Posted on 08/04/2011 2:57:15 AM PDT by iowamark
You won't need a buzz off your Vitameatavegamin elixir to appreciate this: The Hallmark Channel is celebrating what would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday with a 48-hour marathon of classic "I Love Lucy" episodes.
Hallmark, the exclusive cable home of the show, will air 96 total episodes beginning on Saturday, Lucille Ball's actual birthday. The episodes begin Saturday morning at 6 a.m. and end Monday morning at 6 a.m., with 48 unique episodes airing each day. No reruns!
It's hard to understate the significance of Lucille Ball as a TV star and iconic American celebrity. Not only was Lucy the first woman to head a production company, she was on the cover of TV Guide more than any other star in history. "I Love Lucy," which was the most watched program in the nation for four out of six of its seasons, is considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time. It won five Emmys during its run. (FYI for all the hardcore "Lucy" fans out there: According to Hallmark Channel, Viacom owns the rights to "I Love Lucy.")
Hallmark is also releasing a rare, never published interview TV writer Ray Richmond conducted with Lucille Ball in 1984 titled "My Lunch with Lucy." Click below to read that interview.
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MY LUNCH WITH LUCY By Ray Richmond
It was November of 1984. I was the chief TV critic for the Daily News of Los Angeles when my editor asked if I wanted to interview Lucille Ball in connection with her being honored by CBS with an “all-star party” airing on the network in December.
“You’re asking me if I’d like to interview Lucy?” came my incredulous response. “Wait. Let me think about it. Yes!!!”
I mean, who wouldn’t leap at the chance to chat with the all-time queen of comedy? You don’t let that kind of opportunity pass. And I didn’t.
But at the same time, I couldn’t have known what awaited me after arriving that day promptly at 11:30 in the morning at Ball’s sleek but unpretentious home in Beverly Hills.
I rang the doorbell, expecting an assistant to answer. Instead, it was the redhead herself, resplendent in a green sundress and white sandals, her hair still very much the hue of goldfish. She was holding a ruby red beverage in a tall, frothy glass and immediately asked if I’d like one as well.
“I’d love one,” I said, already rather awestruck.
“Good. Come on in, honey.”
Not only had a woman who’d shared a living room with me since I was a toddler just called me “honey”; she took me by the hand to lead me inside. And instead of being met by the typical entourage of publicists and helpers, it was instantly clear that we were alone aside from a housekeeper puttering around the kitchen.
Someone needed to pinch me, as I figured I must to be dreaming. Me and Lucy. In her home. Just the two of us. Sipping cocktails. About to travel together down memory lane.
We settled into a very light and airy living room dominated by a big, floppy couch and linen pillows. I sat on the sofa, Lucy in an overstuffed chair. But before getting settled, she called out to her housekeeper.
“Rosa! The lasagna in the fridge. Can you heat it up with some of the bread?”
“Si!” came the response from the kitchen.
“You hungry?” Lucy asked me after having already decided I was.
It didn’t matter that I’d had a late breakfast and it wasn’t even noon yet. I was going with this program to the hilt.
“Absolutely. Lasagna sounds great.”
“Good,” Lucy replied with a firm nod of the head. “Okay, now what can I tell you? Ask me anything you want.”
I mean, what didn’t I want to ask this woman? What I wanted to say was, “Tell me everything. About Desi. About Vivian. About being a television pioneer. About what those years were like. About how it feels to forever be America’s wacky sweetheart.”
Turning on my microcassette tape recorder, I began asking. And Lucy started telling. And telling. And telling. And telling. All of it with great color and clarity and candor.
When I asked her about Vivian Vance and the great sisterly friendship she is purported to have had with her I Love Lucy costar, Lucy began to tear up in remembering the pal who had died a mere five years before of breast and bone cancer.
“Oh God it was so hard,” Lucy shared between quivering sobs. “I couldn’t save her. I felt so helpless. She was the love of my life.”
The description of Vance’s decline spanned some 15 minutes of our time together. I wasn’t pressing with questions. It instead emerged in a single cathartic burst from Lucy’s lips. This was a woman often thought to be rigid and abrasive in private. But here she was reliving one of her most agonizing moments with a visible raw grief, openness and sincerity in front of a complete stranger.
Our interview would traverse a gamut of emotions, reaching ebullient highs in discussing her early life, her years on TV, and her early years as a movie starlet.
When the subject of Desi Arnaz was raised, Lucy grew immediately wistful and nostalgic.
"What can I tell you, I loved him," she said, a tear beginning to form in her left eye. "He and I just had different hopes for what love and marriage ought to be. But, he's a great father to our kids…a good man." With that, Lucy began dabbing at her eyes. "I'll never stop loving Desi. And I know how much he'll always love me. He and I are good now. Growing older and maturing is the best thing that ever happened to us. And you know it's no secret that we had our problems, but I can look at Desi now and remember the fantastic times we had together back then, too."
"That's all you're getting out of me!" her voice rising. "Can we change the subject please?"
Oh yes we could. And I did, immediately.
As the minutes turned into two hours and the end of our interview neared, what I had expected to be a low-energy half-hour of monitored banter turned into a revelatory, unforgettable conversation with a legend that you get once per lifetime, if you’re ridiculously lucky. Lucy was by turns witty, charming, reflective and somber. By the end, she was worn out by all of the emotion she’d expended, seemingly surprising even herself.
“That was fun, kid,” she said, as I flipped off my recorder and handed the housekeeper my cleaned lasagna plate.
“This is one of the greatest moments of my life,” I said to her. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve given me today.”
“Ah, well you must not have much of a life if chatting with an old bag is as good as it gets,” she laughed heartily.
