Pity the television writer. If30 Rockis to be believed (and why wouldn’t it be?), TV writers are creatures fueled by bad food and the always-looming deadline. Every week, a new show must be written and it must be funny…or funny enough.ForI Love Lucy, three to five people churned out a whopping 39 scripts a year. How many didn’t make the cut? WriterBob Schillersaid, “Nothing was ever wasted. It was like a slaughterhouse.”
Today’s sitcoms have large staffs and 22-episode seasons. Still, there are good weeks and worse weeks, and then the week when the only idea around the table is to throw the female lead in a Lucy wig, and force the male lead to nationally broadcast his bad Cuban accent. Yes, it’s the I Love Lucy parody episode, where everything is black and white and stinks all over!
Our pick for worst I Love Lucy parody goes to Lois and Clark. Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher seem to be locked in a battle for who can do the worst impression of this Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Ay-yay-yay!
But a not-so-distant Runner Up goes to “That 70’s Show“:
And Reba McIntire’s Southern-accented Lucy gets an Honorable Mention:
My TV, my abattoir.
This weekend’s episode of “Studio 360” delves into I Love Lucy without once doing our bad Cuban accent. Or maybe just once. Find out how to listen to the show here.