V I D E O • A G E Ja n u a r y 2 0 1 2 10 The long-running U.S. and international hit TV series I Love Lucy aired on CBS from 1951-1957, and ever since the first episode finished in the top 10 of ratings, it was clear that the show would be a success. The groundbreaking show — which starred Lucille Ball and her real life husband Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo — has never been off the air, and it marked its 60th anniversary in 2011. The very same year, Lucille Ball would have celebrated her 100th birthday in August, and Madelyn Pugh Davis, the only female writer on staff for the iconic series, passed away in April. So, VideoAge decided it was the perfect time to take a look at Davis’ memoir Laughing With Lucy: My Life with America’s Leading Lady of Comedy (Emmis Books, 271 pages, $19.95), and remind folks exactly why everybody loves Lucy, from the viewpoint of the woman who — along with a team of writers that included first Bob Carroll Jr. and producer Jess Oppenheimer, and later writers Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf — wrote the gags that have made TV audiences laugh for the past six decades. Lucy’s ratings success continued throughout its run, and in 1953, the episode inwhich Little Ricky is born recorded a 71.1 Nielsen rating, translating to approximately 44 million viewers. The sitcom continues to air in about 80 countries and has been dubbed in 22 languages. As the late Davis stated in her 2005 memoir, which she penned with longtime writing partner Bob Carroll Jr., “Who could ever imagine that the name of the show would be a prophecy, and everybody would love Lucy?” It has been widely reported that Davis and the other writers helped bring Lucy Ricardo to life, since Ball has often been described as serious and strong-willed. At times, Ball even argued against scenes that ultimately became hits. However, on many occasions, the star recognized Davis’ talent and her great contribution to the show’s success. Throughout the book, Davis demonstrates howwriters and performers complement each other, revealing that both Ball and Arnaz recognized the hard work she and the other writers pored into the scripts. Davis herself acknowledges that the scripts could never have succeeded without the actors’ talent and enthusiasm for the material she produced. According to Davis, “Bob and I have always attributed a great deal of the success of I Love Lucy to the fact that Lucy would do absolutely anything we could dream up, and Desi would pay for it.” It was crucial that the four actors on the show “shared an absolute belief in the material we gave them,” she stated. Davis also reveals insight into Ball, who did not naturally have Lucy Ricardo’s zany personality. It was Ball’s hard work and dedication that helped her make the most of the scripts. “She was a perfectionist, and if she had to work with a difficult prop, she always wanted the prop there the first day of rehearsal so she could get used to it,” and learn to use it incorrectly to pull off the funniest gags. Despite the light-hearted nature of the book, Davis tastefully addresses a serious topic that deserves attention: Discrimination against women during the early years of television. Drawing from her own personal experiences and those of other female writers, Davis reveals that women were treated like intruders in a men’s club, and were often ignored. When she applied to an all-male comedy writing team, they “explained that they weren’t going to hire me because ‘you wouldn’t fit in, you’re a girl.’” Around the Lucy set, Davis was known as “Girl Writer,” in a world in which comedy shows were typically written by “groups of men who were known as ‘The Boys.’” One of her unofficial duties as “Girl Writer” was to monitor Ball’s wardrobe for malfunctions as she performed various stunts, and to test stunts to ensure that a woman could perform them without injuring herself. As Davis rose to new heights in her career, the discrimination did not diminish: “I felt some prejudice against me when I became a producer. There was a tendency to regard me as invisible and ignore me.” However, she does note that many more women had jobs in the industry in the 1970s and 1980s than when she started in the 1950s. At the very beginning of the book, Davis warns readers: “you won’t learn any juicy gossip from me because I think it’s tacky to write that sort of thing about people after they have died and can’t deny it.” Plus, she added, “Bob [Carroll Jr.] and I were always the last to hear gossip anyway because we were off in our little office writing dialogue.” Although this might disappoint some readers, Davis does reveal a small, juicy nugget: Even after Ball and Arnaz divorced, she could always tell when Arnaz was speaking to Ball on the phone because of the loving tone in his voice. Davis makes up for the shortage of gossip by bringing the show and its characters, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo and Ethel and FredMertz, as well as the actors who portrayed them — Ball, Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley — to life by reproducing dialogue and reprinting excerpts of the scripts. While some die-hard fans (like this reviewer!) may know the reprinted lines by heart, others will welcome the refresher, which helps them envision the scenes in their charming black and white. Davis uses the scripts to reveal some of her favorite moments from the series, sharing one of her all-time favorite lines, when Ethel says of husband Fred: “If there’s one thing Fred isn’t, and there’s only one thing Fred isn’t, it’s a chicken thief.” In case readers find it difficult to picture the scenes in their minds, the pages are littered with relevant images, including stills from the shows, backstage photos, and even some of Davis’ private family photos. She uses the photos to emphasize important points, providing an image of Lucy and Ricky after they dance the tango and Lucy smashes dozens of raw eggs in her shirt. Davis informs readers that, at 65 seconds, this was the longest laugh ever recorded on I Love Lucy. Among the photos readers likely haven’t seen is one of Davis and Carroll testing out a scene from an episode of The LucyDesi Comedy Hour, in which Davis goes completely limp and Carroll attempts to dress her in a coat. Ball and guest star Paul Douglas later acted out this scene to perfection. Plus, there is an entire section of images at the center of the book titled “The Lucy Gallery” that is sure to entertain, with the pictures serving as an added personal touch. It is a real pleasure to read Davis’ summaries of the various episodes because they underscore the pride she took in her work, showcasing the details that are most important to her. For example, readers learn that, “Job Switching,” the episode in which Lucy and Ethel work in a chocolate factory and famously stuff their blouses, hats and mouths with chocolates to keep up with a conveyor belt, “was one of my favorites.” The summaries also lead to interesting anecdotes, such as the fact that it took the writers a day and a half to come up with the name “Vitameatavegamin,” the product Lucy promotes in Season One’s episode “Lucy Does a TV Commercial.” For Lucy fans, this nugget of insider information is like striking gold. As readers might expect, Davis’ voice is rich with humor, like when she states, “when I was first starting out in television in 1951, you could have held [a meeting of women TV comedy writers and producers] in a booth at McDonald’s.” Other examples of her humor come in the form of witty chapter titles such as, “Don’t You Have a Better Joke than That?,” “Who’s the Pushy Broad at the End of the Table?,” “Don’t Step on the Children” and “The Mertzes (Or As Desi Called Them, ‘The Merzes’).” Davis was a pioneer in the TV industry, despite the fact that neither she nor Carroll had any idea they were writing a classic. She admits, “The truth is we sat down and tried to come up with an idea for the next show.” Much like the show, Davis’ book is enjoyable and light-hearted. Her memoir is a treasure for I Love Lucy fans hoping to relive memories and learn about how the show came together from the inside. SA The Woman Behind I Love Lucy B o o k R e v i e w
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