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'I Love Lucy' Christmas special on CBS: Dec. 7, 2014


Paul Sheehan

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Anyone who does not want to see the program colorized always has the option of turning off the color on his or her TV set -- and watching the show in black-and-white...

 

Or refer to the fantastic DVDs to see them in their original format sans interruption. I imagine much will have to be cut to make them fit in the time slot with all the ads. 

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finally showing us something different from what we are used to seeing, some of us for more than half a century. 

 

If something is really good enough to stand on its own for more than half a century, why do you want it to be different? To want changes implies that there's something wrong with the original. Are you saying that B&W is an imperfection that must be fixed because it is fundamentally flawed? 

 

I view it as an art form. Born out of technological limitations, maybe, but a device that can reveal things color simply cannot. I've said it before and I'll say it again: comedy doesn't require color. B&W strips away all the visual distractions and lets us see beyond what's there. It's just sad that many of today's viewers seem unwilling to accept things the way they are and instead demand that everything be modified to suit their limited sensibilities. 

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This is the thing Lot, movies used to be in black and white, then they improved on them by making them like real life, IN FRIGGIN COLOR, then the same thing happened with tv, once they figured out how to do it, they did it.  if Desi was the genius everybody says he was, he should have done them in color from the start, but NBC was the innovator, not CBS.  Stop making it look like I'm the one that wants this and purists don't, it's CBS that's giving them to us one at a time because they know young people who never watch anything old, in black and white will tune in to see the show.  And older fans, like me, will tune in to see it different from the way we have been seeing it, repeatedly over decades.  If you don't want to see them in color, then take out the color on your set or simply don't tune in and watch your beloved black and white copies instead.  Just because YOU don't want to see them in color, don't stop the rest of us from seeing the same shows we have loved for sixty years in a different way which will only give us another reason to relish each and every episode again. 

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You get used to whatever....I remember when we got our color set.  The first Lucy Show I saw in color was "Lucy and Ken Berry".  (Though I had wangled an invitation to the home of an older couple in our neighborhood, the only owners of a color TV I knew, for "Lucy in London").  After a while, color was not a big issue anymore, though it seems to be for young people who won't even watch anything b/w.  Their loss.  I do remember my confusion (since cleared up...on this issue anyway) when CBS ran The Lucy Show in the fall of 1968 and I had to audiotape it and listen to it when I got home from school.  The first episode I saw was "Contact Lens" and was confused that it was in color.  But back then you couldn't check sources and I couldn't remember what season Lucy started broadcasting in color but certainly didn't think it was #3.

I certainly like "Job Switching" but it's never been my all-time favorites.  For the general hoi polloi, it's the #1 pick.  "LA at Last" is IMO the best ILL and would like to see that one colorized.  It's doubtful that the powers that be would pick my #1 for colorization, for reasons already mentioned, "Don Loper/Fashion Show".  At least they don't have to guess what hue to key in for "pink mink", the "new color I've created for the season" other than guessing how it's different from regular pink.  I don't think I've ever seen a color shot of the models/wives.   Has anyone?

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  • 2 weeks later...

We know that their outfits were pink? and the walls were like, gray. The apartment walls were a pinkish-red as seen in the "Audition" color footage. Can't wait!!! :D

 

I'm not 100% sure but from a book I have on their wardrobe their Candy factory outfits were actually all grey. The apt were also different shades of grey. The footage is quite old and the studio lights make them seem a bit pinkish but the set was actually grey. You can see it here.  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/330873903844746100/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/330873903847414384/

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so that probably won't look very attractive when colorized so they'll probably make them pink, right? TJW what do you know about what colors they'll use? Are there photos of the original couches in color? That looks to be in the middle of S2 where Lucy is pregnant, either before or after they redecorated and won the new furniture. So the lamps/pillows are green and the couch is a reddish color? Good to know that we aren't missing much in terms of color in the conveyer belt/dipping scenes. XD I honestly thought the apartment walls were a reddish color but muted/neutral colors showed up better on tape.

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If not too late, I'd love them to colorize their performance of "Jingle Bells," that was featured after the "Drafted" episode. I think it would be apropos to theChristmas holiday, but because it takes place in the Ricard's first New York Apartment, where the "Job Switching" episode takes place. If they're doing the two wepisodes, and wardrobe tests, why not colorize Jingle Bells, and insert it somewhere within the special, on Sunday, December 7. It's the only other "I Love Lucy" Christmas reference I can think of. It's very short, abd shouldn't be that hard to do

, Thoughts?

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Absolutely incredible news, haven't been on the forum in forever so this was awesome news to come back to. Hoping they decide to make this a yearly thing..be better to save the xmas episode for christmas and just air like 2 new colorized episodes every December. Be nice if CBS decide to release this one on dvd also :) bought the xmas colorized dvd last year soon as it came out.

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Regarding the (re-)use of the 1951 Christmas clip (colorized or otherwise)...

 

I know the idea was discussed, but it had two things going against it:

 

(1) The clip runs something like 3 minutes and about 4 seconds... Which is a bit long... Already, CBS needed to edit out some material from the two episodes in order to make them fit into a modern-day broadcast "hour."

 

(2) The footage itself is updated but duplicated to a great degree in the final scene of the Christmas episode, so even if it would fit (time-wise) it seems a bit awkward to be showing two such similar scenes within the same broadcast.

 

Just heard the bad news: that the show will air against a Christmas-themed episode of THE SIMPSONS on FOX... Gonna be a competitive night for television!

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This time around, I would've loved to have seen all of the Christmas Show flashbacks colorized, instead of them Ll shown in B&W.Maybe for the Ultimate Season Six Blu-ray.

 

Some other colorized episodes I'd like to see colorized are: "The Diet," "The Audition," "Pioneer Women," "The Freezer," "Lucy Does a TV Commercial," "The Operetta,"Lucy is Enceinte," "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress," "LA at Last," The Fashion Show," "California, Here We Come!,"Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment"

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This time around, I would've loved to have seen all of the Christmas Show flashbacks colorized, instead of them shown in B&W.Maybe for the Ultimate Season Six Blu-ray, and/or if televised, again.

 

Some other colorized episodes I'd like to see colorized are: "The Diet," "The Audition," "Pioneer Women," "The Freezer," "Lucy Does a TV Commercial," "The Operetta,"Lucy is Enceinte," "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress," "LA at Last," The Fashion Show," "California, Here We Come!,"Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment" and "Lucy Misses the Mertzes"

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