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I Love Lucy's 60th Anniversary in the Media


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Here's one from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin:

 

David Allen: Remembering when 'I Love Lucy' loved Pomona

Created: 10/13/2011 01:20:40 PM PDT

 

SATURDAY MARKS the 60th anniversary of the debut of "I Love Lucy," a TV show that has proved to be timeless.

 

A pleasant memory is the morning I sat in the jury assembly room at the Pomona Superior Courthouse a few years ago with "Lucy" on the TV and a dozen or more of us, of various ages and ethnicities, watching and laughing.

 

Pomona also figures in a well-remembered "I Love Lucy" episode, as reader Steve from Chino reminded me a while back.

 

This was the fourth-season episode "The Fashion Show," which originally aired Feb. 28, 1955.

 

Episode 117, as it's known, was part of an extended plotline in which Ricky Ricardo was in Hollywood to star in a movie titled "Don Juan." Lucy left New York to go West with her husband, as did neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz.

 

The Mertzes make an off-camera day trip from Hollywood to Pomona, the lucky ducks, and when they next see Ricky, they fill him in.

 

Ethel: "Ricky, Ricky, I've been waiting for you to come home. I want you to help me. Maybe you can talk some sense into Fred."

 

Ricky: "What's the matter with him?"

 

Ethel: "Oh, he wants to sell our apartment house in New York and buy an orange grove out by Pomona."

 

Fred: "So, what's the matter with that?"

 

Ethel: "You don't know anything about raising oranges, that's what's the matter with that."

 

Fred: "So what! The oranges know what to do."

 

Ricky: "I think you better think about it twice."

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Enter Lucy, sunburnt to a bright red.

 

Fred: "Hey, that gives me an idea! If the orange crop fails, I can raise tomatoes."

 

Fred never pursued his idea, Ricky's movie was shelved and (sniff) Pomona never saw any of them again.

 

As Lucy would say: "Waaaah!"

 

SOURCE: http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_19106028

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Fox News actually gets something right!

 

The sixtieth anniversary of the premier of one of the most beloved television shows in American history--“I Love Lucy,” which debuted on October 15, 1951-- gives us occasion to think about the social impact of TV over those same six decades.

 

The stubborn reality is that for all the criticism hurled at TV--as the “boob tube,” as a destructive force undermining culture, even rotting our brains--the reality is that TV is enduring and popular precisely because it is so friendly. How bad can a friend be?

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/15/enduring-appeal-love-lucy-proves-television-is-no-wasteland/#ixzz1aollPAXx

 

Great article at the link above!

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Thanks, Joey and Joyce!

 

Here's one from ABC News:

 

‘I Love Lucy’ Turns 60

 

Sixty years later, and everybody still loves Lucy.

 

“I Love Lucy,” the classic TV series that gave birth to the modern sitcom and left the nation with countless hilarious and indelible images, turns 60 today.

 

The comedy featuring Lucille Ball and real-life husband Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo made its TV debut Oct. 15, 1951 in a half-hour episode on CBS.

 

The relationship between the fearless, red-headed Ball and Arnaz as “the Ricardos” was the center of the show’s 179 half-hour episodes and 13 hour-long specials over nine seasons.

 

Fans loved to watch the couple deal with Lucy’s screw-ups, and listen to Ricky switch from English to Spanish in his exasperated reactions.

 

They also loved how the couple brought their off-screen life onto the TV screen, even incorporating Ball’s pregnancy into the show. She and her “I Love Lucy” character gave birth on the same day.

 

That 1953 episode, “Lucy Goes to the Hospital,” in which Ball’s Lucy Ricardo has a baby, still ranks as the highest-rated episode in television history, according to Nielsen ratings.

 

Joining them in the kind of zany, slapstick comedy that Americans loved then, and still do today, were Vivian Vance and William Frawley as their neighbors, Fred and Ethel Mertz.

 

The show’s durability as a national fascination is a testament to Ball, the show’s core, and thanks to the fact that it never really left our airwaves.

