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<blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 410022" data-attributes="member: 7">Aaron Spelling had enough clout in the TV industry in 1986 to be able to get Lucille Ball the M*A*S*H writers, having had a series of high-profile TV shows over the past decade for ABC. His primetime soap opera DYNASTY was still a Top 10 show for the network that season.But Lucy, as much as I love her, was an actress hopelessly dependent on her material. She knew the &quot;Lucy&quot; routine had served her well for nearly a quarter of a century on TV in years past. It is to our misfortune (and Lucy&#039;s, too, frankly) that Spelling bowed to Ball&#039;s request to have the same writers that had worked with her since the late 1940s on radio. Spelling took the blame for the failure of LIFE WITH LUCY in multiple interviews, claiming he hadn&#039;t any idea how to make a sitcom. He once said, &quot;If you fail at comedy with Lucille Ball, you shouldn&#039;t do comedy,&quot; or something similar. Lucy, as it goes, wasn&#039;t even looking for a TV comeback in 1986. I LOVE LUCY, THE LUCY SHOW, and, to a lesser extent, HERE&#039;S LUCY, were all still in constant syndication, and one imagines Lucy was raking in a healthy income from the residuals. She was so well-off that she never had to work again, I&#039;m sure, unless she wanted to. It was her second husband, the humorless comedian Gary Morton, who talked her into LIFE WITH LUCY, without knowing its failure would ultimately crush her and cause her to basically hide from the limelight she had loved for the past forty-plus years. It saddens me to know Lucy felt abandoned by the audience she had so adored and did so much for.To answer your question, though, I haven&#039;t any strong inclination on how different LIFE WITH LUCY would&#039;ve been had Lucy gone with the different writers. I imagine the comedy would&#039;ve been more verbal rather than physical, when taking into consideration the writing staff&#039;s previous work on M*A*S*H, but they might&#039;ve thrown in some physical stuff because they knew that was Lucy&#039;s forte. It is interesting to ponder, though.[ATTACH=full]54436[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ClassyCo, post: 410022, member: 7"] Aaron Spelling had enough clout in the TV industry in 1986 to be able to get Lucille Ball the M*A*S*H writers, having had a series of high-profile TV shows over the past decade for ABC. His primetime soap opera DYNASTY was still a Top 10 show for the network that season. But Lucy, as much as I love her, was an actress hopelessly dependent on her material. She knew the "Lucy" routine had served her well for nearly a quarter of a century on TV in years past. It is to our misfortune (and Lucy's, too, frankly) that Spelling bowed to Ball's request to have the same writers that had worked with her since the late 1940s on radio. Spelling took the blame for the failure of LIFE WITH LUCY in multiple interviews, claiming he hadn't any idea how to make a sitcom. He once said, "If you fail at comedy with Lucille Ball, you shouldn't do comedy," or something similar. Lucy, as it goes, wasn't even looking for a TV comeback in 1986. I LOVE LUCY, THE LUCY SHOW, and, to a lesser extent, HERE'S LUCY, were all still in constant syndication, and one imagines Lucy was raking in a healthy income from the residuals. She was so well-off that she never had to work again, I'm sure, unless she wanted to. It was her second husband, the humorless comedian Gary Morton, who talked her into LIFE WITH LUCY, without knowing its failure would ultimately crush her and cause her to basically hide from the limelight she had loved for the past forty-plus years. It saddens me to know Lucy felt abandoned by the audience she had so adored and did so much for. To answer your question, though, I haven't any strong inclination on how different LIFE WITH LUCY would've been had Lucy gone with the different writers. I imagine the comedy would've been more verbal rather than physical, when taking into consideration the writing staff's previous work on M*A*S*H, but they might've thrown in some physical stuff because they knew that was Lucy's forte. It is interesting to ponder, though. [ATTACH type="full" alt="1726778670171.png"]54436[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

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