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Re: Lucy's answer to Gary Collins/Hour Magazine question: "(without Vivian) would you ever do a series with another woman?". (Answer: a definite "No, sir.") Speaking for Mary Jane Lewis, all I can say is "WELL!!! What was I? Chopped Chipmunk Liver???"

On the Home Theater Forum website someone posted that next week CBS will release the first season of "Miss Brooks" as a made on demand DVD set. See post #3577 https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/is-the-b-w-era-of-tv-on-dvd-slowly-coming-to-an-end.311401/page-179

I don't know if anyone finds this interesting but sometimes I think about and find fascinating how fleeting time is and how close things were relative to the current year--when they seemed like ages apart, if that makes sense: (my math may need a little fact checking). If "Mame" was in production today, Lucille "too OLD for the role" Ball would have been born in 1958, the same year as Megan Mullaly, Bebe Neuwirth, Annette Benning, Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle Pfeiffer, Holly Hunter, Jamie Lee Curtis AND EVE PLUMB!!---any one of which seems age-appropriate now. If "Life with Lucy" was airing this season, Here's Lucy would have ended its run in 2007, I Love Lucy would have premiered in 1983 and the Ernie Kovacs Comedy Hour would have aired in 1992. Lucy would have been born in 1944. Marriage to Gary: 1994. Wildcat: 1993-4. Today, the rustic old days of "Wildcat"'s Centavo City: 1970

Heaven's loudspeaker: "TELEPHONE FOR WALTER PIDGEON"

This was the sort of perspective I was hoping for. Though I thought Lucy's LWL make-up was too harsh, she moved like a much younger woman. (Example: her entrance dancing to "Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs"--was that a real group??). And the critic reaction WAS quite ageist, and unfair--always stating she was 75 and "shouldn't be doing" what she could still do. Now that some of these critics are themselves probably 75, maybe they see things a little differently. Writer is right about supporting cast. With the exception of Leonard (and of course Gale), they were as bland as bland can be. In retrospect, the premiere was as good as anyone could expect it to be. (But--ONCE AGAIN-- shame on director and/or editor for including the foam output of a second extinguisher.) And BYW, Lucy's first "I'll never do another....can't top what....." came after LDCH, 2 year before The Lucy Show. One misquote: "Stone Pillow" was CBS not ABC. (Luckily when Lucy Moved to NBC, she got a round-trip ticket.) The "Stone Pillow" history depends on the writer. Some have referred to it as a failure, both critically and ratings-wise. Here, the writer is closer to the truth. While not a ground-breaking TV movie, it scored in the top 10 for the week--a major accomplishment considering it was opposite a segment of ABC's very popular "Helen & Ann" * mini-series. *excuse me: that was "North and South(ern)"

How nice to finally have this thread to join the others

I love the bonkers part. I caught the documentary done on him after his book came out. Seeing him tell these stories actually was less creditable then reading them in his book.

Just finished watching my dvd set and thoroughly enjoyed it! I know reviews back in the day said she was too old and it was a rehash. Here’s my take. I always thought Lucy Ricardo would be a fun friend, Lucy Carmichael a cool aunt and Lucy Carter a fun mom. After watching Life with Lucy, I see Lucy Barker as a fun grandma. I now feel like I’ve been able to experience the full life cycle of the “Lucy” character. I’m really pleased about that! When the price goes does on the LWL set, I’m going to buy a back up copy! I ❤️ Lucy!

Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs actually do exist.

Speaking for Vanda: "Well, Diamond Jane Brady coytaintly didn't like workin' much with the ladies! If she keeps that up, she'll be in hawt watah!"

I personally think the idea of Meadows joining was more a secret wish for certain writers and crew members than a fully considered idea. As to whether or not she was approached and turned down the offer, I can't say. "Mother of the Bride" may have been the 8th episode to air, but it was the 12th one shot, second to last. It was only a week later they found out the series was cancelled. So if there was talk of Audrey coming aboard, it likely would've only been a very brief consideration before being rendered moot. Had the series continued, it might've been nice to see her appear on a recurring basis to freshen things up, but I, too, can't see her being incorporated as a regular. It would've complicated things even further.

