Episode 3: The Diet

Episode 3: The Diet

Grade: C

Airdate: October 29, 1951

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the fat-shaming and diet nonsense, but I did think the "Cuban Pete" song and dance number with Ricky & Lucy was sexy (although, yes, with stereotypes). It's interesting that this time when she's in the show, it's a hit, but she's got to rest for three weeks due to malnutrition. And this is the first episode where Lucy's maiden name of McGillicuddy is mentioned, since she uses it for her audition.

I've thought about tagging "smoking," but I feel like that would be almost every episode.

Musical director Marco Rizo makes his first of ten onscreen appearances for the show, here as the Piano Player.

Episode 2: Be a Pal

Episode 2: Be a Pal

Airdate: October 22, 1951

Grade: B-

This made me laugh out loud, although I didn't really like the poker scene because Lucy was too much of an idiot. The Cuban stereotypes are over the top, but I did like learning that Ricky's mother not only bore six sons but she was a singer and dancer.

It's interesting that Ethel is the plot-driver here, using advice from a "Book of the Week" selection (four times as good as a "Book of the Month") to help Lucy regain Ricky's interest. Ethel even dresses in drag. She probably knows recapturing Fred's interest would be impossible, since he just sort of tolerates her, like a '50s Mr. Roper on Three's Company. At least we're spared hearing how horny Ethel is.

Tony Michaels plays Charlie here and would be a laundryman later. Richard J. Reeves has his first of nine roles on the show, as Hank, a poker player like Charlie.

Marc Daniels directed again.

Episode 1: The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub

Episode 1: The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub

Airdate: October 15, 1951

Grade: C+

It's Fred and Ethel's 18th wedding anniversary. Frawley, by the way, was 64, while Vance was 42, although she had to frump up to seem older than Ball. And when the girls disguise themselves as the boys' blind dates (and, yes, they say "girls" and "boys"), Ethel is supposed to be Lucy's mother. There's a lot of suspension of disbelief that the guys don't recognize their own wives, even with "necking."

It's implied that Lucy and Ricky have been together 11 years, and they got married when he'd been in the U.S. only a few months. But the real bonds here are of course same-sex, with Fred and Ethel wanting to celebrate their anniversary in different ways, and Ricky and Lucy each taking the side of their best friend, to the point that they argue and say that the Mertzes should get divorced.

I don't know what to make of all this yet, other than the series is so far more interesting than entertaining. At least the first episode to air is a bit better than the pilot that would wait another four decades.

Marc Daniels directed for the first of 39 times, just in the first two seasons.

Episode 0: The Very First Show

Episode 0: The Very First Show

Original airdate: 1990 but made around April of 1951 because Lucy was six months pregnant with Lucie at the time.

Grade: C

I might've watched this when it aired but not since. You can see the basics of the series, including that Lucy wants to be "in the show," but Ricky wants a wife "who's just a wife." But the sets are minimal, especially the living room where the Ricardos sleep on (separate) sofabeds. 

And there are no Mertzes. Yes, there are other people, but most of them don't speak. Jerry Hausner debuts as Ricky's agent Jerry, although he'd have other roles, too. Pepito Perez, who was then 66, plays Pepito the Clown. I have to admit I find clowns kind of boring, although I could see his talent. (And his widow is the one who found the "lost" footage many years later.)

This episode runs 35 minutes, rather than the usual 25-ish. It definitely felt too long, but I can see why they wanted to include so many musical numbers, as well as give Lucy a chance to show off as Pepito's replacement. 

The main thing I liked here was glimpses of Lucy and Desi's chemistry, romantically and comedically. She teases him about his accent, as she would in the main series, but it's done with fondness and he's a good sport about it. At this point, 40-year-old Ball and 34-year-old Arnaz had been married for over a decade, a sometimes tempestuous marriage, although their love remained strong. This impacted ILL, as I'll discuss when pertinent. (Also, we can see that he's being presented as a sex symbol, his hairy chest exposed in the first scene.)

Ralph Levy directed for the only time, being more associated with Burns & Allen and Jack Benny, among many other series. On the other hand, this was written by the usual ILL writers Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. (154, 180, and 180 episodes respectively, since it looks like Oppenheimer was gone for Season Six.)

Introduction

 "Love-hate" might be putting it too strongly. The truth is, I don't know how I feel about I Love Lucy anymore. As a Gen-Xer I grew up watching it heavily in syndication in the '70s, but by the time I was an adolescent feminist in the '80s, I found the show embarrassing. I haven't watched it much since, although a few years ago in a hotel, it was the best thing on out of the 100s of TV channels. (The episode where the mean neighbor turns out to adore baby Little Ricky.)

ILL wasn't the first TV sitcom but it was HUGE and influential. Its legacy hangs over almost every sitcom I watched, and some I didn't watch. It was also my introduction to various '50s celebrities: Dore Schary, Tennessee Ernie Ford, William Holden, Tallulah Bankhead, etc. The 75th anniversary next week is a good time to go back, and my plan is to just watch each episode on its 75th anniversary.

Some things I'll ponder:

• Fashion, music, and anything pop-cultural
• Marriage, parenthood, gender roles, etc.
• Celebrities and people who are really obscure even to me at this point
• Catch-phrases, slapstick, and anything else humor-related
• My identification with Ethel Mertz
• Anything else that turns out to matter but I can't think of at the moment