Having A Ball Podcast

This week, we had the pleasure of chatting with Sarah Royal about her beautifully written biography of Lucille Ball: ‘AKA Lucy: The Dynamic and Determined Life of Lucille Ball’. Sarah truly captures Lucy’s life, character and grit in this colorful coffeetable book. There are images and easy to follow chapters to keep up with the aforementioned determined life of Lucy - the woman behind the success...

We are back! In this week’s episode, we chat about what we’ve been up to this summer! Erika tells us about all the newfound adventures in cake making and starting a business that has surprisingly taken off in 2023 and Luci has some big news to share! We have missed chatting all things Lucy but will be resuming episodes every other week! Thank you for sticking with us and let us know what you’d lov...

Hey, Lucy fans! We are back this week with another I Love Lucy inspiration episode of 'My Favorite Husband", Liz Changes Her Mind"... and if this sounds familiar, it is!  This script is what inspired the 'Lucy Changes Her Mind' episode from Season 2 (our next recap).  Luci explains what this episode is about and we get to travel back in time and listen to the original broadcast from June 24, 1949....

She went one "I dare you" too far This week, we chat about’The Black Eye”- the infamous black eye that everyone seems to get in this episode! We discuss all the misunderstandings and underlying serious issues surrounding them. We have some trivia, too! Connect with all things 'Having A Ball' ••• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXuCxbfhUNJzJ_8wMfMD_w/featured Having A Ball Podcas...

Hello, Having a Ball listeners! This week, Luci discusses an episode of ‘My Favorite Husband’ - chatting about some interesting facts about the show and cast members. You will then hear the episode as it was played in 1951.  Next week we will compare this episode and ‘The Black Eye’ on I Love Lucy! Connect with all things 'Having A Ball' ••• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXuCx...

Connect with all things 'Having A Ball' ••• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXuCxbfhUNJzJ_8wMfMD_w/featured Having A Ball Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Having-a-Ball-Podcast-103319291812682 Having A Ball Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/havingaballpod/ Erika on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikamurrietta/ Erika on Facebook: https://www.face...

Movie Review! This week, we review the 1942 film, ‘The Big Street’ starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. Director Irving Reis Writers Leonard Spigelgass (screenplay) Damon Runyon (from the Collier's Magazine story "Little Pinks" Connect with all things 'Having A Ball' ••• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXuCxbfhUNJzJ_8wMfMD_w/featured Having A Ball Podcast on Facebook: https://...

This week, we recap Season 2, Episode 18: "Inferiority Complex". As Lucy struggles to feel good about herself, her loved ones certainly don't help with criticisms of her. We chat about the real life issue of depression, psychiatry, family support and how it was handled in the 1950's. Our hearts were with poor Lucy in this episode! Let us know what you think of this recap and please rate and review...

A HANDY DANDY NEW EPISODE! A message from our host this week, Luci: “Hello everyone and welcome back to Having a Ball podcast! Please don't mind my voice I'm getting over a  bought of bronchitis. I'm so glad to be back with this week's episode, ‘Sales Resistance’  In another flashback episode- Ricky, Fred and Ethel start reminiscing about the Handy Dandy company and how Lucy has no sales resistanc...

THE TIME HAS COME! GO!  Little Ricky is finally born! This week, Erika is joined once again by Michael Mooney of 'Papermoon Loves Lucy'- one of our favorite sources for all things Lucy! We chat about the history-making episode 'Lucy Goes to the Hospital'- Desi Arnaz, Jr and Little Ricky being born the same day, the massive number of viewers that tuned in, and what President was overshadowed by thi...

“Such form! Such rhythm! Such movement!” Erika here, today I’m flying solo while Luci takes a break. But, the reviews continue! This week we review “Lucy Becomes A Sculptress”- where she essentially panics at the notion that she needs to become a world famous artist overnight for the sake of their baby’s future! We chat all things impending baby panics, fun trivia about the guest stars in this epi...

A STAG PARTY?! This week we recap :'Ricky Has Labor Pains'. We chat about all the feelings Ricky suddenly gets once Lucy focuses more on their baby's impending birth. So many ways to discuss the dynamics of men and women and how they handle a marriage once a baby is involved. We also chat the "medicine" used to make Ricky feel better and of course, the crazy pregnancy cravings are back! Thank you...

AY-EE-EYE-OH-YOU! This week we chat about Lucy hiring a tutor! Not just any tutor- a walking thesaurus of a man who also sings about tippy-toeing through his garden!  The tutor is played by Hans Conrad- who also had a career history with Lucille Ball. We chat about Lucy’s pregnancy cravings, our own cravings and raising kids with “perfect” English!  Thank you for listening! ••• Connect with all th...

