{"id":14083,"date":"2011-08-06T16:17:08","date_gmt":"2011-08-06T20:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=14083"},"modified":"2011-08-06T16:17:08","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T20:17:08","slug":"i-love-lucy-100th-anniversary-some-inside-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=14083","title":{"rendered":"I Love Lucy: 100th Anniversary \u2013 SOME INSIDE STORIES"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Gina L. Caliboso<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line. \u201c \u2013 Lucille Ball<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Since all of you are well aware of my DVR recording timers, there is yet another timer that I continue to keep. Even though I have seen episode after episode and even after I see them again and still laugh, I am, forever, a die hard \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d fan. Today, August 6th, marks what would have been Lucille Ball\u2019s 100th Birthday and the 60th year when the first episode aired. In celebration, the Hallmark channel (yes folks, I don\u2019t just watch HBO, Showtime, and ESPN2 FNF) will be having a telethon in my favorite redhead\u2019s honor during the weekend.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve titled my article that we should all take a lesson, I\u2019ll begin with a little background. I am 40 years old. Before there were summer and after school programs, children\u2019s networks like Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, and let\u2019s face it \u2013 before cable television, there were only local channels. Like clockwork on those days when I didn\u2019t have school due to a celebration or time off from Catholic school, I\u2019d tune in to Channel 11 (now Fox in Los Angeles). \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d would be the show that I would watch while other kids played outdoors.<\/p>\n

“I Love Lucy” centers on the antics of housewife Lucy Ricardo trying to get into the act of her Cuban bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo. Accompanying the Ricardo\u2019s are Fred and Ethel Mertz, their lovable neighbors, and former Vaudeville performers. \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d had a tough beginning. Studio executives did not necessarily buy into the couple\u2019s chemistry to make the show work. Instead, both Lucy and Desi had to take their show \u201con the road.\u201d I like Lucille Ball\u2019s quote on the development of the show. She says, \u201chow I Love Lucy was born? We decided that instead of divorce lawyers profiting from our mistakes, we’d profit from them.\u201d The show first premiered in October 1951 and now 60 years later, it\u2019s still the most watched show in television history. According to Facebook\u2019s I Love Lucy Page, it shows 617,879 likes.<\/p>\n

Even when I would watch the show, I started to have my favorite episodes. Lucy was always trying to get into Ricky\u2019s act. There was no bad language. Lucy\u2019s antics were over the top \u2013 who doesn\u2019t know Vitameatavegamin? I talk to friends and we all have a favorite episode. My favorite episodes include \u201cThe Candy Factory\u201d and \u201cVitameatavegamin.\u201d And of course, there are the episodes when Lucy and Ricky found their way into Hollywood. The Hollywood episodes include guest appearances of William Holden, Rock Hudson, the Duke John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, and numerous others.<\/p>\n

There is also the episode where Lucy gives birth. According to one source, \u201cmore viewers tuned in for the television birth of “Little Ricky” Ricardo than for President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s (1890\u20131969) inauguration (swearing in as president). The show was the first in television history to claim viewing in more than ten million homes.\u201d (http:\/\/www.notablebiographies.com\/Ba-Be\/Ball-Lucille.html).<\/p>\n

I also liked the episodes that took place in Europe. On an episode of Frasier called \u201cAn Affair to Forget\u201d, they took a translating bit from an \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d episode. In the Frasier episode, a fencing instructor speaks only German who then speaks to a maid that speaks German and Spanish, who then speaks to Frasier as he translates into English. In \u201cI Love Lucy,\u201d Lucy gets picked up for counterfeit French money. The French policeman speaks in French to another policeman who speaks German to another person that speaks German and Spanish who then speaks to Ricky who then translates to English. Now, I\u2019m sure the bit has been done before, but to see how the bit works again nearly 40 years later \u2013 it\u2019s classic.<\/p>\n

There are a few lovely things I enjoy as I watch my DVR recording of \u201cI Love Lucy.\u201d First, on a talent level, Lucille Ball had an incredible gift in front of the audience. She had an excellent sense of comedic timing and pioneered physical comedy. Second, the show was ahead of its time because it used three cameras for filming and put on film. Finally, the show is a throwback to something just pure and genuine \u2013 much more so than even the most rehearsed reality show. It was real in its sense of humor and honest portrayal of a couple that fought but still kept a sense of humor. \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d is a show that I can watch with every member of my family. When I go over to my sister\u2019s house and it\u2019s a family gathering of sorts, I can turn on \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d and no one complains.<\/p>\n

So, RSR readers, leave a comment and let me know if you love the show and tell me your favorite episode. When I say we should take a lesson from Lucy, it\u2019s simple, laugh, laugh, laugh and smile, smile, smile. Given that my Editor Geno has bleakly predicted the demise of boxing after Pacquiao, I\u2019ll need something to smile about \u2013 at least until I hear about Pacquiao \u2013 Mayweather, JR bout.<\/p>\n

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Who did you enjoy best on I LOVE LUCY?<\/strong><\/p>