The new star system.

"I Love Lucy" star dies at 94. That was the headline on HuffPost for the death of Shirley Mitchell, the comedic actress who played Lucy's friend. Marion Strong, on I Love Lucy Lucy. Now I remember this actress very well and delighted she had such a long and, I'm guessing, productive life. But she was not a star. I really find it annoying that any actor who has any kind of a regular part in any tv series is referred to as a star. In the past, the star was the lead, the name, the top banana. There were four stars on I Love Lucy and we all know who they were. If we use HuffPost logic, then we can also say that I Love Lucy starred Hans Conreid, Richard Crenna, Harpo Marx, Van Johnson and dozens of others.