Colorized "I Love Lucy" DVD set for Nov. 5, CBS Special airs Dec. 20

[C L A U D E]

I'm referencing Jim Bailey and the preceding joke was "Your hair looks like a sunset through bloodshot eyes."

Sorry, but I am not fond of that particular show and unlike you, I have not memorized that lousy script, LOL! He makes me uncomfortable, and I don't usually dislike gay people but . . . LOL!

[Brock]

But he D O E S

 

[C L A U D E]

Had no idea Eddie "Banjo Eyes" Cantor was black! Great example of Desi's subdued and restrained acting style though!

[Mot Morenzi]

Colorization always makes skin tones look unnatural. Too even. And Desi looks like coffee ice cream when colorized.

[HarryCarter]

Colorization always makes skin tones look unnatural. Too even. And Desi looks like coffee ice cream when colorized.

 

Whenever I watch the colorized Lucy Goes to Scotland, all I can think of is how unnatural Desi looks.

[Lucyilove]

Too much to catch up with here (as I'm typing this the banner Two New Replies Added - then Three, Then Four, then Five! comes up and interrupts me!!) so I'll make this a general post.

 

I'm not against colorization - I just want to make absolutely sure the B&W originals will always be easily available. Lotus Bud is absolutely correct that to release ILL exclusively as a color set puts in jeopardy the access to ILL as originally filmed. How easy it it to get the B&W Shirley Temple movies now? (And don't say you can always special order them at Amazon, etc. on the net - if that's the only way they will be available in time they're not going to be available period.) If the could release sets with options to watch it in color OR B&W that would be great.

 

Yes colorization has much improved since the 1980's but it's still not natural looking, probably never will be, and even a child could tell the difference between true color and colorization. And if somebody is so impossible as to not sit through B&W it's not inconceivable many of them still won't sit through "fake" color.

 

Coloring ILL is not going to suddenly get it back on CBS prime time again or make it a monster hit all over. I seriously doubt tv ratings would increase very much from what they are now. We love it, we know it's great, so do millions of others but we have to face the facts that the bulk of a new generation is never going to be wowed by this show. It's from another era and most young people today aren't going to be any more interested in it than many of the members here are of the brillant films of the 1930's. Color is not going to make a big new market; there are scores of excellent 1940s/1960s color films ignored today and quite a few great 1960s-1980s color series that have been forgotten.

 

Color it all you want it's still going to be a period work, not a slice of 2010's American life and will always be "dated" to many people.

[Mot Morenzi]

Too much to catch up with here (as I'm typing this the banner Two New Replies Added - then Three, Then Four, then Five! comes up and interrupts me!!) so I'll make this a general post.

 

I'm not against colorization - I just want to make absolutely sure the B&W originals will always be easily available. Lotus Bud is absolutely correct that to release ILL exclusively as a color set puts in jeopardy the access to ILL as originally filmed. How easy it it to get the B&W Shirley Temple movies now? (And don't say you can always special order them at Amazon, etc. on the net - if that's the only way they will be available in time they're not going to be available period.) If the could release sets with options to watch it in color OR B&W that would be great.

 

Yes colorization has much improved since the 1980's but it's still not natural looking, probably never will be, and even a child could tell the difference between true color and colorization. And if somebody is so impossible as to not sit through B&W it's not inconceivable many of them still won't sit through "fake" color.

 

Coloring ILL is not going to suddenly get it back on CBS prime time again or make it a monster hit all over. I seriously doubt tv ratings would increase very much from what they are now. We love it, we know it's great, so do millions of others but we have to face the facts that the bulk of a new generation is never going to be wowed by this show. It's from another era and most young people today aren't going to be any more interested in it than many of the members here are of the brillant films of the 1930's. Color is not going to make a big new market; there are scores of excellent 1940s/1960s color films ignored today and quite a few great 1960s-1980s color series that have been forgotten.

 

Color it all you want it's still going to be a period work, not a slice of 2010's American life and will always be "dated" to many people.

