1986 Emmys Lucy, Ritter, Skelton

[Will]

I like the clip.  Lucy is so gracious here and is so proud to be there for Red.  She must be happy he was getting some recognition since he and many other yesteryear stars were much more forgotten and neglected than Lucy who always would pop up and get a standing ovation.  The opening number is werid and I don't care for it.  I agree Lucy should have been one of the first to get this award.  She got so many other lifetime awards in the 1980s why not this one?

[C L A U D E]

Youtube links:

1986 Emmys

and then Lucy gives Governor's award to Red Skelton,

Opening number

Closing number "Old Friends".

 

This was live TV and things can go wrong, such as Eve's mic not being on.  Perhaps they hadn't completely worked our or rehearsed the stage and camera blocking.  why else would there be just quick shots of TV pioneers Sid and Imogene; and no close up for Bob. In its 4 1/2 seasons on the air, "The Bob Cummings Show" better known as "Love That Bob" had almost as many episodes as I Love Lucy.   It received 3 Best Comedy Series Emmy nominations ; Bob received a Best Actor in comedy each season it was on; as did Ann B.Davis who won two in a row that last 2 seasons of the series...as his sexless girl Friday "Shultzy".   Rosemary DeCamp playing Bob's sister got one nom (lost to Ann b.).  It ran on all 3 networks: its first year as a mid-season show on NBC, then on CBS for two years; the back to NBC for another two.   ABC bought the reruns and ran it during the day.   (Other sitcoms that played all 3: Father Knows Best and Danny Thomas).  Neither of Bob's follow up sitcoms were successful "the NEW Bob Cummings Show" and "My Living Doll", both on CBS.

The great song "Old Friends" in from my favorite Stephen Sondheim musical "Merrily We Roll Along", his 1981 follow up to "Sweeny Todd" and his most notorious flop, only 16 performances.  You'd never know if from the score, which is full of great songs.   The story based on a Kaufman play of the 30s traces the friendship of 3 people who succeeded in show business.  The timeline flows backwards to show how they got where they are.   Evidently the reverse timeline thing was hard for the audience (and critics) to grasp.   A few years ago I met Sondheim in person and discussed it with him.  The failure of this was devastating to him and dissolved his long partnership with director Hal Prince.   Sondheim's subsequent musicals were "Sunday in the Park with George" "Into the Woods" and "Passion".  Another "Assassins", I don't think made it to Broadway.   "Sweeney" seems to be his most revered show, but it's just a bit too dark for me.

Gee, ANYBODY IN SHOW BIZ YOU never MET?????  Flicka, Mister Ed?

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Here's Bob as the mystery guest on What's My Line in 1964 discussing the upcoming season of "My Living Doll" which joined the CBS Sunday night line up that  also included "WML"  .   Bob says MLDoll was to be on at 9:30.  It actually debuted at 9:00 in CBS's worst timeslot,following Ed Sullivan and opposite NBC's Bonanza---the slot that was instrumental in the  demise of "The Judy Garland Show"* (and the previous season: "The Real McCoys" which up to that time had been a hit for ABC)   MLD was followed by "The Joey Bishop Show" acquired from NBC. Neither show succeeded but at least CBS gave them a 2nd chance and moved them mid-season; a courtesy they did not extend to Judy's show (which had been rumored to join CBS's Monday line up at 10:00, a slot occupied  by  George C Scott's gritty "East Side,West Side").   From 1962 to 1967 everything CBS tried against Bonanza failed until "The Smothers Brothers Hour"debuted as a mid-season replacement in 1967.

 

According to the book I just read, this was the time period where Bob was under the influence of "Dr. Feelgood"'s meth-laden miracle shots.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcaEUtEgPSQ

 

* one of the best show business books ever written is "Raindow's End: The Judy Garland Show" by the recently departed Steve Sanders, who co-wrote another great show biz book "Desilu" with Tom Gilbert.   "Rainbow" will make you mad at CBS, particularly Jim Aubrey, who acquired the services of Judy and then seemed to do everything possible to sabotage the show.

 

And THERE'S your Sunday morning trivia from ME!

Now THAT's the way i remember Bob.  And Lucy always hated Jim Aubrey saying while he was head of CBS and his regime, she couldn't sell him on any of her Desilu shows.

