#but harrison would never. but they also have a sister who disappeared in s1. if the show had continued. and i were writing it. i would have

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I love stories where it’s someone close to the main character who ends up being their villain, sadly: a friend, parent, sibling, or lover. It just brings so much more to the story and makes you care.

Final Fantasy X had the parent thing with Tidus and Jecht, as did Alias with Sydney and Irina, which is probably part of the reason I love both so much. Alias was also setting up a sibling betrayal with Sydney and Nadia (sisters) because of a prophecy though I’m actually glad it never got there. Or I hope that Sydney and Nadia could have risen above that destiny, like they wanted to.

Dark Angel was starting to do a “sibling” enemies thing with Max and Ames. Edit: And in the first season, her enemy, Lydecker, was essentially her father (and she saw him that way, even though she didn’t want to), so we also had tension there.

And Buffy the Vampire Slayer after season one... did most of these things, which is why it’s so amazing and so renowned. And why you really feel for Buffy and her battles, and they actually mean something.

I feel like there are quite a few examples of the friend thing. Clark and Lex in Smallville start out friends and become enemies. And then in Death Note, Light and L start off enemies and stay that way... but as they work together, the audience (and they, to an extent) get this sense that if they weren’t so stuck to their ideals, and if things had been different, they would have been friends, and it’s sad. And there are plenty other friend ones, of course (like a lot that I’m surely forgetting). The most famous probably being Caesar and Brutus, Jesus and Judas, etc. Edit: Shanna, how could you forget your favorite fandom of all? Kingdom Hearts with Sora and Riku in the first game, of course! And Neku and Joshua in the The World Ends With You.

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY THE FIXER

S1;E14 ~ January 6, 1969

Directed by Jack Donohue ~ Written by Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer

Synopsis

When Lucy called to Harry's house to take dictation, she tries to fix a broken lamp.  In the process she succeeds in nearly wrecking Harry's home!

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter)

This is the first episode of 1969.  It is one of the few to feature just the principal cast members.  It is the only one to only include the entire Carter Family! 

Coincidentally, the title is the same as the 1968 film The Fixer, which would soon be nominated for Golden Globes and Oscars. The plots, however, have no similarity.

Three days before this episode first aired, Desilu regular Howard McNear died at age 68. He was best known as Floyd the barber on “The Andy Griffith Show” but also appeared with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in The Long, Long Trailer (1954) and as Mr. Crawford, Little Ricky’s music teacher in “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (ILL S6;E4). 

In her introduction to the episode on DVD, Lucie Arnaz compared her mother and Gale Gordon's physical comedy to that of Laurel and Hardy, a comparison that has also been made by others. As Lucy Carmichael and Mr. Mooney, the pair pantomimed being Laurel and Hardy under the spell of Miss Pat, the Hip Hypnotist in “Lucy and Pat Collins” (TLS S5;E11). After Stan Laurel’s death, Lucille Ball appeared on “A Salute to Stan Laurel” which aired on November 23, 1965.

Although Lucille Ball Productions (LBP) may have saved money on actor salaries with this episode, the production costs must have increased substantially as Lucy had to destroy Harry's living room – not once but several times. Lucille Ball was a stickler for rehearsals, so the entire set had to be reconstructed from scratch between rehearsals and filming.

At the office, Lucy gets a call from her friend Isabel - if only for the sake of a visual gag of locking the telephone with a chain and padlock. Two weeks later, Isabel will make her first of two appearances played by Lucille Ball’s old friend Mary Wickes.  Although the Isabel disappears, Wickes goes on to create 7 more characters on “Here’s Lucy.” 

Thrifty Uncle Harry scolds Lucy for wasting office supplies!  He calculates that she has wasted 6 sheets of paper a day, which amounts to 30 sheets a week, 1560 sheets a year, and 15,600 in a decade! This was pre-recycling!  

“Rip ‘em with a beat,  Tear ‘em with a paw, Throw ‘em in the meat grinder Rah rah rah!”

We discover that Kim is a cheerleader. Lucy says she was also a high school cheerleader and was voted Miss Cheerleader of 193--... Needless to say, the decade is as much as Lucy is willing to share. In real life, had Lucille Ball stayed in high school instead of heading to New York City to seek fame and fortune, the decade would have been the 1920s, not the '30s.  

