Ethel Mertz, AKA Vivian Vance

Without Ethel, there is no Lucy. Here's a salute to the great second banana in sitcomland. Ethel Mae Potter, we never forgot her! My favorite Ethel moment: Lily of the Valley.

• How come nobody ever starts threads on Shirley Booth as "Hazel"?

• Has anyone ever figured out why she had different middle names? Ethel Mae Potter (we never forgot her!) Come, Ethel Roberta (the Aunt Martha's episode) Ethel Louise Mertz! (the "same dress"/"Friendship" episode And how is she related to the LuEsther T. Mertz Foundation?

• I agree, OP! We miss you, Viv. Another victim of cancer... 26 July 1915 - 17 Aug 1979

  Not%20older%20than%20Lucy

• Hostess pants!

  L.%20Ricardo

• My favorite Vivian Vance moment is when Lucy is hanging off the balcony, trying to come down from Cornel Wilde's apartment upstairs. She is dangling outside when Ricky walks in. The entire scene is Vivian Vance at her brilliant best. "Rick, would you like to hear about a new cake recipe I found?" "Well, bye. I gotta pick up a friend." Gut busting funny

• I like when she eats her food with gusto. Mmmm

• "I'm getting a little tired of being called a cow!"

• Love that scene, r5. Another line, when Ricky asks where Lucy is - "Oh, she's hanging around the hotel somewhere!"

• I wanted a toaster!

• Sometimes I sing "My Hero" from "The Chocolate Soldier", followed by "Short'nin Bread"!

• [quote]How come nobody ever starts threads on Shirley Booth as "Hazel"? Devote the next six hours to watching episodes of HAZEL then come back and ask that question again.

  You%27ll%20Know

• "Without Ethel, there is no Lucy" is a bit of a stretch. But yea VV was great in the role.

• Without Ethel, Lucy is just a crazy stupid bitch.

• VV was crucial to Lucy's success. Plus, Vivian Vance is a bad ass name.

• You stop jabbering and keep your mind on the game! You talk so much you don't know what cards have been played!

  Lucy%2C%20aged%2033%2C%20129%20lbs%20with%20mousy%20brown%20hair

• It bugged me that she was forced to weigh more than Lucy. Sometimes it was obvious that Lucy was heavier but Vivian was still considered the fat one. Also, you had ugly old, fat, bald, Fred and the fucker had the nerve to call Ethel fat. When I was a kid watching them, they all seemed a little fat to me.

• I've always loved when Lucy said something like "You're my friend" Ethel said: "With friends like you, who needs enemies? I've used that over and over through the years.

• "I'm getting a little tired of being called a cow!" The disgusted way in which she delivers that line never fails to crack me up. She says it in answer to Lucy's equally disgusted comment: "you sound like a cow trying to pull its foot out of the mud!"

• There is a wonderful documentary called "Finding Lucy" that has been on PBS in the past several years. The commentary is excellent. There is one part where they show a montage of the Ricardos and Mertzes in crazy moments, some "wacky," some tender, and the narrator says something to the effect of "and through the alchemy of television they became a family, they became OUR family..." or something very similar. It always makes me cry. America fell head over heels in love with Vivian and William and Lucy and Desi. They worked very hard to bring us that joy. The documentary explains the toll that show took on the stars, themselves. Vivian was in therapy for the run of the show. The strain of running Desilu contributed to the demise of the Arnaz/Ball marriage, the very thing I Love Lucy was supposed to STRENGTHEN. But the sheer genius, the eternal laughter (who doesn't STILL laugh at Lucy's antics?) that has gone on now for sixty years, that "alchemy," the lightning in a bottle that made I Love Lucy the first and perhaps STILL the best sitcom of all time (with room for lots of argument, of course) is simply amazing. Vivian Vance is the fourth wheel on that vehicle. The show would not have been the same without her.

  %22Honestly%21%22

• WF was just reading his lines R16. Fred was cool. His weight worked for the character.

• "Would you like some Rock mister candy ?" Ethel, eating a box of chocolates ( with Lucy) , by the pool in Palm Springs, as she meets the (at his prime) Rock Hudson

  Charles%20Farrell%20%28%20founder%20of%20the%20P.S.%20Racquet%20Club%20%29

• "Well that was a subtle performance." Ethel, after Lucy calls MGM from Don Loper's salon phone and talks really loud so Loper and Shelia MacCrae will overhear her.

• What's up with all these old lady television star threads these days? Did one of you find an old stack of TV Guides at Goodwill?

• Ethel to Tilly, Ethel to Tilly. Come in, Tilly.

  Mme Ethel Mertzola

• The whole Connecticut brunch thing with Lucy and Ethel and Betty Ramsey is hysterical. Ethel gets to say the best lines: "Some of us haven't been to a party since we were little girls!" "Yes, the shells." And the one that never fails to crack me up: "I have sufficient!" Mustn't forget Lucy being left out from their mutual admiration society after finding out they were both from Albuquerque. "Betty Foster" "Ethel Potter" Betty: "Lucy!" Lucy (startled): "What?" "Why don't you get Ethel and I another cup of coffee?"

• r25, I remember that but wasn't that a bit of time problem? Wasn't Betty supposed to be Lucy's age and Ethel about 25 years older?

• Does DL identify with Ethel because she was fat and homely and stuck in a loveless relationship? Is that why we've been having all these Ethel/Vivian threads?

  the%20doctor%20is%20IN

• The oft quoted story of how VV was contractually obligated to remain overweight is a fiction. VV herself said that if Ethel was really fat Fred's barbs would come across as cruel rather than funny. The "contract" was a joke Lucy presented to VV.

  Billy%20Hackett

• Ethel wasn't fat and homely. Vi Vance was beautiful.

• Very attractive. Not much luck with men

• It's the razor sharp wit and cutting edge irony of R23 and R27 that keeps us coming back to DL! Doctor!! Goodwill!!

• Mary Jane Croft would disagree.

• Didn't we just do this topic, like a month ago?

• If Einstein can't handle a problem, you don't hand it to Mortimer Snerd!

• [quote]Didn't we just do this topic, like a month ago? This is a new year. It's time we had a new thread. Vivian/Ethel is an evergreen on DL, same as Lucy.

• Totally agree, r35. If you're not interested skip it, r33. It's not like you can't read the topic.

• I love Vivian on The Lucy Show too. They played off each other so well, it's amazing to watch at times. Lucy yelling VIV! in her 1960's smokey rasp kills me.

• She was absolutely unbelievable as a mother. She and Sherman never had any chemistry at all.

• Loved Ethel in the Charm School episode where she is all glammed up in a leopard print mermaid dress and gold arm band posed in the doorway. Third picture.

  http://ultimateilovelucy.wikia.com/wiki/The_Charm_School

• There quite simply was no better "second banana" than Vivian Vance. Impeccable comic timing and oh, that delivery! Nobody could deliver a verbal barb better than Viv....and to be able to hold your own against a rather formidable Lucille Ball is no small feat. What a treasure she was.

• I agree, r40. Vivian's comic timing and line deliveries were flawless and she and Lucy complimented each other so well. After Vivian retired and left 'the Lucy Show,' Lucy was never the same or as funny. And 'Here's Lucy' is almost unwatchable today, except for a few episodes.

• "Oh I was wondering what to wear to all those smart dinner parties I give!"

  Ethel%2C%20on%20receiving%20hostess%20pajamas

• Lucy: It is wonderful to tell the truth. You should try it sometime. We'd all be much better friends. Ethel: Somehow I doubt that...

  Carolyn Applebee, proudly showcasing her new Chinese Modern decor