LUCY until the 3rd season, Lucy and Ethel Buy A Dress Shop, Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress, Charm School, Million Dollar Idea, the Golf Game.

At this point, Vivian began to replace Desi as Lucy's major "co-star", as Desi began to be overwhelmed with great responsibiities running DESILU and Ricky's part started to be reduced.

Now i really did not like the final three years of THE LUCY SHOW much at all. There were some funny moments, but Viv was gone, the kids were gone, the house was gone, the Volunteer Fire Department was gone. Lucy had nobody to play with but stuffy Mr.Mooney and occasionallyl loony Mary Jane.

Lucy was more than just a comedienne. She projected much warmth. HERE'S LUCY was a breath of fresh air with her getting to play a mother again.

So, these are my favorite LUCY's:

1. THE LUCY SHOW (the first season)
2. I LOVE LUCY
3. THE LUCY SHOW (the 2nd and 3rd seasons)
4. HERE'S LUCY (the first 3 seasons)
5. THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR
6. HERE'S LUCY (the final 3 seasons)
7. THE LUCY SHOW (the final 3 seasons).

SPLAIN · 02-04-2004, 10:31 AM

Boy, are you ever good at this, you are a welcome addition to this board and i love reading your posts, keep it up! I like all 507 shows exactly the same, with only a few dogs in the whole lot which is a better record than Babe Ruth!

ILoveLucy2002 · 01-07-2006, 07:45 PM

I will gladly admit to loving the Lucy Show just as much (and probably even more so) than I Love Lucy. The first couple of seasons with Viv were of course the best and the thrill I used to get watching those episodes when I was younger-- nothing can ever compare to it. I Love Lucy is certainly a huge classic, but The Lucy Show had a certain charm to it that made it extremely likeable. Lucy got into (what I consider) even wackier situations than on ILL, and the added bonus of seeing her and Viv in color made it even more enjoyable...

11-10-2003, 05:29 PM	#1
That Other Fan Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 27, 2001 Posts: 191	"The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" better than "I Love Lucy?" Is there anyone willing to admit preferring TLS and/or HL over ILL? Come on...just on person I'll admit that when I first discovered Lucy via "The Lucy Show," watching that and I Love Lucy, it just seemed that she was so much more funnier in TLS.

11-11-2003, 12:20 AM	#5
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,125	The Lucy Show was always my favorite Lucy show.
	__________________ Sonny

01-07-2006, 07:45 PM	#15
ILoveLucy2002 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 30, 2002 Posts: 49	Preferring... I will gladly admit to loving the Lucy Show just as much (and probably even more so) than I Love Lucy. The first couple of seasons with Viv were of course the best and the thrill I used to get watching those episodes when I was younger-- nothing can ever compare to it. I Love Lucy is certainly a huge classic, but The Lucy Show had a certain charm to it that made it extremely likeable. Lucy got into (what I consider) even wackier situations than on ILL, and the added bonus of seeing her and Viv in color made it even more enjoyable...
	Last edited by ILoveLucy2002; 06-21-2006 at 02:41 PM.

11-10-2003, 06:47 PM	#2
Bugiddle Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 19, 2003 Posts: 229	I remember seeing reruns of "The Lucy Show" when I was a little kid, and again when I was an adult, and I did really enjoy that show. It seemed that Vivian and Lucy had an even greater rapport with each other when the "men" (Desi and William Frawley) were not around. I can't remember that many episodes of it, but one that stands out is when Lucy is trying to fix her plumbing, I think, and she nearly drowns in the shower stall! That episode was really funny, I thought. The order in which I like the various Lucy shows are the same order in which they aired: 1. I Love Lucy 2. The Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour 3. The Lucy Show 4. Here's Lucy "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" are hardly ever seen anymore, unfortunately, and so maybe many fans of "I Love Lucy" have never seen them (or at least haven't seen them since they originally aired.) I was an elementary school kid when "Here's Lucy" aired, and I really enjoyed her interactions with Gale Gordon, and seeing her teenage kids on the show. (Wasn't Gale also her boss on The Lucy Show?) It would be great if "TV Land" would play episodes from all four series back-to-back on at least one night a week, or for a special night. (Maybe they have done that before - I don't know, as I just recently started receiving "TV Land".) I think each of the series had its own special qualities. Diane

11-10-2003, 09:17 PM	#3
Amber8611 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 21, 2003 Location: Connecticut Posts: 188	I became introduced to Lucy through The Lucy Show and it was my favorite show since I was a year old (it even beat out Barney as my favorite!). I'm now more familiar with I Love Lucy, as I don't clearly remember every episode of The Lucy Show, plus I have every episode of ILL on tape. I actually like all three shows the same, but ILL might be just a tad better because it had the perfect cast and crew, where as the last three season of TLS were pretty inconsistant and a few of the scripts were poor. I haven't seen enough of HL to really compare it, but from what I have seen it's great! This is tough, but I'll ty to put Lucy's shows in order from favorite to least favorite. 1. I Love Lucy 2. The Lucy Show (first three seasons) 3. Here's Lucy 4. TLS (last three seasons) 5. The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour I know I split up The Lucy Show, but I like the first three seasons so much better than the last, lol. I didn't add LWL to that list, because I've only seen two episodes so I couldn't really make a fair comparison to the others. All of Lucy's shows were excellent though!

