Jump to content

LUCILLE BALL COMEDY HOUR


Recommended Posts

I'm sure most of you have seen this early 1960's special which is a bonus feature on THE LUCY SHOW season two. What did you think of it? I kind of wonder if Lucy bought the rights to this play MR AND MRS (where was it produced? Never heard of it before) because the story has strong parallels between the lead characters and her marriage to Desi, maybe she didn't want somebody else to do it and play up the similiarities (filming it with Bob Hope kind of downplayed it). Of course there were plenty of other famous married couples starring on tv in the 1950's/early 1960's but surely one would think "Lucy and Desi" in a story of a bickering couple off-screen who are having a highly publicized blessed event.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure most of you have seen this early 1960's special which is a bonus feature on THE LUCY SHOW season two. What did you think of it? I kind of wonder if Lucy bought the rights to this play MR AND MRS (where was it produced? Never heard of it before) because the story has strong parallels between the lead characters and her marriage to Desi, maybe she didn't want somebody else to do it and play up the similiarities (filming it with Bob Hope kind of downplayed it). Of course there were plenty of other famous married couples starring on tv in the 1950's/early 1960's but surely one would think "Lucy and Desi" in a story of a bickering couple off-screen who are having a highly publicized blessed event.

I used to LIKE it but Brock convinced me that it's her all time BEST special so now i LOVE it. It was a story by Sherwood Schwartz who created Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, two shows that were never favorites of mine, although i watched Gilligan. Loved seeing her in something funny with a great story, great supporting actors and she looked sensational in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 8 years later...

A 16mm network print of The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour has popped up on eBay. This includes the "lost" Pepsodent advertising Lucy did. This could not be found when the special was released on The Lucy Show second season DVD set. I hope whoever purchases this can make this available. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16mm-Film-LUCILLE-BALL-COMEDY-HOUR-Mr-Mrs-1964-BOB-HOPE-Network-Print/333625840464?hash=item4dada65350:g:dtAAAOSwggJe5qfn 

 

image.png

 

image.png

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, HarryCarter said:

A 16mm network print of The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour has popped up on eBay. This includes the "lost" Pepsodent advertising Lucy did. This could not be found when the special was released on The Lucy Show second season DVD set. I hope whoever purchases this can make this available. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16mm-Film-LUCILLE-BALL-COMEDY-HOUR-Mr-Mrs-1964-BOB-HOPE-Network-Print/333625840464?hash=item4dada65350:g:dtAAAOSwggJe5qfn 

 

image.png

 

image.png

Oh very cool. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

What the opinion of "Comedy Hour/Mr. and Mrs."?

It was an interesting idea but if it was filmed before an audience, the laughter was sweetened, overly-so as they tended to do.--which gives the show a hollow feel to me. Hope's reliance on cue cards stifles the believability of his performance.    Lucy looks so great that I can forgive the script not being all that funny.  Lucy as Desilu president gave us a glimpse of what she may have been like behind the desk.  The "traveling the world looking for Hope" montage may have gone one location too many.   I find it so interesting that they (Desilu?/Lucy herself?) hired Jess Oppenheimer to produce this.  Was the whole thing his idea?  Not sure what his duties were but his deft hand is missing.   I think of The Lucy Show as a lifetime away from I Love Lucy, but it had only been 8 years since Jess left the show.   Could she have been testing the waters for the next season's head writer and/or producer?   If so, I wish it had gone better so we could have avoided the influence of Milt (and Hilda).   Another interesting fun fact.  In an unusual move, the Lucy Show ran two weeks of reruns right before starting their official rerun cycle (selecting the relatively recent "Florence Nightengale" and "College Reunion").  One of those may have been opposite the Oscars.  Then the next week LB Comedy Hour ran in Ed Sullivan's Sunday night slot (8pm) and 24 hours later, we got our first new Lucy Show in April, on the 19th, "Serves a Summons", followed by just one more new one "Baking Contest" before the "first in a series of reruns" started with "Locked in Vault" (which I would have picked as season premiere).   You'd think they would have schedule the Comedy Hour during one of the weeks of a LS rerun.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel like we get Bob from Critics Choice in this special, and he drove me nutts in that. Lucy does in fact look beautiful but her paired with Walter is so not the guy I wanted for her. Well I didn't want Bob either. There are parts of this I like but the baby thing was far fetched and I'm curious what the premise of their TV show was. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I don't think this special is all that funny, but I agree that Lucy looks amazing in it. If you compare her appearance in this to some of the early episodes of The Lucy Show (where she's not wearing a wig,) it's like night and day. It's amazing what good lighting and cinematography can do. I also love her outfits/costumes throughout the special as well. 

I'm not sure how much input Jess Oppenheimer had in terms of the special, but I agree it's too bad he couldn't come on board after Bob and Madelyn left. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...