[The angel] carried me away into the desert by the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Rev. 17:3.
The writers, director, producer, and actors all sat down before a 12-inch black-and-white television to watch the first episode of I Love Lucy. It was October 15, 1951. All but one of the group had participated in the filming of the show, so the only laughter came from the single person who hadn't seen it before, the husband of a secondary actress. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair. The others hoped that his reaction was a good omen.
When the reviews appeared, they were mixed. The Hollywood Reporter raved about the show. Daily Variety, on the other hand, indicated that it needed some work before it would be successful. The New York Times thought the show had "promise." Time called it "a triumph of bounce over bubbling material." But when the ratings came out, I Love Lucy stood in the Top 10, and six months later it reached number one. Time magazine quickly had a change of heart, featuring Lucy on its cover in May 1952. The more-than-50-year success of the show is a credit to the comedic genius of "Lucy," Lucille Ball.
I Love Lucy established all kinds of records. Mare than a billion people have seen it. But one of the show's greatest contributions to the entertainment world was something that happened before it ever went on the air. In the early 1950s most TV shows performed live for broadcast from New York City. Stations around the country then played a kinescope, a copy of the show filmed from a TV screen, which left a lot to be desired in terms of quality.
But Lucy and her husband, Desi, were expecting their first child, and they didn't want to move to New York. So Desi suggested shooting the show with three movie cameras in front of an audience. CBS said it would cost too much, so the couple took a cut in salary and in return received the rights to the negatives of the films. Thus the three-camera film system, still used for situation comedies today, came into being--as well as the rerun.
Revelation 17:3 is also a rerun. We have seen the woman previously in the desert (Rev. 12:6, 13-16). The same applies to the beast with seven heads, 10 horns, and the names of blasphemy (verses 3, 4; Rev. 13:1-6). These characters also echo characters from the Old Testament (Eze. 23; Dan. 7; Hosea 1-4). "What goes around comes around" and "there is nothing new under the sun." Satan's strategies tend to be fairly consistent. The problem is not that he surprises us, but that we tend to fall for the same tricks again and again.
Lord, help me to learn from the spiritual mistakes I have made in the past. Teach me to recognize the wiles of Satan and enable me to be faithful in all things today.
The writers, director, producer, and actors all sat down before a 12-inch black-and-white television to watch the first episode of I Love Lucy. It was October 15, 1951. All but one of the group had participated in the filming of the show, so the only laughter came from the single person who hadn't seen it before, the husband of a secondary actress. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair. The others hoped that his reaction was a good omen.
When the reviews appeared, they were mixed. The Hollywood Reporter raved about the show. Daily Variety, on the other hand, indicated that it needed some work before it would be successful. The New York Times thought the show had "promise." Time called it "a triumph of bounce over bubbling material." But when the ratings came out, I Love Lucy stood in the Top 10, and six months later it reached number one. Time magazine quickly had a change of heart, featuring Lucy on its cover in May 1952. The more-than-50-year success of the show is a credit to the comedic genius of "Lucy," Lucille Ball.
I Love Lucy established all kinds of records. Mare than a billion people have seen it. But one of the show's greatest contributions to the entertainment world was something that happened before it ever went on the air. In the early 1950s most TV shows performed live for broadcast from New York City. Stations around the country then played a kinescope, a copy of the show filmed from a TV screen, which left a lot to be desired in terms of quality.
But Lucy and her husband, Desi, were expecting their first child, and they didn't want to move to New York. So Desi suggested shooting the show with three movie cameras in front of an audience. CBS said it would cost too much, so the couple took a cut in salary and in return received the rights to the negatives of the films. Thus the three-camera film system, still used for situation comedies today, came into being--as well as the rerun.
Revelation 17:3 is also a rerun. We have seen the woman previously in the desert (Rev. 12:6, 13-16). The same applies to the beast with seven heads, 10 horns, and the names of blasphemy (verses 3, 4; Rev. 13:1-6). These characters also echo characters from the Old Testament (Eze. 23; Dan. 7; Hosea 1-4). "What goes around comes around" and "there is nothing new under the sun." Satan's strategies tend to be fairly consistent. The problem is not that he surprises us, but that we tend to fall for the same tricks again and again.
Lord, help me to learn from the spiritual mistakes I have made in the past. Teach me to recognize the wiles of Satan and enable me to be faithful in all things today.
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