Vote for why you think it jumped
Never Jumped
Moving (Connecticut)
Birth (Little Ricky)
Day One
Trip to California
Shark Bytes
On rare occasions, whenever I stop and watch some or all of on an episode of 'I love Lucy' while channel surfing, The thought keeps going through my mind, that this show simply has not aged well.
I know, I know, it is considered an iconic classic of TV history and that's well and good.
But when you really observe it, many episodes are boring and trite. It has some good moments, but overall time and sophisication has passed it by. A few moments have stood the test of time, but not too many.
You can't help but marvel though at the patience of Ricky (Desi Arnaz). The one thing that has emerged over time is the appreciation of Desi's contributions to the show both on and, especially, behind the scenes.
I know, I know, it is considered an iconic classic of TV history and that's well and good.
But when you really observe it, many episodes are boring and trite. It has some good moments, but overall time and sophisication has passed it by. A few moments have stood the test of time, but not too many.
You can't help but marvel though at the patience of Ricky (Desi Arnaz). The one thing that has emerged over time is the appreciation of Desi's contributions to the show both on and, especially, behind the scenes.
"I Love Lucy" jumped the shark during episode "Visitor from Italy", when Lucy said to the Pizzeria owner "what if I could find someone else to make your pizzas?", and at once, the audience laughed in anticipation. The people spoke up, and at that moment "I Love Lucy" crossed from being unpredictable to predictable.
Some posters are wondering why they'd choose an old grizzled cuss like Fred to be Ethel's man. It was for the same reason Lucille Ball insisted that
Vivian Vance dress dowdy and stay twenty pounds overweight; so Lucy and Ricky would look young and glamorous compared to them. In actuality, Lucille Ball was about a year older than Vivian Vance, and about seven years older than Desi. When Lucille and Vivian starred together in The Lucy Show, and Viv looked just as pretty as she did, Lucy made fat jokes
to put her in her place. I can see why she quit the show.
By the way, I thought it was weird that Ethel was ashamed of her crappy looking apartment, but she wasn't too ashamed to take Lucy's furniture. I don't it would have impressed the women in their club to see her with Lucy's cast-offs.
Vivian Vance dress dowdy and stay twenty pounds overweight; so Lucy and Ricky would look young and glamorous compared to them. In actuality, Lucille Ball was about a year older than Vivian Vance, and about seven years older than Desi. When Lucille and Vivian starred together in The Lucy Show, and Viv looked just as pretty as she did, Lucy made fat jokes
to put her in her place. I can see why she quit the show.
By the way, I thought it was weird that Ethel was ashamed of her crappy looking apartment, but she wasn't too ashamed to take Lucy's furniture. I don't it would have impressed the women in their club to see her with Lucy's cast-offs.
I watched this show a lot when I was young (in the late 60's), and I really liked it, but now that see an occaisional re-run, I realize that it just isn't that good.
In contrast with shows like "The Honeymooners", this one just didn't age well. The jokes are lame, the acting was 50-50, and I just feel like screaming at the television, "put that stupid bitch in your act, already!"
In contrast with shows like "The Honeymooners", this one just didn't age well. The jokes are lame, the acting was 50-50, and I just feel like screaming at the television, "put that stupid bitch in your act, already!"
My favorite episode was when they all moved to Westport, CT to a farm, and Ethyl walked in on Fred playing with Little Ricky's Pee Pee in the barn.
The look on Fred's face when he had to register as a sex offender was priceless.
It was unprecedented at the time.
The look on Fred's face when he had to register as a sex offender was priceless.
It was unprecedented at the time.
In real life, the Arnazes cared little more for their kids than the Ricardos did for Little Ricky. They would trot them out for photo ops with Life, Look
and TV Guide, but after the paparazzi left their mansion, it was back to nanny. So the show reflected reality.
and TV Guide, but after the paparazzi left their mansion, it was back to nanny. So the show reflected reality.
