SITCOM: A HISTORY IN 24 EPISODES FROM I LOVE LUCY TO COMMUNITY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Saul Austerlitz | 406 pages | 01 Mar 2014 | Chicago Review Press | 9781613743843 | English | United States I Love Lucy (TV Series –) - IMDb Episodes Seasons. Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Edit Cast Complete series cast summary: Lucille Ball Lucy Ricardo episodes, Desi Arnaz Ricky Ricardo episodes, Vivian Vance Ethel Mertz episodes, William Frawley Edit Did You Know? Trivia William Frawley , aka "Fred Mertz", had a well known and longtime issue with alcoholism. He was advised in the beginning of the series to stay sober, or be terminated. So, if you look closely, a majority of his scenes display his character having his hands deep in his pockets. This would therefore not show his hands trembling, due to his alcoholic withdrawals. Goofs The Ricardos are said to live in an apartment at East 68th Street, which in real life would be located in the East River. This is not actually a 'goof' because it was done deliberately to avoid legal issues with an actual address. Quotes Lucy Ricardo : How much do you want to bet? Fred Mertz : Ten dollars. Ethel Mertz : Well what's the matter with twenty dollars? Ricky Ricardo : What's the matter with thirty dollars? Lucy Ricardo : What's the matter with fifty dollars? Fred Mertz : What was the matter with ten dollars? Crazy Credits In some of the episodes, the guest-star's name s are voiced over, by conductor, Wilbur Hatch , in the Opening Credits or Closing Credits. Alternate Versions The famous opening credit sequence, where the names appear over a heart, was not a part of the original series run. Originally, various cartoons related to the show and the show's sponsor were used. The version everyone knows today was created for syndication. TV Land "restored" the original opening for its broadcasts. However, the references to the sponsor were replaced with a TV Land logo; as such these openings have only been seen on telecasts on said network, and by the earlys, TV Land started reinstating the "heart" credits on its reruns. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report this. Add the first question. Language: English Spanish. Runtime: 30 min episodes. Sound Mix: Mono. Color: Black and White. The Cosby Show Pilot : I remember this show vaguely being on the air originally and I remember reruns on many stations, as well. I would like to take the opportunity the inclusion of this show affords to talk about something I've noticed but I can't seem to find anyone else on the internet has noticed. There are a lot of so-called family-friendly television shows whose messages are actually more destructive than shows where characters are swearing their heads off, chopping each other's heads off or jumping in and out of bed with each other. Parents and children are at war? I thought being a family was supposed to be about loving one another and being subject one to another as the Bible says in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Apparently, however, Mr. Bill TNB Cosby seems to think it's about figuratively wrestling with your kids over time, money and resources. Cosby as Cliff Huxtable is apparently as manipulative a father as he was as an alleged rapist. I would not, if I caught my kid drinking, force her to play a drinking game with me. In fact, I would probably approach alcohol in a totally different way, allowing my teenager to consume small amounts on my property under my supervision. That way, they would be less likely to drink behind my back or to go to parties or bars with their friends where they could have something slipped in their drinks, probably by someone who works for Bill Cosby or someone like him. To return to the episode in question for a further example of what I'm talking about, what's wrong with being "regular people. On the other hand, if they don't go to university there's less of a chance young female fans of the Cosby show will be allegedly raped by you so there's actually a distinct advantage there to being "regular people. In real life, kids, people are not going to put their lives on hold to move in with you for eight years. If they have a number one hit in Japan, they aren't likely to cut the tour short because they miss you three brats so goshdarn much. And, kids, their spouses really aren't going to be inclined to move in with you and live in your attic, to say nothing of raising their children up there as if your relatives live in a V. Andrews novel or something. I would also like to take "The Cosby Show" as an opportunity to give my opinion about black people in sitcoms. Blackness versus whiteness never came up, and the characters were except for Kingfish of course decent, hardworking people who lived in nice neighbourhoods and didn't expect the white man, aka the welfare system, to take care of them for the rest of their lives. However, every other black sitcom has, to some degree or another, been the black man against the white man, meaning, in this case, simply the white man and not the welfare system. From what I've heard, "What's Happenin" is just some black teenagers getting into trouble all the time and begging the sister of one of them "Don't tell Mama. In real life, Will's friends would have referred to the Banks' as Uncle Tom's or houseniggers. It is worth noting that, on a Christmas episode of "The Cosby Show", Cliff Huxtable got into a discussion with a child about whether or not Santa Clause is white. Hence, take note, TV producers. All you have to do to get truly equal representation of minorities especially blacks on television is to catch up to a program that was doing it on the radio probably as early as Roseanne Terms of Estrangement, Part 1 : "Roseanne" was also in it's original run and re-run a lot on many different stations so I saw the majority of episodes, including this one, when I was a kid. I definitely agree with the book that the show went off the rails in the last two seasons. I also agree with the book that it was the best of the sitcoms of its kind at the time. With Children" had lots of funny lines and hilarious situations, but, as Austerlitz says, it had no nuance. Al was the most down-trodden, pathetic blue collar worker in the world. Peg was the laziest housewife in the world. Bud was the most borderline juvenile delinquent and later most sexually frustrated teenager in the world. Kelly was the biggest teen slut in the world. As well, if the writers meant some of the jokes about Peg's poor home economist skills and Al's lack of earning power to be true, then literally how did the family survive? I do disagree, however, with the book where "Home Improvement" is concerned. The Taylors are not blue collar. Tim hosted a TV show and in the first episode told Jill "I make enough money for both of us. Not exactly the same socioeconomic strata as throwing steel. As with the star of the previous show, Roseanne would also meet her downfall, albeit after a one season revival of her eponymous program. Unlike her country's president, her undoing would come about because of a single tweet. The neighbour's children first introduced me to "The Simpsons. I would watch it with them, but since I didn't hang around a lot of other kids as a child, I bought into what the adults were saying that it was a horrible, immoral show and would be a bad influence on me. My sister continued to enjoy the show, however, and one day, while visiting my grandmother, I decided to watch a rerun of it with her on CBC. From then on, I was hooked. It's like my uncle said: "People don't get the point of The Simpsons. It's a lampoon. Our cable company didn't provide the Canadian channel on which it was broadcast. It's a good show. Would I watch the episode under discussion again? No, but I'm glad I watched. Bryan appears as Ricky's new boss. Lucy tells Ethel that she has been experiencing strange health problems lately, including weight gain and low energy. Ethel suspects that she is actually pregnant, and a visit to the doctor confirms her theory. Lucy tries to prepare the "perfect" moment to tell Ricky, but his business at the club keeps him away. Ricky gets quite a surprise when he finds out who requested the song. With the baby coming, Ricky decides that Lucy should stay in bed while he does the chores. Lucy thinks it is just because of the baby. Even with motherhood fast approaching, Lucy still wants to be in Ricky's "Gay 90's Revue. Lucy wants her baby to be raised in the "proper vocal environment," so she hires a tutor Hans Conried to teach Ricky proper English diction. The tutor turns out to be a struggling actor, and hopes that Ricky will give him a break. Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel all sing a ridiculous song composed by the tutor. When Lucy's pregnancy cravings and preoccupation with a baby shower leave Ricky frustrated and overwhelmed, he begins to develop psychosomatic pregnancy symptoms of his own.