The Plot Thickens: Lucy - Episode 1: Jamestown

[@holyspacemonkey]

This podcast is fantastic, but now I desperately want it to become a documentary so you can show images too!

[@geomanko4142]

Enjoying your podcast. Heard your name: I’m a Manko, they chopped the ending. Have family on the East coast by chance?

[@dallyx66]

She was a very creative, imaginative person. Listen to her description of the dolls, the flowers, trees, rain. Creative people take it all in.

[@annettepora8091]

Both Lucy and Desi know what it's like to struggle. Both were ambitious, creative and tenacious. Their legacy will endure. I also thank Lucie Arnaz for her grace in continuing to foster her family's legacy as a gift to their devoted fans.

[@Julieglam3]

I think the brilliant comedy came to her from all the tragedy. 🎭 She was a force. Beautiful, but most importantly smart...which is an unbeatable combination. Great first episode. Can't wait for the next one...

[@jasonraschen1109]

I was looking forward to this season of The Plot Thickens but had no idea how much I would enjoy it. Listened to Episode 1 & 2 back to back. Lucy’s life is sad, tragic and yet inspiring. Can’t wait to hear the rest of this season.

[@user-ds2tg6gc6x]

Love the way it is narrated, with sound effects and story.

[@mollysmith1226]

I like that too. I find it strange we dont see anything

[@miguelbaezduran]

Another season of "The Plot Thickens". Thank you so much. This is an amazing birthday gift!

[@-Princesse-]

One of my favorite movies Lucy ever did was Stone Pillow, which is still available here on youtube for free. I remember growing up watching The I Love Lucy show and still love turning it on every now and again.

[@leeparks15]

I will check it out, I hope it’s not too sad.

[@cherriberri7161]

I wish this was on film too, audio is great but visual would be fantastic! I’d love to see places & clips

[@DrMoorehen]

I agree!

[@sandrasanders706]

Same here!

[@zacharynathanson2003]

Can't argue with that

[@sarahstrickland6131]

Me too!

[@markwardlow1732]

I totally understand what you are all saying, But if it helps any... think of the series as a good book read on Lucy...I do love visuals...but set the bar a little lower perhaps... Do you like to read books at all ? and if so...think of it as reading a good book on Lucy's Life... just that now...you have someone reading the book aloud to you... with adding little pop up's here and there... and it just happens... that its being read to you by Ben Mankeiwicz

[@SM-gl8yo]

LOVE the artwork on this one. Thanks for the new series Ben.

[@cindeed4422]

I loved her old B movies and film noir. She was a star waiting to happen. They say that I Love Lucy show is airing somewhere at every given moment. Now That’s entertainment!

[@frederickcombs8661]

An intensely complex and fascinating "story telling" of LUCY.

[@DrMoorehen]

Thanks! And greetings from a TCM & Lucy lover from Northern Ireland, United Kingdom xxxx

[@holyspacemonkey]

Young Lucy selling burgers like she’s a carnival barker is so in character!! 😂😂😂

[@garymeise673]

I have watched all of the plot thickens every season and clearly this is by far the most interesting it's truly fantastic. Actually so much said that I've watched it twice. And yes it makes me want TCM to do a multi-part documentary on Lucy. And thank you Ben your narration is really fantastic

[@bejoyful]

Wonderful find for us Lucy fans!

[@ManfromuncoolBlogspotstars]

Why don't they leave half donuts on her headstone?

[@billgreen1861]

Man... That's what I thought he was going to say but, then he said nickels.👋😁

[@Kelli.Hicks.5]

I thought that too. 🍩

[@kzintilord6145]

Wait. Where are these free donuts?

[@dianemedina5814]

Me too.

[@AyitaIam]

U were thinking same as me!

[@howardkerr8174]

I found this quite by accident, but enjoyed it very much. I actually think pictures might have been a bit distracting, so I did not miss them as much as I thought that I would. Overall, EXCELLENT production, my hearty thanks to all involved. The narration and music deserve special thanks. I look forward to the rest of Lucy's story, but will limit myself to one episode a day to extend the pleasure.

[@conniewest3413]

Seem to have read a story about her babysitting for 1st Bush while he was stationed in the Naval base in the downriver island of Grosse Isle South of Detroit. It was accompanied with a picture. Lucy is a legend! My baby sister and I watched reruns of her show for years and always found something new to laugh at. I still do.

