Luvsbway

They did a great job on this covering post 1960. I think it was about half the doc.

I don't think we've got Stu in any docs before. That should be nice. I'm also very hopeful from this review that more time will be devoted to post 1960, a time so overlooked in many docs and books.

Ha! Yep Lindsey's walk through of the part would be a better version then the one in the book

My review for The Queen of Tuesday. In this review I'm not going to review the storyline of the book, but rather the content. The author in his afterword says that he read many of the well known biographies on Lucille Ball to get an idea of who she was, but also admits to changing some facts and overall the Lucille portrayed in this book is his version. It certainly is because nowhere did I feel I was reading about the woman I've come to love for over 20 years. Lucille in this book is by 1950 a washed up actress who has not achieved fame or fortune in movies, her radio show has just been cancelled and she is now venturing into TV as one last shot to have a career. Lucy actually was doing very well in films by this point and making good money. She took a risk going into TV so her and Desi could be together more. The vaudeville act is a key plot point in the overall story of the affair with a man in NYC named Isidore. The act and subsequent I Love Lucy pilot are portrayed as failures. They weren't. The pilot sold the show and vaudeville sold them as a couple to the American people. Later in the 50s it has Lucille driving Desi out of the studio so she can take control, thus gaining back some of her self worth. In reality Lucy never had these ambitions and never wanted to run the studio. Lucy's marriage is a key point to the story and why she decides to have an affair. Even in the opening to the book in 1950 Desi's wandering eye and openness to cheat is portrayed. It continues to be a huge part of the rest of the book, and Desi makes no apologies for it, even throwing it back to Lucy why he does it. It makes Lucy despise Desi and do so for the next 10 years. It was rough in the late 50s but what this book never camptures about their marriage is how in love they were. They fought as hard as they made up. Desi's portrayal really pisses me off. Once the show gets big, he becomes an egotistical, demanding person because he is the top dog and wants everyone to cater to his ways. Many seem to fear him and he doesn't care (or even know half their names) because every show must be better than the last. In reality Desi was a wonderful boss, he knew all the employee's names( Lucy too), let the creative team do their work without interference, and when he thought something could be better he used his wonderful charm. The HUAC press conference at the ranch is used and again it's Desi being a jerk to Lucy, but sweet in front of the cameras. If you've ever read anything about that week, Desi was 100% on her side and fought for her. Then we have the problem of fact changing. The first being that the author knows Lucy was on Monday night but for some reason changes it to Tuesday. There is a long passage that uses Lucille's internal monologue about shooting the first episode, but the episode used is the first aired (not shot). Movie titles are thrown out to illustrate a point of Lucy being forgettable in films but uses films where she has some background bit part alongside a film like Lured where she was wonderful. I wonder if the author even watched any of her pre 1950 films. The author did change the date of Desi Jr's birth to fit the story and I'll say it was the first time I wanted to throw the book across the room for that reason. The overall story is a good one and there is a beautiful chapter with Lucille and Isidore that I enjoyed. What kills the story though is the author took real people, and their real life and career, changed so much about them and their world to fit the narrative. It would have been a much better book if he just made up a fictional husband and wife from the 1950s who had a #1 TV show, but a failing marriage behind the scenes. The reader would know you are talking about Lucy and Desi. What historical fiction in this case does is muddy the waters about Lucille Ball. I sincerely hope a reader doesn't pick up this book because they like I Love Lucy and think this is who Lucy and Desi really were and the events surrounding them happened the way portrayed. Two last thoughts. I was surprised Gary was mentioned. And Nanette Fabray???

Well since they took 2 Lear scripts from 2 different shows. Maybe we can get a Lucy Show/ Here's Lucy match. Of the fun of casting speculation.

I had seen they were branching out to more docs about people. Given the 2 Autopsy episodes I thought we'd get a life overview. Hope they cover past 1960 and show some rare stock footage.

I have something from years back I remember recording that also had Tina Fey on too. I can't recall what it was though.

You have such fun stories.

Ah. Now that's the book I should write.

Same thoughts and I have it on hold at my library too. No way am I paying for this.

Review of the Queen of Tuesday book. Oh boy, will I be yelling back at this book. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/in-the-queen-of-tuesday-darin-strauss-dreams-up-an-affair-between-lucille-ball-and-his-grandfather/2020/08/10/347f8e04-db1f-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html Also I came across another book using Lucy's life for fiction called Lucy's Last Honeymoon in Havana.

I loved this. Although true pantyhose were actually invented and mass produced in the late 50s. She does have a point though. I could never figure out why tights were full length but they couldn't figure out how to basically make sheer tights.

Ann Dusenberry playing a bandit on Guns Of Paradise.

I swear I thought he died years ago. He was old in the 1980s on Our House.

"This is the story of how the most famous and talented sitcom star of her era — and maybe of all time — failed on Broadway." Probably because someone dimmed her bulb. I mean it's just like Lucy Ricardo wrote that. As for the book. I'm waiting on my library to get it in to give it a spin.

Now just get Randy Rainbow to record it and you're viral.

This is what Bob and Madelyn shined at. They set up the gag so subtly. Going back to ILL there are many times when they'd show Lucy doing something right so later when she messed it up you knew that it was because of funny circumstances, not just she was terrible. They grounded the crazy from the start, thus making it believable.

The only thing I liked about Crusader was CNR.

I think he may have been going for the shock value. I wonder if Desi ever got confronted in other interviews with the hard to talk about stuff.

That is so clever and reads like a real gossip column. This brings up the idea of who would be a good Vern for Viv. Gotta think about that.

That's lovely.

I feel like we get Bob from Critics Choice in this special, and he drove me nutts in that. Lucy does in fact look beautiful but her paired with Walter is so not the guy I wanted for her. Well I didn't want Bob either. There are parts of this I like but the baby thing was far fetched and I'm curious what the premise of their TV show was.

This was a big launch. Not just Lucy fans. But the vintage community was big on this too. The red lipstick is already sold out, except in the complete set. I think in a week a lot will be gone. They had a glitch in the system at first and the complete set disappeared and went out of stock. Eventually worked everything out with customer service who got me all fixed up. This should look lovely displayed. The red gold packing looks classy.

I'm locked and loaded with my credit card waiting to buy this today. I'm splurging on the whole collection. I wish the image was more Lucy looking. They had so many Lucy artists to pick from. I don't know why they couldn't have found one to get a better likeness of Lucy. It's not like there aren't 1000s of photos of 1940s Lucy.

Did anyone catch the very brief interview in the Mae doc with one Herbert Kenwith? They credit him as having managed Mae. I yelled, "he's still alive?" Now maybe he passesd on since that was filmed but don't recall hearing anything. Surprised to see Rona Barret was still alive too.