I thought this was the sweetest and most poignant episode of the series. I think if she'd had better writers, she could have spoken to the condition of growing old America with a comedic grace that would have had us laughing and crying at the same time. May our beloved Lucy rest in peace.
And the sad part this episode didnt air until after her death when NICK AT NITE did a tribute to her airing The Lucy Show and this show as a marathons. I remember they did these as world premiere LOST episodes of LWL on a special night as it was 5 unaired episodes and the tossed in the Audrey Meadows episode to balance it out to kick it off since that was the last aired episode. The companion show to LWL, the Ellen Burstyn Show was canceled the same time with Lucy. Ellens show was able to burn off 5 of 6 unaired episodes in summer 1987. A fun fact was while this was being filmed, ABC announced the cancelation but her husband waited until they finished production and the audience left then broke the news. She was devasted. Talk about life imitating art, like you said, this episode was an unintended tribute to her struggles of trying to redo what she did in previous episodes.
I am 66 years old and I remember lucy then I was a child in kindergarten. And of course that vitameatavegamin commercial which has me in stiches every time I watch it. Lucy's birthday is coming up Aug. 6 the same date as my mom who passed away a long time ago. I miss my mom and I miss lucy. I recently viewed the movie stone pillow a very important serious movie, which starred Lucy in 1985. And this episode of life with Lucy was funny and serious at the same time. I think it was a message, that summed up her life and the life of all of us who are luck to grow old.
This Lucy character was far more developed than her previous versions. We never saw Lucy’s extended family. nor did we ever know much about her past or see her struggle with real life emotions. She was historically more slapstick and silly. I have to say I really enjoyed how Life with Lucy included Lucy’s classic bits while developing a more in depth family dynamic. It’s a shame they didn’t record all 22 episodes. I would say this show lives up to her previous series. Unfortunately society had moved past this type of sitcom by the late 80’s.
Knowing that she never did anything else after this and died 3 years later, I tend to look at this as a good finale and viewed the trophy as the kids being a modern audience saying thanks for everything
Considering this as it should be considered - Lucy's very last television episode - unaired and unseen until the DVD release - it's quite a charming and heart-warming finale to her 60 year career. The acting throughout this series was universally good, particularly Gale Gordon and the adorable future music star Jenny Lewis. The spoken word rendition of Sunrise Sunset, undoubtedly viewed by critics at the time as cringe worthy, today brings a tear to my eye, knowing that this was Lucy's last TV performance.
It was sad this was never aired until the 1990s after she died on Nick at Nite and they, to their credit, did a promo saying, we have the unaired Life with Lucy episodes that all aired together on the same night in the way that ABC would have aired them. I remember my late grandparents were so glad to see the final work of Lucy and Gale together. I think this aired shortly before Gale died in 1995
@@groovygirl23 That doesn't diminish her exceptional delivery. In that moment, Lucy interpreted the lyrics with all of the soul and flair of a true artist.
I wonder if the young actors who played Lucy's grandchildren understood the significance that, by appearing with Lucy and Gale, that they got to touch the Golden Age of Television, however so briefly.
It is a shame the network didn't give this a bit more time. The first few episodes didn't deliver amazing ratings, so it was dropped. I think it started to hit its stride a few episodes in( as many hit shows do). The episodes that never aired were probably better than the initial ones that the network graded it on.It was not given a proper chance, & that was unfair to someone as great as Lucille Ball. Had the 13 run, it would have found its audience.l
In India, we saw the Lucy Show and Here' s Lucy !! But we never got to see Life with Lucy ! It's true that comedians age well on stand up shows or talk shows but she was a pioneer back then !! She became victim of a miscalculation of her director as to what would suit her. Writing roles for senior artistes is a problem world over !! Refreshing her legacy of dancing in the previous episode, this is her swansong !! We miss you, Lucille!! 🧑🎄😇🥲
It's been interesting seeing all 13 of these episodes. Many thanks to Jonathan for uploading them. My feeling is that Lucy's previous series were more successful because they largely contained humor that adults could appreciate while still being family-friendly, while this final series seemed to mostly contain child-level humor and therefore came across as mostly LAME to adults. The only one of these 13 episodes that seemed to contain any real substance for adults was the one about her sister trying to take over the planning of the wedding ceremony.
This was the last, unaired episode of the series. Lucy did NOT want to do another series, but Gary Morton (her then husband) went behind her back and secured a litany of people that meant a lot to Lucy, including Gale Gordon, Madelyn Davis, Bob Carroll, as well as many behind the scenes people that had worked with her for decades. He then presented the entire package to her, and she reluctantly agreed to do the series. Sadly, once shooting started, Lucy knew that she had a flop on her hands, and it sent her into a severe depression. When friends and family came over to view the first episode at her home, they all watched it on the television set, but Lucy sat alone in her den, and didn't want to watch it. She told her friend, Lee Tannen, about how bad the show was, (even nicknaming the show "Life with Angst") and Lee told her to just quit. She started to cry and said that she couldn't do so because she had a signed contract that committed her to it. Gary made SO MANY bad decisions regarding Lucy's career that I won't go into here, but he did secure a $1,000,000.00 cancellation fee if the show was cancelled in the first year. Gary always saw $$ signs when it came to Lucy.
