Casting her as a ditzy older person in a sweatsuit with headphones (I know it’s the 80s) was just playing it safe. The typical living room environment was very overused in 80s sitcoms. I don’t think the writers were too philosophical regarding the storylines; they probably knew this wasn’t going to last too long so they just delivered what was expected. Lucy played the same character in all her shows. Nothing changed.
@@DustinReckling In 1985, she says she wants to retire one last time and she did very quietly. No excuses. No nothing. Just a quiet, peaceful life with her husband, former actor/producer Gary Morton. However, she had great interviews on television with Mary Tyler Moore, Barbra Streisand among others.
Not Barbara Walters, its Joan Rivers ,and after this last lucy show , she was honoured by the highest award....the Kennedy centre honours which proved to her once and for all ,that the world loved her
@@johnpickford4222 *were I think what the commenter is saying is that, regardless of her later career disappointments, the public recognized her LIFETIME achievements.
This sitcom was indeed pretty bad. The problem, IMO, was that Lucille Ball insisted on using the same writers with whom she had worked from her I Love Lucy days. These writers failed to adapt to changing public tastes and didn't understand what audiences in the 80s found funny. They kept the same slapstick humor Lucy had used in the 60s and the truth was that this type of comedy just didn't appeal to younger audiences that had grown up with All in the Family and Saturday Night Live. I read once that ABC wanted to use younger writers who had worked on such popular shows like MASH but Lucy refused to work with them. And in the end, that decision may have been the main reason why this show failed. It was an inglorious end to one of the most popular actresses in TV history.
They were all good... except for Ann Dusenberry, who played her daughter... she couldn't act and just shouted all her lines so loudly, it made me cringe.
Speaking as someone who was an adult when this show aired, I can say that her contemporaries made better decisions late in their careers. Andy Griffith didn’t try to continue the Andy Taylor character. Instead he took a different twist in 1986 with the debut of “Matlock”. A few years later Dick Van Dyke came back to television, not as a continuation of Rob Petrie, but in the successful series, “Diagnosis Murder”. In 1986, even “The Great One”, aka Jackie Gleason, said Lucy should have done something different and not reprise her Lucy character. I realize that it seemingly has become increasingly difficult to look objectively at Lucille Ball’s post-“I Love Lucy” television work. However I feel that the lack of objectivity in some respects diminishes her genius. The fact of the matter is that Lucille’s unwillingness to evolve as an artist, ultimately proved detrimental to her career. This is particularly perplexing when you consider that other television female icons like Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore found critical acclaim after their groundbreaking series ended. Ironically, neither of those women had any significant experience in film prior to television. Lucille Ball on the other hand, appeared in more than 75 movies, long before “I Love Lucy”. Ironically it seems as though when Lucille found the “Lucy” character she became unwilling or incapable of inhabiting any other character. It’s sad really, because while she was never Katherine Hepburn, she could deliver a convincing dramatic performance as evidenced by her starring role in the 1942 film, “The Big Street” alongside Henry Fonda. It’s hard to imagine now given the immense magnitude of Lucille’s legend if she had been able to draw upon her significant pre-“I Love Lucy” movie experience in her post-“I Love Lucy” projects. Perhaps the catalog of her television work would be even more acclaimed, and perhaps her TV career would have been even longer.
I feel like she was great in "Stone Pillow," which was the complete opposite of what I'd expect her to do. I wonder how different the show would have turned out if Gale was *not* cast. I also find it strange that her character was a health nut, even though she smoked in real life. I think it would be funny if there were an episode where she encounters some angry dieters? Or maybe an episode involving a mean, yet funny (to the audience) personal trainer? Who knows. I haven't yet watched all of the episodes.
@@JK-gq2so STONE PILLOW was a major turning point in Lucille Ball's career, and it would have been interesting to see her do more dramatic work with Social Consciousness themes like it. At the same time, her material needed to fit her age at this point. Those who survived the business managed to re-invent themselves for every decade. It's too bad that Lucy wasn't allowed this.
There will never be any one on TV like Lucy. I miss her so much. Even though I was only 3 or 4 years old when “I Love Lucy” came on…I remember when she had “Little Ricky”. We never missed an episode and have watched it all my life……then in 1965 I had graduated from high school, got married and then had my own Little Ricky…..my sweet, smart first tiny 5 lb. 11 ounce baby boy. Then…3 days before his 54th birthday. bless his heart, he died and a huge light went out in our lives. I miss my sweet Ricky so much. There will never be another Ricky, Lucy, Vivian, Fred, Gale Gordon…..and most of all…….my sweet son who missed out on the rest of his life because of the evil of someone he loved. I miss you, Sugar-Pie…save your mama a seat…surely it won’t be that much longer and I will join you. I love you…..and, I love Lucy.
When she was doing this show, it was at the same time that Desi Arnaz was dying from Lung Cancer. They truly still cared and loved each other despite everything that occurred between them. That had to have a affect on her during this time.
That, and she had been mandated by her doctor to quit smoking cold turkey. Going from smoking 3-4 packs a day for over 50 years to just suddenly stopping no doubt affected her mood, badly. Smoking at that time was still seen as just a bad habit as opposed to an addiction, and therefore non-smokers might not have understood the struggle involved with quitting. Plus, Desi in his final days would call her and talk to her for hours on end, which left her sleep-depraved. But even with this, from what I've read LB was well liked by the cast and crew, finding her fun to work with and not at all pretentious. Of course most of the crew knew from the beginning that it would be a short lived project with no potential whatsoever, so there was no point to even try and make any improvemments.
She admitted that she knew exactly what kind of man he was all through out their marriage and while she couldn't put up with his messing around (which was disrespectful to her) she did still love him very much. Once they divorced, her anger towards him resolved.
You mentioned that the episode where Lucy plays the sax (or tries to) seemed like a recreation of the famous "I Love Lucy" scene. I actually noticed that the writers frequently "borrowed" from themselves many times. For instance, the segment where Lucy and her date are sinking into a hole in the floor, while blissfully unaware is a blatant copy of the "Lucy Show" episode, where Lucy is demonstrating a specially-designed bank vault for Jack Benny, and the two of them sink in quick sand at the end, while the bit with Gale's tie getting caught in the pasta machine was adapted from one where Gale's tie gets caught in Lucy's typewriter in a "Here's Lucy" episode. Not surprising, I guess, since they were well-crafted and well-performed bits when originally done, but it does demonstrate how little originality went into "Life With Lucy".
The offkey saxophone gag was from The Lucy Show where she impersonates a nun who was too sick to perform at a church. Mary Wicks played the Mother Superior who hired Lucy...
One thing I think hampered Life With Lucy’s chances at being successful was Lucy’s age and how age couldn’t do physical comedy the same way she could during I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show.
Absolutely right - I remember watching the first episode during its original broadcast, and I was frightened for her during every bit of physical comedy. Not conducive to laughter, even if it had been funny, which it wasn’t.
Correct ! We even had a watch party for that episode. People forget for those of us born in the 60s , Lucy had been on television our WHOLE lives - this was a major event! And yet I still recall how embarrassed we all were feeling, that awkward cringe-inducing feeling of watching this old woman attempt physical comedy , it looked more dangerous than funny. Very sad ending. Even to this day I still watch I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. She was a genius!
I think the whole point of having the 'guard goose' was for Lucy to do that bit where the bird followed her outside, it's a throwback to another I Love Lucy show. After the Ricardos moved to Connecticut, Lucy and Ethel were trying to raise chickens and they had all ended up in the house and, as she did here, Lucy ended up being able to round them all up and get them to go where she wanted by doing an imitation of their walk and getting them to all follow after her.
That's a great observation. I had not thought of that but yeah, I can see them writing any random bs to recreate that situation all over again. I think the premise of her taking over and running her husbands business after his death was reminiscent of her running Desilu after her divorce from Desi.
I can't bring myself to watch it. Writer Robert Carroll Jr. said they wanted it to be "Lucy: the Granny Years" but Lucy didn't want to be a grandmother. It might have worked if they could have talked her into playing her beloved mother Dee Dee; it would have worked if she'd allowed herself to be a funny, sexy, outspoken old woman like Elaine Stritch in "30 Rock." If she'd been willing to be her age and with decent material, she could have pushed past "Golden Girls" and gone platinum. Oh, well. Henna rinse under the bridge.
I was in the middle of my deep dive of the Living with Lucy episodes when I came across your video. You did an exceptional job of putting this together... and helping me understand my own fascination of this show. I was sort of 'cringe/hate watching' it but also really wanted it to work! Your Golden Girls comparison instantly made me understand the context I needed. I applaud you for that. It's a shame... I think it could have worked....maybe a second season it could have found the right balance... and a better make up artist. Thank you for your video I really enjoyed it.
Lucille Ball was dropped from MGM because they thought she was washed up and they thought she age out. But they wrong because Lucy came back with a vengeance and prove everybody wrong to produce a great show in I Love Lucy. It was unheard of at the time for a woman at 41 years old to have the type of success she did. Lucy dominated for over 20 years which puts her in GOAT mountain. Very few people can dominate for over twenty years. Lucille Ball we love you and we will never forget you. I will make sure that your legacy lives on by showing your shows to younger generations. 💯
Interesting there was an episode of "The Golden Girls" that centered around a teddy bear being accidentally sold/given away. And I believe it was this little girl that played her granddaughter that tried to hold the bear for ransom on "TGG."
That’s the great Jenny Lewis star of troop Beverly Hills, lead singer of rilo kiley! She has an amazing solo career saw her in September and she was awesome I also own her tarot cards! This wasn’t a cross over her name on golden girls Is daisy not becky
This is why this sitcom failed: 1. Poor plot development (what plot?) 2. Poor scripts 3. Unfunny jokes/comedy development 4. Over-acting/reacting, esp. on Lucy's part 5. The kids were a "cutesie" add-on rather than characters central to the (so-called) plot 6. Clown make-up and Bozo-the-Clown red hair (on Lucy) 7. Lucy's character incongruous with her age (a 70+ year old "hip" young woman?) 8. The ditzy-broad role was tired (and boring and unfunny) already 9. Too much slapstick humor which was not funny With better scripts and writing this show may have made it, if Lucy acted like a woman in her seventies, like The Golden Girls. The days of corn ball humor and slap stick had come and gone and audiences wanted more sophisticated more nuanced humor. We still loved Lucy, but she needed to "grow up."
Regarding point 6: If the video looks fuzzy, that's the way it appeared on TV in 1986. I don't know how many layers of gauze they put in front of the lens to lessen the effects of age.
What is funny is that I watched the Golden Girls religiously but I never once remember the Life with Lucy show...ever. It's not even on my radar screen.
The dye job and the heavy eye makeup looked bad. That and the physical comedy were poor attempts to deny the fact that she was an elderly woman. They should have created an age-appropriate role for her.