Fred Mertz was a flatulent old cuss who stunk up the entire set with his farting. Every time he said "uhhhh", it wasn't because he forgot his lines - it was because he was farting. Everywhere he went his fart stink trailed behind him. I felt sorry for Ethel every time she had to "hug" him. She probably had to hold her breath the whole time. I am also sure that much of the furniture and props on the set were ruined from his never-ending farting. I can smell his stink through the tv even after all these years. I truly hate Fred Mertz.
Fred Mertz, had Parkinson disease. When he won the role of fred Mertz,William Frawley was a gabler and drank alot . Desi Arnaz told him that if he ever Missed a show due to alcohol related illness or drank while filming his scenes and on the lot he would be fired Immediately. He assure Desi he would oblige by his rules and never missed a day of work due to any gambling or alcohol addictions. He and Vivian Vance hated one another and when she was dining in a restaurant with her second husband, she heard the News of his death and yelled drinks were on her!
I Love Lucy never jumped
and i suprised this doesn't have a thousand or over thousand
never jumped votes it's pretty close to a thousand though
what suprise me more is that full house has more never jumped votes than this
show I Love Lucy was a lot better
than full house & howard stern has more
never jumped than this show which is even worse yet nothing i can but hope more never jumped votes come soon & fast
because this show was great
and i suprised this doesn't have a thousand or over thousand
never jumped votes it's pretty close to a thousand though
what suprise me more is that full house has more never jumped votes than this
show I Love Lucy was a lot better
than full house & howard stern has more
never jumped than this show which is even worse yet nothing i can but hope more never jumped votes come soon & fast
because this show was great
To guest,
Touche! There's the list of Ricky's scheming, deceitful ways! These lists are a bit of fun, of course. The show was meant to be wacky which, of course, is why Lucy and Ricky were always lovey-dovey again at the end of the show when, in reality, they would have divorced before the end of season 1.
I created a list like this on the Leave it to Beaver page quite a while back showing what a liar and problem child the Beave was!
Yes, it's fun.
Peace.
Touche! There's the list of Ricky's scheming, deceitful ways! These lists are a bit of fun, of course. The show was meant to be wacky which, of course, is why Lucy and Ricky were always lovey-dovey again at the end of the show when, in reality, they would have divorced before the end of season 1.
I created a list like this on the Leave it to Beaver page quite a while back showing what a liar and problem child the Beave was!
Yes, it's fun.
Peace.
In response to the poster who said almost all the bad behavior and scheming was on Lucy's part, I can think of the following instances where Ricky was deceitful:
1) When Lucy tried to convince Ricky that her frustrated ambitions were literally driving her crazy, he got an actor to pose as a doctor and tell her she was dying. Feigning mental illness was a dumb thing for Lucy to do, but Ricky's putting a green light bulb in her lamp so she would think she had turned green was downright cruel!
2) After an argument on equal rights for women, Ricky and Fred tell the wives at a restaurant that they should pay for their own meals. Since they haven't brought any cash, they end up washing dishes. The guys could have told the women in advance to bring their money!
3) When Lucy talks too much about her old boyfriends, Ricky lets her think there was something between him and "Carlotta Romero," causing Lucy to have nightmares about Ricky and Carlotta running off together while she and Little Ricky are reduced to begging.
4) Ricky and Fred give their wives crazy dresses and hats made of potato sacks, ice buckets, and the like, telling them they're getting cutting-edge designer clothes.
5) Ricky blows smoke under the bedroom door so Lucy will think there's a fire and he can be a big hero by "saving" her. This was downright dangerous!
Of course there are more instances of Lucy being the trickster--that's the whole premise of the show. Ricky didn't need to resort to deceit to get what he wanted; the balance of power wasw on his side. But the genius of this show was that Ricky wasn't stuffy and serious in contrast to Lucy's wackiness; he could be just as goofy.
