Life With Lucy

Life with Lucy was Lucille Ball's last television series. The show ran on the ABC network in 1986, and unlike Lucy's previous smash hits on television, it was a critical and popular flop. Fourteen episodes were written, 13 filmed, and eight actually aired. In order to get Miss Ball to agree to a new series, ABC allowed her complete creative control, no requirement to make a pilot episode, and no requirement for testing before focus groups or other tryouts. As all of Miss Ball's previous efforts had proven to be "television magic", the network aquiesced in this, even though she was at the time already 75 years old and her long-time co-star Gale Gordon (whom she insisted on using again) was 80.

Related Topics:
Lucille Ball - Television series - ABC - Network - 1986 - Television - Critic - Episode - Pilot - Focus group - Gale Gordon

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Ball played a widowed grandmother who had inherited her husband's half-interest in a California hardware store (the other half being owned by his partner, Curtis McGibbon, played by Gordon). She insisted on "helping" in the store, even though when her husband was alive she had taken no part in the business and hence knew nothing about it. The unlikely partners were also in-laws, her daughter being married to his son, and all of them, along with other various family members, lived together in the store building. In little more time than the number of episodes needed to establish all of the premises, the program was cancelled due to very low ratings.

Related Topics:
Widow - California - Hardware - Ratings

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