MovieChat Forums > The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957) Discussion > Boring show

Boring show

posted 16 years ago by nadrianatrs
21 replies | jump to latest

Please don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Lucy and the I Love Lucy show. I have almost every episode of I Love Lucy dialogs memorized. But... this show just wasn't good. You constantly hear people laughing every 5 seconds whether or not anybody really said anything funny on screen. I'm starting to think the laughing was done with a recording. Many times I heard people laughing when nobody said anything funny at all. Same thing happened with Leave it to Beaver.
The writing of Lucy-Desi Comedy hour isn't good either. Somebody hit the nail when they said that this show didn't do well as an hour show. He was absolutely right. Yes it's funny when Lucy is being nutty and everything but if it wasn't for her being in the cast, that show would've flopped quick. Her new hairstyle (and Ethel's) made her look like some old granny. Ricky is constantly getting mad at her for any little thing; I think the writters told him to get angry at her constantly just to keep the magic of I Love Lucy going but you can tell the magic wasn't there. The anger he does is too mechanical, like he's tired. Lucy & Desi's marriage failed and the fueding Fred & Vivian got worse and you can feel that watching the show. I was thinking, if every episode had guest stars on the show, and the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was successful, wouldn't they eventually run out of guests? Did the writers think their show was that bad they needed more characters? I guess that's usually the indication that the show is failing. If there are fans out there that really like this show for whatever reason, more power to you but personally I think the series sucks. They should've stuck with the original I Love Lucy and made more episodes. The season had cut-off with no finale other than Lucy dressed up like a statue and pointing a gun at people. If they thought that was the last show, they should've done something bigger.

[–] SVU14_1 16 years ago

Many times I heard people laughing when nobody said anything funny at all.

This is because the show was no longer filmed in front of a studio audience. They had a laugh track or maybe a partial audience and they "sweetened" the audience (basically combine a laugh track with a partial live audience). They could use an audience when they did on-location scenes like in "Lucy Goes To Sun Valley" or in "Lucy Meets The Moustache" when they're in the car.

[–] moosefeathers 16 years ago

yes, but haven't you noticed that in alot of i love lucy's and lucy-desi, there's the "UH-OH" lady on the laugh track?

[–] spike71 16 years ago

Is it true that the "UH-OH" lady was really Lucy's mother?? Coincidentally, I heard the "UH-OH" lady in a few episodes of My Three Sons (Season 1 Volume 1).

[–] SVU14_1 15 years ago

^ That's a rumor that the "Uh-Oh" was Lucy's mother. Also, the sound of the laughter was probably reused to "sweeten" up the episode before being put on TV. "Sweetening" is basically when the editing department uses a laugh track and combines it with the live audience laughter in scenes that for example did not get a "proper" reaction with the live audience.

[–] jeffster67 15 years ago

I wouldn't say that the show was boring. I'm slowly getting through the "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" episodes on my DVD's again for about the 4th or 5th time...but that's why so slowly. Plus I've been very tired lately and I can fall asleep during the day watching just about anything.

"I'd be very happy to be myself if I could remember who I am. Who am I?"

[–] Scott351w2001 15 years ago

I agree...The show just didn't work as an hour long show. Too often the shows were padded with filler that just wasn't funny. Additionally, the humor seemed to be forced and didn't flow naturally as it did on "I Love Lucy". The first show they did, when Lucy goes to Havana, was really bad, and it was 75 minutes, too! the scene where she gets drunk with Ann Southern on the ship feels totally forced and is cringe-inducing to watch."Lucy meets the Moustache" is only notable because it was the last episode, and Edie Adams does a beautiful rendition of "That's All" There were only a couple of episodes in my opinion, that were above par...the one with Danny Thomas, and the one with Fred MacMurray. Sadly, the others simply fell flat

[–] Gubbio 14 years ago

The "uh oh" Lady came from a recording of a studio audience RADIO show. No one knows who she is. It's been used for years to "sweeten" many laugh tracks, and can be heard in other shows besides ILL.

I read this in, I think, TV Guide, some 30 years ago.

[–] spike71 14 years ago

I know there's been tons of controversy as to who the "uh-oh" lady was but according to IMDB - it was Lucille's mother, Dede. Sorry, I don't know how to make links active:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1941449/bio

[–] Gubbio 14 years ago

according to IMDB - it was Lucille's mother, Dede.

Yes, I've read that several places on the Web, but tend not to believe it. Things on the Web tend to take on a life of their own.

I think IMDB, like Wikipedia, can be contributed to or added to by any user like you and me. Therefore, they are not always accurate. A lot of users on IMDB have pointed out mistakes.

I tend to believe that what I read years before the Internet existed has more veracity. But, that's just me. The article, as I recall, was on "canned laugher" and specifically made reference to the 'UH-OH' gal as the lady "trapped in the canned laughter machine" (paraphrased).

[–] spike71 14 years ago

I agree with you. I've heard the same "uh-oh" during a My Three Sons episode (both Desilu) - so it must be canned.

[–] trollomatic 11 years ago

<<<I tend to believe that what I read years before the Internet existed has more veracity

Me also. Unfortunately, when I have posted things from articles and references which existed before the internet, all the people on the internet in the forums I were in said those could not be believed as proof since they're not on the internet
and that only what's on the internet is true and believable.

Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[–] mackjay2 9 years ago

Discussion on "Canned Laughter" http://www.quora.com/Why-do-many-TV-sitcoms-use-laugh-tracks-and-how-long-has-this-practice-been-done

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] bobeich1 12 years ago

I've read many biographies of the characters on the show as well as books relating to the history of the show. From my understanding, during the time of the filming of the one hour show, Lucille and Desi's marriage was crumbling and there was a lot of tension on the set. I can't help but believe that this greatly contributed to the lack of spark in this later format.

[–] bradford-1 12 years ago

The "Uh-oh" woman could have been taken from a radio audience AND could've been Dee Dee. "My Favorite Husband" was performed in front of an audience, so what's not to say Dee Dee didn't attend those shows?
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."

[–] jac91604 12 years ago

I think bobeich1 got it right here, their marriage was over at this point.

If you have read any of the books on Lucy, then you would know it was a tense set at the end.

Yes, they weren't very good. But I still love seeing them on screen.

They're like old friends.

[–] bobeich1 12 years ago

I agree 100% jac91604. Even though they weren't the same as the earlier "I Love Lucy" segments, they are still worth watching. I especially liked the Tallulah Bankhead episode. Today was the "We Love Lucy" marathon on the Hallmark Channel and I watched them all. Looking back, they were all funny. The best part is that unlike today's "sitcoms," the Lucy shows were funny with no vulgar language or blatant sexual references.

[–] bradford-1 9 years ago

The hourlong shows don't measure up to ILL, but at least they're a great record of bygone celebrities. Fernando Lamas, Tallulah Bankhead, Paul Douglas, Duff & Lupino, et al. And a chance to see Lucy and Red Skelton perform together.
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] SelenaQP 8 years ago

I actually found it to be enjoyable... Maybe because it was so nice to see Lucy and Desi together for ONE last time.

Don't play games with a girl who can play better.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 4 years ago

It wasn't bad but at the same time they never should have gone to hour long episodes, it's very hard to be funny for that long and some of the episodes were really stretching the runtime like the Alaska episode, 15 minutes of it is just Red Skelton's comedy sketch and it wasn't funny. I never cared for the horse episode either however the Uranium episode and the one where Lucy gets a career I thought were really good.