Creative Control and Production
In order to get Ball to agree to a new series, ABC allowed her complete creative control, no requirement to make a pilot episode, and no requirement for testing before focus groups or other tryouts. As all of Ball's previous TV efforts had proven to be hugely successful (although her previous sitcom, Here's Lucy, had gone into decline in its final years due to Ball's increasing age), the network acquiesced to these demands, even though she was at the time 75 years old and her long-time co-star Gale Gordon was 80. Gordon's "slow burn" comic timing was reminiscent of his previous characters on The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy, and he was coaxed out of retirement in Palm Springs on the condition that he would be paid for a full season, regardless of whether the show was renewed.
Most of the episodes were written and supervised by longtime Lucy writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis, who had previously worked on I Love Lucy in the 1950s, The Lucy Show in the 1960s, and Here's Lucy in the 1970s. The stunts were handled by actor Donovan Scott, who played Lucy's co-worker in the hardware store, though Lucy did participate in low-risk physical scenes, such as one where a room completely filled to the ceiling with soapsuds, or an electronic rocking chair went berserk and knocked her back and forth.
The show's theme song was performed by Eydie Gorme.
Read more about this topic: Life With Lucy
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