MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana

Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana

posted 4 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
8 replies | jump to latest

As I've recently purchased the Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour shows (for reasons explained on another
thread), I actually FORCED myself to sit through this elephantine turkey tonight (you know, to
get it over with).

It was pure agony.

I worship Desi Arnaz as a producer, actor, and even (occasionally) as a singer. But his EGO
was on METH when he decided that - against CBS' wishes - that weekly half-hour ILL should
be turned into monstrous, inflated, bloated celebrity-riddled "TV specials." He somehow
managed to get Ford to fork over $350,000 (!) per hour-long episodes to sponsor these
dogs. (Take into account that by the spring of 1957, ILL cost only $25,000 per episode!!)

Added to this, Arnaz decided an HOUR wasn't enough, so this ball of turd ran 75 minutes
(say 65 without commercials). An HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES? - for a script like this???

The problems? Where does one begin?? The thread-bare "plot" is supposed to be when
Lucy met Ricky - in 1940. To say that Ball and Arnaz could not BEGIN to play twenty-
somethings at THIS point is an understatement. Worse, we're supposed to believe that
the equally middle-aged (and unattractively fat) Ann Sothern is her "youthful" friend, trying,
like Lucy, to meet "young men." To thrill us all the more, two more "guest stars" are
tossed in - Cesar Romero and Rudy Vallee, the latter still trying to play a man that women
chase after!!

Oh, of course, we're supposed to be buy that Fred and Ethel (on their first REAL honeymoon)
are on board, so we can see how THAT friendship started. It doesn't work, because
Fred and Ethel are reduced to bit parts, so that the spectacularly unfunny "guests stars"
can ham it up for a quick paycheck.

When I first put this mess on tonight, I hadn't yet researched the "new" running time, and
couldn't understand why it WOULDN'T END! Then I read up on this laugh-free disaster
and understood why.

I'm sorry, but only diehard Ball fans and possibly the mentally retarded could enjoy this
truly awful piece of s**t.

P.S.: Lucy and Sothern get drunk. But don't expect to laugh.

\

[–] Ken12602 (481) 4 years ago

Calling people mentally retarded if they like this is really rude.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 4 years ago

I take it you "really like this." Oh, boy.

[–] Ken12602 (481) 4 years ago

You think you are the end all and anyone that disagrees with you gets you all upset. You are one of the worst posters on these boards because it's that you have to be right and nobody should dare disagree with you. You should set up your own boards so you can just post to yourself and stroke your ego because people see right through you on here.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 4 years ago

So far, the only disagreement is my (poorly chosen) usage of "mentally retarded", not on anything else I posted about
the program. And sorry to disappoint you two, but I am not upset in the least.

[–] Kowalski (57111) 4 years ago

MAYBE DONT USE OFFENSIVE TERMS LIKE "MENTALLY RETARDED" WHEN SPEAKING ON TOPICS WITH NO NEED FOR THEM.

[–] [email protected] (5490) 4 years ago

I saw this one briefly (couldn't make it all the way through) several years ago. It IS beyond awful! Just proves how networks will greenlight a terrible project if the person in charge (here, Desi Arnaz) has a proven track record. Didn't CBS even READ the script?

Aside from all the reasons that gb cited to call this mess "an elephantine turkey", don't forget that it totally destroys the backstory of Lucy and Ricky on ILL. Lucy says that she was asked out on a blind date by her friend Marion Strong.

In "Lucy Writes a Novel", Ricky berates Lucy for changing history. He reminds her that he flew to Miami with his musicians. There's NO mention of him meeting Lucy on a cruise.

And they definitely met Fred and Ethel when they moved into their brownstone when they were newlyweds.

As for the mentally retarded, well even THEY have better sense! lol People need to lighten up and not be "so offended." I suggest watching the late, hilarious comedian Ralphie May.

He does a bit youtube where he talks about "retards". He says that he got in trouble for using the term on TV because it was "offensive".
He asks, "To who?"

It's a very funny bit. He never apologizes about his lack of political correctness. He's a riot when he complains about gays "stealing the rainbow" and having parades and he has to drive way out of his way (and waste gas) to get around them.
People need to relax and stop being offended about every d@mn word. I have a friend who's a nurse. She worked in a home for the mentally disabled. She said that when the guys with Down's Syndrome would argue, they would call each other "retards!"

[–] [email protected] (1732) 4 years ago

I loathe PC nonsense, too. (Notice how everyone jumped on writer Stephen King when he stated he votes for Oscars
by talent, NOT by race. That's what he's supposed to do!!). That said, my choice of words were unnecessary.

[–] [email protected] (5490) 4 years ago

Strange how Hollywood jumped all over Stephen King since he is definitely in agreement with them on most issues. I've read some of his interviews and he does seem to be very left leaning. Even if I hadn't read his interviews, a lot of his beliefs come through in the characters in his books. He's been one of my favorite authors and I've read a lot of his work.

I resent Hollywood when they criticize the rest of the country for being "narrowminded" and complain how few minorities receive Oscars.
I always think, "Well... hell, I DON'T get a vote! YOU people are the ones who write the movies for white people, cast white people and vote for white people. Don't put the blame on us."