I Love Lucy
by Nicole D.
“I Love Lucy” began its more that fifty-year run on television on October 15, 1951. From that moment forward, television history would be forever changed. That was the day that the scatter-brained, but loveable redhead and the struggling Cuban musician entered the scene with a phrase that will never be forgotten – “Honey I’m home”!
“I Love Lucy” was a pioneer in the sitcom genre that paved the way for future series’, such as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and had a great impact on viewers in the 1950’s and that impact continues today. However, in order to fully understand the impact that the series had on society, it is important to have a bit of background knowledge. “I Love Lucy” was based on a radio sitcom that Lucille Ball, who had already made a name for herself in Hollywood, starred in called “My Favorite Husband” with actor Richard Denning. CBS, realizing how popular the radio show had become, asked her if she would consider making the move to television. She agreed – but only if her real husband, musician Desi Arnaz, could play her TV husband. After much debate over whether or not Arnaz’s thick Cuban accent would have a negative effect on viewers, a contract was negotiated between CBS, sponsor Phillip Morris and Lucy and Desi’s production company Desilu. Only one more thing stood in the way of their dream, which was the issue of where filming would take place. Since the setting for the show would take place in New York, CBS thought it was only natural to film the show live from that location. However, Lucy and Desi wanted production to stay in Hollywood while still capturing the show on film in order to ensure its long viewing life. Finally CBS and their sponsors gave in, but asked them to pay the additional costs of production in exchange for them gaining one hundred percent ownership of the series. Little did they know that when they made that deal that “I Love Lucy” would be one of the top grossing sitcoms of all time, earning them the title of the first millionaire TV stars.
While the series was very popular, it addressed many issues that hardly anyone was addressing at that time. In the 1950’s, most television series were very domestic in nature, meaning that they focused mainly on marriage and family life. “I Love Lucy” conformed to this ideal with the premise of two newlyweds attempting to live the American Dream – Ricky as a struggling Cuban immigrant trying to make it big in show business and Lucy as a housewife and later a mother. However, the similarities between “I Love Lucy” and other 1950’s sitcoms end there. Apparently, the American Dream that Lucy had in mind didn’t exactly involve housework. In the reality of the sitcom, Lucy was “a frustrated housewife who longs to escape the confinement of her domestic role and participate in a larger public world, preferably to join Ricky in show business.” The series was the first to show an independent woman, who was not content being a mere housewife living in her husband’s shadow.
Lucy’s determination to pull away from her role as housewife created most of the tension and conflict that was the primary source of entertainment for the show, primarily because of Ricky’s traditional beliefs for how a woman should act – mainly that it is impossible for a woman to be anything other than a wife and mother. However, Lucy continued to rebel against the roles that were placed upon her by society. “Her acts of rebellion… are meant to expose the absurd restrictions placed on women in a male-dominated society. Yet her rebellion is forever thwarted. By entering the public sphere she inevitably makes a spectacular mess of things and is almost inevitably forced to retreat, to return to the status quo of domestic life that will begin the next episode.” However, even though Lucy was inevitably forced to resign to her lifestyle as a housewife, the fact that she challenged society’s norms for how a woman should act, not only in the show but in her real life as well, gave women viewers hope for their own liberation from the status quo.
“I Love Lucy” helped bring to the forefront the issues that were plaguing women in the 1950’s, issues like conformity and repression, and the feelings surrounding them. For this reason, “I Love Lucy” helped shape a generation and will continue to shape many more to come.
Sources:
Anderson, Christopher. I Love Lucy: U.S. Situation Comedy. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. 20 October 2006
tvland 20 October 2006
“I Love Lucy” began its more that fifty-year run on television on October 15, 1951. From that moment forward, television history would be forever changed. That was the day that the scatter-brained, but loveable redhead and the struggling Cuban musician entered the scene with a phrase that will never be forgotten – “Honey I’m home”!
“I Love Lucy” was a pioneer in the sitcom genre that paved the way for future series’, such as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, and had a great impact on viewers in the 1950’s and that impact continues today. However, in order to fully understand the impact that the series had on society, it is important to have a bit of background knowledge. “I Love Lucy” was based on a radio sitcom that Lucille Ball, who had already made a name for herself in Hollywood, starred in called “My Favorite Husband” with actor Richard Denning. CBS, realizing how popular the radio show had become, asked her if she would consider making the move to television. She agreed – but only if her real husband, musician Desi Arnaz, could play her TV husband. After much debate over whether or not Arnaz’s thick Cuban accent would have a negative effect on viewers, a contract was negotiated between CBS, sponsor Phillip Morris and Lucy and Desi’s production company Desilu. Only one more thing stood in the way of their dream, which was the issue of where filming would take place. Since the setting for the show would take place in New York, CBS thought it was only natural to film the show live from that location. However, Lucy and Desi wanted production to stay in Hollywood while still capturing the show on film in order to ensure its long viewing life. Finally CBS and their sponsors gave in, but asked them to pay the additional costs of production in exchange for them gaining one hundred percent ownership of the series. Little did they know that when they made that deal that “I Love Lucy” would be one of the top grossing sitcoms of all time, earning them the title of the first millionaire TV stars.
