In the 1950's, television was centered around the household, showing many scenes of marriage and domesticity. I Love Lucy conformed to that structure, by depicting the adventures of Lucy and her husband Ricky. However, I Love Lucy was revolutionary for its time in a number of ways.
Lucille Ball, the star of the show, was not only one of the first female comedic actors, she also co-owned its production company, Desilu, with her husband Desi Arnaz. The company was a catalyst for moving American TV production from New York to Hollywood. After her divorce with Arnaz, Ball bought him out of the company and became the first female head of a major production company. During her time as head, the Desilu produced Star Trek and Mission Impossible.
The relationships portrayed on the show were also ahead of their time. Ball had to fight CBS in order to get her husband on the show, due to the fact that the network was uncomfortable showing an interracial couple on television. Lucy is portrayed as a housewife who wants to be a star, but she goes about it with a comedic approach, so as to not offend the conservatives of the era with overtly feminist themes. Many women at the time sympathized with Lucy, because even though there were many more women in the workforce, they still continued to play the supporting roles to their husbands. The show also portrayed a strong female friendship between Lucy and Ethel, with many of their conversations passing the Bechdel Test.
I Love Lucy ran for six seasons, eventually ending in 1957. Ball would go on to star in The Lucy Show, and Here's Lucy, but neither were as big of hits as I Love Lucy. Ball passed away in 1989, mourned by an entire nation who had avidly watched every moment of Lucy and Ricky's marriage almost three decades ago.
Sources:
http://www.avclub.com/article/why-does-ii-love-lucy-iendure-after-all-these-year-72062
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/26/lucille-ball-revolutionary_n_7138476.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/arts/television-radio-good-bad-lucy-legacy-laughs-coolly-confident-timelessly-funny.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.museum.tv/eotv/ilovelucy.htm
I like how you focused on the entertainment they enjoyed so we can see a contrast of what they were interested in watching and what we are and how it has changed over the years. Why did the show end in 1957 after 6 seasons if it was so popular?
ReplyDeletehttp://my50syear.blogspot.com/2011/05/20-may-1957-last-episode-of-i-love-lucy.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCould this arguably be one of the first strong female characters? Although of course, Lucy's character was a lot more moderate because of her ownership of her company accompanied with her role as a housewife, it was the beginning of women's liberation.
ReplyDeletehttp://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminismandpopculture/a/Lucy-Show-Feminism.htm
I was curious about what the Bechdel Test was because I've never heard about it before, so I looked it up.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test
Passing the Bechdel test was probably one of the earliest signs of feminist power on TV. In I Love Lucy, I assume that the conversations between Lucy and Ethel appealed greatly to women who were watching from home and was very relatable.