Mary Jane or Vivian? Who Was Your Favorite Of Lucy's Best Friends?

[callmetootie]

I personally liked Vivian alot better then Mary Jane. Mary Jane was at times annoying and her and Lucy weren't as funny as Lucy and Vivian. I always liked the first season of Here's Lucy the best because that was the season that Vivian really was Lucy's best friend, but would onyl occasionly make appearences after that.

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Andrew Carden

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by callmetootie:
I personally liked Vivian alot better then Mary Jane. Mary Jane was at times annoying and her and Lucy weren't as funny as Lucy and Vivian. I always liked the first season of Here's Lucy the best because that was the season that Vivian really was Lucy's best friend, but would onyl occasionly make appearences after that.



I think Mary Jane Croft was a great character actress, and I like her Mary Jane character a lot. She could be very cute and funny (kind of an older Georgette Baxter, as I heard someone refer to her once). However, that being said, I don't think that character was a very good counterbalance for Lucy. That's nothing against Ms. Croft or her character. It's just that in order to bring out the best in Lucy, she needed a stronger character -- someone who could stand up to her. Vivian could do that, and she did it with great zest; Mary Jane could not.

[CherryBombK]

Ethel definitely!

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~*~Kristin~*~
"Rock and Roll music, I don't think it'll ever die completely out because they're gonna have to get something mighty good to take its place." - Elvis Presley

"Love yourself first, and everything will fall into line." - Lucille Ball

[Cloris Leachman Fan]

Vivian!!!!!!! http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/happyface.gif

[impossibleprince81]

note that I've not seen any episodes of Here's Lucy, but based on The Lucy Show and I Love Lucy, Vivian brought out the best in Lucy, Mary Jane brought out a different side of her, but, Mary Jane was like a supporting role, Vivian could carry on and bounce off of Lucy's lines.

[SPLAIN]

True, Viv was a sidekick, Mary Jane just a supporting player with very little to do on the shows except move some plots along to their inevitable conclusions. I actually LOVED Mary Jane on ILL, she had a better character there! As the neighbor Betty Ramsey!

[oldshows]

I would have to say Vivian. Vivian was great on ILL and TLS and continued to do great in her guest apperances on HL. Mary Jane was good but she wasn't Vivian.

[SPLAIN]

Isn't it funny when we watch the shows now and we see Bea Benedaret or Barbara Pepper and try to imagine them doing those things and being Lucy's sidekick, as much as i love Bea, nobody can touch Viv in my book!

[BundyBoy10]

By far, Vivian!:)

[LucyLova]

Vivian was a perfect foil and sidekick for Lucy. I loved her reactions to some of the stunts Lucy pulled!

[SPLAIN]

This is not a fair comparison anyway, Mary Jane's parts were always so small compared to Viv who really helped carry a show, not just a joke here and there.

[LucyLova]

I did like Mary Jane though, some of her reactions were hilarious!!

[SPLAIN]

Well, there's no denying how good she was, can you believe the dingbat on the Here's Lucy shows is the same person that played the hoity toity Betty Ramsey on the ILL show?

[LucyLova]

I can't believe it, but it certainly pays to be a dingbat! What do ya know, I'm a dingbat and I certainly don't get paid for it!

[bb25]

Well of course it's definitely Viv, hands down. But, Mary Jane Croft was as good as it got for a replacement of Viv. True, she wasn't as strong or had nearly as much presence or exposure as Viv did, but she still was cool. One of my favorite quotes of hers is when Lucy & Mary Jane are in a department store for free food while they demonstrate coats. So, the lady brings out this chinchilla coat for Lucy to try on, and says it's a steal at only $32,000 or something like that. Here are Mary Jane's lines:

Mary Jane: It's really beatiful Lucille...
Lucy or Lady:(Not sure what the exact lines are)
Mary Jane: Yeah, why dontcha get it?

That is so funny! As if Lucy could afford such a thing! :lol: :lol:

[SPLAIN]

Well it was true, i saw the ep of Here's Lucy where Mary Jane actually had an Ethel sized part and she was great, Mary Jane's new boyfriend is a perfect example of what we mean, when she was given more than a few lines, she actually was able to SHINE!

[Brenton]

Well, it is important to note, that Mary Jane was never inteded to replace Vivian Vance. After all, how could you replace Vivian Vance! Mary Jane was only a "filler". It was Gale Gordon who assumed the role of Ball's sidekick.

[SPLAIN]

Yes and as much as i used to hate him for always yelling and screaming at her when i was growing up watching the shows, i just saw the Lucille Ball meets Lucy Carter ep of Here's Lucy and he does a BIT in there that would make Chaplin proud!