Jump The Shark: Here's Lucy.

[callmetootie]

How did you think HL jumped the shark during it's run? I think it did when Vivian was washed out of the series.

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Andrew Carden

[That Other Fan]

Originally posted by callmetootie:
How did you think HL jumped the shark during it's run? I think it did when Vivian was washed out of the series.


Wrong show your thinking of "The Lucy Show".

Unless your thinking of Viv's infrequent guess appearences on HL. If this is the case, she wasn't "washed out of the series", she found out after her last HL appearence that she had cancer, because of this she was unable to make an guest shots on HL.


Her last appearence with Lucy was on the special "Lucy Calls The President", in either 1976 or 77.

[TV Guy]

Yup, Viv was never a regular on "Here's Lucy". She made one or two guest appearances a year for the first four seasons. She was a regular on "The Lucy Show" for it's first three seasons before leaving.

I think TLS jumped the shark when Viv left, because the format changed and Lucy and Mr. Mooney by themselves got very tiring. I think "Here's Lucy" jumped from day one -- Lucille Ball was forced to carry some very badly-written episodes. There are a few good ones here and there, but overall its a major comedown from "I Love Lucy", and the early days of "The Lucy Show".

[callmetootie]

I extremly agree that Lucy was wasted in HL...it's not that great of a series, but so many people want to watch it because they're Lucy lovers...like me. I think that the first 1 or 2 seasons were the only good ones.

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Andrew Carden

[TV Guy]

I'm with you, Andrew. It's worth watching simply because Lucille Ball is in it. It says a lot about her talent that she was able to make such a mediocre-to-lousy sitcom into a top 10 hit.

[That Other Fan]

Originally posted by TV Guy:
I'm with you, Andrew. It's worth watching simply because Lucille Ball is in it. It says a lot about her talent that she was able to make such a mediocre-to-lousy sitcom into a top 10 hit.

Here's Lucy is a BIG comedown from the glory days of ILL, but it's not as bad as some potray it to be. I have seen worst shows with even sillier plots and eps last longer than HL( I won't name the shows because it may offend some), and are better remembered than TLS and HL combined!

And your right TV Guy, it takes a tremendous amount of talent to be able to make some of the episodes HL entertaining!



[This message has been edited by That Other Fan (edited 10-02-2001).]

[dawsongirl]

I think HL jumped when Desi Jr. left. No, really. I agree, some of the scripts stunk, but I think they were downright dreadful once Lucy only had one kid there. Lucie's great, but the three were good with each other.

[EdLuvsLucy]

While I love watching Here's Lucy I have to agree that it wasn't as good as I Love Lucy. But I guess its hard to live up to the success of a classic. I think Here's Lucy started to go down hill around the fourth season and by the time Lucy had broken her leg in the fifth season it really lost something. Thats not to say it was a bad show it just wasn't up to the quality of I Love Lucy. I think it was getting harder to come up with new ideas and there was no real continuity to the series as a whole. But all in all it was great to have new shows featuring Lucy and would be great to see her in it again.

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ELL

[CHUCK T]

Yes "Here's Lucy" was a major comedown...even from "The Lucy Show", but the major interst in the show was seeing Lucy work with her real life children. Also, Desi Sr. used to come to tapings of "Here's Lucy" when the children were featured (Gary Morton would introduce him to the audience as , "My ex-husband in-law")and very occassionally on the Here's Lucy soundtrack you can hear his familiar guffaw as he laughed with the studio audience. But Desi certainly wasn't a fan of "Here's Lucy", he felt that the story lines had no rhyme or reason to them. He felt that Lucy should create her havoc in a carefully thought out situation that audiences could relate to. He was right.

Also, on "Here's Lucy" they sure did shout there lines alot!!

[APPLEI]

I THINK HERES LUCY DEPENDED ON GUESTSTARS TOO MUCH.
MOST OF THE TIME THE GUEST STARS WERE JUST WINDOWDRESSING TO MAKE UP FOR BAD WRITING!

