I Love Lucy

Innovative techniques

At the time, most television shows were shot in New York City, and a low-quality 16mm kinescope print was made of the show. But Ball was pregnant at the time, and she and Arnaz therefore insisted on filming the show in Hollywood, California. The duo, along with co-creator Jess Oppenheimer, then decided to shoot the show on 35 mm film in front of a live studio audience, with three cameras (this technical innovation is now standard for sitcoms today). The result was a much sharper image than other shows of the time, and the audience reactions were far more authentic than the "canned laughter" used on most sitcoms of the time.

Related Topics:
Kinescope - Hollywood, California - Jess Oppenheimer - 35 mm film - Canned laughter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scenes were often performed like a play, from start to finish, without interruption. As retakes were rare, dialogue mistakes where often played off as intentional as the actors continued. For example, in her last run-through of the famous Vitameatavegamin commercial, Lucy skips to the end of the speech (unscripted), realizes her mistake, and returns to the midpoint without missing her comic timing. This technique allowed the show to remain fresh for years and appear as a "live" performance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~