Reply #30: By her own admission, she wasn't cut out for it [View All]

Too bad she didn't intern under her husband, who was a business genius. But, as she often told him, "You take care of business, I play Lucy."

It strikes me as odd that Lucy gets the majority of the credit for the amazing success of "I Love Lucy." Desi Arnaz was a marvelous comedic actor. He was just naturally funny (Lucy wasn't), and he had a gift for knowing when to use hyperbole — thus the ¡Mira qué tiene qué cosa la mujer esta! bit with bugged-out eyes. Plus, he was a talented musician and a businessman — and he did it all at once.

Arnaz was a pretty good dramatic actor, too. See "Bataan."

Lucy's main gifts were incredible comedic timing and the willingness to do almost anything for a laugh. But she didn't really know what "funny" was; the writers had to tell her. (And thank dog they had Madeline Pugh and Bob Carroll to do that.)