I Love Lucy

"I Love Lucy" is one of my faves guaranteed to elicit a constant belly laugh from me. Great way to start any day! Ball's comic timing in her scenes has NEVER been surpassed. Since I was born in 1945 this is also somewhat of an opportunity to see what life in America was like when I was a mischievous child. Today, of course, we know more than we want to about the real-life personality conflicts behind the scenes and Desi's constant insensitivity toward Lucille. Ms Ball was a great role model for young ladies, esp. in the industry, because of her managerial/financial/directorial brilliance. I don't think that the later "Lucy" sitcoms were even as good as the "I love Lucy" series.

To date, I have now seen every single episode from all 6 seasons of the "I Love Lucy" TV show from the 1950s. And, by far, I rate Season 4 as being the absolute best season of them all.

In fact, I'd quite confidently say that when it came to the show's superiority in the realm of its hilarious scriptwriting, Season 4 was, without question, the ultimate peak of Sit-Com perfection.

It was especially when the Ricardos and the Mertzes arrived in Hollywood, USA that this show's scriptwriters proved themselves to be at the absolute pinnacle of their craft by creating incomparably uproarious situations for Lucille Ball and her fellow cast members to indulge themselves in.

This review of mine is my respectful tribute to writers Bob Carroll Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and Jess Oppenheimer who, as a team, surely must have worked like fiends behind the scenes as they wrote one memorable episode of priceless, 1950's comedy after another.

I would also like to take this moment to salute and pay honour to director William Asher who was the one responsible for knowing exactly how to handle the script-material given to him and then mould the actors perfectly into the characters which they inevitably became. Even today, 60 years later, the "I Love Lucy" show still remains, on all levels, one of the most unique and unforgettable programs in all of television history, bar none.

I've watched the show since I was in kindergarten. It never crossed my mind that it's black and white. It is the best show. It's got so much history. Lucy was the reason I got into comedy. She's an inspiration. Desi is an inspiration for me as well. It never gets old. It'll never go away and we're not gonna let it.

Lucille Ball changed television forever when "I Love Lucy" hit the air in 1951. It featured a woman as a main character, which was rare back during that time and age. And the fact that the woman did not listen to her husband often was even more controversial. Everything the show was was rebellious. It was also extremely controversial because her husband was Cuban, and back in the '50's, barely anyone married other races, and if so, the subject was definitely not the premise for a television show.

So, through the ages, I Love Lucy has had a major impact on generations, and has not slipped into culture like many shows, but has been accepted into culture. Not to mention all the Lucy impersonators who have pageants each and every year. But the thing I remember most, is the famous "Eeeooowww!"

5/5 stars --

John Ulmer

It is beyond my comprehension how anyone can watch this show and think it isn't funny. Easily the most beloved series in the history of televison, I LOVE LUCY is a timeless milestone classic which will never be equalled. The casting is perfection personified: Ball's attractiveness, grace, vigour & timing are impeccable. Desi was an underrated straight man who was alternately funny himself - and with that inimitable Cuban accent yet. Bill Frawley and Vivian Vance seemed to BE Fred and Ethel Mertz: who else could play these loveable characters so memorably effective as they? Talk about inspired casting! The chemistry between the four is more than amazing: it's phenomenal. Bob Carroll, Jr. & Madelyn Pugh were truly gifted writers and Jess Oppenheimer gave the series its certain elusive magical quality which vanished after he left over issues with Desi. The show was still terrific during the latter part of its run, but after Oppenheimer left and Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskoff were added to write the scripts, the show's predictibility was definitely more pronounced. I think Vivian Vance was a truly underrated performer: her timing, delivery, facial expressions and gestures are joys to watch! Lucy herself - to her credit - acknowledged Vance's brilliant talent. P.S. one of my very favourite Lucy moments is during a scene in the lesser-known THE SAXOPHONE. Ball's timing - when she opens up the coat closet to find a strange man hidden therein - is split second perfection: hilariously funny.