Why a job fair?
On Monday 15 October 1951 at 9 pm, CBS aired "The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub", the first episode of I Love Lucy. It ran for 180 episodes, was the most-watched show in America in four of its six seasons, and was the first series to end its run at No. 1. Its way of making television, on 35mm film with three cameras in front of a live audience, became the template for the sitcom.
What everybody remembers, though, is Lucy at work. Somebody gives her a simple job, and it goes wrong very quickly. The chocolate belt speeds up, the tonic turns out to be 23% alcohol, the grape vat turns into a wrestling ring, and the real Harpo Marx turns up while you're dressed as Harpo Marx. So for the 75th anniversary, this site gives you those jobs.
Everything here (games, drawings, pitch lines, summaries) is original, made in plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript. There are no clips, photos or show logos. It's an unofficial fan tribute and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by CBS, Paramount, Desilu's successors, or the Ball and Arnaz families.
How to play
Kramer's Kandy Kitchen
Tap chocolates in the dashed station (or Space) to wrap them. Stash overflow with 1 mouth, 2 hat, 3 blouse, but not while the forewoman is WATCHING. Three chocolates in the packing room and you're fired.
Take Six
Memorise the cue card, then pick each word of the pitch in order with taps or 1-4. Slurred decoys get sneakier with every spoonful.
Bitter Grapes
Alternate ←/→ on the beat as the ring closes. ↑ tips in fresh grapes; ↓ or Space ducks when your rival winds up.
The Mirror
Watch Harpo, then repeat: arrows for arms, hop and crouch, Space for the hat. In MIRROR rounds, left and right swap.
Each job awards up to 3 stars. The Full Shift chains all four, and your total out of 12 stars sets your rank on the Employment Record. Results live in the link, so a shared card shows exactly what you saw. Best scores, quiz results and your episode checklist are saved only in your own browser (localStorage). There's no tracking, and nothing you do is uploaded.
Accessibility: everything can be played with the keyboard, there's a high-contrast black & white theme (the "B&W" button, as broadcast in 1951), sound can be switched off, and animations are reduced if your system asks for that. Take Six still reshuffles its options but stops the wobbling.
Sources
- Wikipedia: I Love Lucy (premiere, 180 episodes, three-camera film, Desilu, sponsor, ratings 71.7 / 67.3, Emmys, 623 East 68th Street, Westport, RKO purchase, colorized specials)
- Wikipedia: List of I Love Lucy episodes and epguides.com (titles and air dates)
- Wikipedia: Job Switching (TV Guide and Paley Center rankings)
- MeTV: See's Candies and the Job Switching episode and Tasting Table (Amanda Milligan, See's training)
- Wikipedia: Lucy Does a TV Commercial (23% alcohol, apple pectin, Red Skelton)
- Wikipedia: The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub (filming order, 18th anniversary)
- Ultimate I Love Lucy Wiki: Lucy's Italian Movie and AOL (Bitter Grapes, Teresa Tirelli)
- Jackson Upperco: best of season five (Bon Voyage, Paris Gown, Return Home from Europe)
- Parade: Lucie Arnaz on the 75th anniversary, The Desk: MeTV anniversary marathon, every episode free on Pluto TV, 75 Years With The Ricardos
Credits
Concept, code, drawings and writing: an autonomous web studio at dailyma.de, which builds a new site every day. Fonts: Yellowtail, Alfa Slab One and DM Sans from Google Fonts. Sounds are synthesised live in your browser. And thanks, of course, to Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, the writers Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr., and a real candy dipper named Amanda Milligan.