@@teastrainer3604 actually she wore wigs that had tape under 2 pull her face bck. In the last episode, she probably looked her best facially. But it was never shown.
She got a kick from watching AITF, but thought it was dangerous for kids. Soon after it premiered, it shot up to #1 in the ratings while Here's Lucy dropped to #11th. It was #3 the yr before.
I read somewhere that there were plans in the works to have her as a guest star on an episode of the Golden Girls, but she got ill and died before it could be brought to fruition.
The family aspect was never a hallmark of Lucy’s previous sitcoms, so it’s odd that the show is built around a family here. I know that sounds weird but Little Ricky was a tiny portion of I Love Lucy, the kids were completely abandoned in The Lucy Show, and Here’s Lucy got stronger once Kim grew up and Craig disappeared! Lucy needed a strong female she could be in cahoots with just like Viv, Rosie Harrigan, Kim, Mary Jane, and Carol. Lucy and Gale in a retirement home with maybe Mary Jane Croft, Mary Wickes, and Audrey Meadows would have been more fun. The hardware store could still figure in for additional story opportunities. The biggest issue with the series is the old-fashioned scripts and production from Bob Carroll Jr and Madelyn Davis. Both had produced and written for the last 8 years of popular sitcom ALICE, but that bordered on the unwatchable most of the time. The acting from the Ann Dusenberry and Larry Anderson is just horrible. It’s very broad as if they had watched a collection of Lucy episodes from the 50s and 60s and decided to emulate that style of acting. But if they had regrouped after cancellation, the series could have been revamped for syndication.
"Alice" BORDERED on the unwatchable, you say? HOW Linda Lavin EVER achieved ANY kind of success whatsoever is a mystery whose solution is known only to God and has returned to God who gave it.
Been watching it recently. I ignored it for a while thinking it would be bad but I thoroughly enjoy it. Her and Gale are always a gem on screen regardless of the time period. Its not perfect by any means but its a shame more episodes werent made.
What makes the sitcom even worse is the lighting, which makes Lucys face look quite cadaver-like. That and the antics theyre having her do is unsettling, like seeing a corpse used as a marionette
Lucy did not want to do the show. She said that she could never top what she did. Gary went behind her back and fixed up the bits of business to persuade her by getting Spelling aboard, along with Gale Gordon, and the writers and other 'behind the scenes' people that were with her from the time of "I Love Lucy". Lucy felt very comfortable around them, and reluctantly agreed to do the show. She knew that it was a disaster from the very first episode. When asked about it by a friend (Lee Tannen) about "Life with Lucy", she said to him, "You mean 'Life with Angst'." He told her to stop doing the show if she disliked it so much, but Lucy said that it was already "Too Late". She was contractually obligated to doing it. When the premier episode was viewed with friends at Lucy's house, they crowded around the television set, but Lucy retreated to her lanai, and sat there by herself, staring off into space. PS: Gary secretly negotiated a clause in the contract that if the show was cancelled before the first season, Lucy would get a $1,000,000.00 settlement fee. That was probably the only good thing to come out of this sad mess.
@@nonenoneonenonenone Read the book by her best friend at the time, Lee Tannen, for verification of what I wrote. Gary convinced her that it was the right thing to do, even though she didn't want to do it because she could never "top what she had already done". She felt an obligation to do it because of him. He made so many bad decisions regarding her career.
@@nonenoneonenonenone I'm not really taking a side here, but I do want to point out that it's naive to take everything any celebrity says in an interview as gospel. They know they are speaking to the public. If Lucy did indeed feel reluctant to do the show, and uncomfortable with it, and had been tricked into doing it by her husband, do you think she would say that in an interview meant to promote the show?
The thing about the Lucy shows. Is that they were always a copy of a copy of a copy. I love Lucy being the original copy. Then the other ones to follow. All getting a bit inferior as they went along and life with Lucy being the absolute worst. I think at this point Lucy needed to become more of a supportive character. Similar to Kurtwood Smith from that 70s show. She was at an age here where ppl aren't really interested in what an old lady is doing during the day. Even in I love Lucy she was in her late 30s. It gets kind of ridiculous at a certain point. That's why when I heard about a sex and the city revival I was thinking. Dude. Those chicks were already pushing 40 back then. Childless without families. Who is gonna care about a bunch of old dried up old prunes now? Is it gonna be like the Golden Girls? Which was actually funny? Probably not.
Actually Lucy was 40 when I Love Lucy premiered. (Lucy was born in August of 1911 and ILL premiered in October of 1951). I remember being surprised when I realized that...
You made me laugh hard just now. I forget myself, as a NYer, that some episodes of Sex and The City were original/groundbreaking 20ish years ago. The same stories and character are so boring and pedantic not that long after. Now those characters are like real life to me and no thank you! Already know too many "girls" here in the city who are single with impossible expectations who are whining all of the time. It was only interesting in SATC when you saw it in 30 second clips back in the day
Agreed! I've been saying this all along: each show got worse as time went on, relying on old/played-out jokes and gags that couldn't keep up with the times. She never really outgrew her original character or stretched her acting chops: she was forever "Lucy Ricardo", trapped in 1951. "Life With Lucy" was an idea that should've been left on the cutting-room floor: her heart wasn't in it, anyway, because Desi was dying at the time. At some point as a Hollywood actor, you have to hang it up and realize you've had your time already: you're too old and/or washed-up. FADE OUT.
@MauriceRivers415 Milton Berle had a similar embarrassment when he brought his 1940s comedy to SNL as a host in 1979. It was so bad he was banned from ever hosting again.
Worth noting that Lucy was actually a huge fan of John Ritter. She saw him on threes company and said that he had just the best physical comedy timing. She has seen since back in the 50s. She had her people contact his people, and they got to be friends. I assume his presence here was actually probably his idea because she was a comedy legend and all of her shows ran for like 1 million years and then we’re in repeats forever, and really when was he ever gonna get an opportunity like that again? And I’m sure she was happy to have him since he was still kind of a star in those days and could bring in younger viewers.
I was glad that Ritter did an episode of this series with Ball. As she was pretty much the Queen of physical comedy in the '50s, and he was pretty much the King of physical comedy in the '70s, it was nice to see them have an opportunity to work off each other on screen. (I don't count when she appeared as the guest host on a Three's Company retrospective---she was a mere spokesperson on that; here she actually got to act and pratfall with Ritter)
She didnt want to do anything realistic or serious. She loathed such shows as All In the Family in the 1970s that dealt with realistic issues like the Golden Girls tackled. She stated repeatedly that wasn't her kind of comedy. She didnt think times had changed but she was dead wrong and thats why her show failed.
So true! And tackling those topics FOR THE FIRST TIME (which people forget in retrospect) caused peak drama and excitement and a range of emotions while watching. Definitely a dopamine rush. So watching slap-stick humor after that? Boring as hell
I dont think the style is wrong. These jokes wouldnt be funny even in the 50s. They shouldnt have relied on physical gags so much and written some better supporting characters. That was my main problem with the show.
@@Katya_Lastochka Yes, I think the style was all wrong for her. She did care for the kind of meaningful comedies like The Golden Girls that were on air at the time, only frivolous slapstick comedy. Even I Love Lucy could be more meaningful. She just had it in her mind the public only knew her from her Lucy Show slaptick of the 1960s and tried to retread it in the 1980s and it led to disasterous results. Its a real shame she ended her career on a real low note.
@@lancebuckhammer7270watch the 1978 Barbara Walters interview. She separated from cbs because she didn’t care for shows like All In the family, or Maude that drew their meaningful comedy from real life. All she knew was the same old stale comedy bits from her stale old writers who wrote the same stale old comedy she did in the 1960s
Putting Life with Lucy against The Golden Girls was stupid. I remember watching the first episode when it aired all the way to the end hoping to laugh. It never happened. I was in high school at the time and thought the show was for old people (65+). If the people behind the show and ABC thought that an old formula would make for a good programming, they should have put it in a time slot mostly viewed by the demographic that watched her previous shows when they were young adults. Everything she did was exactly what they’d expect from her. It is the households of their children that would have watched to see if she’d do anything new and then switched the channel to The Golden Girls 5-10 minutes into the show. Every appearance Lucy made in the mid to late 80s got standing ovations, and ABC foolishly banked on the idea that those ovations would turn into 30 minutes of viewership every Saturday no matter what she did. To the narrator. The characters on The Golden Girls were supposed to be in their 50s, hence the word “Golden” in the program title. That’s hardly old. That was Joan Rivers, not Barbara Walters. Please do a better job with your research.
Instead of the numerous useless family characters, a good concept would be Lucy interacting with a different actor on each show. It would have been amazing to see her with Madeleine Kahn, Gilda Radner, etc, like she did with Ritter. The husband/wife/kids didn’t benefit Lucy.
As sort of a good luck charm or something Lucille Ball, aka Mrs. Desi ARnaz, always played characters with AR in their names. In I Love Lucy she played Lucy RicARdo. In The Lucy Show she played Lucy CARmichael. In Here's Lucy she played Lucy CARter. In Life with Lucy she played Lucy BARker.
I just think we outgrew her type of comedy. I don’t think it would have mattered which channel it premiered on. Aaron Spelling probably was always appreciative to Lucy for his appearance on one of her episodes of “ I Love Lucy” as Cousin Ernie’s cousin living in Tennessee-in a gas station that was his home ! And Aaron did a very good job -especially funny square dancing .
The policeman in the goose episode was Charles Levin. Ironically, later in his life, he died after falling off a cliff and was eaten by turkey vultures in Oregon.
Charles Levin appeared as Coco, the gay housekeeper in the Golden Girls pilot episode. He was switched out for Estelle Getty to portray Sophia Petrillo.
This thoughtful video was extremely well done. Just to clarify some facts from someone who knew Lucy. Gary really did push her into this, maybe for $$$ I don't know. But I DO know Lucy wanted to work and was not happy not working. In fact, when the show ultimately failed, she spiralled into what I think (I am not professional) was true depression. That is how much she lived to work and loved to work. Also, she thought her fans wanted more Lucy, meaning the character she played. Gosh, the show failed for many reasons. Over-reaction from the live audience was misleading to Lucy. The writers' were old-timers she know (aside from Bob and Madelyn who indeed knew what was best for Lucy) but those other writers weren't always the best choices creating wacky scenes which weren't plausible like John Ritter (who Lucy adored) swallowing the harmonica or the entire guard goose thing. The guy who played Leonard I thought was actually really good going full out (which Lucy appreciated). But others were fine, suitable - which still could have worked with better scripts. I don't know (from what I heard) that Audrey Meadows would have said 'yes,' but am unsure why or if that is indeed true that she wouldn't have returned with Lucy - though in the end it didn't matter. The scene where Lucy acted out a fairy tail was as good as anything she had ever done. She could still perform....though her voice wasn't as nimble and neither was she. Gale Gordon, now in his 80's, despite his efforts and being the pro he was, he was still in his 80's. Having said that, overall, not the same Lucy who would rehearse and rehearse more and even more rehearsals back in the day. I also believe the critics maligned unfairly from day one - not sure why. Love the theme song, and Lucy was a fan of Eydie Gourmet. But her real daughter should have sung it. She said she wasn't asked. And maybe her real daughter actually cast as her daughter (not sure if Lucie A would have done that). In any case, like Lucy used to say, "You can't recreate what Desi, Vivian and Bill and the entire cast and crew did."