Sure, there are sexist elements in this show; its basic theme is that women shouldn't have too much ambition. Yet Lucy always survives to scheme another day--every time you turn on a rerun, she's at it again!
I don't think the show ever completely JTS. It did show some signs of fatigue in the end, but even the notorious Connecticut episodes have their moments. I loved Lucy on the riding mower on the Boston Post Road!
1) When Lucy tried to convince Ricky that her frustrated ambitions were literally driving her crazy, he got an actor to pose as a doctor and tell her she was dying. Feigning mental illness was a dumb thing for Lucy to do, but Ricky's putting a green light bulb in her lamp so she would think she had turned green was downright cruel!
2) After an argument on equal rights for women, Ricky and Fred tell the wives at a restaurant that they should pay for their own meals. Since they haven't brought any cash, they end up washing dishes. The guys could have told the women in advance to bring their money!
3) When Lucy talks too much about her old boyfriends, Ricky lets her think there was something between him and "Carlotta Romero," causing Lucy to have nightmares about Ricky and Carlotta running off together while she and Little Ricky are reduced to begging.
4) Ricky and Fred give their wives crazy dresses and hats made of potato sacks, ice buckets, and the like, telling them they're getting cutting-edge designer clothes.
5) Ricky blows smoke under the bedroom door so Lucy will think there's a fire and he can be a big hero by "saving" her. This was downright dangerous!
Of course there are more instances of Lucy being the trickster--that's the whole premise of the show. Ricky didn't need to resort to deceit to get what he wanted; the balance of power wasw on his side. But the genius of this show was that Ricky wasn't stuffy and serious in contrast to Lucy's wackiness; he could be just as goofy.
Sure, there are sexist elements in this show; its basic theme is that women shouldn't have too much ambition. Yet Lucy always survives to scheme another day--every time you turn on a rerun, she's at it again!
I don't think the show ever completely JTS. It did show some signs of fatigue in the end, but even the notorious Connecticut episodes have their moments. I loved Lucy on the riding mower on the Boston Post Road!
Hey Jim...I get what you are saying and, because of the things you mention, I'm inclined to think that "I Love Lucy" was actually ahead of its time because this show dealt with dynamics (i.e., major trust issues) between a married couple that were nowhere else shown on TV and pretty much not seen again until the 70s.
It makes me wonder if "I Love Lucy" was no more than art imitating life since Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's well documented real life marriage was stormy and tumultuous to say the least.
On the show, Ricky and Lucy barely LIKED each other most of the time let alone LOVED, which is why the shmaltzy scenes, which were thankfully rare, always seemed to fall flat and rang false to me.
It makes me wonder if "I Love Lucy" was no more than art imitating life since Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's well documented real life marriage was stormy and tumultuous to say the least.
On the show, Ricky and Lucy barely LIKED each other most of the time let alone LOVED, which is why the shmaltzy scenes, which were thankfully rare, always seemed to fall flat and rang false to me.
How in the world Ricky still loved, respected and stayed married to Lucy after all the sneaky, deceitful and ridiculous things she did to him is funny to think about. In real life, there's no way a person can stay married to someone like that. There are a few eps where Ricky also plays dirty and downright deceitful, but the vast majority of the deceit is on Lucy's end. I could whip off any number of these incidents, as they occurred endlessly throughout the show. Some that jump off the top of my head:
1) The episode where Lucy tried to make Ricky jealous by acting like an old flame is in town. She ends up pretending to make time with a store mannequin hoping Ricky will think it's the old flame. Not only is she deceitful and trying to make him jealous, but that's pretty stupid, too.
2) Lucy wants to be in Ricky's show (there's an uncommon theme, eh?), but Ricky has already determined who his guest stars will be, so Lucy undermines the show by scheming to have both guest stars think that the show has been canceled. Once they have backed out, unbeknownst to Ricky, she shows up uninvited on stage. Who would put up with that kind of lying subterfuge? This woman has serious issues.
