Lucy, You've Got Some 'Splainin' To Do!

This blog has often lamented the fragmentation of audiences caused by the explosion of our media choices-and on this, the anniversary of the LAST “I Love Lucy” episode in 1961, that point is driven home.

I think there is value in “shared experience”-even if it is only TV. It is said that there are no more “mass” audiences-just micro-targets—perhaps to the point that someday, we’ll each have our own “channel”—one that no one else sees.

Of course, in the early days of television, the choices were 2—and then 3. Somehow, we all survived as a society—and in my estimation, may have been better off.

“I Love Lucy” ran for 10 years. Lucille Ball, a former Hollywood starlet and radio actress, teamed up with her husband Desi Arnaz. Ball insisted to network executives that her husband be cast in the show as her TV hubby as well, despite their claims that the country wouldn’t believe or accept the idea that a white American actress would be married to a Cuban bandleader.

Seems the suits were wrong.

“I Love Lucy” became one of the most popular sitcoms in history, ranking in the top three shows for six years-and turning the couple’s production company “Desilu Productions” into a multi-million dollar entity.

Thanks to reruns, everyone over 35 years of age has a “favorite” Lucy episode. Mine happens to be the candy factory assembly line where Lucy & Ethel can’t keep up with the flow of chocolates and must eat or hide the product as it races by!

In case you don’t remember (how COULDN’T you?!), here it is:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wp3m1vg06Q


Of course, it’s tough to think of only ONE show that makes you laugh out loud. The beauty was that you KNEW that everyone you knew had watched the same show at the same time.

Today, with DVR’s, (or even stone-age devices like the VCR in my home), timeshifting means that commonality is lost. The closest thing we have is “American Idol”-but even that could be watched a day or two after it originally airs.

As for Lucy, she became President of Desilu Productions following her divorce from Desi in 1960. She then starred in several other “Lucy” shows : “The Lucy Show” which debuted in 1962 and ran for six years, “Here’s Lucy”-which also starred her two children. A later program, “Life With Lucy” was cancelled after only 8 episodes. Ball died in 1989-and Arnaz in 1986.

Despite less than stellar attempts to recreate the magic of that first show, Lucy’s impact on TV and in our nation’s collective pop culture can’t be overstated. There was no one bigger than Lucy during “I Love Lucy”’s heyday.

It was a simpler time—and the ability of TV to create HUGE consistent tune-in has never been higher.

If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know! Tim.moore@citcomm.com