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'I Love Lucy' Christmas special on CBS: Dec. 7, 2014


Paul Sheehan

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It's a "computer science" problem... When the lights are off, they photographed gray, so we had gray pixels to colorize... When the lights were on, the light image is so bright that it renders an empty space (totally blown out) -- there are no pixels to colorize, so we have to leave it white... Crazy, but from what little I know about programs like Photoshop, I guess I understand. Ya gotta have an image there to add the color to...

 

T.

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Here Here to a 60+ television show being shown in prime time! Great job Rick and Tom with helping to bring everything true to life. It was an absolute joy to watch and to think how many people are being exposed to the Lucy we love.

 

I cannot say enough how beautiful and sweet the wardrobe and makeup test shoots were! Such a treat to see! There is a point where Lucy kisses Desi and at the very moment you can really feel the love between them and is a testament to why the show became. was and still is a success.

 

Was thinking...would Lucy Does a TV Commercial be part of the special next year? (I love the idea of LA at Last but it seems like the more popular episodes are being colorized and it would make sense Vitameatavegamin would be next)

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The show is going to be repeated on Christmas Eve -- Wednesday, December 24!!!!!

 

T.

 

Excellent! Has the time been confirmed?

 

Let's say for the sake of argument that this is a new annual tradition, Tom, what episode would you like to see featured next?

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I have never truly believed the Fidelman quote, only because I have NEVER heard or seen it anyplace else... Also, if it is legit, I'd love to know the context in which Lucy made the statement. It just does not ring true to me, but I'll reserve judgement...

 

Interesting side story about Bart:  he and I were independently doing research on LUCY back in the late 1960s/early 70s... and we both had manuscript ideas floating around publishing houses in New York. Mine was called "The Lucy I Love" and his was "Lucy & Ricky & Fred & Ethel." We were both told NO by more publishers than I care to name... No one thought ANYONE would be interested in a two-decades old black-and-whiteTV show... I was working at the time in New York for CBS, and Bart was in Los Angeles, writing TV trivia books. By luck of the draw, he finally convinced a publisher he was working with to take on his Lucy book -- but a week later his editor called him and said, "You'll never believe what just landed on my desk -- some guy over at CBS is also doing a Lucy project."  The editor introduced us, and we were friends thereafter.  Bart also knew a young artist in St. Louis named Rick Carl, who was a big Lucy fan, and the three of us became good "cross country" buddies. This was light years before anyone had a computer or email, so everything was done the old fashioned way: by expensive long-distance phone calls and US postal service. Finally in 1977 I moved to LA, and Rick did likewise in 1978...

 

The point is -- the three of us bonded via our affection for Lucy at a  time when hardly anyone cared a twit about "the old shows." They were still being shown around the country in syndication, and Lucy herself was still very active with new programs, specials, etc. We'd visit what few nostalgia shows there were, and when we'd ask the dealers if they had anything on Lucy, they'd look at us as though we were demented.  "Who cares about Lucy?" they'd ask. A few had some of her old movie stills and posters, but most of the dealers had either old movie things from the 1940s -- Gable, Crawford, Davis, etc., or the brand new sci-fi posters, etc. 

 

So for us now to see the show not only "alive and well" but back in network prime time -- all these years later! -- it's a bit of a joyous overload!

 

Rick and I are still best friends, by the way -- and he helped us in the colorization of the props -- he has an extensive interest and knowledge of those, and was able to send our colorists great color photos from which to work...

 

Am glad people liked the show.... Am praying for good ratings so we can do this again next year!

Lucy had/has something that most tv sitcoms will probably never achieve. It's timeless and it brings a smile to ones face even in times of despair. Lucy has gotten me through many sad moments and will always be the reason I continue to move forward in life. She is my rock. She's been part of my life ever since I could remember and I feel as if she's part of my family. She's living proof that good old fashion HARD work will get you to your goals. As Desi said, I Love Lucy was not just a title. Sorry for the mush.  :lucydesi:

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I believe it will air again at 8PM... By the way, early messages from viewers indicate that MANY people missed it last night (Christmas shopping, etc.) and others were upset that their DVRs were ruined because of the time-shift in some markets... So a lot of people were pulling for a repeat...

 

I was gonna ask you the same question (about a potential next year's show)... I believe the top two contenders at the moment are "LA at Last" and Vitameatavegamin. I prefer the former because it has two great comedic scenes (the Brown Derby AND the nose-on-fire)... But Vitameata has a lot of favor among viewers as well... (I just kinda think it's a one joke show -- and brilliantly executed one-joke, a CLASSIC unto itself, but still a one-joke show)...

 

What does everyone else think?

