Number 2337: Having a Ball? EH!

EH!, the Charlton Mad imitator, turned the popular situation comedy, I Love Lucy (1951-1957), into a hillbilly parody. Why? I guess someone thought turning Lucy’s husband’s Latin band into a hillbilly band was funny. Hillbillies in movies, Li’l Abner, and hillbilly music were popular in those days. What redeems the story is the artwork of Dick Ayers. He drew Lucille Ball as a leggy beauty in a skimpy outfit. Ball began her Hollywood career as a glamour girl, but with her gift for comedy stepped out of the chorus line and into stardom. Ayers is a favorite of mine, but even with his drawing skills I give this satire a rating of 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 for funny, for its attempts at Mad-style satire.

“Satire is what closes on Saturday night,” said humorist George S. Kaufman when his play, Strike Up the Band, did not make it to Broadway. It could also apply to personal tastes in humor. Is satire funny? Often it is, and I like it. But I think the humor in satire depends on whether the person watching it is familiar with what is being satirized. I Love Lucy was very popular in America in its time, and also known in other countries from syndication.

P.S. The title, “I Love Loosely,” sounds like a porno movie.

From EH! #7 (1954).

Posted in: Pappy Comics