Did you see Google's awesome "Lucy" surprise this morning? I had totally forgotten that today would be Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. Which is surprising because while many of us love "I Love Lucy", I really loved "I Love Lucy." It was probably my favorite show growing up, and not just because I caught the reruns on TV. My mom (who introduced me to the show) actually enrolled us in a video-of-the-month club (yes, it was the 1980s) to get the most popular episodes on VHS tapes (which we still have). I have seen every episode--and I mean every episode--multiple times and can recite most by heart. Later, when I worked on the curatorial staff at the Museum of Television & Radio (now called the Paley Center) in my late 20s, I was the in-house "I Love Lucy" expert, despite the fact that I was born a generation after the show aired. I even travelled to an annual I Love Lucy fan convention in rural upstate New York (where Lucy was grew up), and let me tell you, that takes dedication--which is rewarded amply by some of the most unusual people-watching you'll ever see.
More recently, I introduced R. to I Love Lucy. I DVR'd a few episodes for her and she liked "The Diner" (Season 3, Episode 92, first aired April 26, 1954). Have you seen that one? If you have, you'll laugh too when I tell you that when R. "plays" restaurant with her brother, she calls their establishment "Big Hunk of America."
Lucy is good pure fun for kids....and watching it with them is a wonderful way to pass on an American classic to the next generation. The DVDs are available on Amazon.com - I highly recmmend Season 3 as the funniest, but you may also want to check out Season 2 (which includes the famous chocolate factory scene from "Job Switching").
Image: courtesy of Hollywood Outbreak.
No comments:
Post a Comment