Madelyn Pugh Davis, Writer for ‘I Love Lucy,’ Dies at 90

[joeybee12]

Shit...last of the group...brilliant writer. RIP

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/arts/television/madelyn-pugh-davis-writer-for-i-love-lucy-dies-at-90.html?_r=1&hp

Madelyn Pugh Davis, who with her writing partners for the classic sitcom “I Love Lucy” concocted zany scenes in which the harebrained Lucy dangles from a hotel balcony, poses as a sculpture or stomps and wrestles in a vat full of grapes, died Wednesday at her home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. She was 90.

Her death was confirmed by her son, Michael Quinn Martin.

Clever turns of the phrase were not grist for the comedy mill that Ms. Davis, along with Bob Carroll Jr. and the producer Jess Oppenheimer, began running out of a studio back office in 1951. With Ms. Davis clacking away at the typewriter and her partners pacing around her, the basic premise was to come up with ludicrous physical predicaments for the show’s star, Lucille Ball, to get herself into — to the eternal consternation of her husband, played by her real-life husband, the bandleader Desi Arnaz, who was also one of the show’s producers. Lucy would be plopped in a bucket of cement, scampering about a bull ring, coated by ice after being locked in a meat freezer — all of which she escaped with clownish glee. In one famous scene, Lucy’s oversized bread loaf swells from the oven and backs her across her kitchen. In another, she guzzles a 46-proof health tonic, Vitameatavegamin, in a commercial, and is soon mumbling and stumbling.

Visual comedy is what the team, joined by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf 1n 1955, considered their playful work. “We weren’t doing joke jokes or funny word jokes as much as we were setting up physical situations for her,” Ms. Davis said in a 1993 interview for the Archive of American Television. Often it was Ms. Davis who first rode a unicycle or tried out other stunts to see if they would work for Ms. Ball.

[Taverner]

1. Wow - she was still alive?

I thought pretty much all of them had passed

[joeybee12]

4. Desi would refer to her and the writers as "the kids"

They were much younger than the cast.

[blondeatlast]

2. Here's to Mrs. Pugh-Davis. Television writing seemed uniquely

accepting and even reliant on the writing skills of women.

[joeybee12]

7. She was great...I loved listening to her in interviews about the show...

She loved her work.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Here's a trivia question: what do her son and Barnaby Jones have in common?

They were both "Quinn Martin Prodcutions". (Madelyn was married to prolific TV producer Quinn Martin and had a son, Michael Quinn Martin).

[joeybee12]

8. She was also married to one of the writer...one of the "Bobs"...there

were 3 of them on I Love Lucy.

[pipi_k]

5. One of the funniest shows ever on TV...

I've seen every episode multiple times. Each time is just as funny as the first. Exceptional writing, and exceptional acting from Lucille Ball.

One of my favorite episodes was when Ricky puts Lucy on a budget and she ends up making a dress and giving herself a home permanent.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScLNAVwmjgQ

[joeybee12]

6. Is that the one where she cuts up the carpet because she puts the

dress pattern on the floor? That was great!

[Yavin4]

9. Those Bits Still Hold Up As Great Comedy

That's all you need to know about how great they were.

[CountAllVotes]

10. Fare you well my cousin

Ms. Pugh was a cousin of mine. I never met her personally but my late father did (she was his cousin).

I never knew she was still alive but I sure remember watching I Love Lucy and every time her name would scroll by at the end of the show my Dad was always certain to mention that she was our cousin.

What do you know?

May she RIP! O8)

:dem: :kick:

[Kurovski]

11. RIP

I always remembered her name, and saw her in at least one interview. She helped to create a great show.

[CountAllVotes]

12. that was the best show ever

and my cousin was sure pretty wasn't she? :)



Thanks for wishing her well, it means a lot to me and the rest of my family! :D

:dem:

[joeybee12]

13. Catch her in the episode where they;re in Paris and Lucy wants a Paris gown...

She and one of the Bobs do a cameo as patrons at the cafe.

[CountAllVotes]

14. I Love Lucy reruns aren't on much any more

I'll keep my eye open anyway just in case they decide to start running them again. I've probably seen this one at some point but honestly I can't remember it real clearly.

Thanks for letting me know! :)

[pacalo]

18. The Hallmark channel runs about 6 episodes in the wee hours of every weekday morning.

I've loved this show since I was a kid & I recognized Madelyn Pugh's name in the subject line right away. What a gem of a writer.

My favorite episodes:

Vitametavegamin, William Holden episode, the Hatchet Murderess (Lucy & Ethel hitch a ride to Florida), Lucy buys Ethel's birthday present from Fred, Lucy & Ethel sell raffle tickets for a fake charity to fund a trip to Europe (best line: Lucy to federal agent: "But I don't have time to go to jail -- I'm going to Europe!"), & Women's Rights (Lucy & Ethel are stuck at a restaurant having to wash dishes to pay for their meals).

What a show. RIP, Ms. Pugh.

[Kurovski]

16. Oh, the bucket-head hat, the ridiculous "hi-fashion" treatment.

Hysterical.

[pacalo]

20. Here it is...

[joeybee12]

22. I always thought Lucy looked like she had a huge band-aid on her head

with whatever it was they made thay hat out of!

[Kurovski]

23. Lucy's looks like a feedbag!

A horses old oat bowl. :D

Vitamwatavegemin will still provoke LOL, and I've seen it a couple dozen times.

[Kurovski]

15. Oh, absolutely. The happiness she's brought me, and will continue to bring

is incalculable. Beautiful, and a sharp hair-do atop a sharp mind. :)

Bless you all.

[CountAllVotes]

17. oddly ...

In that picture I see a face and wow, it sure looks like a sibling of mine! :wow: :rofl: :D

[Bluebear]

19. Rest well, genius.

[Kurovski]

21. Well put, Bluebear. (nt)

[JI7]

24. this show is better than a lot of crap on TV these days

no matter how many times i watched the episodes they are still enjoyable to see again.

[JI7]

25. i wonder if kids now see this show as kids from other generations did

i know even kids from up to the 90s and maybe even into the early 2000s would see this show.

but i wonder if today kids are less likely to see this show. i don't know if it comes on as often as it did before. it seems like the entertainment that younger people have is crappy. there was crap before also but we had shows like lucy that we would see regularly also .

if/when i ever have kids i would even buy dvd sets for them to watch if it doesn't come on tv.