Taylor Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Wow, that's awesome. Wish I had been there...oh, guess I was a fetus at that point. Lmao. I always feel I should've been born at least 30 years earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney Posted December 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Wow, that's awesome. Wish I had been there...oh, guess I was a fetus at that point. Lmao. I always feel I should've been born at least 30 years earlier. I know what you mean! I've always been a little disappointed that I didn't get to walk on the Earth at the same time as Lucy, I missed it by right at 2 years! But I always knew if I chose another era to grow up in it would be the fifties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magster Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 A couple years out of high school, I met a fellow Lucy fan(atic), with whom I became (then) best friends. He happened to have struck up a friendship around the same time with Lucy fanclub president Tom Watson who worked in the ratings department of CBS at the time, with his office at CBS Television City, renowned at the time for being home to recent hits such as All in the Family, Maude, Carol Burnett, The Price is Right and many others. One thing led to another and when Lucy was scheduled to appear as guest star on one of the first episodes of the newly-revamped Mary Tyler Moore Hour (it had originally aired in a different format with a mostly different supporting cast, including then relative unknowns David Letterman and Michael Keaton!), reworked to be more Carol Burnett Show-like with different guest stars each week. Given our common fandom and Tom's access at CBS, he kindly asked if we'd like to be his guests to attend the taping of TMTMH. Young but no fools, we knew we couldn't pass up this opportunity and so traveled the 300+ miles one day in mid-December 1978 to find we not only could see that evening's show, but having arrived early enough, we were also welcome to attend the dress rehearsal too (which, as most videotaped shows of the era did, they taped the dress performance for "coverage" as well). Since this was all new to us and we felt like kids in a candy store, of course we agreed to see both performances. Sitting through the dress taping, we soon discovered to some disappointment that much of the "hour" was in fact already pre-taped, in particular the Mike Douglas Show sequences (the other "name" guest star that week and integral to the "plot", as it were) as well as the two featured musical numbers, most notably the show's lavish finale, "The Girlfriends of the Whirling Dervish." So, the majority of our live Lucy 'sperience was enjoying the scene set in the dress boutique where our heroines not only meet but proceed to become -- in typical Lucy fashion -- unknowingly quite inebriated. After the evening taping, we were about to leave when Tom had us follow him out to the studio's hallway where the artist's entrance/exit was, telling us he couldn't promise anything but that he knew that this is where you-know-who would be exiting and making a quick getaway. Sure enough, just a few moments later, a familiar red-tressed figure exited into the hallway, husband Gary in tow, and couldn't help notice our friends very oh how shall we say, loud t-shirt he had made and wore especially for the occasion featuring said redhead. Honing in on the t-shirt -- it was hard to miss! -- she stopped and chatted with us briefly, greeting both of us with warm, wonderful handshakes (to this day, I'm still amazed at how "grandmotherly", for lack of a better word, she seemed!), discovered we were the ones who'd had flowers sent to her dressing room earlier, thanked us profusely and was then quickly whisked away too soon by Mr. Morton. All I have to do to "take me back" to that special moment in time is to rewatch the last scene she appeared in where she says goodbye and thanks to Mary (as that was the outfit she was (still) wearing when we met) saying "I loved every minute!" So did we. Wow, what a fantastic story, Joey!! I'm so glad you'll always have that wonderful memory. Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I love that Lucy was always so appreciative of and gracious to her fans. She was certainly a class act! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 I know what you mean! I've always been a little disappointed that I didn't get to walk on the Earth at the same time as Lucy, I missed it by right at 2 years! But I always knew if I chose another era to grow up in it would be the fifties. There are no young stars today that can compare with that old Hollywood glamour. Thank God we still have Betty White and Carol Burnett! Still got a chance to meet them. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney Posted December 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 There are no young stars today that can compare with that old Hollywood glamour. Thank God we still have Betty White and Carol Burnett! Still got a chance to meet them. lol I know! What I would give to meet those two! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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