ipl-logo

I Love Lucy: The Most Influential Sitcoms In History

840 Words4 Pages

Kasey Chen
History of Television
Dahlia Schweitzer
Jun 18th 2018

I love Lucy: The greatest and most influential sitcoms in history

When I love Lucy first aired on October 15, 1951. The show had six seasons with a total of 180 episodes recorded on 35 mm film. No one could have thought that an average housewife being married to a “foreign” man with an indecipherable accent would become one of most beloved and enduring programs of all time. During its run, the series garnered 24 Emmy nominations and 5 wins, and it's the first show ever to feature an ensemble cast. At the time, I Love Lucy focused on the problem what people were facing in the fifties, such as race and gender. More than almost 70 years after I Love Lucy began the series are …show more content…

The show involves Lucy and Rick, a relatable young couple to many people. They lived in Manhattan with typical worries like paying bills and buying new household commodities. The humor of the show is when Lucy exaggerate the ordinary situations and manage to get herself involved time after time, and the husband, Rick, would discover her numerous schemes. When I Love Lucy first aired on CBS, there was competition on NBC the same time slot “Lights out” a top ten television version of the radio show. Critics predicted that I Love Lucy would not stand a chance. However, after watching the first episode, the critics changed their mind, TV Guide defined I Love Lucy as “the season’s most popular …show more content…

Lucy and her friend contest to that and wanted to switch places for a week; the men will cook and clean, and the women has to go out and find a job. At first, both parties feel that their new roles are easy, but as the day goes on they realized that they do not have suitable skills to do their new jobs successfully. The show portray women as homemakers and men as breadwinners, I Love Lucy Attempts to universalize and legitimize the notion that certain gender roles ought to be upheld.(Morrison) By showing men’s failure attempts at houseworks, and women could not keep pace at the stressful factory job. Ultimately, the switch was walled off after just one day. The show stresses that women and men inherently possess the skills need to survive. I Love Lucy emphasis that women’s skills were more suited for cooking and cleaning, but men also needed women in order to function, since men does not know how to take care of themselves once they are at

Show More
Related

Lucille Ball Short Biography

1228 Words | 5 Pages

CBS decided to adapt it for television and Lucille Ball insisted on working with her husband, Desi Arnaz, a Cuban musician and bandleader. CBS did not like the pilot made by Desilu Productions, the couple’s personal company, and so the pair took it on the road as a vaudeville act. CBS saw their success and turned I Love Lucy into a television show which skyrocketed Ball into fame and helped her and Desi Arnaz try to save their strained marriage. Higham, 1986Lucille Ball starred in several films and series after I Love Lucy, but never to the same fame she achieved with that

Read More

How Did Lucille Ball Contribute To The World

565 Words | 3 Pages

Lucille Ball is an admirable woman for contributing to the world numerous times. Born on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York. Lucille Ball got her start as a singer, model and film star before becoming one of America's top comedic actresses. With the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy, she became a hit. When she was 15 she convinced her mother to allow her to enroll in a New York City drama school.

Read More

How Did Lucille Ball Change Women In Society

977 Words | 4 Pages

Ball created this company because other companies that she worked for would not allow her to do the things that she wanted. Her company produced I Love Lucy and many other series that allowed her to perform more of her original ideas. “Ball not only starred in “I Love Lucy” but co-owned its production company, Desilu, with her husband Desi Arnaz.” With this company producing more television series earned her more attention and love from the crowds. Co-owning this company made her the first woman to lead a television production company.

Read More

Lucille Ball Thesis Statement

544 Words | 3 Pages

SUMMARY OF LUCILLE BALL (Time frame – 1950s - 1970s): I will provide a summary about Lucille Ball by using sources to provide background information about her life proceeding to the time of her success in comedy and television. I will then discuss how her stardom and popularity in the public eye helped to develop her brand, which lead her to become the first women CEO of a television network and the first owner of a television

Read More

Analysis Of The Goldbergs And The Twilight Zone

1208 Words | 5 Pages

The show depicted the everyday experiences of a Jewish immigrant family in the Bronx and their navigation of American society. At the beginning of each episode, Molly Goldberg, the sympathetic protagonist and mother figure, directly addresses the audience, introducing the moral themes of the episode along with advertisements. By breaking the fourth wall of communication in television with her direct address, Molly mediates between the story world and reality, which eases the transition and makes her relatable to the viewer. For the first televised sitcom, it is remarkable how the show vocalized the female perspective, and centralized an immigrant group thought to be unassimilable in society

Read More

Lucille Ball Research Paper

1809 Words | 8 Pages

People all over the world soon knew the name Lucy Ricardo, and the show was translated into Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and Portuguese so viewers across the globe could understand (Hanson). Due to the non-existence of DVR’s, stores and restaurants closed when I Love Lucy was on, putting up signs that said “We love Lucy, too. See you after the show.” According to Vince Waldron, author of Classic Sitcoms, “‘Quite simply the show was better written, preformed, and photographed better than anything the audience had ever seen. Even today-more than 4 decades after the series ended its run-few situation comedies can match the look, presentation and pacing of I Love Lucy, televisions first classic sitcom’ (“Ball, Lucille”).”

