Truth is, the only thing silly is struggling, still, to completely explain the joys of Vitameatavegamin or the skillful anarchy of that wine vat. You could set an atomic clock by Ball’s comedic timing, and her shenanigans with Vance are echoed in just about every dynamic duo in TV comedy history, from Mary and Rhoda through Laverne and Shirley right up to Will and Grace. We watch I Love Lucy for the same reasons audiences watched five decades ago: to see a genius - a true American original - at work and play. We can’t argue for social relevance or emotional depth, but then Lucy never did either. But doesn’t Lucy - so pre-feminist, so pre- everything, for that matter - seem a little silly now? Empty-headed? Not a chance.
Hard to believe how young TV was when Lucy, Ricky, Ethel and Fred - the legendary troupe of Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley - set the standard for wacky antics, harebrained schemes, domestic humor and outrageous shtick, pretty much inventing TV comedy on the spot.
Brilliantly polished in its frantic hilarity, Lucy got there first and did what it did - and what so many others have tried to do - best.
