MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > The First Season

The First Season

posted 6 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
6 replies | jump to latest

In the last two weeks, I have purposely been watching only the first season. While I still feel it's the weakest of the six TECHNICALLY, there are still charms to be found in the utter freshness
of the cast, particularly Lucy and Desi.

Here are some eps I enjoyed that I've never really cared for in the past:

The Gossip: In the past, I always found this offering silly, as the guys and gals could
gossip ANYWHERE that their spouses weren't. But this time, I was really laughing, especially
when Lucy and Ethel could barely keep their mouths shut. When they overhear their
"conscious" speaking, and Lucy goes berserk with the soot, I fell apart laughing. It's
her body language I find so funny. A charmer.

The Kleptomaniac: Never thought much of this one, but I roared this past week when
watching. I love the way Lucy and Ethel play gangsters and actually convince Ricky,
Fred, and the psychiatrist (Joseph Kearns) that they're "for real." That third act
is very funny.

I enjoyed most of the others, but I couldn't bring myself to watch "Drafted". The closing scene where all the guests are locked in the closet is cute, but not worth the previous scenes.

I really, really enjoyed the two with Gale Gordon as Ricky's new boss. I also love "Lucy Gets
Ricky on the Radio" and "Ricky Thinks He's Getting Bald."

On the whole, while there's still that "green" aspect to the series' first ten offerings, the first
season is still very strong.

Maybe I'll go Blu Ray after all!

[–] [email protected] (5507) 6 years ago

The first season had some rough edges and a few clunkers like "Drafted" and "Lucy Plays Cupid". The show was just finding its footing.

But there are many flashes of brilliance regarding Lucy's physical comedy and the different voices and characters that she can play. And almost from the start Desi Arnaz was able to hold his own with a bunch of veteran actors.

"Fred and Ethel Fight" is an overlooked gem. Much of the audience could identify with a married couple's bickering.

"She said my mother looks like a weasel. She should apologize."

"I'm sorry that your mother looks like a weasel!" Ha ha!!

There are moments where you can see Desi (the actor) struggling not to laugh at Bill Frawley's lines. And of course, Lucy gets the couple back together only to end up in a big fight with Ricky.
This is the first episode to mention Ethel's mother. She gets angry with Fred again and "goes home to her mother."

That's what makes me think that her parents were divorced or at least separated and her mother lived nearby. I just can't imagine Ethel going all the way to Albuquerque. OR Fred paying for a bus ticket out there!

"The Kleptomaniac" is a little gem in the way it showcases Lucy talent for acting kooky yet believable. Or should I say "cuckoo"? lol

"Breaking the Lease" is another funny offering with two couples who were "best friends" five minutes ago turned into "sworn enemies". If anything, the musical number is a classic. El Breako the Leaso. The Arnazes are obviously trying so hard not to laugh when Fred and Ethel enter with half of their ceiling on their heads.

"Men are Messy" is a cute little episode that has always been a favorite of mine. I can relate on a personal level. When my dad came home he always scattered his clothes and belongings across the house and my mom would yell. However she never went to the extremes that Lucy did.
"Get ready, get ready, get ready, a hunting we will go!" Bear hunting in the bedroom!

[–] [email protected] (5507) 6 years ago

"The Freezer" is another fun housewife outing. Let's save money by buying meat in bulk. But a whole cow?
"Lady if you pasted it together and taught it to walk out of here, I couldn't take it back."

Lucy is hilarious trying to sell all that meat at the butcher shop (out of a baby carriage) and later getting stuck in a freezer.

And that all time classic, "Lucy Does a TV Commercial". "I'm your Vitameatavegamin girl!"

"Ricky Thinks He's Getting Bald" has a lot of funny moments like Lucy's "scalp treatments". Years later, the Dick van Dyke Show did a similar episode when Rob thought he was going bald.
Funny irony, neither actor ever went bald. Both maintained a full lush head of hair, albeit gray, but they always had great hair.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

I could relate to Ricky, as I was always terrified of losing my hair (I have a full head of it, thank God, although I'm
the "silver fox" type).

I forgot to mention "Fred and Ethel Fight." That was another one I thought I didn't care for, but I really enjoyed this
last go round. I think Lucy's saying she's been hit by a bus, and Ricky's scaring Lucy into thinking the apartment
is on fire are pretty extreme, but the episode really works.

