So, a month ago I started binging I Love Lucy episodes on Hulu. I just finished all six seasons last night.
For some reason, they didn't have ALL the episodes, but they had most of them. They had Vitameatavegimin, they had the candy conveyor belt, they had Lucy raising chickens, they had Lucy squashing grapes with her feet, among others. And even though I have seen every I Love Lucy episode multiple times in reruns, there was still in the majority of the episodes, something that made me actually laugh out loud at least once. Yes, it's misogynistic, yes it's racist (only person of color I saw (other than Ricky of course) was a train porter; and Lucy does impersonate a Chinese woman & Ethel an Eskimo both nothing but stereotypes), but it was a product of it's time. Lucy was the master of physical comedy. And the writers were sheer geniuses.
The show had lots of famous guest stars, especially when the Ricardos and Mertzes, were in Hollywood for half a season. But I saw a lot of actors in probably their first gig, minor parts all. As Lucy was made in the 50s, I saw a bunch of actors I saw on TV shows in the 60s and early 70s. And I kept track of them.
Jeannie from I Dream Of Jeannie played a sexy young woman tempting the husbands at a dance.
The second Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched played the wife of a Texas oilman AND a lady on a subway platform several seasons later.
Grandma Ester Walton from The Waltons played Lucy's drama teacher from back in high school.
Beaver Cleaver from Leave It To Beaver, played Lucy's son in an early season dream sequence
Miss Jane Hathaway played a maid on a hotel when they gang was in London.
And Mrs. Howell, the Millionaire's Wife from Gilligan's Island, played the instructor of a charm school the wives attended.
I'm sure there were others, but I thought it's something how Lucy tapped into the careers of so many other TV starts.
POLT
No comments:
Post a Comment