3) Lucy again wants to appear in Ricky's show that has a Gay Nineties theme, but after she flops in her singing audition, she dons a disguise in order to infiltrate the barbershop quartet number, which she completely ruins by her inept performance. Would Ricky stand for that type of sabotage in real life??
4) Lucy wants new furniture which Ricky opposes as they cannot afford it. In typical 'me first' fashion, Lucy buys it anyway and tries to hide it in the kitchen.
5) Lucy thinks Ricky deserves a raise, so she poses as his agent and goes to the head of the studio to pretend that Ricky is in demand in the theater and has been offered more money than he is getting. Of course, the man releases Ricky from his contract so that he can take the 'better deal', so Lucy, who has once again meddled in Ricky's affairs, has caused him to become unemployed.
6) Lucy, along with Ethel, natch, complain that their husbands' clothes are out of style but the boys won't hear it. The girls, not to be denied, secretly give all the clothes away to a thrift store. How self-serving and deceitful is that?
7) Lucy dons a black wig and plays the role of a seductress in order to test Ricky's fidelity. It doesn't get much sneakier or more pathetic than that!
Some bad behavior on Ricky's part:
1) Lucy and Ethel make a bet with Ricky and Fred that they can stop gossiping before the boys can. Ricky concocts a scheme with Fred which amounts to cheating in order to get the girls to gossip first. Foul play! Actually, the girls end up winning the bet by cheating themselves!
Well, that's honestly the only thing I can recall Ricky doing off the top of my head, but I know there are at least a couple others. Usually, though, it's Lucy and her hair-brained, cockeyed, deceitful ways that win the day on this show. Dude should have divorced her by the second season.
Peace.
1) The episode where Lucy tried to make Ricky jealous by acting like an old flame is in town. She ends up pretending to make time with a store mannequin hoping Ricky will think it's the old flame. Not only is she deceitful and trying to make him jealous, but that's pretty stupid, too.
2) Lucy wants to be in Ricky's show (there's an uncommon theme, eh?), but Ricky has already determined who his guest stars will be, so Lucy undermines the show by scheming to have both guest stars think that the show has been canceled. Once they have backed out, unbeknownst to Ricky, she shows up uninvited on stage. Who would put up with that kind of lying subterfuge? This woman has serious issues.
3) Lucy again wants to appear in Ricky's show that has a Gay Nineties theme, but after she flops in her singing audition, she dons a disguise in order to infiltrate the barbershop quartet number, which she completely ruins by her inept performance. Would Ricky stand for that type of sabotage in real life??
4) Lucy wants new furniture which Ricky opposes as they cannot afford it. In typical 'me first' fashion, Lucy buys it anyway and tries to hide it in the kitchen.
5) Lucy thinks Ricky deserves a raise, so she poses as his agent and goes to the head of the studio to pretend that Ricky is in demand in the theater and has been offered more money than he is getting. Of course, the man releases Ricky from his contract so that he can take the 'better deal', so Lucy, who has once again meddled in Ricky's affairs, has caused him to become unemployed.
6) Lucy, along with Ethel, natch, complain that their husbands' clothes are out of style but the boys won't hear it. The girls, not to be denied, secretly give all the clothes away to a thrift store. How self-serving and deceitful is that?
7) Lucy dons a black wig and plays the role of a seductress in order to test Ricky's fidelity. It doesn't get much sneakier or more pathetic than that!
Some bad behavior on Ricky's part:
1) Lucy and Ethel make a bet with Ricky and Fred that they can stop gossiping before the boys can. Ricky concocts a scheme with Fred which amounts to cheating in order to get the girls to gossip first. Foul play! Actually, the girls end up winning the bet by cheating themselves!
Well, that's honestly the only thing I can recall Ricky doing off the top of my head, but I know there are at least a couple others. Usually, though, it's Lucy and her hair-brained, cockeyed, deceitful ways that win the day on this show. Dude should have divorced her by the second season.
Peace.
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