I probably watched every episode of ILL a dozen times over (it was running on channel 11 at 7pm, my brother and my dinner hour, for much of my childhood in Southern California). As such, seeing an overhead view of the sets at one point of the production (late in the NYC game, with a rarely-used nursery set on the left, and with the living room having a window) is kind a weird off-kilter look into the show — but a fascinating one nonetheless.
Originally shared by +J. Steven York:
Somebody over on Facebook posted what is presumably a photo of the "I Love Lucy" set, though it almost looks like a model, so I'm not really sure. But it does look accurate, whatever it it, and I found it kind of fascinating. I used to watch "I Love Lucy" reruns on TV as a child, and so I spent a lot of hours looking at this thing, and even as a kid, it never quite made sense to me, especially the living room. Why is the door in the corner, and where does the hall outside go? How does the hall relate to the back wall with its large window? Wait, this is a New York apartment? Aren't they small?
This probably would have slid right past me, except I somehow randomly saw a shot, or maybe even a clip, from the show, with Lucy and Ethel in the living room with a set of louvered shutters behind them. I struggled to remember what was behind the louvers (the kitchen, the shot being on the front right of the living room set).
The living-room's geometry was strange, but it was probably the most important set in the whole series, and the set was designed not just for TV production, but to accommodate the live audience, and the huge camera and lighting equipment of the day.
And while the living room always seemed strange, I never noticed that the bedroom wasn't remotely square either. It's also interesting to see the nursery set off to the far left, obviously a late addition.
Most surprising is Ricky's club, off to the right, being right next to the apartment. OF COURSE that's how it would be, but it's strange. I wonder where they built temporary sets (like the infamous chocolate-factory assembly line) at. Were the off to the right or left of the standing set, or were they put into the cleared floor of club set?
Of course, I've always been fascinated by the TOS Star Trek set, and though Star Trek might seem literally worlds apart, they were both filmed on the same Desilu/Paramount lot, probably had some of the same crew working on them, and technically speaking, weren't that far apart. And of course, Lucille Ball was hugely important in getting Star Trek on the air at all. It's hard not to compare the too, to look at that club set and the living room set, conflate the two, and somehow come up with the Enterprise bridge.
This is true geekery!