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Jess Oppenheimer 1984


Neil

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This is pretty cool. I think they had made up by this point. Lucy, no longer eliminating him when talking about her writers. In going through my box 'o memorabilia I found a few letters from the writers. A couple each from Bob Schiller, Madelyn and Jess. They're answering my voluminous questions. Here are some highlights:

Jess: "I was never on Cara Williams (or her show) though THEY OFFERED IT TO ME" Wonder if he's talking about P&G or the CW show.

Jess had a showdown with Don Adams, but the studio brass wouldn't back him up, so he got out of his contract for producing

"Get Smart" after a few eps. This was into the show's run and Don had the power.

If they had offered him a writing position on Here's Lucy, he'd do it, because he could fix the show!! I tried in my own little way to make this happen by telling Madelyn that Jess was open to the idea. But alas nothing ever came of it. Think about how much that might have changed HL for the better. Oh well, I SINGLE-HANDEDLY kept the show on the air in 1964 so what do you want from me?

Jess sent me the first 11 pages of a script he submitted to "All in the Family". They bought it but they changed it so much he had his name taken off the writing credit and replaced with "Joe Kerr" (joker). Archie was to have a reunion with one of his army buddies and decides to do a make over to look younger (can't remember what he did---it's not in these pages) but Edith comes in and spoils his ruse. In the aired show, the buddy (Larry Storch, I think) has a young thing with him (Arlene Golonka) who turns out to be a hooker, and this is the changed part that upset Jess.

Madelyn's letter was written as they were starting rehearsals for "Phones the President". Always upbeat Madelyn said "You'll be happy to know Lucy is just as wonderful and funny as ever."

"Desi called and wanted to get together and pitch a pilot idea (this was 1977!) but then we didn't hear from him so maybe it was just a whim".

"Bob and I are working on an idea for another Lucy special" Unfortunately didn't elaborate on what that was.

Bob Schlller:

"We got the ILL job because Weiskopf and Jess were once roommates.....and lovers....does that answer your question?" I think he was just kidding. He had a devilsh sense of humor, but I didn't know how to take that!

 

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This is pretty cool. I think they had made up by this point. Lucy, no longer eliminating him when talking about her writers. In going through my box 'o memorabilia I found a few letters from the writers. A couple each from Bob Schiller, Madelyn and Jess. They're answering my voluminous questions. Here are some highlights:

Jess: "I was never on Cara Williams (or her show) though THEY OFFERED IT TO ME" Wonder if he's talking about P&G or the CW show.

Jess had a showdown with Don Adams, but the studio brass wouldn't back him up, so he got out of his contract for producing

"Get Smart" after a few eps. This was into the show's run and Don had the power.

If they had offered him a writing position on Here's Lucy, he'd do it, because he could fix the show!! I tried in my own little way to make this happen by telling Madelyn that Jess was open to the idea. But alas nothing ever came of it. Think about how much that might have changed HL for the better. Oh well, I SINGLE-HANDEDLY kept the show on the air in 1964 so what do you want from me?

Jess sent me the first 11 pages of a script he submitted to "All in the Family". They bought it but they changed it so much he had his name taken off the writing credit and replaced with "Joe Kerr" (joker). Archie was to have a reunion with one of his army buddies and decides to do a make over to look younger (can't remember what he did---it's not in these pages) but Edith comes in and spoils his ruse. In the aired show, the buddy (Larry Storch, I think) has a young thing with him (Arlene Golonka) who turns out to be a hooker, and this is the changed part that upset Jess.

Madelyn's letter was written as they were starting rehearsals for "Phones the President". Always upbeat Madelyn said "You'll be happy to know Lucy is just as wonderful and funny as ever."

"Desi called and wanted to get together and pitch a pilot idea (this was 1977!) but then we didn't hear from him so maybe it was just a whim".

"Bob and I are working on an idea for another Lucy special" Unfortunately didn't elaborate on what that was.

Bob Schlller:

"We got the ILL job because Weiskopf and Jess were once roommates.....and lovers....does that answer your question?" I think he was just kidding. He had a devilsh sense of humor, but I didn't know how to take that!

 

Yeah, i've seen that Jess clip before, always liked him, now HE WAS a genius when it came to comedy and he THOUGHT funny as Lucy would say. Shame he never reunited again with Lucy, especially on Here's Lucy. It was Desi he fought with all those years, not Lucy, so he could have come in when Desi left the Lucy show.
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