NATIONAL I LOVE LUCY DAY – October 15

http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com ^ | n/a | n/a

[heterosupremacist]

I Love Lucy, an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley made its debut on October 15, 1951. The program created a new television experience with the first filmed and scripted program performed before a live audience. The studio literally knocked a hole in a concrete wall creating room for theater seating inviting the once banned fans to see the stars perform – for free! The new format and I Love Lucy won five Emmy Awards, received numerous nominations.

In four of its six seasons, I Love Lucy was the most-watched show in the United States...

[heterosupremacist]

~ no need to 'splain... ~

[Celtic Conservative]

Hey Loo-cey i’m home! And look who I brought with me, Cesar Romero, ha, ha, ha!

CC

[Glad2bnuts]

The show was okay, but it doesn’t hold up. I can think of several modern day shows that were far superior. Frasier and Everybody loves Raymond come to mind. Similarly, the Honeymooners was a product of no competition. Now Hazel, Petticoat Junction or Green Acres, THOSE I find funny

[lee martell]

Are many folks under 40 familiar with Lucille Ball as a major TV Icon?
A few years back, there was Nicklelodian (sp) cable, which had lots of old shows. I don’t watch much TV, so I don’t know if Turner Broadcasting runs it.
I’m guessing that most people 40 and younger have not enjoyed two other favorites of mine; The Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy. I was never into the Marx Brothers that much. Either it was barebones slapstick, or too much talking by Groucho who thought he was so very clever.

[sparklite2]

I read the other day that “Lucy, you have some ‘splainin’ to do,’ was never actually said by Ricky. Dammit, you can’t depend on anything!

[sparklite2]

I liked some of Lucy’s contemporaries better.
Do you recall My Little Margie [Gale Storm]?
The Bob Cummings show? December Bride?
Herb Shriner?

[SoCal Pubbie]

OH MY GOD!!! Both I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners are still hilarious and far superior to any comedy today, which consist of actors standing in place delivering one cut down after another in the most completely unnatural manner. Two Broke Girls comes to mind-awful!

[simpson96]

BA-BA-LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....!

[HypatiaTaught]

Born in 1963- I started watching the I LOVE LUCY show on reruns in 1974, YES I WAS ELEVEN at the time.

AND I STILL LOVE LUCY-Actually got to meet her in 1985...

Amazing woman and my favorite is Vita-meata-Veggi-min!
“So tasty too, just like candy!”

[simpson96]

[sparklite2]

And the most popular comedy today ... Big Bang Theory, where the live audience laughs at every remark made, worse than any laff track I ever had. That alone killed the show for me.

[simpson96]

[goodnesswins]

You forgot Last Man Standing!!!

[simpson96]

[Dr. Sivana]

The first show scripted and filmed before a live audience show bit is overstating the case. Burns and Allen was performing a scripted show before a live audience for a year before Lucy. The difference was they used kinescope, not film. Bad for the quality of the extant recordings of the early years for Burns and Allen, great for high quality film still showing in reruns for Lucy and Desi.

The show holds up better than any sitcom made for decades, including Seinfeld and Cheers, and the passing of time and industry hasn't really changed that. In modern sitcoms, the characters are not necessarily as sympathetic, and most of the friendships are more or less ephemeral. The chemistry between the four main characters was perfect.

Another superior show of its time, "The Dick Van Dyke Show", consciously decided to avoid using slang or fad language. That excellent decision has allowed to show to remain very funny, and very watchable. Again, the chemistry between the four main characters made the difference.

[GreenHornet]

OH MY GOD!!! Both I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners are still hilarious and far superior to any comedy today, which consist of actors standing in place delivering one cut down after another in the most completely unnatural manner.

I agree that "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners" are two of the best sitcoms of all time. However, neither show would last very long today:

On "I Love Lucy", the first time Lucy made fun of Desi's accent, all hell would break lose. The show would be branded as racist, CBS would issue a formal apology, half of the writing staff would be fired, and the other half would be ordered to attend sensitivity training (even though Desi Arnaz was the Executive Producer, and had final say over all of the scripts.)

On "The Honeymooners", the first time Ralph waved his fist in the air and shouted "How'd you like to go to the moon, Alice?", every women's group in the country would go nuts, claiming that the show glorified violence against women.

[heterosupremacist]

*Similarly, the Honeymooners was a product of no competition.*

I disagree. The Honeymooners was/is comedic genius (imo) and so I hope they agree with your opinion on the moon, ‘cause that’s where you’re going!

Bang! Zoom! :^)

[al baby]

Here is a kinda rare picture of the set

[sparklite2]

Neat

[HypatiaTaught]

Wow.. that is sooo cool!