It was hard to find a day lately with no meetings or events, but today was that day. We took advantage of it by shifting our work to the early and late hours so we could visit the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum and National Comedy Center in Jamestown NY.
At the museums, we learned all about the development and production of I Love Lucy and other Lucille Ball TV shows, the life and careers of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz beyond those series, and the history of comedy in America.
It was an eye-opener to realize how many beloved programs their Desilu studio produced over the years, as well as how many others were filmed at their studio stages. The list includes shows as wide-ranging as Star Trek, The Andy Griffith Show, That Girl, I Spy, and of course, I Love Lucy.
Our favorite exhibits across the two museums included the sets and costumes from I Love Lucy, as well as costumes from other productions, including Jerry’s puffy shirt from Seinfeld, and an assortment of Betty White’s costumes over the years.
There was more in the National Comedy Center than anyone could watch and listen to in one visit. There were replica comedy clubs playing stand-up sets, a living room where you could watch sitcoms, theaters featuring comedy movie and late/night variety show clips, and listening booths for comedy songs and radio acts. We used interactives to learn about late night television, prop comedy, the evolution of comedy over the years, and the tradition of celebrity/political roasts. Short videos highlighted USO comedy tours, political comedians, the healing power of comedy, and the controversial comedy of folks such as George Carlin and Lenny Bruce. The museum even had recreations of desks of cartoonists, screenwriters, and the room in Carl Reiner’s house where he and Mel Brooks would frequently sit and watch Jeopardy together.
Before we left, we got a picture with the groundbreaking woman we came to see.
Once we were done with our museum-filled morning, we badly needed a lunch break! To continue the theme of I Love Lucy, we visited the Fifties Grill and Dairy. The diner-style burger joint even had posters from I Love Lucy on the walls of a few booths. The music during our visit featured Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Rock Around the Clock, and other classics. We highly recommend the burgers.
For dessert, we chose an ice cream shop in the little village of Celoron, the childhood home of Lucille Ball. Celoron is a waterfront community with wide views of Chautauqua Lake. Their Lucille Ball Memorial Park, which sits on the site of an old amusement park that Lucy loved growing up, has two statues of Lucy.
Jamestown and Celoron were well worth the visit. We packed a lot into just a few hours. On the way there and back, we even managed to find some additional treasures in Sugar Grove and Jamestown, but those stories will have to wait for another day.
How about you? Are you a Lucy fan? What is your favorite funny show, film, or comedian? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.