 

Fans who never tire of the classic “Luuucccyyy, I’m hoooome,” line uttered by Arnaz, or can’t get enough of watching Ball stuff chocolates down her shirt, stomp on grapes, as she did in two of the show’s most beloved episodes, can still watch the series through worldwide syndication or on VHS and DVD.

 

SOURCE: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2011/10/i-love-lucy-turns-60/

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An interview with local Lucy Fans from Monroe, Michigan:

 

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz became household names across America in the 1950s when “I Love Lucy” became the most-watched TV series.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of when the show premiered. The black-and-white series ran from Oct. 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on CBS. The comedy centers on Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball, and her husband, Ricky Ricardo, played by Desi Arnaz, along with their friends and landlords Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance).

Lucy had a knack for getting herself in trouble. Her crazy antics allowed Ms. Ball to utilize her physical comedy skills, which helped her become one of the most popular TV characters of all-time.

Connie Giznsky of Monroe is a fan of the show, especially Ms. Ball.

“I loved her facial expressions and how she always got herself in some kind of a mess,” she said. “I still watch the show today in reruns. It was a clean, honest comedy that was truly funny.”

Nine-year-old Olivia Ignagni, a fourth-grader at St. Mary Catholic School, proves that the show’s humor is timeless.

 

MORE @ THE SOURCE: http://www.monroenews.com/article/20111014/NEWS01/310149998

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I'm a bit bummed by the lack of coverage. Sure, 60 doesn't sound quite as snazzy as 50, but all the same. And if nothing else I thought CBS might trim the 50th anniversary special, change and tailor it for 60 and air it, sadly...

 

Me too. I was convinced CBS would at least have a MENTION on their weekend editions of The Early Show or CBS Sunday Morning but not a damn thing. It's weird since the CBS president mentioned again so recently how much money the network makes from the series annually. It's not something they could claim to have just "overlooked."

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Me too. I was convinced CBS would at least have a MENTION on their weekend editions of The Early Show or CBS Sunday Morning but not a damn thing. It's weird since the CBS president mentioned again so recently how much money the network makes from the series annually. It's not something they could claim to have just "overlooked."

I think Lucy's 100th overshadowed this 60th for the show.

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Suzanne marking the 60th Anniversary on Faux & Friends on the 15th:

 

 

Suzanne is just incredible! She has Lucy's faces and mannerisms and vocal inflections down pat so well that it's eerie! I mean this as a compliment, but it kind of gives me the creeps watching her! I would love it if her show came to NY!! :HALKING: I'm dying to see it!

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Yeah, it is creepy. She's got the laugh down pat and even Lucy's nervous habit of always straightening her collars or touching her hair. Crazy. I hope they take that show on the road, like to Denver or Minneapolis, so I could see it.

She's been on the road awhile, performing it hither and yon... (loved hither, hated yon!*)

 

http://www.aneveningwithlucilleball.com/#Upcoming_Appearances:_

 

*If you're old enough to recognize that old chestnut, don't tell me! I'll just get depressed! ;)

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I saw her show here in mass back in january....she was hilarious and so much like Lucy it's craazy!!! I got my picture taken with her!...she was crying at the end of the show so her makeup is a little messy

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2570258779563&set=a.2424537816630.138263.1347030984&type=1&theater

It;s saying for me that the content is not available. Isn't she terrific though? In some instances you really think you are seeing Lucy, especially the older Lucy. NOBODY ever succeeds very well at doing the younger Lucy doing her best comedy bits, maybe because they play it for laughs instead of playing it straight like Lucy did.

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I saw her show here in mass back in january....she was hilarious and so much like Lucy it's craazy!!! I got my picture taken with her!...she was crying at the end of the show so her makeup is a little messy

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2570258779563&set=a.2424537816630.138263.1347030984&type=1&theater

 

I can't see it either, maybe because your FB page is private? Anyway, that's awesome that you got to see the show and meet Suzanne! :lucyhaha: I'm dying for her show to come to NY!

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