Can't say I have the same "hunch" about Ethel's mother. To me, she has passed on between season two and four.
But that's just how we see it. It's pretty obvious Lucy has no father. Nor does Ricky, for that matter! Neither
parent is mentioned as being around in the series, and both Ricky's and Lucy's mother visit alone.

I did watch "Lucy Plays Cupid." No Ethel and Fred, and Bea Benedaret is really obnoxious. But Edward Everett
Horton is actually quite funny in the dinner scene. The ep is barely tolerable, but it's better than "Drafted."

One episode I really dislike is "Pioneer Women." I just don't find the episode remotely believable, or even funny.
It's eye candy to see Ricky in the bath tub, but that's about it.

"The Freezer" is a classic, and one I've always loved. I also enjoy the "Publicity Agent."

Final thought: Ricky always smirked or laughed out loud at Fred's dry retorts. I'm sure Desi really enjoyed them,
but they were clearly part of the direction.

[–] [email protected] (5507) 6 years ago

Hi, Silver Fox, great nickname!

"The Quiz Show" has some funny moments too. Lucy singing and getting squirted with a seltzer bottle! One of the few instances where Lucille Ball isn't wearing her trademark false lashes.

Lucy tells Ricky she was married, "Just a little bit."

And the children, "Don't you have them?" LOL
I like the polka dot dress Lucy wears in that scene. And of course, as we said before, Lucy could have just told Ricky about the game show. But a funny if silly, episode.

"Pioneer Women" is rather cornball and doesn't hold up. Where did they all get those costumes? Seems like it would cost a lot of money to go through all that trouble to win a bet. And Ricky coming home on a horse? Where did he get it? Hertz Rent-a-Horse? lol
Lucy baked bread, but she still used a modern day oven. Silly stuff, funny, but not a favorite of mine.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 6 years ago

Yeah, the bread scene is one of those "classic" ILL moments I NEVER thought was funny. As if all that dough
would rise and bake into a perfectly shaped loaf! And how does the pan "grow" underneath to fit it?? And how
does it fit in the oven? This is a very "first season" kind of moment - one that would NEVER be seen in the
later years.

I enjoy "The Quiz Show", too. It's very "early" stuff, but it works well. Too bad there's no Fred in it.

Another ep from the first year I don't like is one about the French guy. Way too silly, and the duel - with
REAL bullets going off - is cringe-inducing.

"Lucy's Schedule" has always been a fave, as has "Ricky Asks For A Raise." I find it amusing that Lucy
befriends Phoebe Littlefield in "Schedule", then turns on her - for NO reason - in "Raise" ("And DON'T
think you're gonna get my recipe for cheesecake, either!"). Lucy was so childish.

[–] [email protected] (5507) 6 years ago

I read that the audience was invited to share in that huge loaf of bread! It was silly though. Good comedy has to be grounded in some sort of reality. And a six foot loaf of bread wouldn't fit in Lucy's oven.

"The Adagio", I remember how we both thought that firing guns into the ceiling was so ridiculous and dangerous. Putting holes in your landlord's ceiling? And at the very least, there were neighbors upstairs! Just sitcom silliness, but if someone heard that many gunshots, they'd call the police.

I forgot to mention the two Gale Gordon episodes when he was Mr. Littlefield. No wonder Lucille Ball wanted him on her later shows. They had great chemistry.

One of my favorite scenes is a famished Lucy at the Littlefields when she discovered that they had missed dinner. She scoops up a whole bowl of mints and then bites into a piece of waxed fruit!

Later on Mr. Littlefield asks a famished Ricky (after his frozen breakfast), "Don't you people ever eat at your house?"

I enjoy "The Publicity Agent". Lucy was the Maharincess of Franistan. Once in a while Lucy put her own ego aside and tried to help Ricky's career.

"The Amateur Hour" is amusing when Lucy babysits those "twins from hell". It seems like broad comedy, but I knew twins who were like that when I was a kid! They were our neighbors and they got into the worst scrapes imaginable.
We lived near the edge of town and there were woodlands. One day my cousin and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood. We saw the twins in the edge of the field behind our houses. They were going to bury a dead mouse. They decided to cremate it instead. They had matches. They started a fire, panicked and ran away.
Lucky that we were there. We ran down the street and had the adults call the fire department. The twins little cremation ceremony caused several acres to burn.
Well it grew up all nice and lush the next summer. Guess the fire cleared out all the dead underbrush!