The Final Bow: How Lucille Ball Was Unprepared for the ‘Bad and Disrespectful’ Reviews of Life with Lucy
Lucille Ball’s legacy is defined by a singular, revolutionary achievement: “I Love Lucy.” As the star and co-creator of a show that pioneered the modern sitcom format, she became an immortal figure in television history. She was a master of physical comedy, a businesswoman who built an entertainment empire, and a beloved icon to millions. But even for a legend of her stature, the pressure to live up to her own legacy was immense. This weight came crashing down in 1986 with her final television series, Life with Lucy, and its shockingly negative reception. The reviews were not just critical; they were, in the words of a co-star, “so bloody” and “disrespectful.” Lucille Ball was not prepared for the onslaught, and her emotional reaction revealed the deeply personal toll it took on her.
The reviews were more than a critique of a show; they were a cruel judgment of her age and her place in an industry that was rapidly changing. The backlash was a devastating blow to a woman who had spent a lifetime making people laugh, and it led to a private, heartbreaking moment that proved even an icon can be brought to tears.
The Return of a Legend
For more than a decade after the finale of “Here’s Lucy,” Lucille Ball had largely been out of the spotlight. She had retired from her sitcom empire, and while she made a few television movie appearances, the public yearned for her return to the familiar format of a weekly comedy. The idea of a new Lucy show was a massive event. When producers Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer announced her comeback in “Life with Lucy,” the anticipation was immense. The show reunited her with her longtime partner-in-crime, Gale Gordon, who had played her foil in every sitcom she had done since “The Lucy Show.”
The premise was simple and, to many, comforting: Ball played Lucy Barker, a mischievous grandmother who was a co-owner of a hardware store with her cantankerous partner, Curtis McGibbon (Gordon). She would live with her daughter and two grandchildren. It was a formula that had worked for her three previous sitcoms. The network, ABC, was so confident in the project that it ordered 13 episodes without even a pilot, a move that showcased the immense trust—and immense pressure—on the comedy queen. The stage was set for a triumphant return.
A Shocking Critical Backlash
When Life with Lucy premiered on September 27, 1986, it was an immediate ratings success, winning its time slot in the first week. However, the critical reviews that followed were far from a celebration. They were, in a word, savage. The reviews were not kind, calling the show “an embarrassment” and “sad,” with some critics asking how she could do “this to herself.” The Washington Post called the show “an embarrassment.” The Associated Press described it as “silly” and “sad,” asking, “How could she do this to herself?”
The core of the criticism was that the show felt dated. The critics argued that Ball’s brand of physical comedy, a staple of 1950s and 60s television, was out of step with the sitcom landscape of the 1980s. Shows like “Family Ties” and “Cheers” were the new standard, and the slapstick humor of the past felt old and tired. What made the reviews so “disrespectful,” as co-star Ann Dusenberry later recalled, was that they were rooted in ageism. The critics seemed to be judging Ball not just on the quality of the material but on her age. Aaron Spelling himself noted that when Ball performed one of her signature pratfalls on the show, the audience didn’t laugh—they gasped. They were more worried about her safety than they were amused by the stunt.
For Lucille Ball, who had never faced this kind of ruthless criticism in her career, the backlash was a complete shock. She was used to being celebrated, not condemned, and the personal nature of the reviews made it impossible to separate the show’s failure from her own.
The Moment of Truth: Her Emotional Reaction
The heartbreaking climax of this story comes from a close account of her reaction. In the book, “I Loved Lucy,” by Lee Tannen, a close friend, the devastation is palpable. Tannen recounts the moment when Ball and a friend were in a car on the way to a dinner. As they drove, the friend read her a few of the savage reviews from the newspapers. The words were a relentless barrage of disappointment and criticism. They were, as one of her friends described them, “so bloody” and “disrespectful.”
The effect on Ball was immediate and profound. Instead of getting angry, the comedy queen, the woman who had brought laughter to millions, was completely broken. According to the account, “She started bawling.” This moment of private, unfiltered grief showed the true human toll of the criticism. This wasn’t a celebrity being disappointed by a show’s failure; it was a woman who had poured her heart and soul into a project, only to have it mercilessly ridiculed. The reviews hurt her not just as an actress but as a person, because they seemed to suggest that her time had passed, and that she was no longer relevant. She had done what she loved, and in return, the critics told her she was no longer good at it.
The show was cancelled after only eight episodes. It was the first time in her career that a Lucy show had been pulled off the air. The failure was a blow she never fully recovered from, and she never attempted another TV series or feature film.
The Legacy of a Final Bow
The failure of Life with Lucy does not diminish Lucille Ball’s legacy; if anything, it serves as a powerful reminder of how revolutionary she truly was. She was a pioneer who broke barriers and became a mogul in a male-dominated industry. Her work on “I Love Lucy” revolutionized television production, from the use of three cameras to the filming in front of a live studio audience. The show’s cultural impact is incalculable.
The tragedy of “Life with Lucy” was that it tried to replicate a formula that was a relic of a bygone era. The television landscape had moved on, and it was a no-win situation for Ball. If she had done something completely new, critics might have said she was abandoning her legacy. But by playing it safe, they said she was a dinosaur. The unfortunate truth is that she could not win against a new era of television and a ruthless generation of critics.
In the end, her career is not defined by one short-lived show but by the entire body of work that came before it. The story of her private tears over the reviews of “Life with Lucy” is a poignant, human moment that shows the vulnerability behind the comedy. It proves that even for a legend, the pain of rejection is real, but it can never erase the monumental achievements that preceded it.