 

Perfectly put!

[C L A U D E]

Too much to catch up with here (as I'm typing this the banner Two New Replies Added - then Three, Then Four, then Five! comes up and interrupts me!!) so I'll make this a general post.

 

I'm not against colorization - I just want to make absolutely sure the B&W originals will always be easily available. Lotus Bud is absolutely correct that to release ILL exclusively as a color set puts in jeopardy the access to ILL as originally filmed. How easy it it to get the B&W Shirley Temple movies now? (And don't say you can always special order them at Amazon, etc. on the net - if that's the only way they will be available in time they're not going to be available period.) If the could release sets with options to watch it in color OR B&W that would be great.

 

Yes colorization has much improved since the 1980's but it's still not natural looking, probably never will be, and even a child could tell the difference between true color and colorization. And if somebody is so impossible as to not sit through B&W it's not inconceivable many of them still won't sit through "fake" color.

 

Coloring ILL is not going to suddenly get it back on CBS prime time again or make it a monster hit all over. I seriously doubt tv ratings would increase very much from what they are now. We love it, we know it's great, so do millions of others but we have to face the facts that the bulk of a new generation is never going to be wowed by this show. It's from another era and most young people today aren't going to be any more interested in it than many of the members here are of the brillant films of the 1930's. Color is not going to make a big new market; there are scores of excellent 1940s/1960s color films ignored today and quite a few great 1960s-1980s color series that have been forgotten.

 

Color it all you want it's still going to be a period work, not a slice of 2010's American life and will always be "dated" to many people.

Isn't the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane, still available, so many years after they brought out a colorized version? Well, I Love Lucy, is the Citizen Kane of Television shows, so . . .

[Mot Morenzi]

Isn't the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane, still available, so many years after they brought out a colorized version? Well, I Love Lucy, is the Citizen Kane of Television shows, so . . .

 

Citizen Kane was never colorized. Even Ted Turner didn't dare go that far!

 

http://articles.philly.com/1989-02-15/news/26151185_1_colorize-film-purists-turner-entertainment

[C L A U D E]

Citizen Kane was never colorized. Even Ted Turner didn't dare go that far!

 

http://articles.phil...r-entertainment

Well, I used magic markers on my copy and it looks just fine.

[Desiluforever]

Can we just give this up, we'll just have to wait and see. But, the reason that the skin tones can look unnatural in colorized pieces is that many times the sets were over lit, as Gregg explained about the Italian Movie ep. in Jamestown. Anyways... the high exposure makes Lucy look white (and I think the others too, excluding Desi), anyways the high contrast between everyone else and Desi, makes him look much darker and unnatural. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes the people who are colorizing chose awful colors for skin tones.

[C L A U D E]

Can we just give this up, we'll just have to wait and see. But, the reason that the skin tones can look unnatural in colorized pieces is that many times the sets were over lit, as Gregg explained about the Italian Movie ep. in Jamestown. Anyways... the high exposure makes Lucy look white (and I think the others too, excluding Desi), anyways the high contrast between everyone else and Desi, makes him look much darker and unnatural. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes the people who are colorizing chose awful colors for skin tones.

I disagree here, I think Desi was much darker than ordinary people, hence grandpa thinking he was black, and Lucy looked too white because of the heavy make up to conceal the wrinkles, Viv probably did the same things make up wise and Bill, well, he was OLD like me, so he probably volunteered for more make up also, I know I WOULD!

[Desiluforever]

I disagree here, I think Desi was much darker than ordinary people, hence grandpa thinking he was black, and Lucy looked too white because of the heavy make up to conceal the wrinkles, Viv probably did the same things make up wise and Bill, well, he was OLD like me, so he probably volunteered for more make up also, I know I WOULD!

