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Watch Lucille Ball repeatedly tell a host to take his hands off female audience members

People laughed every time she told him 'hands off,' but she was stone cold serious.

CBS Television (Public Domain)

Lucille Ball was a powerhouse both on screen and off.

According to her daughter, Lucille Ball never considered herself a feminist, but there's no question she blazed many a trail for women. A working mother in real life, she depicted issues facing housewives with her brilliant television comedy and became the first female studio head in Hollywood. She broke glass ceilings but wasn't particularly outspoken about women's rights. In fact, in a 1980 interview with "People," she said, “They can use my name for equal rights, but I don’t get out there and raise hell because I’ve been so liberated, I have nothing to squawk about.”

Ball empowered women by example—and by speaking her mind. Carol Burnett shared a story on PBS about how Ball was unhappy with a script for her new show, but women at that time didn't raise concerns about such things. Men could express criticism and demand changes, but women simply didn't. Ball did—and firmly—despite being non-confrontational by nature. Later she told Burnett, "Kid, that's when they put the 's' at the end of my name."

A video has been circulating on social media showing Ball's no-nonsense way of speaking up when she felt the need to, and people are gushing over it.

In 1978, Ball participated in a Q & A session with UCLA theater arts students on the television program "America Alive!" The viral clip shows Ball repeatedly telling one of the hosts, David Sheehan, to take his hands off of female audience members when they were asking a question.

Watch:

@femalequotient

We love Lucy ❤️

People laughed every time, but Ball didn't so much as crack a smile during her clear, simple, repeated "hands off" admonitions. For 1978 especially, her advocacy for the women in the audience was extraordinary. Sheehan wasn't touching these women in a lewd or sexual manner, but he was touching them in a way that he wouldn't have touched a man who was asking a question. Most people wouldn't have thought much of it at the time, but Lucille Ball immediately noted it and didn't let it stand.

"I love that she didn't even laugh when the room was," shared one commenter. "She was not joking."

"'Take your hands off her, David,' should be a sound AND a t-shirt," wrote another.

"He kept trying. She kept telling him. Love her," shared another.

"Lucille Ball always reminds me of my grandma," offered another. "She hated to be seen as delicate, and she hated men that would touch her even more. She would say, stone-faced, 'Get your paws off.'"

Even if Sheehan was casually touching those women out of habit and not ill intent, it's laudable that Ball made a point of making him aware of it. Unfortunately, women are still having to deal with men touching them without being invited to, but seeing Lucille Ball's serious face while calling it out is a good reminder that women have been fighting this battle for a long time. Good for her for using her microphone and the respect afforded her to speak up for the young women in her audience.


This article originally appeared on 5.15.24

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Church singer with 'next-level' range covers Adele and wows audiences on 'The Voice'

Atlanta-based Asher HaVon hit rich lows and incredible highs with his rendition of "Set Fire To The Rain."

The Voice/Youtube

Asher HaVon singing "Set Fire To The Rain"

Back in December of 2023, Adele told The Hollywood Reporter that she wasn’t fond of other people covering her songs since they cannot relate to them on the same level.

“I don’t mind it when they do, but I’m just saying they’re never going to be able to emote it,” she said.

But had she heard Asher HaVon’s rendition of her power ballad “Set Fire To Rain,” she might be singing a different tune.

The Alabama-based singer, minus a high-profile gig involving Barack Obama, was more accustomed to performing at church than on a massive stage.

Still, HaVon wowed judges on “The Voice” during his blind audition—beginning with rich, earthy tones that effortlessly soared to goosebump-inducing high notes.

"Asher, what an incredible voice you have," Reba McEntire said afterwards. "Your range, your power, I couldn't wait to turn around and see what you look like."

John Legend, though he didn’t turn his chair for HaVon, seconded McEntire’s opinion, saying “it went in so many different places and your voice has so many different pockets that are very cool."

Take a listen below:

Feeling chills? You’re not alone. Check out what other viewers had to say:

“Right out of the gate Asher sounded amazing and he just got better and better. Crazy vocal, range,and runs.”

