Here's Lucy

Recently I was volunteering at the local library sorting used donations. These used items are resold to pay for community programs such as guest speakers. Volunteers have first chance to purchase donated items. I was intrigued when I came across a VCR tape with the written title "Nude Painting". I was intrigued and purchased the tape thinking it was a program on how to paint nude models. However, I was treated to an 'Here's Lucy' episode where Lucille models to help a frustrated painter sell his paintings. The painter was portrayed by Danny Thomas. This was first time I had seen the show 'Here's Lucy' and I was impressed. I had expected a corny outdated show instead I was treated to a pretty good comedy show that made me laugh. Whether I was laughing at myself for being fooled, or at the comic routines I don't know.

I have been watching the entire run of Here's Lucy on Tubi and to me, Lucille Ball's third sitcom is very funny. An revamping of The Lucy Show, Ball plays a widow, Lucy Carter, with a daughter Kim and a son Craig. They are played by her real life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. The one holdover from The Lucy Show was Gale Gordon, who plays her brother in law/boss Harrison Otis Carter. To me, he is the nastiest sitcom boss between Mr. Slate of The Flintstones and Louie Depalma on Taxi. The chemistry between Ball and Gordon as well as Ball's outstanding physical comedy are the keys to the show's success. The younger Lucie and Desi Jr. Bring a youthful vibe to the proceedings.

By the show's fourth season, things begin to change. Desi Jr. Leaves the show for a movie career and Lucie Arnaz appears less frequently. The show seems to lose identity as more episodes revolve around guest stars and there are episodes that resemble a variety show. What Ball should have done after the cancellation of Mayberry RFD in 1971, is expand the show to an hour and change the format to a comedy/variety show.

In the fifth season, the show really goes downhill after Ball broke her leg skiing in Colorado. The show loses a lot of the physical comedy but semiregulars Mary Jane Croft and Vanda Barra get more screen time. More focus is on the Lucy/Harry relationship as well as more guest star episodes. Ball was going to end the series after the fifth season but CBS persuaded her to return for a sixth and eventually final season.

One thing you might notice throughout the show's run is that Ball's voice gets a lot deeper as a result of years of heavy smoking. There are also a number of episodes that feature Sid Gould in various roles. Gould is a cousin of Ball's husband Gary Morton.

If you've never seen, Here's Lucy watch it on Tubi or any streaming service that carries it. You'll see a very funny show for most of its run.

This series can't come close to replicating the success of "I Love Lucy" but at times it gives "The Lucy Show" a run for its money-"Here's Lucy" had scads of big-name guest stars, including, in one episode, my fave Ann-Margret.

The song she's given to perform along with Desi Jr is beneath their considerable talents, but they shine anyway. (Besides, Ann-Margret could be hawking tuna fish in commercials and she'd still outshine every actress In Hollywood.) People tuned in because they loved Lucy, so even the weaker stories slid by, carried by the skills of Ball, the appeal of Desi Jr & Lucie, and curmudgeon poster-boy Gale Gordon. All in all, it's a pleasant series that leaves you with a good feeling.

I have always been a fan of Lucille Ball. She is the greatest commedienne of all time. To see here working with her own children was wonderful. Gale Gordon and Lucy had chemistry. You do not find that too often in a lot of television shows. This by far one of the greatest shows since "I Love Lucy."

"The Lucy Show" ended in 1968 after Lucille Ball sold her beloved Desilu studios to Paramount. With the studio went the property known as "The Lucy Show". But Lucy still wanted to entertain us, so she commissioned a slightly different format which would include what was the "Lucy Carmichael" character, with a slight change of name to "Lucy Carter", with the happy inclusion of her real-life children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. This is what Lucy truly wanted, to make her show a "family affair". The series continued it's "guest star" format from the later "Lucy Shows", and returned the star to playing a mother, which was somewhat reminiscent of the early "Lucy Shows". While I haven't seen "Here's Lucy" for many years, due to the fact that the shows rerun rights are owned by a different company than the previous "Lucy" series, I have seen the sparkling restorations on DVD, and the show holds up very well, indeed. It is bittersweet indeed to witness Lucy in an episode with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and realize that they are gone now. Lucy is a legend, thank god she has left us such a legacy of laughter.