Craig is on the football team – he is a substitute offensive guard on the third team. But he looks good in his uniform!  Lucy reminds him that John Wayne started out as an extra. Wayne's first twenty films from 1926 to 1930 were as an uncredited background performer.  The eventual Oscar winner was a favorite of Lucille Ball's, appearing as himself on both “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.” He was mentioned on “Here's Lucy” in “Lucy, the Matchmaker” (S1;E12) and “Lucy and Eva Gabor” (S1;E7).  

In a 1972 episode, college student Craig ponders switching from tennis (Desi Jr.’s real-life passion), to football, with some encouragement from guest star Joe Namath. This was the last appearance of Craig Carter. 

When Craig says he wants to show his football inform to some friends, Lucy guesses that he means Danny and Steve. Lucie adds Carol and Susie and Doreen and Eileen and Josephine and Betty.  Interestingly, she doesn't add Annie, Lori, or Elsie - all female friends of Craig's mentioned (but not seen) in previous episodes. This is likely because the episodes were written by different writers.  

Lucie says her brother is the “Y.A. Tittle of the teenybopper set.” Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. (1926-2017), better known as Y.A. Tittle, was a professional football quarterback who played for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Baltimore Colts.  His final season was in 1964.

This is the first time we visit Harry's home.  

The painting of the Paris suburbs that Harry had hanging on the wall is by K. Chin (1920-95). During W.W.II, K Chin served as a mechanical draftsman with the US Air Corps, during this time he honed in on his skill at creating images with great detail. After working in advertising, Chin spent two years with Norcross Greeting Cards.

When Harry loses his patience with Lucy, he threatens her with physical violence!  Lucy tells him to take his arm out of the hole in the wall. Harry says that he can’t.

His reply is a tribute to “The Honeymooners” (1955-56) in which bus driver Ralph Kramden frequently said the same thing to his stoic wife, Alice. Coincidentally, the character of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) appeared in a wordless cameo in the second episode of “Here’s Lucy”!  

When Harry finds a kitten behind the wall, Lucy asks it “What's new pussycat?” That was the title of a 1965 film by Woody Allen and an Oscar-nominated song of the same name by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The song was made famous by Tom Jones and reached #3 on the pop charts.

Off the many animals that Lucille Ball has had on her shows, this is the first time she has ever worked with a house cat!  

On “Here’s Lucy,” wherever there's water, Gale Gordon will get wet!  Kim finds what she thinks are wires, but turn out to be pipes – pointed right at Uncle Harry. This was a running gag on “The Lucy Show” and “Here's Lucy.”  

Harry wants to dictate a letter to Rylander Moser and Tibbet.  This is the same firm Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) often mentioned on “The Lucy Show.”  

On “The Lucy Show,” Lucy Carmichael's daughter Chris was a cheerleader and her son Jerry was a football player.  Like Lucy Carter, Lucy Carmichael was also a cheerleader in school. Coincidentally, both times her school colors were blue and yellow.  

After the carnage to his living room, Harry calls his sister-in-law “Hurricane Lucy.” On “I Love Lucy,” when Lucy and Ethel make a mess of reconstructing their Connecticut barbecue, Ricky guesses that it was caused by “Hurricane Lucy and Hurricane Ethel.”  In 1971, a real Hurricane Lucy hit the Philippines.

FAST FORWARD!

A clip from this episode was part of “Lucy and Harry’s Memoirs” (S5;E24), closing up the Unique Employment Agency while slowly getting drunk on champagne. It was intended to be the final episode of the series, until Lucille Ball was convinced to do a sixth season.  Like "Lucy the Fixer”, the only characters are the Carter family, although Craig and Kim are only seen in archival footage. 

Make-Up! In close-ups of Gale Gordon, viewers can see the stage make-up smudges on his white shirt collar.

Wardrobe! After the commercial break in the destruction scene, Lucy is suddenly wearing blue gloves. Naturally, they perfectly match her outfit!

Sitcom Logic Alert! Harry finds a live kitten living behind his wall. He then simply sets it down outside the living room door saying “go home”!  It is never mentioned again! Not only did a kitten survive behind the walls of a home, but it let itself out the front door!

Equipment in Frame! When Kim is looking for the lost wires, the camera pulls back for a wide shot and viewers can see the stage lighting near the top of the frame.

Stunt-Ready Set! To facilitate the stunts, the fireplace has no screen or grate, although the production designers did remember ashes!