Just then, Lucy’s second husband, Gary Morton, walked in, giving his wife a warm kiss and hug that warmed my heart to see. As I was making my way past the loving couple to leave, Lucy made a parting demand.
“Don’t tell anyone I color my hair,” she said. “Let ‘em think it’s still natural. OK?”
I kept Lucy’s secret all of these years. But given that she’s turning 100, I figure she’s probably all right with my finally spilling the beans.
Thanks for posting this article. Enjoyed it...
I feel sorry for the generation growing up today. What will they remember from TV when they are in their 50s or 60s?
Count my 9-year old son as one of the lucky few. He loves watching my large collection of old movies and TV shows. Like me when I was his age, Gilligan’s Island is his favorite TV show. And favorite movies of his are, No Time for Sergeants, and Mr. Roberts, both of which he remembers and will quote on queue many favorite lines. And he almost refuses to go to bed unless I play an Edgar Bergan Chalie McCarthy old time radio show, or old Bill Cosby records that he can fall to sleep to.
Wow, a lucky son you have. That’s exactly what I plan on doing with my kids. With the exception on YouTube, the only entertainment for me is listening to live streaming Old Time Radio.
Your son is very lucky!
My brother also raised his kid on Hollywood classics and classic television shows.
When my nephew comes to NYC every August, I try to take him to the greatest theatre available.
This year we will see a play called “War Horse,” about two horses forced to participate in World War I. It takes you through every conceivable horror of that period - and yet in beautiful, lyrical style.
I would also recommend “Bilko” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” for your son. Both written and directed by a genuis named Nat Hiken. Hilarious!
He must be thinking of “The Lucy Show,” the show that continued for at least 20 years after her divorce from Desi. It was a marked downturn from “I Love Lucy.”
Oh yea, I remeber “Car 54, Where Are You” very well. Wonder if its available on DVD or streaming? Others I’m looking for is “It’s About Time” a cave man comedy created by the people that made Gillgan. The whole Beverly Hillbillies series - not just the poor quality mini-sets that were released. Get Smart, Rat Patrol,I dream of Genie, And there was a show in 1967 called, “Off to See the Wizard” ABCs version of Wonderful World of Disney - which had some great short family movies from the MGM vault.
Happy Birthday Lucy!
Car 54 is available on dvd. So it Bilko - don’t miss that one.
I understand where you are coming from, but...yes - I still think the scripts were mindless and over the top on her shows. You do have a great point regarding garbage produced on TV today. Compared next to "The Jersey Shore" and "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" shows produced today, then "I Love Lucy" was Shakespeare. But if watch the Lucy shows, I still cringe and sit there expressionless (or worse).
The whole 'situation comedy' formula is as stale then as it is now. The writers have never improved upon it very much, although some shows are better than others.
In the "I Love Lucy" construct, every episode was the same ingredients: Lucy gets herself into trouble, makes things worse trying to get out of the predicament, the audience laughs at her suffering, and Ricky gets angry.
I could only take so much of that.
Her show ending cry of "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" (which elicited howls from the audience) was insufferable.
It was akin to Fonzy delivering his ever so stale "Ayyyyyeeee.!!!" The audience laughs and cheers on cue, for the 9,621st time. And again for the 9,622nd time.
There were some great shows in the 50's, with excellent writing and production. The "Twilight Zone" for example. From a comedic standpoint, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" flies rings around "I Love Lucy." So do productions such as "Second City Television", the early "SNL" episodes, and even clever shows of more recent years such as "The Office."
Back in the day - a TV show was broadcast and then GONE - off into the aether - never to be seen again. The idea was “who would want to see a TV show after it has already aired?”.
Desi recognized that they were producing comedy GOLD and it was too good for just a one time showing. He asked the studio to film it and they said No. He asked if he could pay to have it filmed and then he would own the rights - and they said “sure - but who will ever want to watch it after it has already aired?”
Answer: Generations untold.
Happy Birthday Lucy!
“I guess you remember Ms.Ball in a Three Stooges short?”
I just recorded that episode from the TV. It was made in 1934. She was absolutely gorgeous back then. Most people now only remember her as middle-aged.
Lucy and Desi...two smart, creative, beautiful people who I wish had been able to stay together. I would have liked to see them work things out. I just can’t believe Lucy would have been 100 years old this birthday. RIP Lucy.
Yes, one of the greatest sitcoms in the world. Beloved in England. I belong to a Facebook page dedicated to all things Bilko. We’re trying to get all the dvds released.
England has very good taste when it comes to American sit coms.
She was always a very beautiful woman, although her face was highly pliable as proven by I Love Lucy, lol!
It was only later when all the cigarettes got to her (let’s say the 1970s) that she finally began to age.
She was also a Broadway showgirl.
I’ve heard Luci Arnaz speak about her: she obviously loved and admired her a great deal. She always said that Lucy and Desi gave her a stable, middle-class upbringing (despite their wealth).
To compare Monty Python - a show that came out of the 1950s-60s Oxbridge University scene - to a Hollywood show created by a Cuban immigrant and a beautiful showgirl and actress is ridiculous.
Both are wonderful and bear no relation to each other. Of course, I must admit that Ms. Ball did steal many routines from Red Skelton, but she did manage to pay homage to that particular master of the art of comedy.
I respectfully disagree. It is an appropriate comparison because it exposes the great inequities of the two.
There is comedy, and mindless comedy.
The brilliance of a John Cleese sketch satirizing certain professions or cultural norms contrasts greatly with the idiotic slap stick of throwing cakes down a conveyor belt. The first is hilarious because the viewer can witness truths - satire has no power if there is no truth. Slap stick and cheap laughs with no thought process.
And, I will die happy if I never have to watch a clip of Lucille Ball screaming her "WAAAAA!" catch phrase.
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