Madelyn Pugh Davis

“Bob said, ‘I don’t want to get tied down, I’ll give it a year.’ We’ve been writing together, it’ll be 50 years -- and he wasn’t sure it would work out,” Madelyn Pugh Davis laughs. Bob Carroll Jr. (1918-2007) and writing partner Madelyn Pugh Davis (1921-2011) first began writing for radio as a team in about 1946; in television they were writers on every one of Lucille Ball’s series. In their Archive interview, each briefly recounts their early years and influences and then sit together for a career-spanning interview which begins with their work in radio for such legends as Steve Allen. They eventually became writers on radio’s My Favorite Husband, which starred Lucille Ball. When Ball made the transition to television with I Love Lucy, producer Jess Oppenheimer hired the team as writers. During the interview they discuss in great length the process of writing for I Love Lucy and the immense talents of the cast. They recount how some of the classic scenes came about (including the candy factory scene) and how production of the show was done. They briefly discuss working on Ball’s subsequent series and as well as a few non-Lucy sitcoms including Alice. When Lucille Ball returned to television in 1986 for her ill-fated Life With Lucy, Carroll and Davis were there, too, although Davis admits “none of us should have done it.” They conclude the interview with their thoughts on the legacy of I Love Lucy and the timelessness of the series. Bob Carroll, Jr. (1918-2007) and Madelyn Pugh Davis were interviewed in Los Angeles, CA on November 24, 1997; Tom Gilbert conducted the two-and-a-half-hour interview (including individual interviews about their early years running approximately 10 minutes each).