 “Lucy the Fixer” rates 5 Paper Hearts out of 5

Although the first act drags a bit, the second half is some of the best prop comedy Lucille Ball has done since “I Love Lucy”. It is also a great example of the comic timing of Gale Gordon.  

[abberryyang]

Heya of you were to give Arrow a do over what would you do differently and what would you keep the same? Also would you rewrite Sara because lord knows I would.

Well, it’s the cliché, I loved Arrow S1, otherwise, I only liked parts of S2 - everything else was: “…shit, I could’ve done better.”. 

Big thing’s I’d change right off the bat:

Sara’s existence: The only redeeming quality she has about her is Laurel’s love for her and the kindness she brings out from Nyssa - but, of course, even without Sara, Nyssa still would’ve met Laurel and they would’ve bonded over their fathers. Honestly, if Laurel never forgave Sara and Sara never showed she was sorry in Arrow100, I would never care for Sara - ever. There are two things I would do with Sara: 1) Erase her entire existence.2) Have her completely resent Oliver and profusely apologize to Laurel.The character we see of Sara on “Legends of Tomorrow” (S1) is completely different from the Sara we saw on “Arrow”, and one can argue the pit changed many things about her. Of course, that’s for a different post.

Felicity’s role on Arrow: Felicity honestly deserves better than to be Oliver’s sexcretary, eye candy for the male gaze, or a self-insert character for teen-girls/middle-aged-women. I would have her work with Lyla in ARGUS, where she is mentored by Wendy/Barbra, and she is only with Arrow as a “side-hobby”. I loved Felicity’s one-sided affection for Oliver, and I want her to find herself and realize she doesn’t need Oliver - instead, when Ray’s accident happens, she is consumed by grief and looks desperately for him. When Oliver and Laurel return from Ivy Town, Felicity seeks Oliver’s help, as ARGUS refuses to help her with her vendetta. Waller says Felicity’s too “emotional”, but Felicity argues her emotions will help her find Ray. I want more for her than Arrow has offered Felicity.

Oliver’s “darkness”: Honestly, this should’ve stopped the moment Oliver beat Slade, lbrh. Even in most recent episodes, Oliver’s greatest fear is Laurel, the person who has always saw the best in him, would see him as a monster, along with the rest of the women in his life: Moira and Thea. It’s in S2 that Oliver discovers the women in his life still love him: >Laurel still does not see him as a monster, instead she praises him, thanks him, and runs to him to comfort him. >Moira even shakes her head and says she always knew, and that she is so proud of him. >When Oliver tells Thea in S3, Thea accepts him whole-heartedly and gives him a hug. Oliver’s darkness shouldn’t be darkness, just bad habits that any human being would have as a natural response to trauma and about undoing those habits - Green Arrow’s focus should be where it was in S1: Humanity.

The big bad of S3: It should’ve been China White. Honestly, you got Katanna, Maseo, the flashbacks in China - it should’ve been China White, about disbanding the Triads on the docks. Hell, you could still introduce Emiko if you want, who gets close to Speedy and they are BFF’s. Emiko, Sin, and Roy are all vigilantes and Thea runs the night club who employs the three part time (total omg this belongs as a comment of it’s own)

The big bad of S4: Now this should be the Bratva, not Prometheus, and another gang - some say it’s a race war. The focus of this season would be gang violence.The Bratva hire a bunch of small time villains to take out their competitors, but to no avail because Oliver is constantly thwarting their attempts. It’s then that the head of Bratva comes in for a “visit”. Who is this guy? I don’t know, you tell me. I would love to have a present day Anatoly who was like, “Why the fuck did you kill your own brothers, Oliver, my men? You must pay up for your actions.” Shit like that, don’t just throw it under the rug, no matter what ‘mafia’ you are in. It’s a big focus on certain characters 

The big bad of S5: The Dark Archer and HIVE. Of course, since Colin is on another show, Malcolm, being called The Magician, asks Ra’s to find a way to switch out his son’s body (wayy early on) to another’s. Ra’s connects Malcolm to people who practice dark arts (such as Vandal Savage), who helps Malcolm achieve this thought-to-be-impossible feat. In another person’s body, Tommy swoons Laurel again, asks Oliver questions that only Tommy has asked him, and tries to be Thea’s brother (well technically he is, but…). Tommy fucks up Oliver’s entire life as revenge for what he took from him. “It should’ve been you who died in that building.”

League of Assassins:A constant threat to the world, but they mind their own business and stay in the shadows.

