Well, this is where it all began (sort of). The first episode of THE LUCY SHOW, supposedly based on the book LIFE WITHOUT GEORGE, but we all know it was really a sort of I LOVE LUCY sequel minus the men. I hadn't seen this episode in a long time and had forgotten how good it is. The script is tight and the dialog sharp. Having Desi there to oversee things is why this first season outshines all the ones that followed.
The opening scene is staged very oddly in that the cast are all seated at the oval dinner table all in a row facing the audience, for blocking purposes, though still weird. There are way too many odd insert shots here that are kind of distracting. They brought over a lot of the I LOVE LUCY crew, so you'd think they knew this stuff inside and out already. I guess during the five-year hiatus they hadn't got their bearings back yet. Lucy looks much older in the black-and-white photography here than she would when the series began filming in color next year. I don't think she's wearing the wig contraption here either, that helped pull her face back, giving it a temporary "lift".
The plot kicks in when Chris announces she has a date with a boy who drives. This prompts Lucy to recall her own youth. She mentions a former beau named Vinnie Meyers. This character would actually be brought on in a Season 3 episode called "Lucy Gets Amnesia" so kudos to the writers for continuity - something this series would care less and less about as it went on. Lucy has a great line in this scene when she starts remembering what teenagers do in cars... "CHRIS, you're NOT GOING!!!".
Candy Moore's best and most natural performance of the entire series occurs after Lucy embarrasses Chris in front of her date's parents. She has an emotional outburst and runs upstairs in tears. It's as "real" as this series ever got - and a shame that future scripts did not allow for more moments like this. The series would have a much better reputation if it had. Candy Moore remarked that she disliked playing a "plastic teenager" and that she DID try and bring more realism to her part, but Ms. Ball was not having it. "Up, Up, Up!" Lucy would shout, even if Candy's character was supposed to be depressed. At least at this early stage, Lucy is interacting with the other actors instead of having her eyes darting around frantically searching for those damn cue cards!
Of course, as soon as Lucy gets on the trampoline, the audience is instantly reminded of I LOVE LUCY. It's a decent gag that makes sense within the script. Only drawback is that she's bouncing up to the bedroom window way too slow for it be realistic, so I am removing one star for that. Otherwise, a very strong start to a very uneven series.