Well, he was a good manager. The one fault I'd say is her make-up being a little overdone, rather too much like a funeral home would do. The over-arched eyebrows, too-heavy shadow, and always wearing pants, etc. Not her best look.
I don't know why the powers that be thought of pulling off this heart-warming ,beautiful series where lucy still evokes her trademark timing and magic....maybe the violence and sex we see today and saw even then overpowered all that was sweet and beautiful about this wonderful series
@@happydayz7857 When it aired it also had to compete with countless reruns of "I Love Lucy", "The Lucy Show" and even "Here's Lucy". Given the choice, I suspect much of the public preferred to watch Lucy "as she was'.
That recitation scene is probably one of the most poignant scenes ever made for television. I’m sorry it was never broadcast. Given the context of what she was going through at the time, I can’t imagine how she must have felt. The meaning and emotion behind that performance is apparent, and really something to behold. It always brings me to tears when I watch it. My heart just breaks for her. I hope she is resting well and surrounded by love. ❤
Had Lucy allowed more modern writers and producers to have some creative control, they could have played on the senior citizens trying to stay relevant in a world getting younger. I would have loved to see Lucy deal with issues of aging in a humorous yet serious way. They really should have made Lucy and Curtis a married couple and had a son in graduate school living at home to save money and a divorced daughter with kids coming in trying to make it work as a family.
I think she shouldn't of given up on the magic act so quickly. With a little more practice, she'd of knocked that act out of the park and received her trophy.
Broke her heart when this show was canceled. She passed away 2.5 years later. I think she did an amazing job in this series for a 75 year old…..it just seemed a little forced. And Gale was amazing for 80…..his acting flowed a little better. I enjoyed watching these 13 episodes. After Desi & she split up I never watched The Lucy Show or Here’s Lucy or Life With Lucy because I didn’t like it that he wasn’t with her & I didn’t like her voice (which was damaged when she did some exercises to make her voice lower & actually caused damage instead). But just very recently I watched all episodes of all 3 of these shows. Now I’m going to watch all 6 seasons of I Love Lucy. She was a big part of my life growing up. I remember in the summer as a teenager crawling out of bed so I could watch her every morning at 9am. I feel like she was a big role model in my life….and looking back, I can see her influence. Haha
Not the same Lucy :(. I wonder why she agreed to try do a comeback with this show? Was she low on $? So she married Mr. Mooney lol. In her other shows he didn't like Lucy's character very much. Then he married her lol
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They aren't married. His son is married to her daughter. They are bickering in-laws who also co-own a hardware store.
The thing about all the "Lucy" shows, is that they were always a copy of a copy of a copy. "I Love Lucy" being the original copy, and then the other ones to follow. And all getting a bit inferior as they went along, and "Life With Lucy" being the absolute worst. I think at this point, Lucy needed to become more of a supportive character, instead of having the plot centered around her. She was at an age here where people aren't really interested in what an old lady is doing during the day. Each show got worse as time went on, relying on old/played-out jokes and gags that couldn't keep up with the times. She never really outgrew her original character or stretched her acting chops: she was forever "Lucy Ricardo", trapped in 1951. "Life With Lucy" was an idea that should've been left on the cutting-room floor: her heart wasn't in it, anyway, because Desi was dying at the time. At some point as a Hollywood actor, you have to hang it up and realize you've had your time already: you're too old and/or washed-up. LET IT GO!
We still love ❣️ LUCY ❤️ this was a family show not like the garbage and reality shows today,👎RIP LUCY DESI VIVIAN WILLIAM AND GALE 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️YOU WERE ALL SO UNIQUE AND BLESSED WITH TALENT 🗽 Cheers Stephen 🤠⭐
Well, her generation certainly loved their cocktails, and voices get lower with age. It's clear and projects easily, and that's what matters. She never had a high voice unless she was exclaiming something or wailing.
Only because Ball and Gordon on tv again people watched. But most of the episodes were Terrible compared to what she did before; the audience expected more and we’re dissapointed
@@nonenoneonenonenone No. Roseanne ran for 9 years, from 1988 to 1997. This show was cancelled well before Roseanne began, so we had NOT "gotten used to" her.
In the age of video rentals and cable tv, she really needed to up her game. A grandma moving into her kids house and working at a hardware store was just plain boring and limited.
This episode is a better one for this series but it never aired the show was cancelled during filming of this and she was told after It wrapped and was devastated. With the exception of Gordon the supporting cast usually werent much help in helping this show at all
@@renesagahon4477 They all did their best. There were other family shows where they really stunk. Kids can ruin a show so easily. Roseanne really scored with her kids.
Why do you say it's stupid? I Love Lucy is one of the stupidest comedies to ever be created, but it's endured & has been loved for 70 years! Lucy Ricardo is a cartoon character compared to most TV characters!
@@renesagahon4477 The magic act was genuine fun, and dropped too quickly, just because one thing went wrong. This Lucy character was quite vulnerable which was a new dimension. No mention though, of her previous marriage at all, which is interesting.