ONE EXCEPTION WAS THE EPISODE WITH LIZ TAYLOR AND RICHARD BURTON.
THAT EPISODE RANKS UP THERE WITH SOME OF THE CLASSIC I LOVE LUCY EPISODES.

[LucyFan]

I think Here's Lucy jumped the shark some when Desi Arnaz, Jr. left the show. Despite that he wasn't the main character, he DID add some things that made the show more real and likeable. Likewise, it was a shame to see him leave Here's Lucy because he was immedaitly missed thereafter. His mark was already made and it never really got filled up after his departure. In other words, when he left Here's Lucy so did a part of show left too.

[RoseNylund]

One of the MAJOR reasons that this show was different from past shows is Lucille Ball reading off those cue cards. I don't think she ever did in I LOVE LUCY or even THE LUCY SHOW, but in HERE'S LUCY, practically every episode she is looking off stage to the cue cards. This really took away from the comedy. So much of her brillance was her relationship to the cast, and half the time she was reading off the cards; probably because at that time she really was running the entire show, as producer as well, and just didn't have as much time to learn her lines.

[ARealLucyFan]

The show never jumped the shark. It was always great. It definitely improved after Desi Jr. left, although it didn't have anything to do with him. The writing improved and the cast was fantastic.

[bb25]

Actually, Lucie Arnaz stated that she didn't really start using the the cue cards heavily until the 5th or 6th seasons, and that at the beginning to middle of the show, she memorized everyones line...

All I can say is that after 2 decades of constant memorization, anyone would want to give their brain a rest...:lol:

[That Other Fan]

Were Lucie and Desi Jr that talented that the whole show jumped the shark once one of these actors decided to leave?

I've always thought of Lucie and Desi were pretty good in HL, but not THAT good,lol. It was LUCILLE's show not LUCIE's (or Desi Jr's).

[scartonlucy]

I love Lucy and all of her series, but in my opinion, I think "Here's Lucy" jumped the shark from day one. I think it would be better if a different storyline was created instead. I never really liked Lucy working with Gale Gordon in a office situation. It was already done before. I think if the two of them were in a different situation, like being married or brother and sister or working in a different enviroment, I think it give a different twist, maybe better storylines. Maybe if Lucy had more co-stars, or hired a whole new set of writers, but kept only few, maybe she would gain more interest and the series could have been a number 1 hit. Maybe if she hired Desi back and he helped with the scripts, the show could have been on top. I personally believe that Desi Arnaz was the man who made "I Love Lucy" what it is today. I think Lucy was just out there to sell it. But, Desi created it all, all she did was sell it. If that worked on "Here's Lucy", then it would be right up there with "I Love Lucy." That's my thoughts.

[That Other Fan]

I disagree,

You can't keep it fresh for over 20 years, and even if you could, the audience would eventually tire of you.

Remember, when Here's Lucy premiered it was the number one show on the air, and I believe it held onto that spot for for the next few airings until "Laugh In" premiered and became something of a phenomenon.

Also, if you just compare it to ILL, of course it jumped the shark from day one....Most shows would be day one jumpers if we compared it to ILL (the show most consider among the greatest of all time).

[bb25]

Where did you get the info that HL was #1 when it premiered? I think you might be thinking of the last season of TLS, which ranked #2 that season, but had been #1 in late 1967...?

I'm just curious where you heard that since HL, to my knowledge, finished at #9 for 68-69, and with #1 ratings early in the run you'd think it would have done better...

[That Other Fan]

Originally posted by bb25
Where did you get the info that HL was #1 when it premiered? I think you might be thinking of the last season of TLS, which ranked #2 that season, but had been #1 in late 1967...?

I'm just curious where you heard that since HL, to my knowledge, finished at #9 for 68-69, and with #1 ratings early in the run you'd think it would have done better...


I know it finished #9 for the season, but I believe when it premiered and for at least one or two airings after the fact it was number one (Each week the show finished #1). Don't engrave that into cement...I'm not positive about it, but I do remember reading something similar to it (and yes I'm specifically talking about HL and not TLS). Maybe TV Guy (or someone else with knowledge of the ratings) will see this thread and confirm what I said or post something else entirely different.

