ABSTRACT
Hyperrealism can be achieved in different ways. Early television’s most popular show, I Love Lucy, employed a totally different approach from the stalwart realism of Dragnet.1 From the start, the stage format of this pioneering sitcom leaves no doubt about the show’s roots in the world of vaudeville and theater. At the same time, the show invests its histrionic portrayal of an unlikely marriage with an aura of hyperrealism. The core narrative builds on the everyday adventures of the red-haired Lucy and her Cuban husband Ricky Ricardo. Since comedienne Lucille Ball and entertainer Desi Arnaz were also real-life husband and wife, the narrative presumes to mirror the actors’ own marriage. The narrative interplay with reality gives rise to an inspiring web of references that not only enriches the characters’ profi les, but also serves as a source for many comic and ironic twists although, or just because, the verisimilitude to their real lives is not strictly carried through. Whereas Desi Arnaz acted the part of a very similar Cuban bandleader who frequented the world of show business, the well-known actress Lucille Ball portrayed a much different character. Lucille played a woman who, unsatisfi ed with her life at home, only dreams about a career in the public spotlight. The irony of a highly successful actress playing a hopelessly maladroit, albeit always hopeful, acting talent sustains the many plots that have Lucy scheming for her entrance ticket to the world of Hollywood or television. Her schemes usually disintegrate into small disasters, not least because Lucy never succeeds in shedding her clumsiness when managing to fi nd the fi ctional limelight of a public stage within the actual spotlight.
