"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
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