[C L A U D E]

Here's Bob as the mystery guest on What's My Line in 1964 discussing the upcoming season of "My Living Doll" which joined the CBS Sunday night line up that  also included "WML"  .   Bob says MLDoll was to be on at 9:30.  It actually debuted at 9:00 in CBS's worst timeslot,following Ed Sullivan and opposite NBC's Bonanza---the slot that was instrumental in the  demise of "The Judy Garland Show"* (and the previous season: "The Real McCoys" which up to that time had been a hit for ABC)   MLD was followed by "The Joey Bishop Show" acquired from NBC. Neither show succeeded but at least CBS gave them a 2nd chance and moved them mid-season; a courtesy they did not extend to Judy's show (which had been rumored to join CBS's Monday line up at 10:00, a slot occupied  by  George C Scott's gritty "East Side,West Side").   From 1962 to 1967 everything CBS tried against Bonanza failed until "The Smothers Brothers Hour"debuted as a mid-season replacement in 1967.

 

According to the book I just read, this was the time period where Bob was under the influence of "Dr. Feelgood"'s meth-laden miracle shots.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcaEUtEgPSQ

 

* one of the best show business books ever written is "Raindow's End: The Judy Garland Show" by the recently departed Steve Sanders, who co-wrote another great show biz book "Desilu" with Tom Gilbert.   "Rainbow" will make you mad at CBS, particularly Jim Aubrey, who acquired the services of Judy and then seemed to do everything possible to sabotage the show.

 

And THERE'S your Sunday morning trivia from ME!

And it's posts like that, that we come on here for.  So many memories you bring back into my noggin.

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LOVE it, Neil! You're literally a font of (or is it fountain?? What's that 'spression??) of knowledge!

(And I agree, Rainbow's one of the best books about Garland's career.  The material about what a challenge it became to produce her show was fascinating!) -J

And if you see those shows today, they were terrific and hold up well.  They should have tried another time slot and Mondays at ten sounds like it would have been a HIT.

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Assassins was originally Off-Broadway. It was slated for a Bway revival but 9/11 happend and it got pushed to a time when we could accept this type of material again. It had a short Bway run with Neil Patrick Harris. I've grown to love Sondheim over the years and my husband is a huge Into the Woods/Joanna Gleason fan. I've also been able to catch the recent revials for Follies and A Little Night Music on Bway both with Bernadette who I love (not as much as Joanna though).

 

I really like that Old Fiends song. When I was in Jamestown in 96' they did a show in the evening all about Lucy's life and used this song in it. I thought it was a wonderful way to reference the ILL cast.

You learn to love Sondheim, but he's not for everybody, pretty cerebral material.  Remember wen they did that tribute to songwriters on the Tonys and Bea Arthur comes on for the Jerry Herman tribute and says to Jerry, you said you could not write that song VERA for MAME because you claimed that nothing rhymed with Vera, WELL, SONDHEIM COULD HAVE DONE IT!

[C L A U D E]

I like the clip.  Lucy is so gracious here and is so proud to be there for Red.  She must be happy he was getting some recognition since he and many other yesteryear stars were much more forgotten and neglected than Lucy who always would pop up and get a standing ovation.  The opening number is werid and I don't care for it.  I agree Lucy should have been one of the first to get this award.  She got so many other lifetime awards in the 1980s why not this one?

Because to the morons at The Academy, Hope and Ball and many others were considered passé, well, they recognized their mistake only when she left us and finally gave it to her when it was too late, you are so right.

[Will]

Because to the morons at The Academy, Hope and Ball and many others were considered passé, well, they recognized their mistake only when she left us and finally gave it to her when it was too late, you are so right.

How could they consider them passe and not Red Skelton.  What were they thinking?  It was nice the 30th year certificate honor she got in 1981 at least they did that and like her as a presenter. 

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How could they consider them passe and not Red Skelton.  What were they thinking?  It was nice the 30th year certificate honor she got in 1981 at least they did that and like her as a presenter. 

No, I meant EVERYBODY considered those old comedians passé at one point, it took her dying to wake them up.  As for Skelton, notice that he gives them a shot as soon as he starts talking, he still resented that they took him off the air and he later did concerts to reach his loving audience for years and years.  That man had a delivery and all these great characters that he created and yet, in their search for a younger audience, he was just cast aside, just disgusting.  I guess it was their conscience that made them honor him like that, they should have done the same thing for Gleason before HE died.  Another GREAT who NEVER got an Emmy.  Wasn't it Skelton who said he was going to have his shows buried with him?

[Will]

I disagree though.  Lucy might have been less popular in the 80s than now but she still was popular.  She won many lifetime achievement awards including TV Hall of Fame as one of the 1st in 1984 by this academy.  She might have been considered passe but her Stone Pillow won the ratings and reviews.  She always was respected by her younger peers and appeared off and on through the 80s (sadly not like the 70s.  The retro theme of the decade I think made her more popular then).  Part of the problem was except for STone Pillow she didn't have good projects.  Even lightning up a Bob Hope special or an awards/tribute show isn't going to get you as recognized.  I wish she had taken on more roles like Stone Pillow and leave behind anyone who suggested going back to Lucy.  Lucy was passe by then.  She needed to do drama. 