Well... the very white skin was technically specific to Lucy when over lit. Yes, she did have heavy makeup, but if you have ever colorized, putting color on top of white or off white just translates to basically white, and Gregg said the same. And to fix over lit scenes usually ends up badly so they are forced to leave it as is or with minimal change, leaving the skin tones very white on everyone (excluding Desi). For him, it is very hard to chose a good skin tone due to the darkness of his skin, I have often run into that problem and it usually ends up in a very unnatural color as described above in the colorized episodes. And, as I said before, his skin looks even darker in contrast with the others. Sorry for bad wording.... tired.

[Lucille Ball fan]

I have no problem with watching I Love Lucy in black and white. But every episode should be availabe in color. If one does not like the new color versions then find the color setting on your television and turn off the color. I Love Lucy has been available on every new home video technology. First VHS videotape then laserdisc then DVD and soon Blu ray disc. It was first seen on free over the air television on CBS then rerun on free over the air television then rerun on cable tv and satellite tv and now is available to watch on CBS.com on the internet. I Love Lucy has been available on every new technology. Color will not change the story of the shows it will enhance the shows. It is time for the show to be available in color. The Lucy Show from the second season on is in color. Here's Lucy is in color. Life With Lucy is in color. What is wrong with I Love Lucy in color? So go ahead CBS please colorize I Love Lucy, The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour and the first season of The Lucy Show.

I Love Lucy is great in black and white and would be even greater in color. SO CBS PLEASE BRING ON THE COLOR!!!!

[Annaleigh]

My only complaint about ILL living in color is that no one knows the exact color of everything. I would like to see it accurately if it was in color. Yeah, I'm weird in that sense. Also I would hope they would stay consistent on colors like dresses being the same color in each episode they appear or the furniture. I just hope they really put time and commitment into this if this happens!

[Lucille Ball fan]

Yes CBS should research each episode to try their best to get the colors as correct as can be done. If done correctly this show will look amazing in color!

[Irene Kampen Tripp]

Wizard of Oz in 3D? ... I wud wwwatch that..... I love All About Eve.... They are just enhancing the picture quality and not colorizing.the flashback episodes of the christmas one? Well that is stupid.....who cares if the picture is.sharper? I thoought theygot off cheap the first time I saw it and only half of the episode.wae.in color...we already have the half colored ep on our dvd collection.....who would waste their money on that? That eoesnt make sense to me at all.... I thought we would get.the whole.episode in color..... Kinda throws water on the dicussion.so far...invigorating as it was....

[Lucille Ball fan]

It would have been nice if the entire Christmas show was in color on the new dvd release. Well we can always have hope that

one day it might be released on dvd completely colorized.

 

How long does it take to colorize a I Love Lucy episode?

[Desiluforever]

You would be surprised as to how many production stills they have in color. There are a lot, and I mean a lot, that the general public has never laid their eyes on. Sure, not everything would be 100% correct, but all recurring sets, dresses, etc. are all documented in color. And as for how long it takes to colorize an episode.... quite a long time, each frame has to be individually colorized. I don't know if each frame is done manually anymore or if there is technology which can cut down on how many frames they manually have to colorize, but it still takes a while.

[JYuhas]

Believe it or not, I actually sent CBS an E-mail about this. If you agree and feel the same way, and if you'd like to send them an E-mail, please feel free to do so. I'd like to hear your thoughs, feelings and opinions either way, regardless. Here's the body of the E-mail that I sent.

 

 

 

 

To Whom it May Concern:

I as well as other fans thought that this was going to be an updated colorization, and would be re-colorized, with different color schemes to reflect the color still photographs of the Christmas Show, as well as the Ricardo’s New York Apartment Living room & Kitchen set recreations in Jamestown, New York.

 

From what I understand, the "I Love Lucy" Christmas Show is going to be given an updated colorization. I read that The only "fix" CBS is working on is to try to somehow "combine" the restored 1080p black and white version with the colorized 1989 version (without "re-colorizing" anything) to get pretty much the same colorization as the existing one, but with much sharper resolution and far fewer digital artifacts, which should make for a much better viewing experience.

