Mom on Film: Thanksgiving Lucy

Isn't it comforting to reach Thanksgiving all that familiar, warm food that goes with it? It's the kind of stuff that a steady diet of would leave us all feeling bloated and gassy, but for a couple of meals (yum, leftovers), you experience the gastronomical equivalent of your coziest sweater and slippers. And what could be better to curl up with after enjoying that comfort food, dressed in your most snuggly duds, than your kids and another old standby, Lucille Ball.

When it occurred to me to share I Love Lucy with my kids I was amazed at my brilliance. I figured Lucy would be perfect for the whole family. She had passed the 1950's television screening board, after all. What could be objectionable or problematic? Nothing, right? So upon learning that Tower Records was going out of business, I sent my husband off to snag some deals, including a season or two of Lucy. Mr. Wonderful returned with season five in hand, and we were ready to enjoy an evening of family entertainment as wholesome and enjoyable as turkey with all the trimmings.

Almost as immediately apparent as the black and white film stock is the fact that I Love Lucy hails from a different time and mind set. I became a bit nervous during the first moments that this would prove to be one of those movie mistakes I should have made with a rented video. It wasn't funny. The conversation seemed stilted and the obedient, subservient wife thing was, frankly, disturbing. Lucy wasn't at all as I remembered her. For about three minutes.

After those initial moments of uncertainty it became obvious that Lucille Ball has definitely withstood the test of time. Once through the set-up, the show got going and it was smooth and sweet as whipped cream on pumpkin pie. The first episode finds Lucy and her cohort, Ethel, stealing John Wayne's footprint from Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Despite total ignorance about Grauman's, and many of the stars immortalized in the sidewalk there, our children thoroughly appreciated the outrageousness of the situation. They found it funny when Lucy's foot gets stuck in a bucket of quick dry concrete, but when she sits in a bucket of the same and winds up with a tub stuck to her butt, they thought it was downright hysterical!

I'm not sure what my husband and I found more amusing, the show or our children's reactions to it. We all enjoy Lucy's crazy ideas and Ethel's complicity. The facial expressions are classic - those eyes!- and the solutions ridiculous and satisfying. Our younger daughter keeps telling me, "Mom, I know it sounds silly, but I really do love Lucy!" While I don't know that I would enjoy a steady diet of the stuff, like a good Thanksgiving dinner, once in while a healthy serving of I Love Lucy is the only thing that satisfies.

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Sue Harvey

Sue "Mom on Film" Harvey is a mother of three who shares her passion for film with bi-weekly, family-friendly movie recommendations.

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