Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! I’ve been so thrilled with the response to my first book, Great American Sitcoms of the 1950s, which you can order here (or on Amazon here), so in continued celebration, I’m kicking off another month of 1950s rerun posts, where I’ll share a link to a piece published many seasons ago before offering a bit of updated commentary.
Today, let’s revisit… The Ten Best I LOVE LUCY Episodes of Season One: https://jacksonupperco.com/2013/06/18/the-ten-best-i-love-lucy-episodes-of-season-one/
This was my first Sitcom Tuesday post and I must admit, I can’t even look at it now — I’ve grown so much over these last 12 years, improving as a thinker, a writer, and a watcher of television. The only thing that hasn’t changed is my love of I Love Lucy and my appreciation of it as a seminal situation comedy — the 1950s’ best. So, naturally, there’s a lot of Lucy in my book, as I track the show’s best episodes and its evolution throughout the decade (including in its hour-long form). But one of my favorite chapters is the fourth, which covers the 1951-1952 season, where I dive into Lucy‘s excellence both as a technological specimen, refining the multi-camera filmed format for television by making it a viable option for situation comedies going forward (a method still used by shows today!), and as the first true example of excellent sitcommery on TV, with well-defined characters who drive story and earn those big hilarious centerpieces. Specifically, the choice to give Lucy Ricardo a central objective — her desire to get into show business — provided an engine for episodic plots that could be directly attached to her depiction, enabling character-driven comedy in a way that the genre on TV had not yet seen. What’s more, with semi-autobiographical elements taken from the stars’ real lives — especially when crafting a role for her husband, Ricky Ricardo, modeled after Desi Arnaz himself — the show benefited from enhanced emotional credibility and continuity, which extended into the ensemble beyond just Lucy, creating an entire arena in which strong characters could thrive. All of this, plus the fact that it was very funny — enlivening My Favorite Husband radio scripts with better-defined leads and physical comedy that honored this medium’s new visual opportunities — immediately guaranteed I Love Lucy as both a popular and influential work, inspiring so many shows in the 1950s… and beyond. That’s why a lot of my book naturally revolves around this series and its contributions to the genre, making it essential reading for Lucy fans everywhere.
Come back next week for more 1950s sitcom fun and stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!