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Lunch Break Videos: All About Vivian Vance!
Lucille Ball starred in three sitcoms over a 23 year period. For 12 of those years, Vivian Vance was at her side – first as Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy from 1951-60 then as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy Show from 1962-65.
She left The Lucy Show in the middle of its six-year run but returned at least once a year for a guest spot – a tradition she continued on Miss Ball’s next series Here’s Lucy.
I think it’s safe to say that Miss Vance, the best sidekick in the history of television comedy, brought the best out in Lucy who was just not quite as good without her.
Today would have been her 104th birthday so to celebrate, here are some classic clips:
FILE UNDER: I Love Lucy Friday
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Max F. Grump says:
“I Love Ethel”
Thanks, Greg for remembering the wonderful Vivian Vance.
She was quite the rare TV gem who set the high standard for TV gal pals early on. As great as Lucy was I am certain that she did not take to Vivian on first sight and wanted an older frumpier woman to be her TV friend. However, as time went on Lucy grew to understand how truly inspirational their chemistry really was. The casting was genius and was a true case of 1 + 1 = 3 (or more). I think we have to thank Desi and Jess Oppenheimer for that casting.
Funny, if you notice in the earliest episodes of ILL it was Ethel who came up with the crazy scheming and pulled Lucy in. As the Lucy Ricardo character evolved the root changed to Lucy having the whacky ideas pulling Ethel in. In any event, Vivian was magical and always played Ethel brilliantly.
Her Vivian Bagley chemistry with Lucy was OK but not as great as the Lucy Ethel chemistry. Because that show often pitted Viv against Lucy in a different sort of way. Rumor has it that Vivian actually left “The Lucy Show” due to billing and salary disputes but that is not 100% certain.
Mike says:
I Love Lucy (and any of her succeeding shows) would not have been the same without Vivian Vance. Just hearing the names “Fred & Ethel” bring a smile to my face.
Bruce Wayne says:
One of the funniest moments with Ethel was in the Ladies Overseas Aid episode, when they were about to get the raffle money, but the FBI had caught Lucy in the scam. There was an Actual Old lady from the Real Ladies Overseas Aid, and Lucy told Ethel to ‘give her the money’ so they would get out of trouble.
Ethel, confused, with a puzzled look on her face said, ‘Is She going with us?’
Wonderful!
^^X^^