[@donaldsimmonsjr]

Provide a link please! I'd love to read the story and see the picture.

[@HenPapirman]

And so, I begin to listen this podcast. 1. Great edit and effects. 2. I would love if you enable the subtitles. 3. I wish this whole podcast would have footage to go with. I watched an interview with Cleo who actually said that Lucy stayed with her stepfather's parents for 3 weeks. I now know why Lucy loved carnations, which Desi kept sending her after they had gotten a divorce.

[@swagner614]

Amazing to find out where she came from to how far she went in a male dominant profession! It's also a shame to see so many vies with so few "likes" for this episode. Can't wait to listen to the rest.

[@sophiabrown9423]

Wish there was visual.

[@christinec.2372]

💟💖💌 thank you TCM. My favorite on TV.. this is a serious treat.

[@debbiehall7016]

My husband's family lived in Jamestown on Lake Chautauqua. Beautiful.

[@donaldsimmonsjr]

Lucy is my favorite actress of all time, and Desi is my favorite actor of all time. I already listened to all 14 episodes, and it was excellent from start to finish! Sincerely, a lovely subscriber from New Jersey 💙

[@martinober249]

Interesting podcast of Lucy's formative years in Jamestown. Thanks for posting this. Looking forward to the additional podcasts

[@linapagliari8003]

Love Lucy a class act 😁🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@TrudiTrahanupchanOKRA]

I wish this was on TCM on tv - hard for me to follow this. Love Lucy and admired and enjoyed her talent.

[@loisklemens9227]

I found this very easy to follow. Mesmerizing!

[@eduardo_corrochio]

Hard to follow? Not sure how that's possible when Ben our narrator guides us through every single setting and introduces every person who speaks. Everything's fine and clear here-- pacing and all.

[@tammyy5305]

Loved this podcast. It was informative and very entertaining. I loved hearing from those then and now who knew her and their perspectives about what she was like personally. I think it was a great retrospect of I Love Lucy and those responsible for it’s success, as well.

[@linapagliari8003]

Really enjoyed this ty for sharing Lucille balls early years😁🇨🇦

[@billgreen1861]

"Lucille Ball's"

[@erikafreebird6449]

Awesome upload. Thank you!💗

[@tonisargent4695]

she was smart funny too still watching i love lucy

[@dsnyguy1]

This is wonderful! i can't wait for the next episode!

[@mikenixon2401]

Been looking forward to this. I love the behind the scenes stories. Makes icons real.

[@karenmay2644]

I love the movie your mind and ours Lucy ball and Henry Fonda and I love Lucy show ❤💕 karen may

[@billdanbury]

Enable captions please!

[@annedwyer797]

8:54 Sorry, but it's Chautauqua Lake, not Lake Chautauqua (my mother was from Jamestown).

[@maddyhayes617]

I have heard Lake Chatauqua more often!!

[@Lantern66]

Terrific podcast would've been better as documentary. So many images I hoped to see!

[@jantonon759]

I lived in Jamestown for 15 years ❤️ P.S. it’s not “upstate NY”, it’s WNY ( Western NY ).

[@WGARVA]

It doesn't sound as though she was a very happy person. Show business is tough.

[@sandijohnson4630]

Very tough business.

[@veritas6335]

I love these interviews but, with all the access to stars and filmmakers that Mankiewicz has, all he's been able to turn out is one series on Bogdanovich and Lucille Ball? Maybe it's that all the good filmmakers are gone- certainly there's very little Hollywood turns out these days that's worth watching. Trash mostly, with the exception of The English Patient and, I suppose, a few of Ron Howard's films, like Apollo 13. Bravo for the effort! And the Bogdanovich series was terrific.let's have more on Hollywood's golden era.

[@todaystomorrow2545]

I remember - it was maybe 1967, I was 9 years old at the grocery checkout counter with my mom. There among the magazines and rag papers was Lucy and dezi full color titled divorce. My bubble was busted - half bewildered and half so sad.

[@randysills4418]

Lucy and Desi divorced in 1960.

[@nyccheckin]

TCM fans are visual fans we need some photos!!!!