Yeah, the biggest problem with this show is that it was 30 years out of date and it had the wrong producer. It could've succeeded if they'd had Lucy and Gale playing like a husband and wife who have moved in with their son who needed to be John Ritter. The chemistry that they all had with each other, plus the fact that Ritter was so good at physical comedy would've allowed him to carry the load rather than Lucy doing it.
@@MondoMiami On the 1986 cult television mini-series Life with Lucy, it was filmed at the Warner Hollywood Studios in Hollywood, California. This was a co-production of Desilu and the Cramer Company in association with Spelling Television. Distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (1986-1999) and Paramount Television (Fall 1999-present), a Viacom Company.
Dustin! Thank you for creating this carefully researched video on an obscure series featuring one of the icons of television. What a treat this video was. Great job!
No one had the guts to tell Lucy this series wasn't a good one. Gary Morton couldn't, as he was expecting a big payday from co-producing at least 100 episodes with Aaron Spelling {and *he* NEVER produced a successful sitcom}.......and neither could ABC, who was desperate to schedule another family comedy as successful as "GROWING PAINS" and "WHO'S' THE BOSS?" This one wasn't it.
But it took years later when Aaron Spelling was the executive producer of both television sitcoms with his partners E. Duke Vincent and Douglas S. Cramer. And they are Moesha (1996-2001) with Brandy and its spin-off, The Parkers (1999-2004) with Monique, Countess Vaughn James, Jenny Van Oy, Ken L, Dorien Wilson and Yvette Wilson. Produced by Spelling Television and Big Ticket Television, distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (1996-1999) and Paramount Television (Fall 1999-present), a Viacom Company for UPN. Both television sitcoms were very wildly successful and profitable. Watch & Enjoy!
Hey, thanks for doing this. I remember when the show aired and I remember not watching it because it was a Lucy show. There had always been a Lucy show, and there will always be a Lucy show so I felt that urgency. And then it was just abruptly gone. I always wondered about it a little bit, but never enough to actually try to track it down. So I appreciate you doing all of the work for me.
17:05: Lucy's dress is fire though. oddly enough, does anybody remember when Arsenio Hall tried having a late night show again? the audience reactions and him bringing up the past over and over again reminds me of this so much. His revival lasted as long as Lucy's.
Thank you for putting the time and respect into recapping this show. The scripts were terrible and so were the married kids, but really, even the later Lucy Show and Here's Lucy had pretty bad scripts. As a lifelong Lucy fan, seeing her reprise some of her old bits (crying, getting scared, etc.) was worth it all, but I remember seeing the Audrey Meadows episode and feeling hope that they had found something new. The saddest thing about this failure was how it affected Lucy.
1986 was a totally different culture, a jaded culture, a selfish culture, an ADHD culture. Most of her original fans from the 40s-50s were either gone of too old. She needed better actors to support her. I guess that would have cost too much. Still love her!❤
The irony is in Lucille Ball's own remarks: " you've got to know when to get off." "Honeymooners," one full season of 39 episodes. "Dick Van Dyke,' 5 seasons. Go out on top.
Kudos for keeping your editing time outside of your vacation and family time! The pink carpet was brilliant as we're the team shirts! And definitely great seats. Get well, guys!
I’ve seen all the episodes and I love Lucille Ball… but I agree…the fact that Lucy could blow her nose and get applause was ridiculous. I watched this show when it first aired and was so disappointed in what it was. Still, 3 successful TV shows out of 4…she’s the legend!!
Since you didn't know who Mr. Whipple was [gasp], it's not surprising you didn't mention the neighbor lady (actress Dena Dietrich) in Episode 7 with the rabbit/bear was quite well-known throughout the entire 1970s for playing "Mother Nature" in the famous Chiffon Margarine commercials where she exclaims, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." In the 80s she played Dorothy's sister on The Golden Girls. Dietrich died in 2020 at 91 years old. 😁
I loved this video. I recently got my hands on this season, watched the first three so far. Two things I said on Facebook about it was It felt outdated for the 80s (I was 15 when this came out), and the theme song is awesome. You mentioned both of those things as well, which made me feel validate lol. I subscribed. You made me laugh a lot describing this sad train-wreck. I feel so bad for Lucy. Joan Crawford's last work was Trog (awful) and Bette Davis had Wicked Stepmother, equally horrible. Breaks my heart.
I don’t even watch TV anymore. I Love Lucy premiered on my 5th birthday. We watched the show as a family. It was new and funny. By the time this show came around, we had seen her routines and shticks a bazillion times in reruns. We didn’t need to see them again in a different titled sitcom, this time without Fred and Ethel to add understated but genuine humor. It was outdated. She was too old to be so naive and coquettish.
Lucille has always said she doesn’t have a funny bone in her body, that all the credit should go to the writers and she just performs what they wrote on the script. Her later shows deserved much better writers.
The creators/writers/executive producers of the cult television series were Madelyn Davis & Bob Carroll, Jr. were truly amazing. Besides I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, Alice and Will & Grace as co-writers/co-producers on some of television's funniest sitcoms...they've taken over from other creators/executive producers on both successful shows: Lifetime's Day by Day: the Third and Final Season (1989-1990) and FOX's The Duet/Open House Hour: the Fourth and Final Season (1989-1990) and received an "created under the supervision/executive produced by" credit for CBS Television Distribution.
Well we love Lucy as much as Desi does and this is the real reason why they really ran an indie production company, Desilu for making a variety of projects. Today, Desilu has been an “in name only” business unit of Paramount/Viacom since 1999 under Desi Arnaz Jr., Lucie Arnaz, Laurence Luckinbill, Cleo Morgan and Susie Morton.
At this point in the game it was over, unfortunately humans don't know when it time to realize that you will never too your last performance. There's not a thing wrong with taking a final bow and taking the rest of the time enjoying what you actually accomplished before closing your eyes for the final time.
I remember seeing that Lucy was asked to be a part of Golden Girls, but I also remember an interview of Lucy talking about those shows "with four letter words" and their popularity. I can only imagine that she was a little bit bitter that her rivals White and Arthur were finding such relevance with something less family friendly while she found herself less buyable with continuing her former branding.
I know very little about this Lucy show and I thank you for this education. Big Lucille Ball fan but of course. I had never seen this later day series. I appreciate the balanced way in which you presented it, and as you said some of those moments were indeed great and moving ones while others were not. Thank you so much and I'm subscribed!
Very impressive analysis you presented here, both in terms of it's thoroughness and depth. There have been countless videos examining Lucy's first three series, but rarely, if ever, anything done like this for Life With Lucy. I agree very much that this show --- while disappointing on many levels---is fascinating to watch today. I had mostly forgotten about this series until recent years, when it finally started reappearing online. Although nothing what it could have been, it isn't as bad as I had remembered (there was SO much vicious criticism thrown at it at the time, Lucy was not exaggerating when she spoke about that with Joan Rivers and others -- I think it impacted how I recalled this series for decades after). Anyway, I love to analyze shows in the context of their eras, and I think you hit on a lot of valid points: there were still flashes of impressive talent from Lucy (and Gale), but it definitely a '50s comedy in an '80s packaging that sometimes worked but not consistently enough (there were actually similar problems with a lot of Here's Lucy episodes in the '70s). Had the quieter, more "real" moments been more pronounced, it might have been different. Or even a better timeslot. I sometimes wondered if a grittier, less contrived storyline might have offered more opportunities (what if the Lucy and Curtis characters were ex-spouses, for example?) Anyway, I enjoy your other videos as well --- always well thought out --- just never commented before. Keep up the good work.
As a Lucy/TV/theme song geek, this theme has been in my head for close to 20 years even though I've only watched an episode or two of this show. It really is a banger.
The basic problem with LIFE WITH LUCY was abundantly obvious. The show desperately needed to be tailored to material more "age appropriate" for Lucille Ball, and the writing should have been of the caliber of THE GOLDEN GIRLS. The title itself suggested something of Lucy as a problem-solving sage, instead of placing her in the type of physical comedy she had done 30 years before. But by having her do that, she was forced to be a shadow of her previous work, and something of a self-parody in the process. Besides the weak scripts, Lucy did her best to make them work. The entire concept was ill-fated from the start. Too bad common sense was abandoned for the sake of doing some show for the sake of it.
27:45 The computer bit reminds me of how Lucy couldn't operate an electric typewriter on the Lucy Show. Recycling the gags, adjusting them for current times.
Some cool trivia for the Lucy Fan (which if you're a fan, you will most definitely know these things, but): Many of the skits on I Love Lucy actually go back to My Favorite Husband, Lucy's 1940s radio show., also written by Bob Carrol and Madilyn Pugh. But in that case, they weren't exactly rehasing old skits, they were transforming the radio show into the TV version, with different husbands. Gale Gordon was in the radio show is her husband's boss, and then was in I Love Lucy as the owner of the Tropicana and then went on to be Mr Mooney on The Lucy Showm and then in Here's Lucy, and finally Curtis. If you watch 1988 Tom hanks movie, The 'burbs, with Gale Gordon as Walter, when the neighbors break into Walter's house, you'll see Lucille's photos on top of his TV set as a nod to her. And finally; Gale Gordon was supposed to be Fred Mertz, but couldn't do the original I Love Lucy show due to either a contractual obligaion, or another show he was doing. But he didn't want to turn Lucy down but made up for it in her other shows.
I'm 60 years old and have been a life-long Lucy fan. I have her autobiography, "Love, Lucy" and "The Lucy Book", which compiles every TV appearance of Lucy. I'm even a distant cousin of Lucy, though I did not find out until familysearch revealed it to me. According to quotes from "The Lucy Book", Lucy was extremely loyal to those with whom she worked. Lucy even felt that she could not succeed without these people. That's why she chose the writing staff she had. They had been with her for years. What she needed was one or two younger writers on her staff who were in tune with what modern audiences were looking for. She needed to have scripts that recognized her ability with physical comedy, but left it to younger actors. John Ritter should have played her son, perhaps, to allow Ritter's physical talents to mirror the memory of Lucy's physical romps. Anne Dusenberry is a good actress, but if Lucie Arnaz had played Lucy's daughter, the chemistry would have been spot-on. Lucie's youth could have been coupled with John Ritter's physicality to create the animated humor for which Lucy was famous. Watching Lucy and Lucie perform some less physical comedy routines would have been fun to watch. Gale Gordon, as shown in his "Dennis the Menace" days, had a fine facility with kids that would have really showcased his talents as both a physical comedian and a fine actor. if only I could turn the clock back.... Imagine Gale teaching the kids to fish. Imagine Gale trying to play frisbee or catch with the kids. Have John Ritter and Lucia Arnaz take the kids camping. Watch Gale and lucie trying to get in on the act with the equipment at the camp malfunctioning in a way that doesn't hurt them, but is funny anyway (popcorn machine, soap machine water pipe, all malfunctioning with funny results. It could have been a magic that likely would have continued after Lucy's death. BTW, Lucy initially refused to do the Academy Awards. She wanted Bob Hope to co-host. I'm glad she got her wish.