My DVD was expected to arrive on Tuesday so I was happily surprised to see that it came today. With the unparalleled picture clarity, the nuances of Lucy and Gale's performances stand out more than ever. The extent to which Lucy elevates the material is nothing short of incredible, but we all know that. Like everyone else, the quality and special features are the real thrill for me. The main thing that I've been trying to look for is any sign of development over the episodes. You'd think that after the reviews and ratings started to come in, somebody would've put their foot down and done some tweaking, but I don't see much. The first half of the season has a lot of great physical comedy while the unaired episodes are a much better showcase for the family and their dynamic. If only the show had been given the full season it was promised- I think there would have been a lot more to dissect. Also, the Hour Magazine interview makes me consider the credibility of that longstanding rumor that Audrey Meadows was approached to be a regular cast member. Lucy's reverence for Viv is so heartwarming. I don't know how Audrey would have been as a second banana; Lucy and Curtis already have their well-established love/hate relationship and I think that yet another character would have been a misstep.

My copy has FINALLY arrived!!! Yipppeeee!!! Now I'm watching the premiere episode. Plan to watch all of the episodes of the first disc, at least, by tonight.

"and Lucy’s last major stab at TV stardom...." Yeah, it's a shame Lucy's career never went anyplace after the pictures.

Here are photos from an eBay listing:

The TCM YouTube page has posted excerpts of the Robert tribute!

This morning I was driving behind a cherry red Jeep with a tire cover featuring the ILL logo and the Lucy and Ricky stick figures. I couldn't find it online so I'm assuming that it was a custom job. On top of that, the license plate was "1LVELUCY", or something like that. I tried to take a picture but couldn't really maneuver it while driving, and the car sped up considerably so I wonder if they knew that I was trying to take a photo.

Donovan posted this story on his Facebook the other day about how he got the part on LWL. HOLLYWOOD TALES OF DONOVAN SCOTT In July of 1986 while visiting family in Maui I got a call from my agent that Lucille Ball wanted to talk with me about doing her next series. I thought it was a joke. But when I returned to the mainland, I was invited by the “Queen of Comedy” to come to her house. Aaron Spelling (who was producing the show), had shown Lucy a pilot I had done for Mr. Spelling, (Scared Silly) ,in hopes she would like one of the two leads, she did not pick the romantic guy, Spelling was pushing, she wanted the other guy, the fat funny one, who was me. ME!! Lucy wanted me! I met at her house, we talked and laughed for about an hour, taking about movies I had done and people we had worked with, and then we played backgammon, we laughed for another hour or so. The whole time I was in my head wondering if I had blow the interview because we were no longer talking shop. Instead we were telling jokes, and I was watching to see if Lucy was cheating at backgammon because she was beating my so quickly. She was cheating, but who’s going to call the queen out? I would just say, “How about 2 out of 3…. 4 out of five, and so on, until Gary Morton, her husband said, they had a dinner engagement, and I was shown to the door and on my way out Lucy stopped me at the door and said “Oh by the way kid, you got the job”!! I remember floating out the door and the rest of the day is and was a complete blur. This was a dream come true, like most of America I grew up with the antics of this woman, learned comedy from this woman, and was inspired to become a comedic actor BECAUSE of this woman, and now I would be working with one of the 3 people who influenced my whole life. The other two were Jerry Lewis and Lou Costello. We rehearsed and shot on the set at 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, now called the Lot. (I think it was called Warner Hollywood Studios at the time), off of Formosa and across from the Famous Formosa café. It was 6 blocks from my apartment, but I would still drive to the set , because I had my first parking space in a studio lot. THIS WAS TRULY HOLLYWOOD. It was a great experience, a highlight in my fantastic career. We were scheduled to shoot 22 episodes, we shot 13 but were cancelled after eight episodes aired, the other 5 episodes have never been seen, UNTIL NOW!! On October 8th all thirteen episode will be on sale. I can’t wait for this to happen, I have never seen any of these episode in good quality DVD and can’t wait to relive the wonderful moments we had in making the series. How lucky I have been.

I also read or maybe it was just heard through the grapevine that he would call her late and night and she didn't want to get off the phone but in the morning was tired.

That's fair. I do enjoy it, but I've never found it to be the "be all, end all" of musicals the way so many do. I'm very selective when it comes to musicals - only a small handful truly excite me.