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


Paul Sheehan

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Im just now noticing how lively the color makes the show. For YEARS I never noticed all of the papers Lucy shoved into her blouse along with the chocolates, 

but once you see it in color and see the distinction, it ENHANCES the experience of I Love Lucy, even after all these years. Its almost eery to see it continue to reinvent itself  

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Lucy's hair colour, it looks like a salmon swam up the East River, spawned, and the results landed on her head.

:lucythrill:

 

My on-screen guide originating from the cable company says about next week's I Love Lucy:  Christmas episode and soaking up local color in Italy, probably just cut and pasted from last year.

I've seen the "This is it" scene so MANY many times, I tend to overlook how well choreographed it is.  I wish I could erase some episodes from my mind and see them fresh to really re-appreciate them.  This episode set the "birthing mayhem" bar pretty high.  So much so that subsequent shows could only borrow from it.

I don't know who wrote the All in the Family episode where Gloria gives birth, but it's such a direct steal: Archie shows up in blackface, scheduled to perform a minstrel number at the lodge. (when....couldn't he have wiped it off?)  

The "this is it" scene from Mothers In Law is also very derivative (but at least Bob and Madelyn were stealing from themselves) but quite funny.  When the comedy of the MothersInLaw was organic, it could be a very enjoyable show; and the only sitcom at the time doing LOL comedy  (except for "Here's which during this  period IMO was not as true to "Lucy" comedy as MIL).   My favorite parts of this episode are: Kaye out of breath having run several blocks to get gas and Vanda as the nurse doing her scream and over-the-top "That figures" take directly to the audience, albeit out of camera range.  The explanation of why the car is out of gas is a bit of a stretch:  First off, the Hubbards and Buells have ONE car between them?  And it's out of gas because Kaye had insisted on driving across town to the Italian market and ran out of gas right when she pulled into the driveway??

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:lucythrill:

 

My on-screen guide originating from the cable company says about next week's I Love Lucy:  Christmas episode and soaking up local color in Italy, probably just cut and pasted from last year.

I've seen the "This is it" scene so MANY many times, I tend to overlook how well choreographed it is.  I wish I could erase some episodes from my mind and see them fresh to really re-appreciate them.  This episode set the "birthing mayhem" bar pretty high.  So much so that subsequent shows could only borrow from it.

I don't know who wrote the All in the Family episode where Gloria gives birth, but it's such a direct steal: Archie shows up in blackface, scheduled to perform a minstrel number at the lodge. (when....couldn't he have wiped it off?)  

The "this is it" scene from Mothers In Law is also very derivative (but at least Bob and Madelyn were stealing from themselves) but quite funny.  When the comedy of the MothersInLaw was organic, it could be a very enjoyable show; and the only sitcom at the time doing LOL comedy  (except for "Here's which during this  period IMO was not as true to "Lucy" comedy as MIL).   My favorite parts of this episode are: Kaye out of breath having run several blocks to get gas and Vanda as the nurse doing her scream and over-the-top "That figures" take directly to the audience, albeit out of camera range.  The explanation of why the car is out of gas is a bit of a stretch:  First off, the Hubbards and Buells have ONE car between them?  And it's out of gas because Kaye had insisted on driving across town to the Italian market and ran out of gas right when she pulled into the driveway??

Well choreographed?  Fred's double hit on Ricky is so fake, it's like he timed it, but still got it wrong, the one where he lands Ricky on the couch, the only flaw in an otherwise great show but i too am pretty sick of that scene, we've seen it much too often, they always use that same one.

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Claude: technically, the specials -- per se -- are not being released on DVD. That is, the programs as broadcast, with all the edits, etc. To get a copy of that/those, one must record it/tem "off air"...

 

The episodes themselves, original and full length, are being released on DVD.  Last year's disc included the Christmas episode, the Scotland show, and the Italian movie/grape vat show. 

 

This year, that same disc is being sold in many outlets, but as a special item available only through Target beginning December 9, there is going to be a special two-disc set that includes last year's disc, plus a disc containing this year's "Job Switching"/chocolate factory episode (colorized and in its original B&W)...

 

I know it's a little confusing... (See my NEXT post!)

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Speaking of confusing -- Just heard today that CBS aired a few promos for next Sunday's special, but inadvertently used  the promos prepared for LAST year's broadcast, announcing that the show would include the Christmas episode and the Italian movie... It was an honest, but unfortunate, mistake -- we are diligently trying to get the word out that this year's show includes the chocolate factory episode (plus a minute or so of the make-up test footage), so this little faux pas did not help...

 

I think some people in the various departments at CBS just assumed it was last year's program being repeated.  Makes sense -- very few shows get revised each year -- but hopefully all the promos that are aired over the next few days will correct that mistake...

 

I'm just thrilled that the Lady is given this opportunity to compete on network primetime again this year!

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Speaking of confusing -- Just heard today that CBS aired a few promos for next Sunday's special, but inadvertently used  the promos prepared for LAST year's broadcast, announcing that the show would include the Christmas episode and the Italian movie... It was an honest, but unfortunate, mistake -- we are diligently trying to get the word out that this year's show includes the chocolate factory episode (plus a minute or so of the make-up test footage), so this little faux pas did not help...

 

I think some people in the various departments at CBS just assumed it was last year's program being repeated.  Makes sense -- very few shows get revised each year -- but hopefully all the promos that are aired over the next few days will correct that mistake...

 

I'm just thrilled that the Lady is given this opportunity to compete on network primetime again this year!

Oh i KNOW, where would CBS be without their cash cow, Lucy?  Thanks for all the info Mr Watson, we have Target here for a year now so i will see if their stores in French queerbec will carry a show that is totally forgotten here, but not by people like me who NEVER FORGOT HER!

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Oh i KNOW, where would CBS be without their cash cow, Lucy?  Thanks for all the info Mr Watson, we have Target here for a year now so i will see if their stores in French queerbec will carry a show that is totally forgotten here, but not by people like me who NEVER FORGOT HER!

If for some reason they do not, let us know -- and one of us down here in the colonies will get one and send it up...

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