Read More

How Did Lucille Ball Contribute To Sport

187 Words | 1 Pages

The extraordinary Lucille Ball was the most loved and iconic television comedian of her time. She was an American icon and the first lady of television during the 1950s. Not only did Lucille Ball provide laughter to millions of people, but Lucille Ball gave women a voice and America heard what she had to say. She showed women they can be accepted, and be in a position both on television and in the working world where they can be strong and independent. She set an example for women and showed society that women have a voice to be heard and will be successful, when given the opportunity.

Read More

Informative Essay: Lucille Ball's Dreams

433 Words | 2 Pages

Lucille wanted to be an actress and she accomplished that goal. She was in a lot of famous movies and in a show called “I Love Lucy.” This proved that, if you want something bad enough, and you never give up, you can fulfill your dreams. Lucille Ball was a fabulous person, but she had a frustrating life as a kid.

Read More

Humor And Satire In The Roseanne Show

1222 Words | 5 Pages

Satire and sarcasm are used every day to get ones’ views across. The Roseanne show both, past and present, does just that. Roseanne is an expert at using not only sarcasm and satire, but also humor to express her point of view through the writing of her TV show. The Roseanne show debuted on October 18, 1988 and ran until May 20, 1997. In its early days the show was created to portray an average working-class family.

Read More

I Love Lucy Show Vs. The Andy Griffith Show

787 Words | 4 Pages

The “I Love Lucy” show and “The Andy Griffith Show” are two older TV shows that have some similarities, but are generally very different from one another. Both of these TV shows were very popular and both ranked among the top most-watched TV shows in the United States. These television series’ have had a major impact on the television industry and the countless people that have watched them. “I Love Lucy” began in 1951 and lasted for 6 years, until 1957. Even to this day, this black and white film is still a very popular and influential TV show back from the 50's.

Read More

Textual Analysis Of Edward Scissorhands

309 Words | 2 Pages

The first time I saw Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990) was a few years ago. I only can remember Edward’s face (Johnny Depp), the pale and wounded face. And his eyes, looks pure and scared. In this autumn, we reviewed this film.

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Andy Griffith Show

805 Words | 4 Pages

For one, The Andy Griffith Show took place in Mayberry, North Carolina. Mayberry is a very slow paced, small town and is highlighted by Andy and Barney fighting crime together. I love Lucy takes place in New York, which is much faster paced and has a totally different style of living. I love Lucy is highlighted by Lucy’s attempts to intervene in the show business where Ricky has become successful. I believe the timeframe in which these shows were shot also plays a big role in differences.

Read More

How Have Family Sitcoms Changed?

1886 Words | 8 Pages

Since then, the family sitcom has become the yearly ritual for television pilots. Furthermore, the question remains; Have family sitcoms changed? The First family sitcom to make it big is the eternally classic I love Lucy. In addition to being a pioneer of the multi-camera setup, it is considered one of the most worldwide popular shows of all

Read More

I Love Lucy Ricardo's Housewife Analysis

445 Words | 2 Pages

The show also did not challenge gender roles. In the episode, job switching, both Lucy and Ricky decided to switch roles to prove each other they can handle each other’s job role. By the end of the episode, Lucy could not handle a job at a factory and Ricky could not handle house chores. This once again did not challenge the common belief that a women’s responsibility is to run the household while the men runs the business. Although Lucy was not the perfect 50’s housewives, the show was a success because of its uniqueness in character and physical

Read More

Gender Roles In Billy Elliot

1854 Words | 8 Pages

Commonly, males provided for their family while women took care of the home. Gender roles were necessary for survival in primitive times because of the volatile, Darwinian environment. However, as the world developed, gender roles were still engrained in society and patriarchy was solidified. Thus, husbands have become dominant at home and in the workforce and earning income became a fixed job of men (Farrelly 4). Likewise, Jackie Elliot is shown destroying his dead wife’s piano for firewood is symbolic of traditional gender roles.

Read More

More about I Love Lucy: The Most Influential Sitcoms In History

Related Topics

Open Document