I recall Lucy being so despondent looking when she was on a talk show and commened on how she just couldnt figure out what people wanted anymore and how the show bombed. It was a brutal experience for her ego and legacy to go out with a "failure", especially as she was a workaholic and perfectionist. She didnt want to leave TV. I adore Lucy and consider her the " Queen" of comedy, the GOAT and will never say a bad word about her. Kids these days dont even know who she is, I find that sad. Shes epic, a legend, brilliant, and so unique, the magic of " i love Lucy" could never be replicated.She instictively knew it couldnt be topped, and with her last attempt, she was talked into it and didnt want to let anyone down. She also loved working. I love everything she did, what I would give to have been in her studio audience watching. Im an old lady fan, selling all my Lucy memorabilia, my kids dont want it. Ah...the end of a grand era.
Just discovered your channel! Great 👍 👌 show ❤️ 👏 New subscriber here. Thank you so much. Please keep up the great work. P.S. A funny story. My brother used to work for AUDIENCE UNLIMITED. The company would do the ushering for television shows. We saw a live taping of LIFE WITH LUCY. Lucy came out with her husband Gary Mortin to meet the studio audience and ask and answer questions. She asked the audience where everyone was from. My brother yelled out "I'm from Antarctica" and Lucy asked "Who's from Antarctica?" My brother yelled he was just kidding. Because we were actually from Hollywood. So my brother would brag for years that he spoke to the legendary Miss Lucille Ball! Thanks ♥️ 😊 again. Please keep up the great work! [ MAYBE YOU COULD DO A SHOW ON DYNASTY...DALLAS...BATTLESTAR GALACTICA...BUCK ROGERS IN THE 23RD CENTURY...THREE'S COMPANY ]
I didn't learn of this show until Lucy passed away... strangely enough, she died the same week Disney/MGM Studios ( as it was originally called ) opened; I clipped TIME magazine's two-page article about the park's opening, and I also got her obituary. They mention that her last show, just a few years before, flopped because viewers and critics alike believed she was too old to do physical comedy anymore. Whoops! Nearly forgot the "strangely enough" part... when the park first opened, they had a live show where visitors could be superimposed into iconic moments of television, one of which was Lucy and Vivian Vance's less-than-successful attempt to work on a candy factory's assembly line.
I remember watching a bit of this in the original run and feeling sorry for Lucy and Gale Gordon. It was a feeling I didn't want to experience regularly.
"Wondaful!!!" I LOVED your thoughts about this series! Lucille Ball bought some of the drawings I created in high school and that boost helped me believe I could be a professional artist. Being a friend of someone who worked on the show, I attended every taping. The audience really did Lucille Ball a disservice by reacting so well to her antics. My friend told me that she had questioned how good the stories were and then felt better about them after seeing the audience reaction. We were generally ecstatic to be watching her perform & the home audience didn't have that same experience. Ratings plunged with shows that had been created far in advance. Having previously worked on Filmation's hit She-Ra series, Life With Lucy mirrored my own career's Ghostbusters slump. (Not even The Real Ghostbsters........Filmation must have been creating "The Fake Ghostbusters"!). Of course my after work driving to watch her perform in person was the most exciting thing going on. As the show failed, I felt so bad for her that I made sure there was time to create a beautiful portrait of Lucy Barker. She was as gracious as she could possibly have been, when. the next week I was brought back to her dressing room for thanks! Shocking to have her stand in front of me with joyful gratitude, the only thing that I cold get out of my mouth was, "You're pretty!". She looked absolutely stunning wearing the newly appointed wardrobe girl's outfit and aqua tinted contact lenses, quite popular at that time. Her answer to me was the usually humble comment she would come up with: "Not as pretty as your picture.". A lot of us felt this series quite responsible for the end of her life. Your bringing out the triumph of her Academy Award show appearance is quite gratifying to see. Thank you. I was working on The Little Mermaid by then and there was no time for us to watch The Academy Awards presentation. I remember being aware that she was appearing as I returned to work after dinner and gratefully TH-cam exists so I got to finally see her swan song. ...........Years later, friends sent me photos of the Barker portrait, saying, "Isn't this your work?". It now hangs in The Lucy-Desi Museum in Jamestown. .....................Now being aware of her triumphant Oscars performance helps me feel better about her time running out. She got to see how much we all love her.
As a person who works for a big studio, I can tell you the secret of " filmed before a live audience". The audience is there for the actors and the pacing of a setup plus payoff of a joke. When the show is edited , the audience reactions are replaced by a generated laugh track ( or applause etc.). Shows like Big Bang Theory ,Friends or Seinfeld use this technique. This allows the Director to better edit the show.
THAT SCENE of lucy crying, talking about age and dating. I want SO MUCH MORE of that. Obviously we'll never get it, but I can only imagine the way maybe a more innocent golden girls could've lasted.
One odd throwback characteristic of the show was that it was the only series I can think of made after the early 1960s that concluded each episode with highlights of the next episode.
The truth is that none of these Lucy shows weren't dynamic like I Love Lucy was because after both Lucy and Desi's divorce in 1960, the I Love Lucy spark was lost forever.
she said in one interview that after the divorce neither she or desi were the same, physically or mentally. she never recovered from it... neither did he...
@@usforsarah Well Lucy was traumatized from the cheating from Desi and the embarrassing comments from the press about Desi's cheating. Also the people hated Desi for breaking Lucy's heart from all the cheating,alcoholism and the gambling he did.
For me, the reason this showed failed is Lucy and Gale. With her way-too-heavy makeup which failed to hide her very wrinkled face, and her trademark orange hair, Lucy just looked like an old woman who refuses to acknowledge she is in her 70s. She came across as more pathetic than anything else. And poor Gale Gordon, whose talent has always been underrated, appeared to no longer have the stamina to do a weekly series. He looked physically exhausted all the time, even if all he was doing was just standing. I could not stand to watch these two greats make fools of themselves.
@@DustinReckling except physical comedy is a very unique talent.. . you can't just hand off what lucy was capable of in her heyday to some random second banana (especially when they aren't particularly amusing to begin with).. . cindy williams and penny marshall probably came closest to capturing the lucy & ethel magic, but it's rare (which is probably why i can't think of any other example(s) in the last 40yrs)..
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 76 | คู่เอก "ผึ้งหลวง vs สมิงดำ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9SBshmGQOIM/mqdefault.jpg)
Barbara Walters ≠ Joan Rivers!
"I Love Lucy" set the bar so high for Lucille Ball that by the 1980s she had exhausted her repertoire--and I actually mean this as a compliment!
Casting her as a ditzy older person in a sweatsuit with headphones (I know it’s the 80s) was just playing it safe.
The typical living room environment was very overused in 80s sitcoms. I don’t think the writers were too philosophical regarding the storylines; they probably knew this wasn’t going to last too long so they just delivered what was expected. Lucy played the same character in all her shows. Nothing changed.
To think that if Lucy were around today she could have just done a podcast in her retirement. Imagine the guests she’d have!
She lowkey kind of did! There's a series of sit-down interviews with celebrities of the day that exist in audio form.
@@DustinReckling She had good interviews with Mary Tyler Moore and Streisand, among others.
@@DustinReckling...yes. It was originally a CBS Radio Network daytime feature from the mid-1960s.
@@DustinRecklingAnd they are very good. I listen to them on Spotify.
@@DustinReckling In 1985, she says she wants to retire one last time and she did very quietly. No excuses. No nothing. Just a quiet, peaceful life with her husband, former actor/producer Gary Morton. However, she had great interviews on television
with Mary Tyler Moore, Barbra Streisand among others.
Not Barbara Walters, its Joan Rivers ,and after this last lucy show , she was honoured by the highest award....the Kennedy centre honours which proved to her once and for all ,that the world loved her
Deeps Chand: The Kennedy Center Honors we’re NOT meant to honor and include MAME and LIFE WITH LUCY.
@@johnpickford4222 *were I think what the commenter is saying is that, regardless of her later career disappointments, the public recognized her LIFETIME achievements.
Actually, I think that standing ovation she got with Bob Hope at the Oscars & the fans outside proved that she was still loved.
@@johnpickford4222It included her lifetime body of work, which included both "Mame" and "Life with Lucy".
I@@TheVerbalVolley given how bad those two productions were, i dont think so.
This sitcom was indeed pretty bad. The problem, IMO, was that Lucille Ball insisted on using the same writers with whom she had worked from her I Love Lucy days. These writers failed to adapt to changing public tastes and didn't understand what audiences in the 80s found funny. They kept the same slapstick humor Lucy had used in the 60s and the truth was that this type of comedy just didn't appeal to younger audiences that had grown up with All in the Family and Saturday Night Live. I read once that ABC wanted to use younger writers who had worked on such popular shows like MASH but Lucy refused to work with them. And in the end, that decision may have been the main reason why this show failed. It was an inglorious end to one of the most popular actresses in TV history.
It didn't flop because of Lucy. It flopped because of too much time showing the family. The people who played the family were awful.
They were all good... except for Ann Dusenberry, who played her daughter... she couldn't act and just shouted all her lines so loudly, it made me cringe.
@@cyf195The little boy was good?
Speaking as someone who was an adult when this show aired, I can say that her contemporaries made better decisions late in their careers. Andy Griffith didn’t try to continue the Andy Taylor character. Instead he took a different twist in 1986 with the debut of “Matlock”. A few years later Dick Van Dyke came back to television, not as a continuation of Rob Petrie, but in the successful series, “Diagnosis Murder”. In 1986, even “The Great One”, aka Jackie Gleason, said Lucy should have done something different and not reprise her Lucy character.
I realize that it seemingly has become increasingly difficult to look objectively at Lucille Ball’s post-“I Love Lucy” television work. However I feel that the lack of objectivity in some respects diminishes her genius.
The fact of the matter is that Lucille’s unwillingness to evolve as an artist, ultimately proved detrimental to her career. This is particularly perplexing when you consider that other television female icons like Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore found critical acclaim after their groundbreaking series ended. Ironically, neither of those women had any significant experience in film prior to television.
