Review of Lucy and Superman

To the modern viewer, the episodes of the Lucy Show in the early seasons now seem quaint. Lucille Ball played a ditzy woman that was always getting into absurd situations due to her often limited thought processes. This was a complete contradiction to what she was in real life. She was the first woman to run a major television studio and was an active producer of many productions on stage and television. In many ways she was one of the major pioneers of females in executive positions in entertainment. While this episode degenerates into the silliness of Lucy donning a pseudo-Superman costume on the pretense of fooling a group of children into thinking that Superman has attended their birthday party, it was enjoyable to see George Reeves as Superman act paternal in picking up a child and holding them. He was a hero to children, and the thought of being picked up by Superman was the height of wishful fantasy. Severely restricted in what could be done, many of the early television shows based on comedy have not worn well. Most of the episodes of the Lucy Show remain funny, but only if you put your fifties prism on first.