Letters
Knit to This: Let’s Talk to Lucy
Well, I like to keep up with everything modern, you know. All the current shows and programs and trends, all the streaming entertainments and Instagram stories and Tiktoks and MySpace Vines, or whatever they’re always cooking up to make us all feel overwhelmed by content. And it’s—big surprise—exhausting.
So imagine my relief when I discovered Let’s Talk to Lucy, a leisurely radio series that began in the mid-60s and was recently rediscovered and released on SiriusXM. It’s also now a once-a-week podcast (there are over 200 of them, apparently, so have a good four years of listening, y’all). Finally: I’m keeping up with all the hot new releases from 1964!
It’s pretty straightforward: Lucille Ball sits down with a show business friend or two per episode and talks to them about, oh whatever. Sometimes it’s about their kids. Sometimes it’s about HER kids. Sometimes it’s about Danny Kaye taking Chinese cooking classes (which transitions into Lucy talking about “plain American food” REPEATEDLY, and that apparently means pot roast and gravy and steak and potatoes thankyouverymuch, until Danny Kaye points out that the French have those too, to which Lucy replies, “They add wine and sauce!”).
Now that I think about it, it’s all just 100% nuts.
In addition to nuts, it’s interesting that she’s completely unvarnished in this—she admits in the very first episode that she’s always played a character and looks forward to showing America the unwritten Lucy. The result is sometimes surprising—she’s funny, but she’s got an edge. She’s occasionally a little … meaner … than Lucy Ricardo ever was (talking to a Copacabana showgirl who is also a mother, she casually drops, “You certainly are not the usual type of Vegas showgirl … according to what I’ve heard”) and it’s delightful every single time.
You’re only about a month behind, so you can catch up quickly (not that there’s a plot, but there’s so much chitchat about her son Desi’s “combo” that I can’t help but hope we get a weekly update about it … from over fifty years ago). It’s on SiriusXM and wherever you get your podcasts.
Anyway, you already love Lucy. Just listen to it.
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I so look forward to this weekly post!! Thank you DG. THANK YOU for another great rec!!
Thanks for the recommendation, I do love Lucy and this sounds entertaining!
I look forward to listening to this having grown up on a steady diet of I Love Lucy but … not gonna lie-I’ll be listening for sexist overtones, undertones and just outright sexism. Pretty sure it will pop right up and it’s good to remember what the hill we’ve climbed looks like as we are forced back down several steps, over and over.
She’s very different here than she was on I Love Lucy, and it’s interesting to hear how she is clearly in charge of her own life and career (and this show, even with her husband present during them; you can tell when she’s bored with a guest and just sort of moves it along with an “uh-huh, anyway…”) but you can’t help but notice how often she asks her female guests questions about how they manage being mothers at the same time as whatever else they are; it’s almost like she’s very concerned that she might not be getting it “right,” which does feel old-fashioned. And there’ve been a few where she interviews the wife of a male celebrity and Lucy’s questions inevitably turn out to be things like “how do you manage to throw such marvelous parties?!” So yeah, it’s very much a period piece in that regard.
I don’t know much about her as a person, but I’ve disliked the character of Lucy for a long time. The screechy voice and lame-brain antics were annoying. I’m not usually a fan of vaudeville slapstick. I got tired of people who were so relentlessly dumb.(Ricky, Ethel, and Fred were no better, just not as loud). It’s interesting that she was a smart, in -charge person in real life because she played into the worst female stereotypes for decades.
It was that good old 50s comedy. She really was a remarkable woman. I’m looking forward to listening to this both to hear her true strength and to hear how she was undermined by the culture. Fascinating.
I discovered this and listened to it constantly a few weeks ago. Loved it! Then it just disappeared. Sort of like she popped in and then popped back out.
I had just heard about this. Good to have the DG recommendation. And for those who are in search is all things Lucy, apparently TCM is about to release a Lucy historical podcast. We will await your appraisal.
One of the things her daughter said about her was that she wasn’t a comedian; she was an actor who specialized in comedic roles. She began in typical glamore girl roles. I don’t know when she “transitioned” but there were many life stories about depression and unhappiness.
This is a fantastic find!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you for sharing this. I loved Lucy as a kid and listening to this is super smile City for me. Thanks!!!!
Thanks. I’ve been looking for a new podcast. I’m dumb enough to not have caught on the the free podcast availability until the end. ♀️
I love how you keep us up to date with the latest events. Always broadening our horizons. I would never had know about this. Thank you!