Lucille Ball on the other hand, appeared in more than 75 movies, long before “I Love Lucy”. Ironically it seems as though when Lucille found the “Lucy” character she became unwilling or incapable of inhabiting any other character.
It’s sad really, because while she was never Katherine Hepburn, she could deliver a convincing dramatic performance as evidenced by her starring role in the 1942 film, “The Big Street” alongside Henry Fonda.
It’s hard to imagine now given the immense magnitude of Lucille’s legend if she had been able to draw upon her significant pre-“I Love Lucy” movie experience in her post-“I Love Lucy” projects. Perhaps the catalog of her television work would be even more acclaimed, and perhaps her TV career would have been even longer.
I feel like she was great in "Stone Pillow," which was the complete opposite of what I'd expect her to do. I wonder how different the show would have turned out if Gale was *not* cast.
I also find it strange that her character was a health nut, even though she smoked in real life.
I think it would be funny if there were an episode where she encounters some angry dieters? Or maybe an episode involving a mean, yet funny (to the audience) personal trainer?
Who knows. I haven't yet watched all of the episodes.
@@JK-gq2so STONE PILLOW was a major turning point in Lucille Ball's career, and it would have been interesting to see her do more dramatic work with Social Consciousness themes like it. At the same time, her material needed to fit her age at this point. Those who survived the business managed to re-invent themselves for every decade. It's too bad that Lucy wasn't allowed this.
Lucy funded Star Trek
She did not want to do the show and agreed only reluctantly to do it because they got people she trusted involved in it. Read the previous comments.
flop @@tammyblack2747
There will never be any one on TV like Lucy. I miss her so much. Even though I was only 3 or 4 years old when “I Love Lucy” came on…I remember when she had “Little Ricky”. We never missed an episode and have watched it all my life……then in 1965 I had graduated from high school, got married and then had my own Little Ricky…..my sweet, smart first tiny 5 lb. 11 ounce baby boy. Then…3 days before his 54th birthday. bless his heart, he died and a huge light went out in our lives. I miss my sweet Ricky so much. There will never be another Ricky, Lucy, Vivian, Fred, Gale Gordon…..and most of all…….my sweet son who missed out on the rest of his life because of the evil of someone he loved. I miss you, Sugar-Pie…save your mama a seat…surely it won’t be that much longer and I will join you. I love you…..and, I love Lucy.
I'm so very sorry for your loss.....:(
I am so sorry you lost your light.
When she was doing this show, it was at the same time that Desi Arnaz was dying from Lung Cancer. They truly still cared and loved each other despite everything that occurred between them. That had to have a affect on her during this time.
Yup. That's the Irony.
That, and she had been mandated by her doctor to quit smoking cold turkey. Going from smoking 3-4 packs a day for over 50 years to just suddenly stopping no doubt affected her mood, badly. Smoking at that time was still seen as just a bad habit as opposed to an addiction, and therefore non-smokers might not have understood the struggle involved with quitting. Plus, Desi in his final days would call her and talk to her for hours on end, which left her sleep-depraved. But even with this, from what I've read LB was well liked by the cast and crew, finding her fun to work with and not at all pretentious. Of course most of the crew knew from the beginning that it would be a short lived project with no potential whatsoever, so there was no point to even try and make any improvemments.
@@ericnelson9100 In 1985-1986, there was Mad Push to get people to Quit Smoking. There was even a program called "Cigarrest".
@@ericnelson9100 Sleep-depraved. I love it!
She admitted that she knew exactly what kind of man he was all through out their marriage and while she couldn't put up with his messing around (which was disrespectful to her) she did still love him very much. Once they divorced, her anger towards him resolved.
You mentioned that the episode where Lucy plays the sax (or tries to) seemed like a recreation of the famous "I Love Lucy" scene. I actually noticed that the writers frequently "borrowed" from themselves many times. For instance, the segment where Lucy and her date are sinking into a hole in the floor, while blissfully unaware is a blatant copy of the "Lucy Show" episode, where Lucy is demonstrating a specially-designed bank vault for Jack Benny, and the two of them sink in quick sand at the end, while the bit with Gale's tie getting caught in the pasta machine was adapted from one where Gale's tie gets caught in Lucy's typewriter in a "Here's Lucy" episode. Not surprising, I guess, since they were well-crafted and well-performed bits when originally done, but it does demonstrate how little originality went into "Life With Lucy".
The offkey saxophone gag was from The Lucy Show where she impersonates a nun who was too sick to perform at a church. Mary Wicks played the Mother Superior who hired
Lucy...
That "lousy saxophone" gag went as far back as "I LOVE LUCY".
@@fromthesidelines25:40 True. Lucy’s “lousy saxophone” schtick went back decades. It wasn’t surprising it would be used in this series, for sure.
One thing I think hampered Life With Lucy’s chances at being successful was Lucy’s age and how age couldn’t do physical comedy the same way she could during I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show.
Absolutely right - I remember watching the first episode during its original broadcast, and I was frightened for her during every bit of physical comedy. Not conducive to laughter, even if it had been funny, which it wasn’t.
Fine, but that doesn't excuse her for being in this POS! I Love Lucy does not shield her from criticism.
Correct ! We even had a watch party for that episode. People forget for those of us born in the 60s , Lucy had been on television our WHOLE lives - this was a major event! And yet I still recall how embarrassed we all were feeling, that awkward cringe-inducing feeling of watching this old woman attempt physical comedy , it looked more dangerous than funny. Very sad ending. Even to this day I still watch I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. She was a genius!
"Had to look up Mr. Whipple" Whoa, now I feel old.
I think the whole point of having the 'guard goose' was for Lucy to do that bit where the bird followed her outside, it's a throwback to another I Love Lucy show. After the Ricardos moved to Connecticut, Lucy and Ethel were trying to raise chickens and they had all ended up in the house and, as she did here, Lucy ended up being able to round them all up and get them to go where she wanted by doing an imitation of their walk and getting them to all follow after her.
I guess a loss of what else could be scripted.
That's a great observation. I had not thought of that but yeah, I can see them writing any random bs to recreate that situation all over again. I think the premise of her taking over and running her husbands business after his death was reminiscent of her running Desilu after her divorce from Desi.
I'm in the Minority here.
I liked the show and do not label it as a Failure.
To Each His Own.
I can't bring myself to watch it. Writer Robert Carroll Jr. said they wanted it to be "Lucy: the Granny Years" but Lucy didn't want to be a grandmother. It might have worked if they could have talked her into playing her beloved mother Dee Dee; it would have worked if she'd allowed herself to be a funny, sexy, outspoken old woman like Elaine Stritch in "30 Rock." If she'd been willing to be her age and with decent material, she could have pushed past "Golden Girls" and gone platinum.
Oh, well. Henna rinse under the bridge.
I was in the middle of my deep dive of the Living with Lucy episodes when I came across your video. You did an exceptional job of putting this together... and helping me understand my own fascination of this show. I was sort of 'cringe/hate watching' it but also really wanted it to work! Your Golden Girls comparison instantly made me understand the context I needed. I applaud you for that. It's a shame... I think it could have worked....maybe a second season it could have found the right balance... and a better make up artist. Thank you for your video I really enjoyed it.
I totally agree with your assessment
Brilliant 'in context' evaluation!
Lucille Ball was dropped from MGM because they thought she was washed up and they thought she age out. But they wrong because Lucy came back with a vengeance and prove everybody wrong to produce a great show in I Love Lucy. It was unheard of at the time for a woman at 41 years old to have the type of success she did. Lucy dominated for over 20 years which puts her in GOAT mountain. Very few people can dominate for over twenty years. Lucille Ball we love you and we will never forget you. I will make sure that your legacy lives on by showing your shows to younger generations. 💯
I'm pretty sure that studio audience had someone pushing everyone into that out of hand round of applause.
They have a sign that says "Applause" at certain times.
Which also flashed, "Whatsa matter, can't you read??? *APPLAUD,* already!!!!!!!!!!!!" 😏
Interesting there was an episode of "The Golden Girls" that centered around a teddy bear being accidentally sold/given away. And I believe it was this little girl that played her granddaughter that tried to hold the bear for ransom on "TGG."
That’s the great Jenny Lewis star of troop Beverly Hills, lead singer of rilo kiley! She has an amazing solo career saw her in September and she was awesome I also own her tarot cards! This wasn’t a cross over her name on golden girls Is daisy not becky
Her acting range seems to run the gamut from A-B….however, I’m not familiar with anything else that she has done.
This is why this sitcom failed:
1. Poor plot development (what plot?)
2. Poor scripts
3. Unfunny jokes/comedy development
4. Over-acting/reacting, esp. on Lucy's part
5. The kids were a "cutesie" add-on rather than characters central to the (so-called) plot
6. Clown make-up and Bozo-the-Clown red hair (on Lucy)
7. Lucy's character incongruous with her age (a 70+ year old "hip" young woman?)
8. The ditzy-broad role was tired (and boring and unfunny) already
9. Too much slapstick humor which was not funny
With better scripts and writing this show may have made it, if Lucy acted like a woman in her seventies, like The Golden Girls. The days of corn ball humor and slap stick had come and gone and audiences wanted more sophisticated more nuanced humor. We still loved Lucy, but she needed to "grow up."
Regarding point 6: If the video looks fuzzy, that's the way it appeared on TV in 1986. I don't know how many layers of gauze they put in front of the lens to lessen the effects of age.
People were not willing to view Lucy as a grandmother or in a grandmother role.
What is funny is that I watched the Golden Girls religiously but I never once remember the Life with Lucy show...ever. It's not even on my radar screen.
Only 12 episodes in the can
13, but who’s counting...
Lucy should have done a guest shot on the Golden Girls. She often regected shows that reflected real situation like all in the family
The dye job and the heavy eye makeup looked bad. That and the physical comedy were poor attempts to deny the fact that she was an elderly woman. They should have created an age-appropriate role for her.
@@teastrainer3604 actually she wore wigs that had tape under 2 pull her face bck. In the last episode, she probably looked her best facially. But it was never shown.
She got a kick from watching AITF, but thought it was dangerous for kids. Soon after it premiered, it shot up to #1 in the ratings while Here's Lucy dropped to #11th. It was #3 the yr before.
I read somewhere that there were plans in the works to have her as a guest star on an episode of the Golden Girls, but she got ill and died before it could be brought to fruition.
The them song is definitely a banger but the irony of “everyday im better than I ever was before” is haunting
The family aspect was never a hallmark of Lucy’s previous sitcoms, so it’s odd that the show is built around a family here. I know that sounds weird but Little Ricky was a tiny portion of I Love Lucy, the kids were completely abandoned in The Lucy Show, and Here’s Lucy got stronger once Kim grew up and Craig disappeared! Lucy needed a strong female she could be in cahoots with just like Viv, Rosie Harrigan, Kim, Mary Jane, and Carol.