11-11-2003, 12:06 AM	#4
bb25 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 22, 2002 Posts: 784	I Love Lucy is a milestone classic sitcom, no doubt about that. So having said that, why do the powers that be seek to keep the rest of Lucy's work away from the public?? I simply don't understand why it's ok to rerun ILL for 50 years straight, yet TLS & HL are barely ever seen. It makes no sense. I will always love "I Love Lucy" the best, but why can't we enjoy the rest of Lucy's work? I think it's a rip-off...

11-11-2003, 03:01 PM	#6
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Always a tough question, but this is my thing, i know every I Love Lucy by heart and those specials keep showing the same scenes over and over until the whole world will be sick of them, so lately i have discovered Here's Lucy and it is such a joy to see her when she was Queen, the scripts might not be as good, but Lucy working with her kids, or her beloved Viv on teh Lucy show is preferable to seing the same things over and over. Don't get me wrong, I Love Lucy has been seen the world over, for 50 years so it is a classic that is timeless but i agree that they should let the world see her other work, it stands on it's own and is in some cases just as good. They are trying to milk every penny they can out of I Love Lucy before they tackle the other two shows to answer your question as to why we don't see those two series. I say put out all 500 plus of her shows and let US decide what we prefer, and they will do that eventually, i just hope i live to see it!

11-12-2003, 09:29 PM	#7
623e68thst Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 24, 2002 Location: Connecticut Posts: 28	I watched "The Lucy Show" before I ever heard of "I Love Lucy". In fact, I think I was in college before I caught on that most of the world considered "I Love Lucy" to be Lucy's major show. I was born in the mid-60's. So when I was 3 or 4, "The Lucy Show" was airing in reruns in a prime mid-morning slot, when I was likely to be watching. I don't remember if "I Love Lucy" was even showing in reruns in our area at that time. If it was, it was an off-peak time. I have a hard time choosing between those two shows. "I Love Lucy" is such a classic, but "The Lucy Show" was my first. I think they were both better than "Here's Lucy". I remember watching some "Here's Lucy" episodes in prime time.

11-13-2003, 10:23 AM	#8
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	It depends on which eps you saw. Some with big name stars were classics, but others with animals were horrible. Lucy was normal and a housewife with kids on The Lucy Show, but there's more Lucy The Queen of television on Here's Lucy, like that thing where the audience went nuts for everything Lucy did on Life with Lucy, she could get a laugh with a straight line, because she was an icon so beloved, the history of her being Queen played into it. Also, when Lucy loved working with someone, it showed, and on Here's Lucy she works with her kids and has a great time and when Lucy enjoyed herself, we, the audience enjoyed ourselves, sorta like when she did a musical number on a Hope special, she was in heaven and so were we!

11-16-2003, 03:42 PM	#9
Christopher The OG Core Four Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 15, 2001 Posts: 14,833	I like The Lucy Show better. It was more funnier when it was just Vivian and Lucy imo.

11-16-2003, 10:59 PM	#10
bb25 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 22, 2002 Posts: 784	That's true...in actuality, it was more just Lucy & Ricky on ILL, truthfully, Viv really didn't get that much darn screen time until TLS came along...

11-17-2003, 01:01 AM	#11
LucyFan Still Loving Lucy! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 23, 2001 Location: In the Wonderful World of Lucy! Posts: 8,198	I can't choose which I'd prefer the most. I love all of her shows about the same to the point of anything that has Lucy in it has to be good. All 5 shows of hers are worthwhile to watch, IMO.

11-17-2003, 10:42 AM	#12
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	True, and very well said, as usual!

02-04-2004, 04:42 AM	#13
Iloveviv Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 03, 2004 Posts: 12	I break "The Lucy Show" into two different years-- The Vivian years, and the non-Vivian years. I think the first season 1962-1963, was Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance's finest work -- they were truly the female Laurel and Hardy. Without Desi or Bill Frawley, Viv's part was beefed up and she was no longer a generation older than Lucy Ricardo.....she was Lucy Carmichael's comtemporary. After the second season, Lucy lost her original writers, and the show started getting stale (actually some of the second year shows felt like they were missing something). Ethel didn't start having a MAJOR part on I LOVE LUCY until the 3rd season, Lucy and Ethel Buy A Dress Shop, Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress, Charm School, Million Dollar Idea, the Golf Game. At this point, Vivian began to replace Desi as Lucy's major "co-star", as Desi began to be overwhelmed with great responsibiities running DESILU and Ricky's part started to be reduced. Now i really did not like the final three years of THE LUCY SHOW much at all. There were some funny moments, but Viv was gone, the kids were gone, the house was gone, the Volunteer Fire Department was gone. Lucy had nobody to play with but stuffy Mr.Mooney and occasionallyl loony Mary Jane. Lucy was more than just a comedienne. She projected much warmth. HERE'S LUCY was a breath of fresh air with her getting to play a mother again. So, these are my favorite LUCY's: 1. THE LUCY SHOW (the first season) 2. I LOVE LUCY 3. THE LUCY SHOW (the 2nd and 3rd seasons) 4. HERE'S LUCY (the first 3 seasons) 5. THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR 6. HERE'S LUCY (the final 3 seasons) 7. THE LUCY SHOW (the final 3 seasons).

02-04-2004, 10:31 AM	#14
SPLAIN I Love Lucy Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2002 Location: MONTREAL, CANADA Posts: 4,563	Boy, are you ever good at this, you are a welcome addition to this board and i love reading your posts, keep it up! I like all 507 shows exactly the same, with only a few dogs in the whole lot which is a better record than Babe Ruth!