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Lucy Moves to NBC Reviews


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Was this special shot on film or videotape? I know Lucy hated the way she looked on tape--and also the reason why Life with Lucy was shot on on film.

 

"NBC" was shot on film.

"President" was her only video production. Many comedies were moving to videotape by 1977. Easier to use and CHEAPER.

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Finally picked it up last night, watched the feature about the special - really enjoyed that and watching the outakes. Then I watched the Bob Hope Special from Xmas, which I remember, but what year was it filmed? Were they still doing Here's Lucy then, as in that last comment Lucy made to Bob, saying you just gave us a great idea for our next Monday night show.

 

Tonight, I will watch the special Lucy moves to NBC. Cant remember the last time i saw it - probably 1981.

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Finally picked it up last night, watched the feature about the special - really enjoyed that and watching the outakes. Then I watched the Bob Hope Special from Xmas, which I remember, but what year was it filmed? Were they still doing Here's Lucy then, as in that last comment Lucy made to Bob, saying you just gave us a great idea for our next Monday night show.

 

Tonight, I will watch the special Lucy moves to NBC. Cant remember the last time i saw it - probably 1981.

 

The Bob Hope Christimas show was from 1973.

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The DVD was wonderful! It looked nice and had top quality from the dvd cover to the extras!

I love seeing Lucy at this age, in beautiful crisp color with such a live show. The beginning and the entire office setting

was good with me. The second portion was a little different, but great none the less.

I think, had the show have been within the show and about Lucy- like The 1960's Lucille Ball special she did with Bob hope- It would have peeked a little more interest from me

Especially having Lucy play non Lucy characters. I would have loved seeing her play different characters like she had done in her radio days.

I guess her impressions kjinda went outta the window when she couldn't change her voice- but she still did a great John Wayne and Talulah Bankhead-

any way- great show- great dvd!!!

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Lucy has some great moments in "NBC" like

1) her reactions to the dancers doing "Hello Lucy" particularly her mock-anger ducking when the high kicker gets too close to her head.

2) sitting in the Donald O'Conner's audience, feigning reluctance when she's to be introduced (and watch Gale's reactions to this), then rushing up to the stage so fast she tosses the centerpiece in the air and shoves somebody out of her way.

Note that when she and Donald join hands with outstretched arms, she does the same cute turn-away look she does when she and Van Johnson are in the same position and he sings "Holding hands in the movie show...."

3) and as Sister Hitchcock

 

This could easily have been a 60 minutes show. 90 minutes probably hurt it.

It's easy to knock "Music Mart" but it was no worse than the Love Boat-esque comedy that was the main diet in 1980. It's also easy to see why it wasn't picked up. When your main star is so obviously relying on cue cards for a pilot film, it wouldn't fill a network with confidence. Plus Gloria DeHaven's blatantly misses her cue during her lip-sync. In fact, it seems that none of the guests had a handle on their lines. Gary Coleman was probably the worst. Having cue cards as a reminder/crutch can be expected and accepted, but reading lines directly off them doesn't fly in what is supposed to be situation comedy.

In "Music Mart", they tried to cover their bases with the supporting roles, badly cast including their version of "Good Times"'s JJ, in the character of "Ivery" who is so cartoon-y he may as well have been animated. (And note to costumer: his jeans are distractingly tight.) I was offended by his character name until I saw the credits and that's his actual first name. Scotty Plummer is not as bad as I remember---and he does play a mean banjo---but when he can't get out his simple first line believably ("I play Scotty Coogan"), you know you're not dealing with a trained actor.

Lucy's "Sister Hitchcock" is an MM highlight. Had Lucille Ball not been such a high-profile star, she could have carved out a third career late in life by taking smaller character roles like this. She's charming and funny. And much more relaxed when the whole proceedings are not resting on her antics.

Note Lucy's audience laughter during the scene with Gale as the loan officer. The love between Lucy and Gale is palpable.

Here's an MM blooper: after Sister Hitchcock panhandles the 23 cents from Donald to cover the sales tax, she walks out with it instead of giving it to him!

In a sad MM post-script--and ironic with the dialogue about how unsafe a motorcycle could be--Plummer was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1993 at age 32.

Another untimely death was that of "Bungle Abbey"'s handsome Brother Antony played by Antony Alda, son of Robert, much younger step-brother of Alan, who died a few years ago at 52.

The best thing about "MM" is that next to "BA" it looks Emmy-worthy! Has there ever been a more universally unappealing cast assembled? (other than always reliable Gale). This is 1980 and we're supposed to stomach CHARLIE CALLAS?!

I can't believe she was still commissioning scripts by Fox/Jacobs. If they did a good "Here's Lucy" script I'm not aware of it. And if it was a good episode, it probably had less to do with the script. Of the three sets of HL writers for the last two seasons, they are my least favorites. (B&M is first OF COURSE, but I prefer Bob O'Brien to F&J and I know most people don't)

Odd choice for a "Let's Talk to Lucy" with so little of Bob Hope. I would think there would have been a Donald O'Conner interview. She championed O'Conner every chance she got. He was one of those interviewed for the coverage following Lucy's death and stressed with gratitude "She was always in my corner"---and she was. Who else was touting him in 1980?

(for those of you who read this to the end: I didn't mean to blather on so long)

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I can't believe she was still commissioning scripts by Fox/Jacobs. If they did a good "Here's Lucy" script I'm not aware of it. And if it was a good episode, it probably had less to do with the script. Of the three sets of HL writers for the last two seasons, they are my least favorites. (B&M is first OF COURSE, but I prefer Bob O'Brien to F&J and I know most people don't)

Odd choice for a "Let's Talk to Lucy" with so little of Bob Hope. I would think there would have been a Donald O'Conner interview. She championed O'Conner every chance she got. He was one of those interviewed for the coverage following Lucy's death and stressed with gratitude "She was always in my corner"---and she was. Who else was touting him in 1980?