“He took that steadying breath and out came this legit sound, deep and sonorous. It was a little surprising. I thought he'd be a high tenor. He showed the low but also got some squall, falsetto, and grit in there. Well done, man!”

“After the Intro I didn't expect such a huge range. Asher nailed it!!! Great Performance.”

“This had me smiling from start to finish. This is probably the best rendition I have heard of this song and his voice is astronomical.”

“Absolutely gorgeous version of the song. Asher totally made that song his own!”

“This man is vocally exceptional. His voice was soulful and powerful. And the song choice further supported his voice.”

It might be true that no one can relate to a song the exact same way the creator of the song does. But we can infuse our own emotions and interpretations into those works, creating something fresh and new. It’s definitely one of the more magical aspects of the human condition.


This article originally appeared on 3.26.24

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19 common American things in film and TV that definitely don't happen in real life

We've all seen them.

Paramount

Just because it's common in movies, doesn't mean it's common in everyday life.

Odds are you’ve come across a movie or television moment that made you think, “this definitely would never happen in real life.” Or maybe you thought something about a time or place which wasn’t actually real, thanks to a show you watched. I, for example, totally thought separate his & hers beds were a common thing in the 50s, thanks to “I Love Lucy.”

That’s kind of the magic of motion pictures. The line between reality and illusion is sometimes so blurred you really can’t discern between the whole “art imitating life” and “life imitating art” thing. Of course, the unbelievability of some common tropes make you wonder how they’ve endured for so long in the first place.

Recently, Reddit user rustyyryan asked: "What American thing is not that common but shown in many Hollywood movies/TV shows?"

Thousands responded. But here are some of the best answers.

1. "On Law and Order, when the police come and people keep doing their drone jobs. Sorry, but the most exciting thing in my day is a visit by the police, so I’m stopping everything, offering coffee, asking lots of questions, and ratting out my neighbors on unrelated things!" —wawa2022

via GIPHY

"The other thing with Law and Order and other cop shows is that people always act annoyed toward the cops. IRL, the vast majority of people are not going to act that way. I’ve had a couple of cop visits and I was always shocked and kind of nervous and there was no way I would have acted like they were getting on my nerves!"—logorrhea69

2."Presents where the box lid is wrapped separately from the rest of the box." —sra19

"This drives me crazy! I get it...it would be a huge hassle to have to re-wrap a present for every take, plus you have to worry about continuity, but I have literally never seen a present wrapped this way in my life."—yourlittlebirdie

3. "At schools, teachers give assignments like normal people and don't shout it at the class as they're departing after the bell rings." —Beezo514

via GIPHY

4. "Women having sex while wearing a bra the whole time. That's the first or second thing I take off of her." —BendingDoor

5. "The houses and apartments shown do not represent the living conditions of most folks." —rjainsa

"One of the reasons Spielberg's films from the '80s/'90s were so believable was that he insisted on houses looking lived in. The Goonies and E.T. both showed messy houses, single parents, scruffy kids, etc." —springloadednadsack

via GIPHY

6. "Empty parking spaces on city streets." —other_half_of_elvis

7. "Especially right in front of the place you’re going."—BxAnnie

8. "Moms making huge breakfasts that no one eats." —babyfresno77

9. "This is the one. Every time, I’m like, 'What time are these kids getting up? What time does school start?'"—DanDan_notaman

10. "Cars exploding in a crash." —St_Ander

"My husband is a firefighter, and he hates car explosion scenes in movies because they don't happen the way movies show them happening."—Specialist-Funny-926

11."I noticed that no one has screens on their windows on TV. Where I live the bugs would carry you away." —RusticSurgery

via GIPHY

"This one drives my husband crazy. He always comments on this when someone opens a window, sticks their head out, or throws something out. Could not do that where I live."—Sunnywithachance099

12. "Shoes on the bed." —slash-5

"I absolutely hate that trope. People with their shoes on beds or sofas. Hate it."—Farscape29

13. "Classes last longer than for the teacher to say something pithy, ask someone a question and then hear the bell ring. School buses don't honk for your lollygagging ass. If the bus stop is empty, they keep driving." —Scrotchety