[@lisabarr6004]

Another Wonderful podcast!! 👍 All the best TCM crew! ..your loyal sub from Ottawa 🇨🇦

[@dallyx66]

It probably was a possum coat. A lot of women wore them. Men wore raccoon coats in the 20s.

[@lindseycarribean5113]

The voice of smoking.

[@jonchaney]

Lucy in her later years sounded like William Demorest.

[@dallyx66]

And yet MANY life-long smokers don't have deep, rough voices. Including a lot of other actresses of her era.

[@littlebird1065]

Thank you so much for this!!!!🙌💫 so xcellent!!🙋🏽‍♀️

[@AyitaIam]

Best to listen to b4 a nap or rest..ty

[@dallyx66]

If Lucy's voice was so deep bass from smoking cigarettes, why wasn't Bette Davis's, or Joan Crawford's? I think the reason was partly because of shouting so much in her show, Wildcat, on Broadway.

[@Scorchy666]

Cigarettes and menopause hit Lucy's voice hard. Also, her shows were shot from the 50's up through the 70's with overhead microphones. Meaning everyone had to PROJECT their voices ridiculously louder than usual. When you go back and watch any of the Lucy series, everyone is practically shouting so a line isn't dropped. It explains why she didn't like Richard Burton's performance, which she described as "mumbling."

[@dallyx66]

@@Scorchy666 Watch ILL again. They didn't yell on that show. It was the later shows, Here's Lucy, especially. Still not sure about the voice. Desi smoked a lot, didn't have a gutteral voice. She had a pretty high voice on ILL (age 40-50) then it got deeper very fast after that.

[@dallyx66]

@@Scorchy666 @Scorchy666 Watch ILL again. They didn't yell on that show. It was the later shows, Here's Lucy, especially. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpnEfKadn8enZ9E

[@valentinr.dominguez2892]

Leaving anything on headstones is so disrespectful.

[@antoniod]

Lucy produced ALL THE RIGHT MOVES without credit, and it's story of a small town kid wanting to get out obviously had parallels to her own story. But Lucy didn't need a scholarship(or play football)to leave Jamestown.

[@EastSide-qc5oy]

Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson. Didn’t know she was involved. That’s wild.

[@randysills4418]

I think that I read that she didn't want her name on that because of the sex and nudity (including brief frontal male nudity)...

[@karenmay2644]

I love I love Lucy show ❤and I love the Lucy show karen may

[@gracenurse3365]

I thought this said “Lucy in Jonestown” (!)

[@juliebozarth1486]

Was looking for video. Would be so much better!

[@billgreen1861]

Then it wouldn't be a podcast! 🙄

[@juliebozarth1486]

@@billgreen1861 we’ve reverted to the days of radio! : ). I just kept wishing I could see all the clips that we were hearing, and other things.

[@billgreen1861]

@@juliebozarth1486 I enjoyed the podcast because it allows me to do my chores whilst listening and I use my memory of some of those places and things spoken about. And the rest I just imagine, I accomplished a lot during this one. Cheers! P.S. Rick Nineg, has a KZbin channel and you can look through his catalog of vlogs to see the house where Lucille Ball, was born (he actually went there) and the museum in James town ( I don't remember if in separate visits) and bunch of other things related to "Lucy," check it out.!

[@juliebozarth1486]

@@billgreen1861 I was born a few years after the show debuted. I feel like I have been watching it almost daily my whole life. And I never ever tire of it. And I laugh slightly ahead of the lines I know are coming. Perfect show, perfect cast, and perfect writing. I had it on my DVR when it was on Hallmark. It is gone from there now but that’s okay because I have all the dvd sets : )

[@billgreen1861]

@@juliebozarth1486 Yes, those are nice memories I can say every day of my life I've watched Lucy in one show or another and never tired of it. I was out of the country for five years and did not know that Lucy and Desi had divorced,. I still watched the shows but, I didn't know and my cousin told me one day I tell you I felt like it was my own parents who got divorced. Very traumatic, it would be years before I stopped mourning that marriage. But still "I Love ❤️Lucy".☺️

[@gigitrue63]

This almost sounds as though it was recorded on film, originally

[@mariacardenas4665]

I Loooove Her

[@deesandiego]

bravo

[@mariaseus5107]