This week we discuss ‘Lucy's Showbiz Swan Song‘ Season 2, episode 12. Ricky needs an act for his ‘Gay 90's’ revue, and Lucy decides this will be her last hurrah before having her baby. Pepito Pérez AKA Pepito the Clown makes an appearance and we discuss some of the fun ways wardrobe tried to hide Lucy's baby belly. We discuss a lot of songs and barbershop quartets, we even read a fun quote from Vi...

Happy New Year! We are back continuing Season 2 recaps and this week we chat about ‘Pregnant Women are Unpredictable’. Oh, the names they go through to end up at Ricky Ricardo, Jr! We chat about choosing baby names, breakfast in bed and how Lucille dealt with pregnancy all together. ••• Connect with all things 'Having A Ball' •• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXuCxbfhUNJzJ_8wMf...

Happy Holidays! This week, co-host Luci has chosen a 'My Favorite Husband' episode to showcase: The Sleigh Ride (episode #68) Broadcast Date: December 23, 1949 Starring: Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper), Richard Denning (George Cooper) Supporting Cast: Frank Nelson, Hans Conried, Jay Novello, Peter Leeds Please enjoy and let us know what your favorite 'My Favorite Husband' episode. ••• Connect with all t...

We are near the end of 2022 and we have had a ton of fun on Having A Ball Podcast this year! This week, we are throwing it back a year and Erika has chosen her favorite episode from December 2021 - interview with George Pennacchio of ABC7, Los Angeles.  (Description from December 20, 2021): As the streaming premiere date on Amazon Prime of ‘Being The Ricardos’ approaches, Erika of Having A Ball Po...

Lucy Is Enceinte! (En-chant? En-sient?) We are finally entering the Ricardo pregnancy episodes! Here, we discuss Season 2, Episode 10, Lucy is excited to find out they are expecting a baby and finding the perfect way and time to let Ricky know. We chat about our own pregnancy stories, how Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz showed genuine and true feelings throughout this announcement and how this made te...

This week we had the pleasure of speaking with the authors of ‘Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography’, Carol M. Ford and Linda Groundwater. As a follow-up to our podcast episode last summer about Bob Crane, we finally connected with these fabulous ladies! To say this is an extensive look at the life, legacy and mysterious death of Bob Crane is an understatement. They tell us of the 12-year journey t...

This week's episode recap is Season 2, Episode 9: 'Ricky Loses His Voice'. As we dive into the episode, we see Ricky unable to stage a show due to losing his voice from what seems like a cold or flu of some kind. Lucy sees this as an opportunity to put on a vaudevillian review using the same dancers from 1927 (it's now 1952). The episode focuses on the difference between men and women when bedridd...

  This week we speak with the Lucy-pedia himself, Michael T. Mooney. Michael is the creator of the very informative and detailed-oriented Tumblr page, 'Papermoon Loves Lucy'. This page is one of the sources we utilize for our episode recaps and is usually one of the top search results on Google when looking for anything 'I Love Lucy' or just Lucille Ball-related.    Chatting with Michael was such...

This week’s episode is a recap of Season 2 Episode 8 ‘Redecorating’. Ethel and Lucy enter a contest in hopes to win some new furniture. Ricky and Fred scheme to trick one of the girls into thinking they won, and halerity ensues. We talk hairdressers, Life Magazine, home shows and party lines. Have you ever used a party line? Do you like this episode? Please rate or send an email with your thoughts...

Hey, Having a Ball listeners! This week, we are reviewing Season 2 episode 7 ‘The Courtroom.’  It's the Mertzes anniversary and the Ricardos and buy them a TV, but what starts out as a thoughtful gift and a nice night turns into fighting and a court date. We discuss TV, candy glass and flirting with judges! Please take a listen and tell us what you think!! And remember folks, we must never lose ou...

This week we really did 'Have a Ball'!! We had a wonderful chat with Jamestown native, author Wendy Loggia (VP/Sr. Exec Editor Random House). We discussed her love for Lucy, her amazing work as both an editor and author and of course her latest book, 'Lucille Ball' which is part of 'The Golden Book Biography' collection. She tells us of a chance meeting with a man who had a *very* close connection...

This week’s Having A Ball episode centers around Season 2, Episode 6: ‘Vacation From Marriage’… the girls decide their marriages are in a rut and the only possible solution is to spend a week away from their spouses- only to discover they love spending time with them! We chat about the exaggerated ways they pretend to lead bachelor and bachelorette lifestyles, our own ideas of a heavenly vacation...