Lucy and Gale in a retirement home with maybe Mary Jane Croft, Mary Wickes, and Audrey Meadows would have been more fun. The hardware store could still figure in for additional story opportunities.
The biggest issue with the series is the old-fashioned scripts and production from Bob Carroll Jr and Madelyn Davis. Both had produced and written for the last 8 years of popular sitcom ALICE, but that bordered on the unwatchable most of the time.
The acting from the Ann Dusenberry and Larry Anderson is just horrible. It’s very broad as if they had watched a collection of Lucy episodes from the 50s and 60s and decided to emulate that style of acting.
But if they had regrouped after cancellation, the series could have been revamped for syndication.
"Alice" BORDERED on the unwatchable, you say? HOW Linda Lavin EVER achieved ANY kind of success whatsoever is a mystery whose solution is known only to God and has returned to God who gave it.
I can't with the Simpson's Lucy and that smoker's stage whisper
Been watching it recently. I ignored it for a while thinking it would be bad but I thoroughly enjoy it. Her and Gale are always a gem on screen regardless of the time period. Its not perfect by any means but its a shame more episodes werent made.
It's nice to read a dissenting viewpoint.
: )
What makes the sitcom even worse is the lighting, which makes Lucys face look quite cadaver-like. That and the antics theyre having her do is unsettling, like seeing a corpse used as a marionette
I thought I only notice this
Lucy did not want to do the show. She said that she could never top what she did. Gary went behind her back and fixed up the bits of business to persuade her by getting Spelling aboard, along with Gale Gordon, and the writers and other 'behind the scenes' people that were with her from the time of "I Love Lucy". Lucy felt very comfortable around them, and reluctantly agreed to do the show. She knew that it was a disaster from the very first episode. When asked about it by a friend (Lee Tannen) about "Life with Lucy", she said to him, "You mean 'Life with Angst'." He told her to stop doing the show if she disliked it so much, but Lucy said that it was already "Too Late". She was contractually obligated to doing it. When the premier episode was viewed with friends at Lucy's house, they crowded around the television set, but Lucy retreated to her lanai, and sat there by herself, staring off into space. PS: Gary secretly negotiated a clause in the contract that if the show was cancelled before the first season, Lucy would get a $1,000,000.00 settlement fee. That was probably the only good thing to come out of this sad mess.
You don't know that, and it's garbage. She said herself in an interview that it felt great to be back on stage and that she needed it.
@@nonenoneonenonenone Read the book by her best friend at the time, Lee Tannen, for verification of what I wrote. Gary convinced her that it was the right thing to do, even though she didn't want to do it because she could never "top what she had already done". She felt an obligation to do it because of him. He made so many bad decisions regarding her career.
@@nonenoneonenonenone I'm not really taking a side here, but I do want to point out that it's naive to take everything any celebrity says in an interview as gospel. They know they are speaking to the public. If Lucy did indeed feel reluctant to do the show, and uncomfortable with it, and had been tricked into doing it by her husband, do you think she would say that in an interview meant to promote the show?
She should never have listened to Gary Morton. He was no show business expert. He wasn't a great producer like Desi Arnaz.
@@SymphonyBrahms Didn't he start out as Lucy's warm up guy on The Lucy Show before he married her and became her Producer...
The thing about the Lucy shows. Is that they were always a copy of a copy of a copy. I love Lucy being the original copy. Then the other ones to follow. All getting a bit inferior as they went along and life with Lucy being the absolute worst. I think at this point Lucy needed to become more of a supportive character. Similar to Kurtwood Smith from that 70s show. She was at an age here where ppl aren't really interested in what an old lady is doing during the day. Even in I love Lucy she was in her late 30s. It gets kind of ridiculous at a certain point. That's why when I heard about a sex and the city revival I was thinking. Dude. Those chicks were already pushing 40 back then. Childless without families. Who is gonna care about a bunch of old dried up old prunes now? Is it gonna be like the Golden Girls? Which was actually funny? Probably not.
Actually Lucy was 40 when I Love Lucy premiered. (Lucy was born in August of 1911 and ILL premiered in October of 1951).
I remember being surprised when I realized that...
You made me laugh hard just now. I forget myself, as a NYer, that some episodes of Sex and The City were original/groundbreaking 20ish years ago. The same stories and character are so boring and pedantic not that long after. Now those characters are like real life to me and no thank you! Already know too many "girls" here in the city who are single with impossible expectations who are whining all of the time. It was only interesting in SATC when you saw it in 30 second clips back in the day
Agreed! I've been saying this all along: each show got worse as time went on, relying on old/played-out jokes and gags that couldn't keep up with the times. She never really outgrew her original character or stretched her acting chops: she was forever "Lucy Ricardo", trapped in 1951. "Life With Lucy" was an idea that should've been left on the cutting-room floor: her heart wasn't in it, anyway, because Desi was dying at the time. At some point as a Hollywood actor, you have to hang it up and realize you've had your time already: you're too old and/or washed-up. FADE OUT.
@MauriceRivers415 Milton Berle had a similar embarrassment when he brought his 1940s comedy to SNL as a host in 1979. It was so bad he was banned from ever hosting again.
@MauriceRivers415 Absolutely!! Couldn't have said it better myself. Well-stated.
Worth noting that Lucy was actually a huge fan of John Ritter. She saw him on threes company and said that he had just the best physical comedy timing. She has seen since back in the 50s. She had her people contact his people, and they got to be friends. I assume his presence here was actually probably his idea because she was a comedy legend and all of her shows ran for like 1 million years and then we’re in repeats forever, and really when was he ever gonna get an opportunity like that again? And I’m sure she was happy to have him since he was still kind of a star in those days and could bring in younger viewers.
I was glad that Ritter did an episode of this series with Ball. As she was pretty much the Queen of physical comedy in the '50s, and he was pretty much the King of physical comedy in the '70s, it was nice to see them have an opportunity to work off each other on screen. (I don't count when she appeared as the guest host on a Three's Company retrospective---she was a mere spokesperson on that; here she actually got to act and pratfall with Ritter)
@@davidtiktin1819 I agree. Her posting a clip show does not count.
She didnt want to do anything realistic or serious. She loathed such shows as All In the Family in the 1970s that dealt with realistic issues like the Golden Girls tackled. She stated repeatedly that wasn't her kind of comedy. She didnt think times had changed but she was dead wrong and thats why her show failed.
So true! And tackling those topics FOR THE FIRST TIME (which people forget in retrospect) caused peak drama and excitement and a range of emotions while watching. Definitely a dopamine rush. So watching slap-stick humor after that? Boring as hell
I dont think the style is wrong. These jokes wouldnt be funny even in the 50s. They shouldnt have relied on physical gags so much and written some better supporting characters. That was my main problem with the show.
@@Katya_Lastochka Yes, I think the style was all wrong for her. She did care for the kind of meaningful comedies like The Golden Girls that were on air at the time, only frivolous slapstick comedy. Even I Love Lucy could be more meaningful. She just had it in her mind the public only knew her from her Lucy Show slaptick of the 1960s and tried to retread it in the 1980s and it led to disasterous results. Its a real shame she ended her career on a real low note.
I am not not so sure about that, What is your source? Also. Lucille Ball hosted a best of episode of Three's Company so I am not buying your opinion.
@@lancebuckhammer7270watch the 1978 Barbara Walters interview. She separated from cbs because she didn’t care for shows like All In the family, or Maude that drew their meaningful comedy from real life. All she knew was the same old stale comedy bits from her stale old writers who wrote the same stale old comedy she did in the 1960s
Putting Life with Lucy against The Golden Girls was stupid. I remember watching the first episode when it aired all the way to the end hoping to laugh. It never happened. I was in high school at the time and thought the show was for old people (65+).
If the people behind the show and ABC thought that an old formula would make for a good programming, they should have put it in a time slot mostly viewed by the demographic that watched her previous shows when they were young adults. Everything she did was exactly what they’d expect from her. It is the households of their children that would have watched to see if she’d do anything new and then switched the channel to The Golden Girls 5-10 minutes into the show.
Every appearance Lucy made in the mid to late 80s got standing ovations, and ABC foolishly banked on the idea that those ovations would turn into 30 minutes of viewership every Saturday no matter what she did.
To the narrator.
The characters on The Golden Girls were supposed to be in their 50s, hence the word “Golden” in the program title. That’s hardly old.
That was Joan Rivers, not Barbara Walters.
Please do a better job with your research.
the white haired dance partner in the earlier episode is Peter Graves the biggest star of TV’s Mission Impossible!! 😉👍
I thought this was going to be about "Mame" the film; it was *ghastly*. Ironically, Bea Arthur played Vera Charles to Lucy's Mame.
I could barely get through the recaps, thanks for sitting through the whole shows
Dustin- Great job with this... super deep and spot on. The last minute of this video is what we were all waiting for. BRAVO.
Excellent video! Your commentary was fascinating and very enjoyable to listen to.
Instead of the numerous useless family characters, a good concept would be Lucy interacting with a different actor on each show. It would have been amazing to see her with Madeleine Kahn, Gilda Radner, etc, like she did with Ritter. The husband/wife/kids didn’t benefit Lucy.
As sort of a good luck charm or something Lucille Ball, aka Mrs. Desi ARnaz, always played characters with AR in their names. In I Love Lucy she played Lucy RicARdo. In The Lucy Show she played Lucy CARmichael. In Here's Lucy she played Lucy CARter. In Life with Lucy she played Lucy BARker.
I just think we outgrew her type of comedy. I don’t think it would have mattered which channel it premiered on. Aaron Spelling probably was always appreciative to Lucy for his appearance on one of her episodes of “ I Love Lucy” as Cousin Ernie’s cousin living in Tennessee-in a gas station that was his home ! And Aaron did a very good job -especially funny square dancing .
This deep dive was great, man! My hat is off to you!
Nice video! thanks for saving me the 7 hours of watching the eps all the way through.
The policeman in the goose episode was Charles Levin. Ironically, later in his life, he died after falling off a cliff and was eaten by turkey vultures in Oregon.
I read the story and it's very sad.
Charles Levin appeared as Coco, the gay housekeeper in the Golden Girls pilot episode. He was switched out for Estelle Getty to portray Sophia Petrillo.
Many people don't realize that Bob Hope and Lucille Ball were great friends. They made 3 films together and had perfect chemistry 👍
Bob Hope and Lucille Ball made 4 films together: Sorrowful Jones, Fancy Pants, Critics Choice and Facts of Life.
Actually they made 4 films together - 3 very good, especially The Facts of Life, and one not good, Critic's Choice.
Hope was another one who "stayed too long at the fair."
They should have given LUCY a new character to play !!!