Growing up I was told she related to Maude Adams is that true

[@debbiehall7016]

Her son paid the price

[@thomascalleson861]

Then Michael which I love the podcast you put out with Lucille Ball will you please do it Thomas Winter Haven Florida Winter Haven Florida you put it in

[@nomdeplume7537]

You know, I'm not saying it's right, but I can understand his carousing. For either of them, I could understand it. If you're with your business partner, wife, husband and costar. And are in each other's face, 24/7 non stop, for decades. You would want to get away. No matter how much you love someone, that close a proximity would destroy any marriage

[@glennroach3337]

where is the film of what you are talking about

[@TheAstrojoe62]

This is a podcast so no video. I think the previous poster was expressing a desire for a video not suggesting there was one.

[@dallyx66]

It's a podcast.

[@storm1024]

Luuucy🥰

[@brianoyler4777]

Lucille Ball's film career was very interesting. Lucy was a great physical comedienne professionally, but Lucy was really not a funny person in real life. She was more business-like. Esther Williams was very funny in real life. Judy Garland had sense of comedy in real life. Lucy was so involved with being so busy with her career. I don't think she had time to be funny in real life.

[@hudsony777]

She said so herself.

[@jabjab4434]

I just remember seeing her with her kids and Gary Morton on Merv Griffin. They all exaggerated drawn out stories that were not funny .. and they would all force these cackle laughs. I was 8 and I wanted the funny Lucy Ricardo with the high voice :)

[@hudsony777]

@@jabjab4434 Yes, I saw her on Merv, the first time in an interview maybe 1970, sans children but with Gary. She actually seemed angry for some reason. and I was shocked. Nothing like her zany selves. Other interviews years later she was fine, amusing, but that first one she seemed miserable. Cynical and disgusted. Strange!

[@alro2434]

Remember her on J Carson once. Definitely not a jokester or funny like most on there that were always ON & big personality, just matter of fact & plain spoken, straight forward.

[@PatriciaM64]

I didn't realize that this was just audio when I saw it advertised.

[@pattyamato8758]

It's...a...PODCAST! That's what a podcast is - audio

[@eduardo_corrochio]

@@pattyamato8758 I swear I think a good chunk of the public doesn't know what a podcast is, or maybe they believe it is a television program, lol. You've got to wonder how people get through the day. Quite a few comments here wishing this production had photos, or wondering why it's just audio.

[@VintageMale]

no video...why bother

[@eduardo_corrochio]

Because: the podcast is a perfect medium for those who want something to listen to while going to work or running errands, taking a long walk, doing household chores, or just hanging out with a beverage. It's like listening to the radio, or an audio book. And it's a very popular thing right now; there are all kinds of them to enjoy.

[@maddyhayes617]

Would love videos. My mom and I were fortunate and Blessed to attend the birthday weekend celebration in Jamestown in 2006. We even stayed and extra day. The weather even cooperated, and Ric Wyman and his staff were wonderful and very accommodating. So much to do and stars, authors, and Lucy and Ethel actresses, trivia, a boat ride on Lake Chatauqua. One of the nicest people I met and talked with was the great Robert Osborne. Such a very personable, handsome, and very down to earth gentleman. So sad when Robert passed away. Such a great mother-daughter weekend in Jamestown.

[@vincentsaia6545]

By most accounts she was not a nice person.

[@krispy6796]

Lucy=Lucifer

[@BrookeBullmasterStewart]

Love the 1st episode and know I’ll love the rest but when it’s an AUDIO only medium, did the people really have to speak through a mask? Seriously? So silly and unnecessary. I would have stood 50 ft away from them (if they wanted distance) if it meant getting clear audio! For the woman in the car doing the tour, if a mask was REQUIRED when in an enclosure together, have her record it without you in the car - whatever it takes. Come on. (Insert huge eye roll here…)

[@MichaelE.Douroux]

Your new graphics are great. Your watered down, politically correct schedule running scared from the Cancel Culture crowd and preachy WOKE talking heads are BORING! Your repeat cycles have noticeably increased. Preachy plus repetitive plus grossly inflated cable prices you now have to pay for TCM has become a waste of time and money in your WOKE crowd's world of high-class problems like hyper-inflation Like all good editors, time to cut the fat that does not advance the story.