(for those of you who read this to the end: I didn't mean to blather on so long)

 

Lucy did a three part Let's Talk to Lucy interview with Donald O'Connor. I had figured that that would have been chosen as an extra for the set.

 

I know I've said this before, but Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs are probably my favorite non-Bob and Madelyn writers on Here's Lucy. They were very inconsistent, but I think they came the closest to Bob and Madelyn when they were good. Fox and Jacobs seemed to have been inspired by Bob and Madelyn later in the run. They didn't write scripts about Lucy and Harry feuding (although "Lucy and the Group Encounter" is theirs and seems out of place in the fifth season) or Lucy desperate for a few extra dollars. Bob O'Brien seemed to be stuck in the past. Some particulary good Fox/Jacobs episodes: "A Date for Lucy," "Lucy's Punctured Romance," Lucy's Tenant," "Mary Jane's Boyfriend."

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Lucy has some great moments in "NBC" like

1) her reactions to the dancers doing "Hello Lucy" particularly her mock-anger ducking when the high kicker gets too close to her head.

2) sitting in the Donald O'Conner's audience, feigning reluctance when she's to be introduced (and watch Gale's reactions to this), then rushing up to the stage so fast she tosses the centerpiece in the air and shoves somebody out of her way.

Note that when she and Donald join hands with outstretched arms, she does the same cute turn-away look she does when she and Van Johnson are in the same position and he sings "Holding hands in the movie show...."

3) and as Sister Hitchcock

 

This could easily have been a 60 minutes show. 90 minutes probably hurt it.

It's easy to knock "Music Mart" but it was no worse than the Love Boat-esque comedy that was the main diet in 1980. It's also easy to see why it wasn't picked up. When your main star is so obviously relying on cue cards for a pilot film, it wouldn't fill a network with confidence. Plus Gloria DeHaven's blatantly misses her cue during her lip-sync. In fact, it seems that none of the guests had a handle on their lines. Gary Coleman was probably the worst. Having cue cards as a reminder/crutch can be expected and accepted, but reading lines directly off them doesn't fly in what is supposed to be situation comedy.

In "Music Mart", they tried to cover their bases with the supporting roles, badly cast including their version of "Good Times"'s JJ, in the character of "Ivery" who is so cartoon-y he may as well have been animated. (And note to costumer: his jeans are distractingly tight.) I was offended by his character name until I saw the credits and that's his actual first name. Scotty Plummer is not as bad as I remember---and he does play a mean banjo---but when he can't get out his simple first line believably ("I play Scotty Coogan"), you know you're not dealing with a trained actor.

Lucy's "Sister Hitchcock" is an MM highlight. Had Lucille Ball not been such a high-profile star, she could have carved out a third career late in life by taking smaller character roles like this. She's charming and funny. And much more relaxed when the whole proceedings are not resting on her antics.

Note Lucy's audience laughter during the scene with Gale as the loan officer. The love between Lucy and Gale is palpable.

Here's an MM blooper: after Sister Hitchcock panhandles the 23 cents from Donald to cover the sales tax, she walks out with it instead of giving it to him!

In a sad MM post-script--and ironic with the dialogue about how unsafe a motorcycle could be--Plummer was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1993 at age 32.

Another untimely death was that of "Bungle Abbey"'s handsome Brother Antony played by Antony Alda, son of Robert, much younger step-brother of Alan, who died a few years ago at 52.

The best thing about "MM" is that next to "BA" it looks Emmy-worthy! Has there ever been a more universally unappealing cast assembled? (other than always reliable Gale). This is 1980 and we're supposed to stomach CHARLIE CALLAS?!

I can't believe she was still commissioning scripts by Fox/Jacobs. If they did a good "Here's Lucy" script I'm not aware of it. And if it was a good episode, it probably had less to do with the script. Of the three sets of HL writers for the last two seasons, they are my least favorites. (B&M is first OF COURSE, but I prefer Bob O'Brien to F&J and I know most people don't)

Odd choice for a "Let's Talk to Lucy" with so little of Bob Hope. I would think there would have been a Donald O'Conner interview. She championed O'Conner every chance she got. He was one of those interviewed for the coverage following Lucy's death and stressed with gratitude "She was always in my corner"---and she was. Who else was touting him in 1980?

(for those of you who read this to the end: I didn't mean to blather on so long)

I've said it before, and i'll say it again, some of your posts are friggin G E M S and i live for those.

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Lucy did a three part Let's Talk to Lucy interview with Donald O'Connor. I had figured that that would have been chosen as an extra for the set.

 

I know I've said this before, but Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs are probably my favorite non-Bob and Madelyn writers on Here's Lucy. They were very inconsistent, but I think they came the closest to Bob and Madelyn when they were good. Fox and Jacobs seemed to have been inspired by Bob and Madelyn later in the run. They didn't write scripts about Lucy and Harry feuding (although "Lucy and the Group Encounter" is theirs and seems out of place in the fifth season) or Lucy desperate for a few extra dollars. Bob O'Brien seemed to be stuck in the past. Some particulary good Fox/Jacobs episodes: "A Date for Lucy," "Lucy's Punctured Romance," Lucy's Tenant," "Mary Jane's Boyfriend."

S E A M A N Jacobs is my second favorite show business name after Babalu Mandell.

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Watching this now. Light and frothy TV entertainment. Gale is the best guest star in it.

 

On a technical note, the special has a lot of "combing" throughout

And what is THAT? Pray tell. How could there be that much COMBING with Lucy wearing wigs all the time? :lucythrill:

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