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


Paul Sheehan

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Just out of curiosity, does anybody know which episode will air first?

Christmas episode is first, followed by the chocolate factory, finishing with some brief scenes from the costume/make-up tests (the latter not colorized)...

 

I know everyone has his own opinion as to how things should be colored.  In a way, it is like when radio programs changed to TV in the late 1940s and early 50s... Every radio listener had his own opinion as to how a certain character or location "loooked" when the show was on radio -- because it appeared in each person's imagination.  Same with the colors... We all have seen the shows in black-and-white for decades, and we all either accept them as monochromatic or have our own private opinions as to how they looked "in real life."  When we see them colorized (to one group's choices of colors) the shows ALWAYS seemingly disappoint (at least in a small extent) because this choice may not match our own...

 

Nevertheless, just as the TV interpretations of radio shows were valid, so too are the colorized episodes valid...

 

Certainly if anyone wishes to continue to watch the shows (even tonight) in black-and-white, they have a choice to do so -- thanks to technology. I do not  believe there is a TV set manufactured today that does not have the ability to "turn off the color", leaving a monochromatic image...

 

On the other hand, the colorization is the price of admission: it is the passkey that allows I LOVE LUCY to compete once again on the largest single "stage" in the world -- primetime network television. It has NEVER happened before in TV history that programs from 60+ years ago have been dusted off, refurbished, and thought capable of competing with the best and brightest of the current crop of shows... How lucky we are as Lucy fans to be able to see these shows again in this venue.  To paraphrase the Lady's famous Emmy speeches, "Last year I was surprised, this year I am shocked" that the network chose to go with these shows.  I think the entire Desilu company would be SO proud.

 

(And that's my story, your honor...)

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Christmas episode is first, followed by the chocolate factory, finishing with some brief scenes from the costume/make-up tests (the latter not colorized)...

 

I know everyone has his own opinion as to how things should be colored.  In a way, it is like when radio programs changed to TV in the late 1940s and early 50s... Every radio listener had his own opinion as to how a certain character or location "loooked" when the show was on radio -- because it appeared in each person's imagination.  Same with the colors... We all have seen the shows in black-and-white for decades, and we all either accept them as monochromatic or have our own private opinions as to how they looked "in real life."  When we see them colorized (to one group's choices of colors) the shows ALWAYS seemingly disappoint (at least in a small extent) because this choice may not match our own...

 

Nevertheless, just as the TV interpretations of radio shows were valid, so too are the colorized episodes valid...

 

Certainly if anyone wishes to continue to watch the shows (even tonight) in black-and-white, they have a choice to do so -- thanks to technology. I do not  believe there is a TV set manufactured today that does not have the ability to "turn off the color", leaving a monochromatic image...

 

On the other hand, the colorization is the price of admission: it is the passkey that allows I LOVE LUCY to compete once again on the largest single "stage" in the world -- primetime network television. It has NEVER happened before in TV history that programs from 60+ years ago have been dusted off, refurbished, and thought capable of competing with the best and brightest of the current crop of shows... How lucky we are as Lucy fans to be able to see these shows again in this venue.  To paraphrase the Lady's famous Emmy speeches, "Last year I was surprised, this year I am shocked" that the network chose to go with these shows.  I think the entire Desilu company would be SO proud.

 

(And that's my story, your honor...)

I hate to say this, but today as i went downtown to get the RCA Columbia release of four Lucy Ball movies, the idiot with pink hair and enough piercings to kill a hemophiliac had no idea who i was talking about.  Then, when i went to pay, the one there was not much better, "is she an old time star?"  Damn youngins are going to be the death of me yet!  But when i mentioned she was Lucy from I Love Lucy, she then knew, so i told her the show was on tonight which made her happy.  I too cannot get over how CBS celebrates Lucy and the gang repeatedly like this, and why shouldn't they, she was the Queen of their network for decades.

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Im so excited! lol The kitchen scene is like watching the show for the first time, I mean, my goodness- it certainly brings a breath of life into the show. Its almost erie to see that this show, was filmed and produced so well, that even in its later reincarnations, it would be able to hold up-technically and visually- with a totally different group of viewers, but here we are. 

Its amazing!!

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Tom pointed this out last year but the color helps you see so many details you have missed before.

I've noticed in the employment agency that you can see the gloss in Lucy's red lips. I'm glad to see that the furniture was colorized to the tee. Not so keen on the brownish color of the walls though. 

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