Monday, June 30, 2008

I Hate Lucy

This comes from a discussion on Todd Mason's blog of the worse TV shows ever.

Which TV show or movie, generally regarded as great, is not so classic for you?

My controversial choice is
I Love Lucy. Okay, I can feel those eggs coming across the Internet at me. But I never found any of the four regulars humorous. Certainly Fred was a real sourpuss and Desi Arnaz could barely act. And the plots, well there was really only one, wasn't there? Lucy trying to get on Ricky's show. I will admit to a few smiles on watching the one in the candy factory, but so help me that's it.
Lucy always seemed to be the most selfish woman in the world. Her life revolved around getting the expensive dress, appearing on the show, upgrading her lifestyle, meeting famous people. Talk about trivializing women. Her strength lay in bamboozling her husband.
I am a great lover of comedies. I can sit down with a
Seinfeld, Cheers, Friends, Dick Van Dyke, Newhart Show, The Office or Thirty Rock anytime. But not Lucy. I hate Lucy.

How about you? Where do you veer from the consensus? What's your guilty displeasure?

16 comments:

Travis Erwin said...

I can't stand the American version of The Office. Actually Steve Carrell (sp?) kinds gets on my nerves regardless of what he is in.

J. Kingston Pierce said...

Yeah, I've never been taken with The Office, either. Nor have I ever understood the appeal of shows such as Family Guy, Everybody Loves Raymond, The A-Team, Arrested Development, or Beverly Hills 90201. But maybe I'm just an old stick in the mud ...

Cheers,
Jeff

pattinase (abbott) said...

I like The Office, but I like it for a strange reason. I like it because all of the actors look like real people on it. Real and annoying people--the kind you actually find in an office. But I am detecting a slacking off in the quality.
I also don't really get any animated series, including The Simpsons.

Randy Johnson said...

Friends. I hated it. Everyone I know loved it and couldn't understand my who cares attitude. I tried watching two episodes and was lunging for the remote in a couple of minutes. "There's got to be something on more interesting!" Maybe professional wrestling?

pattinase (abbott) said...

I've spoken to people who didn't like Seinfeld till years after first seeing it. And though I loved MASH at the time, now it seems too preachy to be good comedy. Same with All in the Family. Some shows don't survive their era, I guess. Especially the ones with a political agenda.

Todd Mason said...

I've consistently disliked FRIENDS, after giving it a whole first season, while rather enjoying the US THE OFFICE. And I can see what you mean about I LOVE LUCY, Patti...though THE SIMPSONS did one of the more devastating critiques of the "classic" series, rather offhandedly, when we see Homer, I think, watching a repeat in which we only hear a strong smack, then Lucy's wail, and Fred Mertz's concerned "You really hit her pretty hard, Ricky"...if ever there was a series that tried to reinforce the pernicious notion of the wife as the child of the husband...

pattinase (abbott) said...

I admit I haven't given The Simpsons their due. I'm immediately put off by the animation. I've never like cartoons. Not even as a child.
Yes, "Lucy" wanted it both ways. To see its heroine as strong, yet make her strength lie in trying to get something for nothing, interested in the most superficial goals. It really irks me.

Todd Mason said...

THE SIMPSONS, like M*A*S*H, has probably run too long, and while the latter lost much of its worthiness when all the characters had to become sympathetic, THE SIMPSONS simply seems to have run out of steam. I still find it pleasant, but not much more. SCRUBS's producer and creator Bill Lawrence had said in interviews he's realized how much he's let that series drift in the last couple of years, and is promising that it will be sharp again when it returns next season on ABC...I hope so, since at its best, for an impressive four-five seasons, it was the best sitcom on by some distance.

Josephine Damian said...

Chocolates on a conveyer belt? Stomping grapes? Me? I love Lucy

*throws egg at Patti*

And I absolutely loved My Mother the Car (really dating myself now, aren't I?)

It's Star Trek I couldn't stand!

*ducks as Trekkies throw eggs*

Modern TV shows? Do not get me started! IMO, they all suck. Especially Seinfeld. There hasn't been a decent show on TV since Homicide: Life on the Street.

Josephine Damian said...

BTW, I notice a certain someone's name is missing from your blog roll. What's up with that?

PS: Dwight of Dwight's Manifesto blog fame, just shut dowen his blog. Another one bites the dust.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I removed 4-5 blogs that were inactive. Did I take one off by mistake? Let me know, J.D.
And what about that book review blog of yours. Can you give me the site.
YOu gotta have an appetite for smarmy and smug nowadays. It takes some work to cultivate it.

David Cranmer said...

I could never understand the appeal of The Andy Griffith Show. As soon as I hear that opening whistle, I can't change the channel fast enough. When it comes to The Office, I enjoyed the British version so much that I'm afraid to watch the American one.

pattinase (abbott) said...

The U.S. version steered it own course pretty quickly. Had to since the British version only did a handful of episodes. I like both.

Anonymous said...

I never understood the appeal of the "brady bunch" plots were always watered down,and the reality of 2 separate families thrown together and meshing better than original or regular familes appears all too surreal.

Anonymous said...

I have always hated Lucy. And it seems like it was always on in our house.

I recommend Ricky Gervais--EXTRAS.

Patrick O

pattinase (abbott) said...

Love EXTRAS. But I guess there is no third season.