... but I have heard the Lucy shows put down. Her "crybaby" act and "unequal" housewife role. Not funny, to some... When she got jobs, she wasn't exactly competent. The "ditzy" redhead was a "dumb" woman. Still, I thought of the character as naturally bright, getting the best of situations through a cunning she didn't know she had. As far as her "abusive" marriage, I never saw "Ricky" hit her... maybe I missed an episode? She did, as an actress, "play" that he might - but was it a part of her act? Over at the Honeymooners "Ralph" would threaten to punch "Alice" often... "BANG, ZOOM!" (making a fist). But we knew he wasn't going to... and Audrey Meadows did not flinch. She showed no fear... just stared him down. These '50s marriages were perhaps more progressive then than now. "Lucy" had an Hispanic husband. CBS said they would rather not... not "believable" they thought! Lucille Ball said no show, then. Later, the character reappeared as a widow. Lucy thought she and Vivian Vance should both play divorcees. CBS said viewers will still associate them with "Ricky" and "Fred" - this time, Lucy agreed. The viewers might not want Lucy divorced (even though she did, in real life), but could see "Ethel" and Bill Frawley divorcing. A widow and a divorced woman sharing a home and kids was also very progressive for the times. Only Lucille Ball could have got a show on with that situation. I thought she was very funny... sitcoms are supposed to make you laugh. Most of them... I never laughed, for real, even as the "laugh track" played, for so many. A Lucy show could really make me laugh!
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