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I disagree though.  Lucy might have been less popular in the 80s than now but she still was popular.  She won many lifetime achievement awards including TV Hall of Fame as one of the 1st in 1984 by this academy.  She might have been considered passe but her Stone Pillow won the ratings and reviews.  She always was respected by her younger peers and appeared off and on through the 80s (sadly not like the 70s.  The retro theme of the decade I think made her more popular then).  Part of the problem was except for STone Pillow she didn't have good projects.  Even lightning up a Bob Hope special or an awards/tribute show isn't going to get you as recognized.  I wish she had taken on more roles like Stone Pillow and leave behind anyone who suggested going back to Lucy.  Lucy was passe by then.  She needed to do drama. 

Babe, I never said she was not popular, I said she never got her real DUE from the pompous asses at the Academy at that point, did she get a nomination for Stone Pillow?  N O !  She wasn't LESS popular in the 80's, she was MORE popular, a TV icon, a legend.  I meant her STYLE of comedy was passé, same as when Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction were cancelled at one point or when the clean up happened with Jack Benny, Skelton and others.  Hope was the only one who was still doing those dumb sketches and old fashioned repartee.   That's why she only had HIS shows to do at that point.  The clip above is a perfect example of how those PEERS of hers viewed her at this point, she had to work a lot to GET that standing ovation when it should have come as soon as her name was announced and she came out.  Same thing happened at the Oscars a month before she died, it didn't come right away and it should have, she's even shocked that her MOVIE peers are finally getting up for her and Hope.

[Luvsbway]

Did you see how long it took last night for all those people to stand up for Newhart?

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Did you see how long it took last night for all those people to stand up for Newhart?

I know, just disgusting, and yet they were so happy that he finally got the damned EMMY after fifty years of trying.  Bob I noticed is like Lucy in her later years, SMILE and take fifty years off your face.  All right, THIRTY?

[Will]

 

This clip shows Lucy's acceptance of this award and she gets a standing ovation without trying.  She is so humble here it is nice to see her as knowing while she is blessed she is a human being.  Today stars act like they are gods yet don't act as good as the gods.

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This clip shows Lucy's acceptance of this award and she gets a standing ovation without trying.  She is so humble here it is nice to see her as knowing while she is blessed she is a human being.  Today stars act like they are gods yet don't act as good as the gods.

For corn sakes, if she had to beg for one HERE, that would be sacrilegious, EVERYONE who won the honor GOT a standing ovation, this was the very first ceremony for corn sakes, LOL!

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This clip shows Lucy's acceptance of this award and she gets a standing ovation without trying.  She is so humble here it is nice to see her as knowing while she is blessed she is a human being.  Today stars act like they are gods yet don't act as good as the gods.

Shame you have just the tail end of Lucy's part and then other people being honored.  This is the show where Desi jr and Lucie did the absolute best salute to their gifted mom. 

[Luvsbway]

Not only is her speech great and she is very moved, but the cut to her after Lucie sings is great. Lucy is sitting there with tears running down her face and mouths Wow. I love that Carol even acknowledges it.

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Not only is her speech great and she is very moved, but the cut to her after Lucie sings is great. Lucy is sitting there with tears running down her face and mouths Wow. I love that Carol even acknowledges it.

Seeing as you love to talk about her clothes, she is wearing that great black velvet number but notice when Carol hugs her, that beautiful top Carol is wearing looks so great on Lucy, reminiscent of the Dean Martin one, remember?

[Luvsbway]

Claude you are obsessed with Carol's jacket. I just think Lucy's dress is the best dress in the 80's she wore.

[Annaleigh]

Not only is her speech great and she is very moved, but the cut to her after Lucie sings is great. Lucy is sitting there with tears running down her face and mouths Wow. I love that Carol even acknowledges it.

This was my favorite Lucy acceptance speech, she is so moved and so humble. Plus like you mentioned, after that Lucie tribute, Lucy is in shambles. So touching, makes me tear up every time. This whole thing was one of the best Lucy tributes, so glad they honored her before she passed.

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Claude you are obsessed with Carol's jacket. I just think Lucy's dress is the best dress in the 80's she wore.

Yeah, I know, but remember how gorgeous Lucy looked in that Dean Martin one?  Lucy should have been dressed by Bob Mackie like Carol was, he knew how to do show clothes.  And yes, the black velvet one looked terrific on her but it also looks very heavy and although you can never go wrong with BLACK, she looked just as elegant in that blue one with the slit up the wazoo.  That one was even better looking than her Oscar dress.  I'm also always obsessed, every time I see the fashion show ep, that Lucy should have bought the Mrs Forrest Tucker dress for herself, I can just see her wearing that evening gown and looking Regal.