I have read the "Television Without Pity" book, and let me be one of the first to say it is quite entertaining, certainly worth the money, and I agree with most of the opinions expressed. But there was one small paragraph that distressed me. It was a blanked condemnation of any and all black-and white sitcoms. Including "I Love Lucy". And it bases this opinion on never ever seeing an episode of "I Love Lucy" This is pure idiocy in an otherwise very intelligent book.
Now, Lord knows there were many rotten black-and-white sitcoms, just as I think there were many rotten in-color sitcoms.(From what I've seen, "My Mother the Car" was really as bad as its name would imply).
Now, Lucy doesn't need any help from me. She will outlive all of us in her visibility. But there were about a half-dozen black-and-white sitcoms that were absolute treasures:
The Honeymooners
Car 54, Where Are You?
Mister Peepers
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Jack Benny Show
and above all, Sergeant Bilko.
What they all have in common is that they've all completely vanished from the airwaves, and are all available on DVD.
I urge anyone who has not seen any of these shows to seek them out on DVD and not let the paleness of the images stand in his or her way.
Let me also mention that with me you have an actual living, breathing, sitcom show-runner on some major hits and some minor flops.(All of them in color. I'm not that old.) I'm very proud of my work, and just as proud of the flops. If anyone out there would like to pick my brain about my experiences or about comedy-writing and production theory, I invite you to use this thread to do so. You are also welcome to e-mail me.
