I Love Lucy

This was the show that truly invented the situation comedy. Lucy was the show that truly put forth a situation each week and built a plot around it. Whether it was switching jobs, breaking into show business or just getting into trouble, Lucy and Ricky were just the couple for this show. I always enjoy watching it whenever its on, especially the episodes from the "Little Ricky" era. This show is a timeless classic that will always span the generations.

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.

First of all, just about every aspect of this show's premise was implausible: that Lucy and Ricky would even be married to each other and that they would be best friends with the much older Mertzes. (Although William Frawley was 64 when the show started, Vivian Vance was 42, close to Lucille Ball's age, but Ethel was supposed to be much older). Anyway, the show worked in spite of, or maybe even because of this.

Almost every episode was good, except for some weak ones during the first season. And even though the show is over 50 years old, it doesn't seem dated like other old shows. It's still fresh and entertaining, even after repeated viewings.

There are many well-known stories that have to do with Lucille Ball's vanity. She didn't want Ethel to wear nice clothes, so as not to overshadow Lucy. Vivian Vance's wardrobe was purchased off-the-rack in department stores, and Lucille Ball's was designed especially for her. And then there's the rumor that Vivian Vance was contractually obligated to be at least 25 pounds heavier than Lucille Ball. When Vivian Vance returned from summer hiatus one season having lost weight, Lucille Ball said, "You're looking a little too good there, Viv, we're going to have to fatten you up real quick."

Not enough credit goes to the underrated Desi Arnaz. He was a brilliant, talented, and very, very funny man, but not in the same exaggerated over-the-top style of Lucille Ball. His facial expressions are priceless, especially when his eyes literally pop out of his head. It's too bad that he was overshadowed by his more famous wife. Even his daughter, Lucie Arnaz has been known to say that "my mother gets all the credit, but my father was the brains behind the show."

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

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.