Classic: ‘I Love Lucy’
On April 8, 2013
- TV History
Classic: ‘I Love Lucy’
Shooting on the living room set, we have Houston Fearless Panoram dollies on the left and right and a McAllister crab dolly in the middle. Notice the bank of floodlights on the front of each dolly. Looks like this was the day they handed out new crew jackets.
Early in my career I worked with a Gaffer from the “I Love Lucy” show, he said it was one of the HOTTEST sets ever! What you also see here is the genius of Desi Arnaz, shooting with film for TV was unheard of at the time, and it has preserved their legacy on and on, unlike the kinoscopes of the day, which are now mostly gone. Great show.
BNC Rackovers?
The big surprise was Dezi’s business acumen. He came up with the idea of using three film camera for syndication. After that, for a while his company contracted 3 film camera set ups as a service. Eventually, he bought the RKO studio they shot at. Who knew a bongo player would do this?
much smaller than I imagined but then again, they always are.
I remember reading that the above photo was taken during the “warm up” before the the filming of the show. Desi would promise the audience that the cameras would not obstruct their view of the action. He would then have the cameras surround him to the point where he could not be seen.
“My Three Sons” was a one camera show. They would film the master shot and Fred MacMurray’s close up and then later do the other coverage when Fred wasn’t there (close ups of the other actors). This cut down on the number of days that Fred had to work each season.
Very expensive production. Three cameras 35mm and full shot
Wonder why dezi is on a mic.
All of a sudden, it looks pretty cramped in there.
Sets for comedy shows are usually very compact–one way to keep up the energy is to minimize the number of steps between the acting areas. Also, you need to have entrance-ways where you can see the actors full figure as they enter. These are ideas that come from theater.
Sure was crowded in there
On My Three Sons, Fred MacMurray had a contract that minimized the days he needed to be on the set each year, so scenes that included him were shot in batches. MacMurray was heavily involved in real estate development ventures at the time. The work pace on a one-camera comedy show is typically slow with a lot of sitting-around time for the talent. The Desilu three-camera setup was substantially more productive (g)–you can shoot in an afternoon what would have otherwise taken three days to shoot.
I hate laugh tracks.
How many zillion times I’ve been in that living room (by way of tv)?