IMO, whether I'm proven wrong or not, it's pretty good that Lucy, at the time, nearing her twentieth year on television playing the "Lucy" character was not only able to maintain top 10 ratings, but she did it airing against the #1 show.

[Vicki L.]

I think HL jumped when both of Lucy's kids were now gone from the show (last season or two). Lucie Arnaz was fabulous as Kim, even better than Desi Jr. was as Craig (though he had his moments too) and strong a presence was this Lucie. She could really carry a show, like her mother could. With both her kids gone from the show Lucy now had to turn to Gale Gordon extra heavily but it wasn't bad at all that way (though it was inferior to the show's beginnning).

[JaneTVFan]

I never heard that HERE'S LUCY debuted in the #1 position. What I do know is that it was #1 for the 1970 season premiere when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton guest starred. I do agree with your assessment of HERE'S LUCY managing to stay in the Top Ten while competing against the #1 show (ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN). I can't think of any other time when two shows directly competing against one another were both able to land in the Top Ten. In the case of HERE'S LUCY, it managed to eventually knock LAUGH-IN out of that spot. While HERE'S LUCY was #9 in '68/'69, it crept up to #6 in '69/'70 (LAUGH-IN was still #1), then in 1970/71, it captured the #3 spot (and was again CBS's top-rated show), and LAUGH-IN was knocked down to #13. So after two years of being beaten by LAUGH-IN, Lucy was on top and was never again beaten out by LAUGH-IN.

Originally posted by That Other Fan
I know it finished #9 for the season, but I believe when it premiered and for at least one or two airings after the fact it was number one (Each week the show finished #1). Don't engrave that into cement...I'm not positive about it, but I do remember reading something similar to it (and yes I'm specifically talking about HL and not TLS). Maybe TV Guy (or someone else with knowledge of the ratings) will see this thread and confirm what I said or post something else entirely different.

IMO, whether I'm proven wrong or not, it's pretty good that Lucy, at the time, nearing her twentieth year on television playing the "Lucy" character was not only able to maintain top 10 ratings, but she did it airing against the #1 show.

[JaneTVFan]

There is a reason Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon never played married characters. Lucille Ball once explained that she did not think viewers would ever accept her in the arms of anyone other than Desi. So that's why she always played widows after I LOVE LUCY. As for the office format already having been done before, remember that at the time HERE'S LUCY debuted, that situation had only been used for three years on THE LUCY SHOW. So it was still relatively new. I personally think the office situation on HERE'S LUCY was an improvement over the one on THE LUCY SHOW for a variety of reasons. First, because Lucy and Harry were related and he was uncle to her children, it made sense that he put up with her incompetance. Second, the "unusual jobs for unusual people" scenario of the Unique Employment Agency gave more legitimacy to the "unsual" situations Lucy Carter got herself into, and the "unusual" people (e.g., celebrities), as opposed to a bank. It was often difficult to understand why a bank secretary was trying to help a former boxer (played by Don Rickles) get back on his feet, while it was less difficult to understand why someone would go into the Unique Employment Agency and hire Lucy for the unusual job of helping a movie actress (i.e., an unusual person played by Shelly Winters) with her weight problem.

Originally posted by scartonlucy
I love Lucy and all of her series, but in my opinion, I think "Here's Lucy" jumped the shark from day one. I think it would be better if a different storyline was created instead. I never really liked Lucy working with Gale Gordon in a office situation. It was already done before. I think if the two of them were in a different situation, like being married or brother and sister or working in a different enviroment, I think it give a different twist, maybe better storylines. Maybe if Lucy had more co-stars, or hired a whole new set of writers, but kept only few, maybe she would gain more interest and the series could have been a number 1 hit. Maybe if she hired Desi back and he helped with the scripts, the show could have been on top. I personally believe that Desi Arnaz was the man who made "I Love Lucy" what it is today. I think Lucy was just out there to sell it. But, Desi created it all, all she did was sell it. If that worked on "Here's Lucy", then it would be right up there with "I Love Lucy." That's my thoughts.