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It's a "computer science" problem... When the lights are off, they photographed gray, so we had gray pixels to colorize... When the lights were on, the light image is so bright that it renders an empty space (totally blown out) -- there are no pixels to colorize, so we have to leave it white... Crazy, but from what little I know about programs like Photoshop, I guess I understand. Ya gotta have an image there to add the color to...

 

T.

What was/are the programs used for this colorization?

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I was gonna ask you the same question (about a potential next year's show)... I believe the top two contenders at the moment are "LA at Last" and Vitameatavegamin. I prefer the former because it has two great comedic scenes (the Brown Derby AND the nose-on-fire)... But Vitameata has a lot of favor among viewers as well... (I just kinda think it's a one joke show -- and brilliantly executed one-joke, a CLASSIC unto itself, but still a one-joke show)...

 

What does everyone else think?

 

 

We had a brief discussion about that here: http://www.lucylounge.com/index.php?/topic/3159-which-one-episode-of-i-love-lucy-should-cbs-colourize-next/ but I would prefer L.A. At Last too. As popular as Vita is, I think some people might have Vita-fatigue. Personally, if I was them I'd like to try a lesser known Lucy episode to see how it would fly with the public before unleashing Vita. Charm School might be fun from a colour perspective or Lucy Raises Tulips -- but maybe the tulips photographed too lightly to be properly colourized?

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I believe it will air again at 8PM... By the way, early messages from viewers indicate that MANY people missed it last night (Christmas shopping, etc.) and others were upset that their DVRs were ruined because of the time-shift in some markets... So a lot of people were pulling for a repeat...

 

I was gonna ask you the same question (about a potential next year's show)... I believe the top two contenders at the moment are "LA at Last" and Vitameatavegamin. I prefer the former because it has two great comedic scenes (the Brown Derby AND the nose-on-fire)... But Vitameata has a lot of favor among viewers as well... (I just kinda think it's a one joke show -- and brilliantly executed one-joke, a CLASSIC unto itself, but still a one-joke show)...

 

What does everyone else think?

I'd go with L.A. as well. I would really love to see the hotel and the The Derby...oh you probably know it as the Brown Derby. But us show folk who eat there all the time call it The Derby.  :peachonthebeach:

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It's a "computer science" problem... When the lights are off, they photographed gray, so we had gray pixels to colorize... When the lights were on, the light image is so bright that it renders an empty space (totally blown out) -- there are no pixels to colorize, so we have to leave it white... Crazy, but from what little I know about programs like Photoshop, I guess I understand. Ya gotta have an image there to add the color to...

 

T.

Wow, thanks for the SPLAINASHON, as Einstein  said, GO FIGURE!

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I believe it will air again at 8PM... By the way, early messages from viewers indicate that MANY people missed it last night (Christmas shopping, etc.) and others were upset that their DVRs were ruined because of the time-shift in some markets... So a lot of people were pulling for a repeat...

 

I was gonna ask you the same question (about a potential next year's show)... I believe the top two contenders at the moment are "LA at Last" and Vitameatavegamin. I prefer the former because it has two great comedic scenes (the Brown Derby AND the nose-on-fire)... But Vitameata has a lot of favor among viewers as well... (I just kinda think it's a one joke show -- and brilliantly executed one-joke, a CLASSIC unto itself, but still a one-joke show)...

 

What does everyone else think?

Either would be GREAT choices.  And the one NOT picked would be the following year.

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This time around, I would've loved to have seen all of the Christmas Show flashbacks colorized, instead of them shown in B&W.Maybe for the Ultimate Season Six Blu-ray, and/or if televised, again.

 

Some other colorized episodes I'd like to see colorized are...

 

"The Diet"

 

"The Audition"

 

"Pioneer Women"

 

"The Freezer"

 

"Lucy Does a TV Commercial"

 

"The Operetta"

 

"Lucy is Enceinte"

 

"Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress"

 

"LA at Last"

 

"The Fashion Show"

 

"California, Here We Come"

 

"Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment"

 

"Lucy Misses the Mertzes"

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This time around, I would've loved to have seen all of the Christmas Show flashbacks colorized, instead of them shown in B&W.Maybe for the Ultimate Season Six Blu-ray, and/or if televised, again.

 

Some other colorized episodes I'd like to see colorized are...

 

"The Diet"

 

"The Audition"

 

"Pioneer Women"

 

"The Freezer"

 

"Lucy Does a TV Commercial"

 

"The Operetta"

 

"Lucy is Enceinte"

 

"Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress"

 

"LA at Last"

 

"The Fashion Show"

 

"California, Here We Come"

 

"Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment"

 

"Lucy Misses the Mertzes"

Only thirteen years to go to get your wish.  And why haven't you mentioned it before, that you wanted the flashbacks colorized?

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