Posted on 08/04/2011 2:57:15 AM PDT by iowamark
Thanks for posting this article. Enjoyed it...
I feel sorry for the generation growing up today. What will they remember from TV when they are in their 50s or 60s?
Count my 9-year old son as one of the lucky few. He loves watching my large collection of old movies and TV shows. Like me when I was his age, Gilligan’s Island is his favorite TV show. And favorite movies of his are, No Time for Sergeants, and Mr. Roberts, both of which he remembers and will quote on queue many favorite lines. And he almost refuses to go to bed unless I play an Edgar Bergan Chalie McCarthy old time radio show, or old Bill Cosby records that he can fall to sleep to.
Wow, a lucky son you have. That’s exactly what I plan on doing with my kids. With the exception on YouTube, the only entertainment for me is listening to live streaming Old Time Radio.
Your son is very lucky!
My brother also raised his kid on Hollywood classics and classic television shows.
When my nephew comes to NYC every August, I try to take him to the greatest theatre available.
This year we will see a play called “War Horse,” about two horses forced to participate in World War I. It takes you through every conceivable horror of that period - and yet in beautiful, lyrical style.
I would also recommend “Bilko” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” for your son. Both written and directed by a genuis named Nat Hiken. Hilarious!
He must be thinking of “The Lucy Show,” the show that continued for at least 20 years after her divorce from Desi. It was a marked downturn from “I Love Lucy.”
Oh yea, I remeber “Car 54, Where Are You” very well. Wonder if its available on DVD or streaming? Others I’m looking for is “It’s About Time” a cave man comedy created by the people that made Gillgan. The whole Beverly Hillbillies series - not just the poor quality mini-sets that were released. Get Smart, Rat Patrol,I dream of Genie, And there was a show in 1967 called, “Off to See the Wizard” ABCs version of Wonderful World of Disney - which had some great short family movies from the MGM vault.
Happy Birthday Lucy!
Car 54 is available on dvd. So it Bilko - don’t miss that one.
I understand where you are coming from, but...yes - I still think the scripts were mindless and over the top on her shows. You do have a great point regarding garbage produced on TV today. Compared next to "The Jersey Shore" and "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" shows produced today, then "I Love Lucy" was Shakespeare. But if watch the Lucy shows, I still cringe and sit there expressionless (or worse).
The whole 'situation comedy' formula is as stale then as it is now. The writers have never improved upon it very much, although some shows are better than others.
In the "I Love Lucy" construct, every episode was the same ingredients: Lucy gets herself into trouble, makes things worse trying to get out of the predicament, the audience laughs at her suffering, and Ricky gets angry.
I could only take so much of that.
Her show ending cry of "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" (which elicited howls from the audience) was insufferable.
It was akin to Fonzy delivering his ever so stale "Ayyyyyeeee.!!!" The audience laughs and cheers on cue, for the 9,621st time. And again for the 9,622nd time.
There were some great shows in the 50's, with excellent writing and production. The "Twilight Zone" for example. From a comedic standpoint, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" flies rings around "I Love Lucy." So do productions such as "Second City Television", the early "SNL" episodes, and even clever shows of more recent years such as "The Office."
Back in the day - a TV show was broadcast and then GONE - off into the aether - never to be seen again. The idea was “who would want to see a TV show after it has already aired?”.
Desi recognized that they were producing comedy GOLD and it was too good for just a one time showing. He asked the studio to film it and they said No. He asked if he could pay to have it filmed and then he would own the rights - and they said “sure - but who will ever want to watch it after it has already aired?”
Answer: Generations untold.
Happy Birthday Lucy!
“I guess you remember Ms.Ball in a Three Stooges short?”
I just recorded that episode from the TV. It was made in 1934. She was absolutely gorgeous back then. Most people now only remember her as middle-aged.
Lucy and Desi...two smart, creative, beautiful people who I wish had been able to stay together. I would have liked to see them work things out. I just can’t believe Lucy would have been 100 years old this birthday. RIP Lucy.
Yes, one of the greatest sitcoms in the world. Beloved in England. I belong to a Facebook page dedicated to all things Bilko. We’re trying to get all the dvds released.
England has very good taste when it comes to American sit coms.
She was always a very beautiful woman, although her face was highly pliable as proven by I Love Lucy, lol!
It was only later when all the cigarettes got to her (let’s say the 1970s) that she finally began to age.
She was also a Broadway showgirl.
I’ve heard Luci Arnaz speak about her: she obviously loved and admired her a great deal. She always said that Lucy and Desi gave her a stable, middle-class upbringing (despite their wealth).
To compare Monty Python - a show that came out of the 1950s-60s Oxbridge University scene - to a Hollywood show created by a Cuban immigrant and a beautiful showgirl and actress is ridiculous.
Both are wonderful and bear no relation to each other. Of course, I must admit that Ms. Ball did steal many routines from Red Skelton, but she did manage to pay homage to that particular master of the art of comedy.
I respectfully disagree. It is an appropriate comparison because it exposes the great inequities of the two.
There is comedy, and mindless comedy.
The brilliance of a John Cleese sketch satirizing certain professions or cultural norms contrasts greatly with the idiotic slap stick of throwing cakes down a conveyor belt. The first is hilarious because the viewer can witness truths - satire has no power if there is no truth. Slap stick and cheap laughs with no thought process.
And, I will die happy if I never have to watch a clip of Lucille Ball screaming her "WAAAAA!" catch phrase.
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