Mot Morenzi

These are great! I especially loved Shopping Expert.

It’s been over two years and few seem to visit this site anymore, but what the hell… Fan Magazine Interview: A jilted housewife confronts her husband’s elderly mistress. Lucy’s Italian Movie: A white woman appropriates a foreign culture by soaking up local color. Return Home from Europe: A woman’s baby is dismembered and stuffed into multiple musical instruments. Redecorating the Mertz’s Apartment: Two mooching landlords scheme to milk free renovations from their tenants. The Fashion Show: A sunburnt dilettante infiltrates the A-List by donning tweed. The Seance: A group of occultists attempt to free a dog from Satan’s clutches. California, Here We Come: A meddlesome mother-in-law puts a man’s movie career in jeopardy. Nursery School: A child’s health is put at risk by exposure to others. In Palm Springs: Two unsatisfied housewives contemplate an affair with a closeted movie star.

Lucy & the Missing Tramp Stamp Lucy and Viv decide to get matching lower back tattoos to symbolise their friendship. However, Lucy chickens out and gets a henna one instead (“I’ve been adding it to my hair for years, why not go a little lower?”). When she showers too early and the whole thing washes off, she enlists Mooney to redraw it before Viv comes home from getting her nails done at Flo’s. Unfortunately, Mooney loses control of the applicator, and Lucy’s once again dyed green from head to toe. Lucy and Carol Burn It Pyromaniac Carol Bradford’s influence rubs off on Lucy, and soon the two redheads are committing arson all over town. (Producer Milt Josefsberg has a field day with pyrotechnic special effects this week.) Ethel Merman and the Sex Toy Show Ethel invites Lucy and Viv to a ladies only sales demonstration, where she shows off the new “Borgnine Buster”. Mooney the Spunky Suffering a midlife crisis, Mooney dyes his hair black, buys a leather jacket and starts driving a flashy new car. But things go too far when he dumps Irma for Audrey Fields. It’s up to Lucy, disguised as Audrey, to make Mooney come to intensely dislike her and return to his bald, bowlegged ball & chain. Viv Visits Lucy in Jail Still sharing a cell with Hard Head for getting rid of some paper, Viv shows up with a simple, yet ingenious, escape plan. When Tinkerbell tries to stop them, the 150 pound canary just sits on her until Lucy and Hard Head have fled. (The three of them enacting a “Thelma & Louise”-esque ending was filmed in the event of a series finale, but was cut by Gary Morton after “Garilu Productions” opted for another season.)

Ohhh, Mr. Loper, ohhh!

“Ethel! Did you say you were gonna be a mother!?” “…oh, shut up.”

Common sense has got nothin’ to do with it. When I say he’s wrong, HE’S WRONG!!!

I certainly found it more enjoyable.

It’s interesting to consider the parallels this film has to The Eyes of Tammy Faye: - Both are based on the lives of a famous TV couple, with the emphasis on the women - Both couples we previously the subject of TV movies in the ‘90s of which their respective children disapproved - Both sets of children were at least partially involved with the making of these films and have expressed more support, but are critical of certain decisions made - Both films have been critiqued for their scripts and the historical license taken - Both starred major actresses who won awards for their respective portrayals (Kidman the Golden Globe, Chastain the Oscar) Hollywood sure loves its formulas!

Oh, just wait ‘til Mickey Richardson hears about this!

I don’t know, but somewhere along the line, Shrinking Violet got sanforized.

Right, which led to questioning of his motives.

I recall Lucie Arnaz answered a question about it on her old website (still viewable via the Wayback Machine) by saying it was full of historical inaccuracies.

Oh?…

Fred…for your information, May the 3rd is OUR wedding anniversary!

…MERTZ!?

I thought so. The version I have on my iPod cuts the commercials, so I couldn’t be sure. Hope my old Radio Spirits tapes are still tucked away in my room back in the U.S.

Which “My Favorite Husband” episode features the JELL-O commercial with Gracie Allen as the soothsayer?

Lewis also had this to say in another interview: Who would be your perfect main stage Coachella hologram to perform alongside? Lucille Ball. She was my mentor. I was on a show with her called Life with Lucy when I was a little kid. She played my grandmother. She was very tough on me but taught me a lot of important things. She was stern and she wanted me to focus and she taught me a lot of great lessons that I still carry with me. Like what? “Learn your fucking lines, kid!” (laughs)

You also got to attend at least one “Here’s Lucy” filming, right?

Yep, you had me going for a minute. And thanks for the hysterical visual! Now to go bleach my brain…

One reason I like the two part “Funny World of Lucy” documentary is that the second half devotes a lot of time to TLS and HL, something few other programs have done. Considering they only had public domain footage to work with, that company did a great job providing an overall career overview for Lucille. Interesting question re: the public domain episodes potentially damaging TLS’s reputation. You’re right that the bulk of the 30 PD episodes don’t reflect the show at its finest. Also, the number of companies that attempted to trick people by using “I Love Lucy” era imagery on the packaging probably didn’t help. It might’ve earned a stigma as the “bargain bin” Lucy program. The official releases hopefully have rectified this perception somewhat.

I know Neil got to attend a few filmings, and I believe Joey was in the audience for the first LWL. Hopefully they'll see this and share some of their memories. That's so neat you got to see 2x4s! Question for you: the opening title sequence appeared to feature a shot from this episode that wound up cut - Lucy walking down the stairs in her pink dress while Larry Anderson fanned himself. This may be a long shot, but do you perhaps recall the context of that scene? In what way was Gary's warmup inappropriate, if I may ask?

I fully support everything Ken says here: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-i-love-lucy-movie-i-would-like-to.html