While the series was very popular, it addressed many issues that hardly anyone was addressing at that time. In the 1950’s, most television series were very domestic in nature, meaning that they focused mainly on marriage and family life. “I Love Lucy” conformed to this ideal with the premise of two newlyweds attempting to live the American Dream – Ricky as a struggling Cuban immigrant trying to make it big in show business and Lucy as a housewife and later a mother. However, the similarities between “I Love Lucy” and other 1950’s sitcoms end there. Apparently, the American Dream that Lucy had in mind didn’t exactly involve housework. In the reality of the sitcom, Lucy was “a frustrated housewife who longs to escape the confinement of her domestic role and participate in a larger public world, preferably to join Ricky in show business.” The series was the first to show an independent woman, who was not content being a mere housewife living in her husband’s shadow.
Lucy’s determination to pull away from her role as housewife created most of the tension and conflict that was the primary source of entertainment for the show, primarily because of Ricky’s traditional beliefs for how a woman should act – mainly that it is impossible for a woman to be anything other than a wife and mother. However, Lucy continued to rebel against the roles that were placed upon her by society. “Her acts of rebellion… are meant to expose the absurd restrictions placed on women in a male-dominated society. Yet her rebellion is forever thwarted. By entering the public sphere she inevitably makes a spectacular mess of things and is almost inevitably forced to retreat, to return to the status quo of domestic life that will begin the next episode.” However, even though Lucy was inevitably forced to resign to her lifestyle as a housewife, the fact that she challenged society’s norms for how a woman should act, not only in the show but in her real life as well, gave women viewers hope for their own liberation from the status quo.
“I Love Lucy” helped bring to the forefront the issues that were plaguing women in the 1950’s, issues like conformity and repression, and the feelings surrounding them. For this reason, “I Love Lucy” helped shape a generation and will continue to shape many more to come.
Sources:
Anderson, Christopher. I Love Lucy: U.S. Situation Comedy. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. 20 October 2006
tvland 20 October 2006
posted by Leslie Madsen-Brooks at 10/31/2006 10:18:00 PM
6 Comments:
The popularity of "I Love Lucy," I feel helped them to break some of the existing rules about what could and could not be shown on t.v. There was an uproar over Lucy's pregancy, regardless of the fact that the fater - both in real life AND on telivions - was Desi. I often wonder how the networks would have addressed the situation had the father and actor not been the same man....Heaven forbid an ACTOR who is ACTING like the father...it just seems like an odd thought to me. The 1950s, trying to be as much an ideal society as possible, had such a hard time distinguishing such a basic level of fiction...and it astounds me. Within this structure, I look at bizarre rules of entertainment...so: Shakespeare had men playing women, but Lucy could barely have her husband play her baby's daddy. Does anyone else find this awkward?
The popularity of "I Love Lucy," I feel helped them to break some of the existing rules about what could and could not be shown on t.v. There was an uproar over Lucy's pregancy, regardless of the fact that the fater - both in real life AND on telivions - was Desi. I often wonder how the networks would have addressed the situation had the father and actor not been the same man....Heaven forbid an ACTOR who is ACTING like the father...it just seems like an odd thought to me. The 1950s, trying to be as much an ideal society as possible, had such a hard time distinguishing such a basic level of fiction...and it astounds me. Within this structure, I look at bizarre rules of entertainment...so: Shakespeare had men playing women, but Lucy could barely have her husband play her baby's daddy. Does anyone else find this awkward?
I understand the role of women was deeply questioned in the sitcom and society as a whole during this time period, but was race an issue? The fact that Ricky was a Cuban immigrant didn't stir controversy? I find it interesting that a man coming to America to fulfill his lifelong dreams, inevitably does so. But, a woman who was born and raised here, does not gain the same rights.
I liked how this blog pointed out the fact that they were struggling newlyweds. During thw 1950's married couples were supposed to live ideal lives in their perfect houses. When in reality, that kind of immediate security was uncommon. This show helped point out that life was not always easy.
Race was also an issue with this show. It had a lot of stereotypes and reinforced several things that society was dealing with. There was an episode where Lucy portrays the image of Chiquita banana.
This show brought up a lot of issues in the 1950s.
I think it is interesting that while the show was somewhat of a champion for women's rights, depicting Lucy as a housewife unfulfilled with her participation in society, it still presented racist depictions of Latin Americans. Although groundbreaking in some aspects, the show always played upon Ricky's Cuban roots. In one episode we studied in AMS 10, Lucy attempts to make Ricky feel more "at home" by decorating their house with stereotypically Cuban artifacts. The show is a good representation of where our country was at this time in recognizing the repressed role of women, but still failing to acknowledge racist stereotypes of immigrants.
The most interesting thing I learned from this post is that the ‘progressive’ plot of a Cuban immigrant trying to make it in America was not the result of the producer’s forethought, but rather the result of an insistence on the part of Lucille Ball that her husband be the co-star. Perhaps “I love Lucy” was a show ahead of its time because it accidentally pushed the envelope. Note: I realize that it had other ‘progressive’ ideas other than the Cuban immigrant thing… but it’s still very interesting that the biggest part of its difference was a result of Lucille wanting her husband on screen with her.
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