Nitpicky things I would change on Arrow:

Shado’s sister Mei: I really wish they would’ve used her more effectively, I feel like it’s strange that they are from the same family, but she isn’t a complete badass like her sister and dad? I mean, come on, would love the total Ghost Fox Killer thing happening for her.

ARGUS: Honestly, they deserve a show of their own, with Amanda Waller, Lyla, Digg, and Felicity. They all deserve better than the romcom the show has become and destroyed their characters in the process.

Never have Carly and Diggle together.

Dyla: Would drag out Digg and Lyla’s reunion, have them take time to getting married, give them a season or two and stay with the whole “reason why they decided to get back together is baby Sara”. Maybe even baby Sara wasn’t enough, it was the return of Andy Diggle.

Baby Sara: Also, I wouldn’t be a stupid fucking idiot and erase baby Sara, I would’ve just had it where Digg and Lyla never divorced because they had a baby boy who isn’t Oliver’s son in comicverse.

Andy Diggle: Give him a good reason to join Darhk’s side and remain there, give them an episode of flashbacks between just the two of them, another episode of flashbacks for their families, and another episode of just Andy and why he decides to be on Darhk’s side. John never knows or understands Andy, but we do - because even we agree with Andy that this world isn’t good. Have Andy be confronted by Carly, who finds herself in danger and Andy coming to her rescue, her saying, “It’s always been you, you’ve always been here.” Him saying, “I never left.” AJ never meeting his dad. I need angsty shit, all right.

Deadshot: I just need more of him since he survived the accident, alright, I need a lot more than just one scene.

Sin: I want more of her, I want her to be there for Thea, I want her to be in on everything and not needing to be the center of attention like another person.

Quentin Lance: I am so sad that they are putting him through his alcoholism again. Of course, I know that Laurel is his rock, but if you aren’t going to give him his rock back, throw him a fucking life raft.

Dinah Drake: I would love for Laurel’s mother to know of Laurel’s ‘potential’. Dinah is a scientist, who knew that Laurel has a special meta-human gene because they’ve been doing research for so long now. The reason Dinah left wasn’t because of guilt, but because she didn’t have the energy or time to deal with a breaking family when she was on the breakthrough of science. Dinah works alongside Caitlin Snow’s mom and on the side with Harrison Wells.

Wildcat:Retired vigilante who comes back after seeing Laurel’s fire, and protects his side of town. Is his own agency and continues to spar and train Laurel - also coaches the team of misfits with Laurel (Roy, Thea, Emiko and Sin).

Evelyn Sharp:Inspired by Black Canary, is friends with Sin from college, and joins the team of misfits in protecting the city in S3. Reckless, she leads the criminals back to her house and they kill her parents and siblings, leading her to a life of crime and anger. Mentions her friend Artemis as another person who “taught her a fair amount” of fighting skills.

Wild Dog:Trained by Wildcat after losing both his sons to gang violence in S3, René is so angry with what the world has taken from him. The mystery is solved when René finds out his son was in the gang and was trying to initiate his little brother into the gang. René is completely in shock, because he spent all his life telling his sons not to make the mistakes he did (joining a gang, selling drugs, and “living a bad life”). When René tells his ex-wife what happened to their sons, she blames him and leaves him. René hangs up his mask, completely ridden with guilt and despair.

Curtis Holt:Recruited by Ray Palmer for his amazing abilities in S3, they team up to be their own ‘super-heroes’. Curtis was a very serious guy until he met Ray who helped him to ‘lighten up’. Curtis says without Ray, he would’ve joined HIVE, and is thankful for him. When Ray disappears, Curtis teams up with Felicity to find Ray, and is the one keeping Palmer Tech alive in both their absences. HIVE wanted to make Curtis suffer for rejecting their invitation and had Curtis’s husband and the child they had just adopted that day tortured and killed, recorded it, and sent it to Curtis. Consumed with vengeance, Curtis dawns the name Mr. Terrific, what his adopted child would call him when they visited.

Rory Regan:Joins Curtis in his endeavors to avenge his family as HIVE is responsible for the death of his city, also hates Felicity to death and refuses to work with her, speak to her, or acknowledge her presence in the room. 

Tina Boland: A secret agent trying to figure out what HIVE is up to, joins their team to track them down. 

etc.

There’s a lot more nitpicky things, but those are just the more bigger ones lol