Happy 68th Birthday!!

October 15th marks the 68th anniversary of the first broadcast show, "The Girls Want to Go
to a Nightclub."

According to a book I read on the series, the entire cast watched the show at either Lucy
and Desi's house, or Jess Oppenheimer's. Everyone was very nervous about how they'd
react, and what the morning reviews would bring. Apparently, the only one who kept
laughing out loud was Phil Ober, Vivian Vance's husband. This, apparently, made everyone
else feel better, as he was not connected with the show, and Desi felt his laughter would
represent the public's.

Well, of course, they had nothing to worry about. The show got excellent reviews and was
an immediate hit.

This was NOT the first show shot, though. That "honor" would go to the very creaky "Lucy
Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her." It didn't air until (I think) week eight. This one
comes off like a bad one-act play in Burbank, with only Frawley giving the spot-on
performance. Ball, Aranz, and even Vance are way too stagy, and really needed to tone
down their arch acting.

But after 68 years, and an admittedly creaky first half, the series, even the debut, "Nightclub",
still plays beautifully, especially in remastered form.

Of course nobody would believe that Ricky and Fred wouldn't recognize their own wives,
and this kind of setup would NOT sell today. But it works of ILL.

Happy birthday to the greatest sitcom of all time.