ONE SEASON WONDERS: Life With Lucy

LIFE WITH LUCY

Programming Details:
September 20, 1986 - November 15, 1986
8 episodes
ABC

Starring: Lucille Ball, Gale Gordon, Ann Dusenberry, Larry Anderson, Jenny Lewis, Philip J. Amelio II, and Donovan Scott
Created by: Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis

Plot: Lucille Ball returned to TV as Lucy Barker, a grandmother who moves in with her daughter, Margo (Dusenberry) and son-in-law, Ted (Anderson) and grandchildren, Becky and Kevin (Lewis & Amelio). Lucy also contends with longtime foil Gale Gordon as Ted's father, Curtis. Rounding out the main cast is an employee at Curtis' hardware store, Leonard (Scott). 

Brief Pilot Review:

Even before Lucy appears in this pilot, it's apparent that this may not be as good as it sounded. Larry Anderson has an unbelievable and unfunny moment to kick off the whole thing. Lucy gets insane entrance applause and the audience clearly eats up everything she does. I think a lot of attention was given to Lucy's shtick being tired by the time this show aired. While I will concede Lucy is not at her best (was she in Here's Lucy either?), the 75 year old star is certainly not the worst part of the show. She's still 100% committed to everything she does and there are glimpses of her pristine comedic timing even though she's uneven at best. However, she is very much let down by the writing and the other performances (besides Gale Gordon, who also is strong still and has some winning moments with Ball in the hardware store). The writing was partly Ball's fault because she insisted on her longtime writers returning and it is pretty obvious that the writing was done by a team that had been in business together since the 50s. Times had changed but their sensibilities hadn't and it didn't feel fresh or interesting or like it had anything remotely new to say. 

The gags that were set up for Ball were blatant attempts at getting a large reaction from the audience instead of organic elements of the plot. I think Ball was still capable of some funny moments if they had been constructed better. The final "bit" with the fire in the store is the perfect example of the show not having any idea how to make a comedic moment and Ball and Gordon can't do it all. And yet the audience responds with applause like it was a landmark moment. The rest of the cast, particularly Anderson and Dusenberry, are definitely a problem. This is certainly not Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. This pilot is sad more than anything else. It may not be an embarrassingly bad effort, but it's just a bad 80s sitcom that involves a couple big time stars who aren't able to carry a show like they used to and are let down by everything around them.

What Went Wrong:

This is definitely the saddest one season wonder post I will have. By 1986, it had been over a decade since Lucille Ball had done weekly television. She had done a few specials and had a well-received dramatic performance in the TV movie Stone Pillow but the "Lucy" persona was mostly one people knew from long-ago reruns by the time this show came on the air. You can understand why this idea was presented. Ball was a living legend and NBC had just hit it big the year before with a bunch of older women on TV with The Golden Girls. Ball's husband Gary Morton had been given a ton of power and they had final say over everything. The network had very little say in turning this situation around as Ball and Morton exercised complete control and the network couldn't even get to see screeners. Some of those issues led to the show seeming like a very tired and old fashioned sitcom. It was gentle and silly 50s humor in an 80s world.

The series lasted just a couple months on Saturday night. Big ratings for the premiere quickly gave way to big declines. The news of the cancellation came on the night of the filming of the 13th episode. Morton kept the news a secret from Ball until after the taping but once she heard, she was devastated. She thought that audiences just didn't love Lucy anymore and was very broken by the news. A lot of the sad details are in the book I Loved Lucy by Lee Tannen. It was a situation that didn't have to happen. Lucy was game for a comeback and could have done quite well in a sharper sitcom. Honestly, she probably could have been one of the Golden Girls. But they made the mistake of wanting to surround themselves with their people who ultimately were a big reason things failed and that included Gary Morton. Ball died less than three years later but her last public appearance was a well deserved standing ovation at the Oscars when she appeared with Bob Hope. Hopefully she died knowing everyone loved Lucy (they still do to this day!). They just didn't love Life with Lucy.

Tomorrow: A look at Season 4 of That 70s Show!

Next Wednesday: A look at 1990s flop Maybe This Time!