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Life with Lucy


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There was an interview with Desi in the early 80s where he said he would like to do a reunion special. Regardless of quality, it would have been a success and may have led to Lucy returning to television earlier.

Isn't it nice to just daydream about?  Lucy and Ricky going back to the old apartment, maybe to visit little Ricky who lives there now with his wife.  Both of them looking older but married to other people or something.

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I've thought before that Desi's health might have been a factor in her deciding to go back on the air.  And I agree with Freddie2 that it would have done better if produced for syndication or cable (or aired on a night other than Friday or Saturday).  Still the Beaver ran for several years on TBS and was pretty terrible.  In early 1986, I remember reading an item in the newspaper that CBS had approached Lucy and Desi about doing an I Love Lucy reunion special a la Return to Mayberry, but they turned it down because, according to Lucy, they wanted the Mertzes written off as having passed away, and she refused to do a show where those characters were killed off.  That, to me, did not seem legitimate or plausible.  It seemed to me that Lucy was really making an excuse (covering) for the fact that Desi was seriously ill and could not do the special.  A month or two after that, Life with Lucy was announced.

I must say, that kind of a special would've been very hard for me to watch. If all the main players had been alive and willing, that would've been different. But to canonically declare Fred and Ethel dead would've been devastating. Best to let all four of them live on perpetually in reruns and leave the aftermath out of the equation. That's not for us to know.

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I must say, that kind of a special would've been very hard for me to watch. If all the main players had been alive and willing, that would've been different. But to canonically declare Fred and Ethel dead would've been devastating. Best to let all four of them live on perpetually in reruns and leave the aftermath out of the equation. That's not for us to know.

O M G as if that weren't enough, it might even be in C O L O R you know.

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Don't take away the sentiment. It would cheat the fans from a big element of the show. I didn't want a sap fest bet let the characters live in the current decade but with well written comedy.

I didn't say to take it away, i said CBS would be looking for more FUNNY than SENTIMENT, you know for those RATINGS they so crave.  Look at the eps that did have it, Sentimental Anniversary did ok, Hollywood Anniversary did better, Mertz and Kurtz did not succeed at all.

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Smartass.

 

If it had been produced in the 80s and SHOT in color, that wouldn't have been an issue at all.

You just have to stop being such a stickler for PERFECTIONISM AND SEEING THINGS THE WAY THEY WERE INTENDED.  We HAVE for decades now and long for something different, so where can i find a colorized version of Citizen Kane?

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And will somebody please SHOOT whoever gave permission to film The Lucy show's first season in black and white, they might have had an excuse for ILL but did not by the time the Lucy show premiered.

Not yet commonplace in '62; although if it were on NBC, it would definitely been more likely.  At least with the 2nd & 3rd seasons of TLS in color, we know what everything (pretty much) would have looked like in that first B&W season; I wish more that the hour-longs of TLDCH were all in color because the country house set(s) were my favorite of them all as well as the idea that by that time they had the clout and the budget to film them that way and I'll never understand why they DIDN'T! :lucyeww:

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Not yet commonplace in '62; although if it were on NBC, it would definitely been more likely.  At least with the 2nd & 3rd seasons of TLS in color, we know what everything (pretty much) would have looked like in that first B&W season; I wish more that the hour-longs of TLDCH were all in color because the country house set(s) were my favorite of them all as well as the idea that by that time they had the clout and the budget to film them that way and I'll never understand why they DIDN'T! :lucyeww:

I'm watching the Tallulah Dahling episode right now and was just thinking the same thing. TLDCH showed us a whole lot more of the country house besides the living room, kitchen and den on the half hours. Which rises a question: How was the living room connected to the kitchen? I thought the door just led straight through, but it looks weird with the editing.

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  • 3 weeks later...

They need to stop slacking, everything else has already been released..give us Life With Lucy restored already -__- I refuse to buy those horrible quality bootlegs.

You're likely going to have a long wait, then. Don't think of them as bootlegs, think of them as rare old tapes from back in the 80s that you'd forgotten you had and which allow you to watch something you'd otherwise be hard-pressed to find.

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  • 2 months later...

does anyone know where the thread is with the recommended dvd art created by a fan on here?  i thought it was fantastic and want to show someone.  just cant find the link.  wonder if it's been shown to the powers that be who make dvd releases happen.

Not sure which thread it's on but it was masterfully created by my pal and favorite export to Australia known on this board as "Lotus Bud" (Brian), so maybe if you IM him or search his many posts, it'll turn up (I'm sure it's still on here somewhere!)! Good luck!

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rspeterson3, on 13 Sept 2015 - 04:01 AM, said:

does anyone know where the thread is with the recommended dvd art created by a fan on here?  i thought it was fantastic and want to show someone.  just cant find the link.  wonder if it's been shown to the powers that be who make dvd releases happen.

 

5b49ba.jpg

 

Thanks so much for the compliments! I'm glad you like it. This is my original version, I've since made some revisions. I'll post the updated version later.

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  • 4 weeks later...

That's our Bud!

Tremendous job.

Other suggestions for bonus features:

Theme song composed and submitted by Lucie Arnaz and.....(who wrote it with her?).  I'm not wild about "Every Day....." especially the lyrics of that 2nd verse.  AND the whole thing has little to do with the show.

"Night Before Christmas" (the next script they were going to start the Monday after it was canceled) produced via animation from that guy who did the wonderful 'My Favorite Husband" animation.

Story outlines for future episodes (should they exist) Hopefully not "The Return of the Guard Goose" in which the goose eats of a batch of Gigantigro and........

Other ideas for the premise of the show, should they exist in written form.  I heard a premise proposed was Lucy in a retirement center.  I think that would have been better.

5b49ba.jpg

 

Thanks so much for the compliments! I'm glad you like it. This is my original version, I've since made some revisions. I'll post the updated version later.

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I've thought before that Desi's health might have been a factor in her deciding to go back on the air.  And I agree with Freddie2 that it would have done better if produced for syndication or cable (or aired on a night other than Friday or Saturday).  Still the Beaver ran for several years on TBS and was pretty terrible.  In early 1986, I remember reading an item in the newspaper that CBS had approached Lucy and Desi about doing an I Love Lucy reunion special a la Return to Mayberry, but they turned it down because, according to Lucy, they wanted the Mertzes written off as having passed away, and she refused to do a show where those characters were killed off.  That, to me, did not seem legitimate or plausible.  It seemed to me that Lucy was really making an excuse (covering) for the fact that Desi was seriously ill and could not do the special.  A month or two after that, Life with Lucy was announced.

(I missed this thread of a few months ago)

I'm sure this would have been a ratings SMASH but would have satisfied nobody.  As Lucy would once again be playing a wife (to someone other than Ed MacMahon), it might have brought out her vulnerable side.  Dealing with the Mertzes: dead: no.  Retired to Florida or something would have been better.  But what would the plot be?  How about

The historic building that housed the Tropicana/Club Babalu is about to be torn down and Mr. Littlefield comes out of retirement to produce on one last big show featuring the performer from its heyday.

To appease the producer of the special (LBP's Gary Morton), Littlefield could hire a young comic Morton Golddapper for the opening act.  Sparks fly between him and Mrs. Ricardo.....

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