I Love Lucy (original) (raw)
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Pop Culture writes:
On most of the old "I Love Lucy" shows, there was always a point in the show where Lucy set herself up to get in a jam. The studio audience usually saw the trouble coming before Lucy did, and reacted accordingly.
But there was one woman on the soundtrack of nearly every episode, who I like to call the "Uh-Oh Lady". The "Uh-Oh Lady" button had to be the most frequently used control on the laugh track machine. She popped up on countless episodes of "I Love Lucy", and I think that I've heard her on other shows, too.
If you've never noticed her, here's what she does: Lucy decides to do something stupid to get in a show or meet a movie star, and then at the crucial moment, you hear (on the laugh track) a woman saying, "Uh-Oh, hee, hee, hee!!" Every time that I hear her during an episode of Lucy, I yell out, "Hey, it's the "Uh-Oh Lady". I'd be interested to know how many times they used her on the laugh track.
I can envision a little old lady in a nursing home somewhere today telling her friends that she used to be the Uh-Oh Lady on the laugh track of "I Love Lucy". "Yessiree, I was on nearly every show. More than Mrs. Trumble!"
- Pop Culture
'I Love Lucy' didn't have a laugh track. The "Uh-Oh Lady" is presumed to be Lucy's mother, DeDe (she attended every taping). She said "Uh oh" in a lot of episodes, it's kind of funny. However, later shows DID use a laugh track, and they sometimes used 'I Love Lucy's - which would give them the "Uh-Oh Lady", too.
- Ted Nesi
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No other performer will ever dominate the television screen the way Lucy did for over two decades beginning in 1951.
Between the years 1967-1974 (even with only three TV stations in your reception area), you could watch 'Lucy Show' reruns on weekday mornings, 'I Love Lucy' reruns in the afternoons, and 'Here's Lucy' first-runs on Monday nights.
Here is a quick run-down
of the various 'Lucy' series:
I Love Lucy (1951-1957) - The original pilot for the show was shot by Desi and Lucy for five thousand (borrowed) dollars. The actual film was thought to be lost forever when a copy turned up in the possession of the delightful Mexican clown Pepito's wife.
Years after Pepito passed away, his widow heard that CBS was looking for a copy of the pilot film (she had been showing it for years at family gatherings) and subsequently sold it to the network for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The film had originally been given to Pepito in gratitude for creating the couple's nightclub act - and for his unpaid appearance in the pilot.
The reason the couple had to finance and shoot the pilot themselves - CBS wanted Lucy for a series, her CBS radio series My Favorite Husband was a hit, but they only wanted her and not her husband Desi. They believed that the viewing public would never accept a mixed couple.
After a six-year primetime run, 'I Love Lucy' was still number-one in the ratings when the Arnaz's called it quits. Reruns of 'I Love Lucy' began on the CBS weekday morning schedule and ran until 1968 - replaced by reruns of 'The Lucy Show'.
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960) - One-hour specials with the same cast as 'I Love Lucy', but with different big-name guest stars on each episode. These specials were a way for Lucy and Desi to lighten the workload (and increase their clout with the network). Desilu (the couple's production company) produced the shows that occupied the timeslot when the 'Comedy Hours' weren't scheduled. 'The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour' series ended in 1961 when the couple publicly split.
These shows were rerun during the summers between 1962-1967.
From You Tube - I Love Lucy promo:
NEXT / The Lucy Shows - PART TWO: LUCY GOES SOLO