This thoughtful video was extremely well done. Just to clarify some facts from someone who knew Lucy. Gary really did push her into this, maybe for $$$ I don't know. But I DO know Lucy wanted to work and was not happy not working. In fact, when the show ultimately failed, she spiralled into what I think (I am not professional) was true depression. That is how much she lived to work and loved to work. Also, she thought her fans wanted more Lucy, meaning the character she played. Gosh, the show failed for many reasons. Over-reaction from the live audience was misleading to Lucy. The writers' were old-timers she know (aside from Bob and Madelyn who indeed knew what was best for Lucy) but those other writers weren't always the best choices creating wacky scenes which weren't plausible like John Ritter (who Lucy adored) swallowing the harmonica or the entire guard goose thing. The guy who played Leonard I thought was actually really good going full out (which Lucy appreciated). But others were fine, suitable - which still could have worked with better scripts. I don't know (from what I heard) that Audrey Meadows would have said 'yes,' but am unsure why or if that is indeed true that she wouldn't have returned with Lucy - though in the end it didn't matter. The scene where Lucy acted out a fairy tail was as good as anything she had ever done. She could still perform....though her voice wasn't as nimble and neither was she. Gale Gordon, now in his 80's, despite his efforts and being the pro he was, he was still in his 80's. Having said that, overall, not the same Lucy who would rehearse and rehearse more and even more rehearsals back in the day. I also believe the critics maligned unfairly from day one - not sure why. Love the theme song, and Lucy was a fan of Eydie Gourmet. But her real daughter should have sung it. She said she wasn't asked. And maybe her real daughter actually cast as her daughter (not sure if Lucie A would have done that). In any case, like Lucy used to say, "You can't recreate what Desi, Vivian and Bill and the entire cast and crew did."
Dustin, you’re a gem! What a brilliant, insightful, cerebral and moving analysis of our beloved Lucille Ball’s last TV series. Thank you.
Yeah, the biggest problem with this show is that it was 30 years out of date and it had the wrong producer. It could've succeeded if they'd had Lucy and Gale playing like a husband and wife who have moved in with their son who needed to be John Ritter. The chemistry that they all had with each other, plus the fact that Ritter was so good at physical comedy would've allowed him to carry the load rather than Lucy doing it.
I would have watched the HELL out of that. I’d STILL be watching the hell out of it!
The whole family was awful. If the show were set in the hardware store with Lucy and Gale, that would be watchable.
@@MondoMiami On the 1986 cult television mini-series Life with Lucy, it was filmed at the Warner Hollywood Studios in
Hollywood, California. This was a co-production of Desilu and the Cramer Company in association with Spelling Television.
Distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (1986-1999) and Paramount Television (Fall 1999-present), a Viacom Company.
Dustin! Thank you for creating this carefully researched video on an obscure series featuring one of the icons of television. What a treat this video was. Great job!
No one had the guts to tell Lucy this series wasn't a good one. Gary Morton couldn't, as he was expecting a big payday from co-producing at least 100 episodes with Aaron Spelling {and *he* NEVER produced a successful sitcom}.......and neither could ABC, who was desperate to schedule another family comedy as successful as "GROWING PAINS" and "WHO'S' THE BOSS?"
This one wasn't it.
But it took years later when Aaron Spelling was the executive producer of both television sitcoms with his partners E. Duke Vincent and Douglas S. Cramer. And they are Moesha (1996-2001) with Brandy and its spin-off, The Parkers (1999-2004) with Monique,
Countess Vaughn James, Jenny Van Oy, Ken L, Dorien Wilson and Yvette Wilson. Produced by Spelling Television and Big Ticket Television, distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (1996-1999) and Paramount Television (Fall 1999-present), a Viacom Company
for UPN. Both television sitcoms were very wildly successful and profitable. Watch & Enjoy!
Well there was an hour of my life I will never get back
Hey, thanks for doing this. I remember when the show aired and I remember not watching it because it was a Lucy show. There had always been a Lucy show, and there will always be a Lucy show so I felt that urgency. And then it was just abruptly gone. I always wondered about it a little bit, but never enough to actually try to track it down. So I appreciate you doing all of the work for me.
Ty for sharing your thoughts on the life with lucy I enjoyed listening to ur review it wasnt a great show but nice to see lucy n gale gordon 🌺🙏🏻🇨🇦
She should never have hired Gale, Madelyn or Bob. Those three stuck her firmly back in 1959. This was such an error.
Agreed 110%!!
Oh wow. Love your channel! I’m proud to be part of this small club who knows this show episode by episode !
17:05: Lucy's dress is fire though.
oddly enough, does anybody remember when Arsenio Hall tried having a late night show again? the audience reactions and him bringing up the past over and over again reminds me of this so much. His revival lasted as long as Lucy's.
Thank you for putting the time and respect into recapping this show. The scripts were terrible and so were the married kids, but really, even the later Lucy Show and Here's Lucy had pretty bad scripts. As a lifelong Lucy fan, seeing her reprise some of her old bits (crying, getting scared, etc.) was worth it all, but I remember seeing the Audrey Meadows episode and feeling hope that they had found something new. The saddest thing about this failure was how it affected Lucy.
1986 was a totally different culture, a jaded culture, a selfish culture, an ADHD culture. Most of her original fans from the 40s-50s were either gone of too old. She needed better actors to support her. I guess that would have cost too much. Still love her!❤
The irony is in Lucille Ball's own remarks: " you've got to know when to get off."
"Honeymooners," one full season of 39 episodes. "Dick Van Dyke,' 5 seasons. Go out on top.
Kudos for keeping your editing time outside of your vacation and family time!
The pink carpet was brilliant as we're the team shirts! And definitely great seats.
Get well, guys!
I’ve seen all the episodes and I love Lucille Ball… but I agree…the fact that Lucy could blow her nose and get applause was ridiculous. I watched this show when it first aired and was so disappointed in what it was. Still, 3 successful TV shows out of 4…she’s the legend!!
There's a light above the stage that tells the audience to clap. Why are you folks puzzled by this 😂
Since you didn't know who Mr. Whipple was [gasp], it's not surprising you didn't mention the neighbor lady (actress Dena Dietrich) in Episode 7 with the rabbit/bear was quite well-known throughout the entire 1970s for playing "Mother Nature" in the famous Chiffon Margarine commercials where she exclaims, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." In the 80s she played Dorothy's sister on The Golden Girls. Dietrich died in 2020 at 91 years old. 😁
I loved this video. I recently got my hands on this season, watched the first three so far. Two things I said on Facebook about it was It felt outdated for the 80s (I was 15 when this came out), and the theme song is awesome. You mentioned both of those things as well, which made me feel validate lol. I subscribed. You made me laugh a lot describing this sad train-wreck. I feel so bad for Lucy. Joan Crawford's last work was Trog (awful) and Bette Davis had Wicked Stepmother, equally horrible. Breaks my heart.
And kathryn hepburn did that terrivle tv film....
@@hrh-xj4fh The Christmas movie??
@@DonnaBrooks no sorry i was thinking of laura lancing slept here a horrible tv movie ..but i guess she did more after that..
Like you Dustin, I’m going to have to finish this tomorrow. My god you’re thorough!
I don’t even watch TV anymore. I Love Lucy premiered on my 5th birthday. We watched the show as a family. It was new and funny. By the time this show came around, we had seen her routines and shticks a bazillion times in reruns. We didn’t need to see them again in a different titled sitcom, this time without Fred and Ethel to add understated but genuine humor. It was outdated. She was too old to be so naive and coquettish.
Ouch, if this were a published review about me, it would hurt my feelings!
Lucy was one of John Ritter's biggest fans. She loved THREE'S COMPANY
Lucille has always said she doesn’t have a funny bone in her body, that all the credit should go to the writers and she just performs what they wrote on the script. Her later shows deserved much better writers.
The creators/writers/executive producers of the cult television series were Madelyn Davis & Bob Carroll, Jr. were truly amazing.
Besides I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, Alice and Will & Grace as co-writers/co-producers on some of television's funniest
sitcoms...they've taken over from other creators/executive producers on both successful shows: Lifetime's Day by Day: the Third and
Final Season (1989-1990) and FOX's The Duet/Open House Hour: the Fourth and Final Season (1989-1990) and received an "created under the supervision/executive produced by" credit for CBS Television Distribution.
The credit should have gone to DESI!
Well we love Lucy as much as Desi does and this is the real reason why they really ran an
indie production company, Desilu for making a variety of projects. Today, Desilu has been an “in name only” business unit of
Paramount/Viacom since 1999 under
Desi Arnaz Jr., Lucie Arnaz,
Laurence Luckinbill, Cleo Morgan
and Susie Morton.
Lucy was a "comedic"actress... people that knew her confirmed she wasnt a funny person at all off camera.
Lmao the intro. With the raspy voice from hell.
At this point in the game it was over, unfortunately humans don't know when it time to realize that you will never too your last performance. There's not a thing wrong with taking a final bow and taking the rest of the time enjoying what you actually accomplished before closing your eyes for the final time.
I remember seeing that Lucy was asked to be a part of Golden Girls, but I also remember an interview of Lucy talking about those shows "with four letter words" and their popularity. I can only imagine that she was a little bit bitter that her rivals White and Arthur were finding such relevance with something less family friendly while she found herself less buyable with continuing her former branding.
I know very little about this Lucy show and I thank you for this education. Big Lucille Ball fan but of course. I had never seen this later day series. I appreciate the balanced way in which you presented it, and as you said some of those moments were indeed great and moving ones while others were not. Thank you so much and I'm subscribed!
Very impressive analysis you presented here, both in terms of it's thoroughness and depth. There have been countless videos examining Lucy's first three series, but rarely, if ever, anything done like this for Life With Lucy. I agree very much that this show --- while disappointing on many levels---is fascinating to watch today. I had mostly forgotten about this series until recent years, when it finally started reappearing online. Although nothing what it could have been, it isn't as bad as I had remembered (there was SO much vicious criticism thrown at it at the time, Lucy was not exaggerating when she spoke about that with Joan Rivers and others -- I think it impacted how I recalled this series for decades after). Anyway, I love to analyze shows in the context of their eras, and I think you hit on a lot of valid points: there were still flashes of impressive talent from Lucy (and Gale), but it definitely a '50s comedy in an '80s packaging that sometimes worked but not consistently enough (there were actually similar problems with a lot of Here's Lucy episodes in the '70s). Had the quieter, more "real" moments been more pronounced, it might have been different. Or even a better timeslot. I sometimes wondered if a grittier, less contrived storyline might have offered more opportunities (what if the Lucy and Curtis characters were ex-spouses, for example?) Anyway, I enjoy your other videos as well --- always well thought out --- just never commented before. Keep up the good work.
I thought this, too, when I watched. Thank you for watching!
As a Lucy/TV/theme song geek, this theme has been in my head for close to 20 years even though I've only watched an episode or two of this show. It really is a banger.
