One of my favorite arguments/discussions with my fellow pop culture freaks is the best TV show of all time.
Many of my guy friends pick “M*A*S*H,” while the girls go with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” I’ll admit that even as I’ve aged, the appeal of M*A*S*H has escaped me. But “MTM” I stand firmly behind, if only because it contains one of the best TV theme songs of all times and priceless opening credits.
But as much as I love Mary (and actually, while all of my female friends wanted to emulate her, I was always more the Rhoda), I love Lucy even more.
For whatever reason, it had been years since I found myself watching TV Land – probably because “Gunsmoke” and “Green Acres” never did anything but annoy me.
But a couple of months ago, while scrolling through the TiVo channel guide, I noticed TV Land’s daily airings of “I Love Lucy.” It’s worth pointing out that I actually own several DVD sets of the show – if I found a reason to buy season one of “Gimme A Break,” you can be sure I pulled out the plastic to buy some “Lucy.”
Still – who wants to remove the cat and the laptop, dislodge oneself from the couch and make the effort of putting the DVD in the player when a handy TiVo Season Pass will record any “Lucy” I want, and I can access it from my previously arranged position?
So that’s been my nightly 1 a.m. ritual, after Letterman and a Lifetime repeat of “Frasier.”
And you know what? “I Love Lucy” is as funny, sharp and smart as it was 50 years ago. I suppose part of my infatuation with the show is that it’s set in New York (SO much more glamorous than Mary in Minnesota). But no matter how many times I’ve seen Lucy pop her eyes out of her head or engage in an expert pratfall, or even watch her light her fake nose on fire when trying to disguise herself from William Holden (never was a big fan of those off-to-L.A.-so-Ricky-can-film-a-movie eps), I laugh out loud.
No other show has that effect on me – except maybe “Frasier” and “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and that one only because Doris Roberts’ mama Marie is so painfully genuine as the prototypical Italian mother, you just have to laugh because otherwise you’ll cry.
But I’ve noticed something in “Lucy” that I never picked up on before – and I’ve been watching these re-runs since I was a teen. There are an awful lot of references to Ricky physically hurting her – breaking an arm, giving her a black eye – if he finds out about whatever shenanigans she’s engaged in during the 20 minutes of the show.
If you watch several episodes in a row over a couple of weeks, you’ll actually find it a bit disturbing. Sure, that whole Man Rules The House mentality was the norm during the show’s 1950s run, but to hear any threat of violence – even if it’s in the comical way that Ralph Kramden was pow-ing Alice straight to the moon – is incredibly disconcerting.
But anyway, if you’re a TV Land fan, catch “Lucy” on there while you can. The channel’s licensing agreement ends with the show at the end of the year and the Hallmark Channel is expected to start airing it in January.
Hey, if it’s good enough for “Matlock,” it’s good enough for “Lucy.”
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