Book Review: Laughing with Lucy by Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr.

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Inside look at I Love Lucy with memories from the writers
Cons: Occasionally falls into an episode guide over a memoir
The Bottom Line:
Fascinating look
At life making people laugh
Hollywood hist'ry




Must for I Love Lucy Fans

While the name Madelyn Pugh Davis might not be super familiar, almost everyone is familiar with her work. As one of the first women writing in TV, she co-wrote nearly every episode of the classic sit-com I Love Lucy. Laughing with Lucy is a behind the scenes look at her life and work and is a fascinating memoir.

Madelyn started out wanting to be a foreign correspondent. But, since this was the 1930's, women didn't get those kinds of jobs, and she had to settle for anything she could get. Moving to California, she started working at CBS, first in news, then in entertainment when she started working on a weekly radio comedy program called "My Favorite Husband" starring a comedian named Lucille Ball. It was also during this time that she hooked up with Bob Carroll, Jr., her long time writing partner.

The book spends lots of time talking about I Love Lucy, starting with the birth of the show. There are many familiar stories here, the network's reluctance to make a show about an interracial couple, Desi Arnaz's desire to film the show in front of a live audience, the making of the pilot, Lucy's pregnancy in season two, etc. Madelyn also debunks a few myths that have sprung up over the years, such as co-star Vivian Vance's weight being in her contract and whether Lucy's fake nose catching fire in a season four episode was in the script or not.

The book does talk about other things. Being a memoir, we also get some talk about Madelyn's life. She doesn't spend too long at it, but it continues to entertain just as the show business stories do. It also gives an interesting view of Los Angeles in the 1940's. It's certainly changed over the years. And she compares her experiences as a woman working in television with experiences her peers had on other shows.

Madelyn also talks about her post I Love Lucy work, including all of Lucy's other TV shows and the classic Alice. These were just as fascinating to me, even though I have never seen them, and make me very interested in fixing that.

There are times the book begins to feel like an episode guide for whatever series she's currently discussing, but it never lasts too long since she will start telling a story about something that happened behind the scenes at that time. These include some of the extra things she had to do as the only female staff member of the shows such as watching for any wardrobe malfunctions Lucy might have while performing the stunts or dealing with the sometimes temperamental star.

The one thing you won't find here is dishing on the behind the scenes rumors. As Madelyn states in the first chapter, it's poor form to do that when someone can't defend themselves. While she does discuss character flaws that Lucy and Desi had, she doesn't dwell on them. Instead, a very complimentary view of the two comes to the forefront. She praises them equally for the success of the show. The picture she paints shows Desi willing to pay for anything they dreamed up and Lucy willing to do it. If it brought laughs, it would happen.

The book feels like a conversation with a good friend over a cup of coffee. This makes it an easy, fun read with some humor mixed in. I actually read it in two days, staying up way too late at night to read just a little more.

Laughing with Lucy provides a fascinating look at life behind the scenes of a just emerging medium as well as a classic show. Fans of early Hollywood history or I Love Lucy will eat it up.