Chiefly for the amazing vocal chops of the late, great Edyie Gormé who sang the theme song.
yo the intro 😂😂 is that tress macneill? getting progressive like more hoarse sent me 😂
The basic problem with LIFE WITH LUCY was abundantly obvious. The show desperately needed to be tailored to material more "age appropriate" for Lucille Ball, and the writing should have been of the caliber of THE GOLDEN GIRLS. The title itself suggested something of Lucy as a problem-solving sage, instead of placing her in the type of physical comedy she had done 30 years before. But by having her do that, she was forced to be a shadow of her previous work, and something of a self-parody in the process. Besides the weak scripts, Lucy did her best to make them work. The entire concept was ill-fated from the start. Too bad common sense was abandoned for the sake of doing some show for the sake of it.
27:45 The computer bit reminds me of how Lucy couldn't operate an electric typewriter on the Lucy Show. Recycling the gags, adjusting them for current times.
Some cool trivia for the Lucy Fan (which if you're a fan, you will most definitely know these things, but):
Many of the skits on I Love Lucy actually go back to My Favorite Husband, Lucy's 1940s radio show., also written by Bob Carrol and Madilyn Pugh. But in that case, they weren't exactly rehasing old skits, they were transforming the radio show into the TV version, with different husbands.
Gale Gordon was in the radio show is her husband's boss, and then was in I Love Lucy as the owner of the Tropicana and then went on to be Mr Mooney on The Lucy Showm and then in Here's Lucy, and finally Curtis.
If you watch 1988 Tom hanks movie, The 'burbs, with Gale Gordon as Walter, when the neighbors break into Walter's house, you'll see Lucille's photos on top of his TV set as a nod to her.
And finally;
Gale Gordon was supposed to be Fred Mertz, but couldn't do the original I Love Lucy show due to either a contractual obligaion, or another show he was doing. But he didn't want to turn Lucy down but made up for it in her other shows.
Wow, you are a good narrator.....and pretty funny.
LUCY IS IMMORTAL ❤️❤️🥰🥰🙏🏼🙏🏼
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I'm 60 years old and have been a life-long Lucy fan. I have her autobiography, "Love, Lucy" and "The Lucy Book", which compiles every TV appearance of Lucy. I'm even a distant cousin of Lucy, though I did not find out until familysearch revealed it to me. According to quotes from "The Lucy Book", Lucy was extremely loyal to those with whom she worked. Lucy even felt that she could not succeed without these people. That's why she chose the writing staff she had. They had been with her for years. What she needed was one or two younger writers on her staff who were in tune with what modern audiences were looking for. She needed to have scripts that recognized her ability with physical comedy, but left it to younger actors. John Ritter should have played her son, perhaps, to allow Ritter's physical talents to mirror the memory of Lucy's physical romps. Anne Dusenberry is a good actress, but if Lucie Arnaz had played Lucy's daughter, the chemistry would have been spot-on. Lucie's youth could have been coupled with John Ritter's physicality to create the animated humor for which Lucy was famous. Watching Lucy and Lucie perform some less physical comedy routines would have been fun to watch. Gale Gordon, as shown in his "Dennis the Menace" days, had a fine facility with kids that would have really showcased his talents as both a physical comedian and a fine actor. if only I could turn the clock back.... Imagine Gale teaching the kids to fish. Imagine Gale trying to play frisbee or catch with the kids. Have John Ritter and Lucia Arnaz take the kids camping. Watch Gale and lucie trying to get in on the act with the equipment at the camp malfunctioning in a way that doesn't hurt them, but is funny anyway (popcorn machine, soap machine water pipe, all malfunctioning with funny results. It could have been a magic that likely would have continued after Lucy's death. BTW, Lucy initially refused to do the Academy Awards. She wanted Bob Hope to co-host. I'm glad she got her wish.
I recall Lucy being so despondent looking when she was on a talk show and commened on how she just couldnt figure out what people wanted anymore and how the show bombed. It was a brutal experience for her ego and legacy to go out with a "failure", especially as she was a workaholic and perfectionist. She didnt want to leave TV. I adore Lucy and consider her the " Queen" of comedy, the GOAT and will never say a bad word about her. Kids these days dont even know who she is, I find that sad. Shes epic, a legend,
brilliant, and so unique, the magic of " i love Lucy" could never be replicated.She instictively knew it couldnt be topped, and with her last attempt, she was talked into it and didnt want to let anyone down. She also loved working. I love everything she did, what I would give to have been in her studio audience watching. Im an old lady fan, selling all my Lucy memorabilia, my kids dont want it. Ah...the end of a grand era.
Just discovered your channel! Great 👍 👌 show ❤️ 👏 New subscriber here. Thank you so much. Please keep up the great work. P.S. A funny story. My brother used to work for AUDIENCE UNLIMITED. The company would do the ushering for television shows. We saw a live taping of LIFE WITH LUCY. Lucy came out with her husband Gary Mortin to meet the studio audience and ask and answer questions. She asked the audience where everyone was from. My brother yelled out "I'm from Antarctica" and Lucy asked "Who's from Antarctica?" My brother yelled he was just kidding. Because we were actually from Hollywood. So my brother would brag for years that he spoke to the legendary Miss Lucille Ball! Thanks ♥️ 😊 again. Please keep up the great work! [ MAYBE YOU COULD DO A SHOW ON DYNASTY...DALLAS...BATTLESTAR GALACTICA...BUCK ROGERS IN THE 23RD CENTURY...THREE'S COMPANY ]
I didn't learn of this show until Lucy passed away... strangely enough, she died the same week Disney/MGM Studios ( as it was originally called ) opened; I clipped TIME magazine's two-page article about the park's opening, and I also got her obituary. They mention that her last show, just a few years before, flopped because viewers and critics alike believed she was too old to do physical comedy anymore.
Whoops! Nearly forgot the "strangely enough" part... when the park first opened, they had a live show where visitors could be superimposed into iconic moments of television, one of which was Lucy and Vivian Vance's less-than-successful attempt to work on a candy factory's assembly line.
Thank you so much I enjoyed it
Fabulous video! Can't wait to watch more of them!!!
I remember watching a bit of this in the original run and feeling sorry for Lucy and Gale Gordon. It was a feeling I didn't want to experience regularly.
This was amazing. Thank you so much for this
"Wondaful!!!" I LOVED your thoughts about this series! Lucille Ball bought some of the drawings I created in high school and that boost helped me believe I could be a professional artist. Being a friend of someone who worked on the show, I attended every taping. The audience really did Lucille Ball a disservice by reacting so well to her antics. My friend told me that she had questioned how good the stories were and then felt better about them after seeing the audience reaction. We were generally ecstatic to be watching her perform & the home audience didn't have that same experience. Ratings plunged with shows that had been created far in advance. Having previously worked on Filmation's hit She-Ra series, Life With Lucy mirrored my own career's Ghostbusters slump. (Not even The Real Ghostbsters........Filmation must have been creating "The Fake Ghostbusters"!). Of course my after work driving to watch her perform in person was the most exciting thing going on. As the show failed, I felt so bad for her that I made sure there was time to create a beautiful portrait of Lucy Barker. She was as gracious as she could possibly have been, when. the next week I was brought back to her dressing room for thanks! Shocking to have her stand in front of me with joyful gratitude, the only thing that I cold get out of my mouth was, "You're pretty!". She looked absolutely stunning wearing the newly appointed wardrobe girl's outfit and aqua tinted contact lenses, quite popular at that time. Her answer to me was the usually humble comment she would come up with: "Not as pretty as your picture.". A lot of us felt this series quite responsible for the end of her life. Your bringing out the triumph of her Academy Award show appearance is quite gratifying to see. Thank you. I was working on The Little Mermaid by then and there was no time for us to watch The Academy Awards presentation. I remember being aware that she was appearing as I returned to work after dinner and gratefully TH-cam exists so I got to finally see her swan song. ...........Years later, friends sent me photos of the Barker portrait, saying, "Isn't this your work?". It now hangs in The Lucy-Desi Museum in Jamestown. .....................Now being aware of her triumphant Oscars performance helps me feel better about her time running out. She got to see how much we all love her.
As a person who works for a big studio, I can tell you the secret of " filmed before a live audience". The audience is there for the actors and the pacing of a setup plus payoff of a joke. When the show is edited , the audience reactions are replaced by a generated laugh track ( or applause etc.). Shows like Big Bang Theory ,Friends or Seinfeld use this technique. This allows the Director to better edit the show.
Very well done commentary on this best forgotten sitcom your observation of why it was so bad was right on the mark
THAT SCENE of lucy crying, talking about age and dating. I want SO MUCH MORE of that. Obviously we'll never get it, but I can only imagine the way maybe a more innocent golden girls could've lasted.
Too bad Audrey Meadows turned down the offer. It might have made the show more bearable
One odd throwback characteristic of the show was that it was the only series I can think of made after the early 1960s that concluded each episode with highlights of the next episode.
The truth is that none of these Lucy shows weren't dynamic like I Love Lucy was because after both Lucy and Desi's divorce in 1960, the I Love Lucy spark was lost forever.
she said in one interview that after the divorce neither she or desi were the same, physically or mentally. she never recovered from it... neither did he...
@@usforsarah Well Lucy was traumatized from the cheating from Desi and the embarrassing comments from the press about Desi's cheating. Also the people hated Desi for breaking Lucy's heart from all the cheating,alcoholism and the gambling he did.
Her last sitcom might have been more of a success, but her costars dragged down the ratings. Although, the John Ritter episode gave a boost.
Great video thank You very much.
For me, the reason this showed failed is Lucy and Gale. With her way-too-heavy makeup which failed to hide her very wrinkled face, and her trademark orange hair, Lucy just looked like an old woman who refuses to acknowledge she is in her 70s. She came across as more pathetic than anything else. And poor Gale Gordon, whose talent has always been underrated, appeared to no longer have the stamina to do a weekly series. He looked physically exhausted all the time, even if all he was doing was just standing. I could not stand to watch these two greats make fools of themselves.
They definitely needed someone to do the physical bits! A perfect opportunity for Ted and Margot, perhaps…?
Gale Gordon was way OVER rated. Could never see the talent, and he ALWAYS screamed his lines in every series.
@@susancross5192 Guess you never saw his many scenes where he does a slow burn. He only spoke loudly in response to other character's idiocy.
@@DustinReckling except physical comedy is a very unique talent.. . you can't just hand off what lucy was capable of in her heyday to some random second banana (especially when they aren't particularly amusing to begin with).. . cindy williams and penny marshall probably came closest to capturing the lucy & ethel magic, but it's rare (which is probably why i can't think of any other example(s) in the last 40yrs)..
@@girliboi Fran Fein in The Nanny. But yeah it's rare and TBH I feel like she stole some moves from Lucy:-)
Beautifully done.