14. "Halloween party costumes are much more elaborate on TV compared to real life." —Fireproofspider

via GIPHY

"You never see anyone in some crap they picked up at Spirit Halloween 30 minutes before the party."—Repulsive-Heron7023

15. "Nobody ever has to ask someone to repeat themselves in a movie. I probably say, 'What?' about 60 times a day." —Street-Suitable

"This is all TV and movies. Nobody ever stumbles over their words unless it is a plot-necessary miscommunication or the bumbly can't get my words out trope."—Jimmy_riddle86

16. "Abrupt endings to conversations or phone calls without saying bye." —ParapluieGris

via GIPHY

"OMG, thank you. Seriously, I wondered if people actually did this."—raggitytits

17. "The idea that you could be like six months behind on rent before they threaten to evict you, or six months behind on the power bill before they cut off your electricity. Maybe it used to be like that, but it sure isn’t anymore." —komeau

18. "People in a bar ordering a 'beer.' In real life, the server would likely be exasperated and ask about brand/kind and quantity." —remymartinia

"This one drives me nuts. I have never once in my 14 years working at restaurants and bars had someone just order a 'beer.'"—EveInGardenia

…and lastly…

19. "Kids dressed up for school, which would result in them being sent home to change…Also, teens wearing stilettos to school."—Wulfkat

via GIPHY

"Most teenagers today wear a baggy sweatshirt or a large T-shirt to school."—Randomthoughts4041


This article originally appeared on 6.24.24

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Tom Cruise's much-needed advice for making movies look normal on TV is going viral again

He explains how to fix the "soap opera effect" that makes movies feel all wrong because it's not intuitive at all.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (left), Canva (right)

You don't have to suffer with the soap opera effect.

Have you ever gotten a new TV and tried to watch a movie, only to find that your fancy, high-definition television makes movies look like soap operas? Or maybe you've been at a friends house and noticed that their television makes movies look weird—somehow less real and yet more real at the same time—totally ruining the movie-watching experience?

Those of us who are fans of cinema-quality film can find ourselves driven mad trying to figure out what settings to change to make movies look normal. We're not the problem, though. Television manufacturers have made it notoriously hard and completely unintuitive to figure out how to change the default setting that creates the "soap opera effect."

Actor Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie created a PSA in 2018 explaining what causes movies to look so strange on newer TVs and how to change the settings to fix it. It comes down to "video interpolation" and "motion smoothing," but that doesn't mean much when you're looking through the settings of your TV to try make movies look like movies.

They offer a simple solution: Just Google "Turn off motion smoothing [insert your TV brand here]."

The reason they can't just give a blanket solution is because every TV manufacturer—Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony, etc.—has a different name for the setting (TruMotion, Auto Motion Plus and so on), and the setting is found under different menus on different TVs. Splendid.

Why no one who manufactures and tests televisions noticed that the feature made movies look weird and why no one realized that turning the feature on as the default and then making it hard to find and change would be a problem are questions for the ages. The default settings might be great for sports viewing but for TV shows and movies, yuck.

If you're confused or curious about what exactly is happening to create the soap opera effect, Vulture has a brief but excellent explainer video:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

As the video explains, it has to do with frames per second and the way televisions process the images at various frame rates. The motion smoothing feature is actually inserting extra frames in order to "smooth" the way motion looks on the screen, but the effect on movies just feels "wrong."

Having an example can help, but even in a side-by-side of a normal movie-watching experience vs. one with motion smoothing, the difference is hard to see, especially if you're on a mobile or computer screen. It's when you're experiencing the full larger screen movie experience that the difference is obvious, but here's a side-by-side comparison:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Oddly enough, people might assume that because the motion-smoothing effect seems to have a better "quality" and higher resolution that it's somehow better. For movies, it's really not. The way movies are created, they are designed to be viewed without that feature. Some people might prefer it, but for some of us watching a movie with motion smoothing is like the visual equivalent of fingernails across a chalkboard.

Thank you, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie for verifying that new TVs make movies look weird and attempting to save us from the abomination of it all.

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