 

I know a lot of fans are sticklers for details, (as I'm one myself), I don't know why CBS wouldn't to try to match colors to the Jamestown sets or anything else, especially when there's color still photographs from this episode to go by, as well as the Jamestown sets, like the Ricardo's New York Apartment, Kitchen and Tropicana Nightclub sets. Unlike in the 1990 broadcast, the black and white flashbacks will be the restored, hi-def versions, but won't be colorized for this release. I know that was one of the gripes and complaints when the colorized version of the Christmas episode aired in 1990.

 

I'm just wondering why they're not re-colorizing anything, including the flashbacks. I mean, I'm grateful, and can't wait to see how it turns out, but why would CBS not try to match the colors of the onset still photographs of the Christmas Show, and/or the Jamestown sets. The infamous Christmas Show photo, you can see that the curtains were red, and the walls were blue/gray. The colors in that were in the original colorized Christmas Special weren't correct/accurate. They were wrong. This wasn't known at the time, but since the color photos surfaced, and the we know what the true original colors are, Just don't know why CBS won't re-colorize the show, for historical accuracy, including the flashback scenes. I'm only saying this because I'm a fan, and know what other fans want, need and expect. If the fans are given this, I know they'll be happy, and the sales would be greater. I'm not saying everybody is going to complain, but the real diehard/hardcore fans will. The fans would finally love to see see exactly what this episode looked like, just as the studio audience did on the night it was filmed. I really think that this needs to be a creative choice, rather than a business decision. I mean, don't get me wrong,

I'm just happy you're doing something with the show, and especially happy that CBS broadcasting an entire episode of "I Love Lucy" on the network in prime-time for the first time in decades!

 

Just out of curiosity, Are the same people who colorized "Lucy Goes to Scotland" and "Lucy's Italian Movie" involved with this project, too.

[Mot Morenzi]

Its an expensive process and not many companies do it anymore apparently. Guess they didn't want to invest that kind of money.

[C L A U D E]

I have no problem with watching I Love Lucy in black and white. But every episode should be availabe in color. If one does not like the new color versions then find the color setting on your television and turn off the color. I Love Lucy has been available on every new home video technology. First VHS videotape then laserdisc then DVD and soon Blu ray disc. It was first seen on free over the air television on CBS then rerun on free over the air television then rerun on cable tv and satellite tv and now is available to watch on CBS.com on the internet. I Love Lucy has been available on every new technology. Color will not change the story of the shows it will enhance the shows. It is time for the show to be available in color. The Lucy Show from the second season on is in color. Here's Lucy is in color. Life With Lucy is in color. What is wrong with I Love Lucy in color? So go ahead CBS please colorize I Love Lucy, The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour and the first season of The Lucy Show.

I Love Lucy is great in black and white and would be even greater in color. SO CBS PLEASE BRING ON THE COLOR!!!!

YOU FORGOT BETA, before VHS.

[C L A U D E]

Wizard of Oz in 3D? ... I wud wwwatch that..... I love All About Eve.... They are just enhancing the picture quality and not colorizing.the flashback episodes of the christmas one? Well that is stupid.....who cares if the picture is.sharper? I thoought theygot off cheap the first time I saw it and only half of the episode.wae.in color...we already have the half colored ep on our dvd collection.....who would waste their money on that? That eoesnt make sense to me at all.... I thought we would get.the whole.episode in color..... Kinda throws water on the dicussion.so far...invigorating as it was....

invigorating, yes, infuriating also, LOL!

[C L A U D E]

Its an expensive process and not many companies do it anymore apparently. Guess they didn't want to invest that kind of money.

But there's LOADS of material out there that could be wanting their skills very soon.

[Lucille Ball fan]

CBS might not want to colorize the entire Christmas show but the Lucy fans want the entire show in color. We want every I Love Lucy show in color. Good to know that there are many color photos of the show that could be used to help in the colorization process.