While producing films for Columbia Pictures, CBS offered Lucy a Radio show based upon the book, Mr. and Mrs. Cugat by Isabelle Scott Rorick. Lucy was
interested, and she was soon teamed with Richard Denning in My Favorite Husband. This half-hour weekly show revolved around the travails of Liz and George
Cugat, a very normal, middle-class couple from Minneapolis. Liz is a dizzy, scheming wife who gets into relatively minor but vexing scrapes that makes life
challenging for her long-suffering husband, a banker played by Richard Denning. Gale Gordon was the bank president, the same role that was to be his on The
Lucy Show. After a few early episodes, confusion with band leader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Liz and George Cooper. The cheerful couple lived at
321 Bundy Drive in the fictitious city of Sheridan Falls and were billed as "two people who live together and like it."
Her writers for the show were Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr. and the producer-director was Jess Oppenheimer, a connection that would become particularly
fruitful in the years to come. In addition to taking charge, Jess Oppenheimer gradually began to revamp the program. He also reworked Lucy's role into a daffier,
broader character, much closer to the Lucy Ricardo who would soon appear on television. The show was performed in front of a live studio audience, not just
actors in front of microphones reading their lines. The performers were in costume as well and it was much like theater. It provided Lucy with her first regular gig
that involved feedback from a live audience. She found the experience exhilarating as did the audience. Something magical happened when Lucille began to work
in front of them and she began hitting performance levels that were missing from any of her previous film work. She absolutely bloomed in front of an audience.
With that, one of the greatest sitcoms of all time had been formed. The program aired 124 episodes from 1948 through 1951.
The main sponsor was Jell-O, and an average of three "plugs" for Jell-O were made in each episode, including Lucille Ball's usual sign-on, "Jell-O, everybody!"
The world will never be without Lucy. She was not merely an actress or a comedian. She was "Lucy" and she was loved.
interested, and she was soon teamed with Richard Denning in My Favorite Husband. This half-hour weekly show revolved around the travails of Liz and George
Cugat, a very normal, middle-class couple from Minneapolis. Liz is a dizzy, scheming wife who gets into relatively minor but vexing scrapes that makes life
challenging for her long-suffering husband, a banker played by Richard Denning. Gale Gordon was the bank president, the same role that was to be his on The
Lucy Show. After a few early episodes, confusion with band leader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Liz and George Cooper. The cheerful couple lived at
321 Bundy Drive in the fictitious city of Sheridan Falls and were billed as "two people who live together and like it."
Her writers for the show were Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr. and the producer-director was Jess Oppenheimer, a connection that would become particularly
fruitful in the years to come. In addition to taking charge, Jess Oppenheimer gradually began to revamp the program. He also reworked Lucy's role into a daffier,
broader character, much closer to the Lucy Ricardo who would soon appear on television. The show was performed in front of a live studio audience, not just
actors in front of microphones reading their lines. The performers were in costume as well and it was much like theater. It provided Lucy with her first regular gig
that involved feedback from a live audience. She found the experience exhilarating as did the audience. Something magical happened when Lucille began to work
in front of them and she began hitting performance levels that were missing from any of her previous film work. She absolutely bloomed in front of an audience.
With that, one of the greatest sitcoms of all time had been formed. The program aired 124 episodes from 1948 through 1951.
The main sponsor was Jell-O, and an average of three "plugs" for Jell-O were made in each episode, including Lucille Ball's usual sign-on, "Jell-O, everybody!"
The world will never be without Lucy. She was not merely an actress or a comedian. She was "Lucy" and she was loved.
| My Favorite Husband |
| Scriptwriters BobCarroll Jr., Madelyn Pugh and Producer Jess Oppenheimer |
| Two people who live together, and like it. |
| Liz Cooper was played by Lucille Ball. George Cooper was played by Richard Denning. Liz's husband, works for Mr. Atterbury Mr. Rudolph Atterbury was played by Gale Gordon. Mrs. Iris Atterbury was played by Bea Benaderet wife of Rudolph. Katy was played by Ruth Perrott, the Cooper's maid. Mrs. Leticia Coope was played first by Bea Benaderet and in subsequent episodes by Eleanor Audley. |
| Lucille Ball and Richard Denning |