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Lucy Clippings- The 1960s


Luvsbway
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

7.13.62

 

So the house didn't have a pool originally?  And why would she be concerned about a pool in the backyard when both the ranch and the Palm Springs place had a pool?

 

7.13.62.png

You've read the books, she bought it from this old couple and then proceeded to make all these huge renovations, including putting in a pool which was of course a Beverly Hill or Hollywood status symbol.

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This is a link to some interesting paperwork regarding Lucy and Desi's divorce. It mentions the custody arrangements for 1961 while Lucy is doing Wildcat. I'm not sure how long the auction will last but it's amazing to see real documents from that time. I would love to know who got a hold of these and sold them. I can't imagine they would smile on their very personal business being cracked open for the entire world to see. 

 

http://bid.blacksparrowauctions.com/Lucille-Ball-Desi-Arnaz-Official-Divorce-Documents_i21915413 

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From February 1966.......only the FIFTH??   I Love Lucy was still running as part of CBS's morning comedy block 9am-11am Pacific time (I Love Lucy, The McCoys, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke), but let's assume an episode got two original showings in prime time.  As of February 1966, I Love Lucy had been rerun 5 days a week by CBS for 7 years (GodBlessEm!).   In one year the entire series would run 1 1/2 times, so by 1966 I say it was more like 12th rerun (and this is not taking in consideration, the simultaneous "Sunday Lucy Show" and the two years ILL was rerun in prime time from 57 to '59) !   Much to my chagrin, in the fall of 1966, CBS pulled I Love Lucy from their daytime schedule (along with The McCoys) and replaced that hour with Candid Camera and The Beverly Hillbillies reruns.

 

The hubbub described in the article about Fred Friendly head of CBS news resigning because live Senate hearings on Vietnam were being shown by ABC and NBC but CBS chose to run "a fifth rerun of an I Love Lucy'.   There's another article I'm going to look for, a tongue-in-cheek proposition the writer offers: work current news into the plot of I Love Lucy.  The episode in question shown instead of those hearings was with Tennessee Ernie Ford and the writer suggested Ernie come in and says "Cousin Lucy, didya hear about them Vietnamese?". When I heard about it, I thought they were serious. 

 

My trusty inflation calculator says that the budget for each Lucy show was $601,000.   I wonder what the budgets are today. Didn't each of the 6 Friends cast members get $1mil per episode during its popular period (or was that "Seinfeld"....or both)?   The production company could afford to take a loss because of syndication and DVD sales, but neither of those are what they used to be.

 

 

1966LucyReturns__zps5zgqptov.png

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How serious was Lucy's threat to resign?  Would she give up her weekly series, which she loved doing, to concentrate on her executive duties at Desilu, which she professed to loathe?   Within the industry, her threat was seen as leverage for CBS buying Desilu pilots.  Her threat to quit in 1964 after two seasons was taken seriously enough that when CBS first announced their 64-65 fall season, "Petticoat Junction" had Lucy's 8:30 slot.   That ploy didn't work at all because CBS passed on Desilu pilots (including Ethel Merman's "Maggie Brown") and between 1964 and 1966, Desilu had only "Lucy" on the air.   The fall of 1966 saw "Mission Impossible" (and "Star Trek" on NBC), so I guess it worked this time.   1964 and 1966 are the only years I can find articles about Lucy threatening to quit.  The "threat" is portrayed as annual in this article.  It has been written that The Lucy Show in 1962 was only meant to be a one-season show, but I find that hard to believe.

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From February 1966.......only the FIFTH??   I Love Lucy was still running as part of CBS's morning comedy block 9am-11am Pacific time (I Love Lucy, The McCoys, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke), but let's assume an episode got two original showings in prime time.  As of February 1966, I Love Lucy had been rerun 5 days a week by CBS for 7 years (GodBlessEm!).   In one year the entire series would run 1 1/2 times, so by 1966 I say it was more like 12th rerun (and this is not taking in consideration, the simultaneous "Sunday Lucy Show" and the two years ILL was rerun in prime time from 57 to '59) !   Much to my chagrin, in the fall of 1966, CBS pulled I Love Lucy from their daytime schedule (along with The McCoys) and replaced that hour with Candid Camera and The Beverly Hillbillies reruns.

 

The hubbub described in the article about Fred Friendly head of CBS news resigning because live Senate hearings on Vietnam were being shown by ABC and NBC but CBS chose to run "a fifth rerun of an I Love Lucy'.   There's another article I'm going to look for, a tongue-in-cheek proposition the writer offers: work current news into the plot of I Love Lucy.  The episode in question shown instead of those hearings was with Tennessee Ernie Ford and the writer suggested Ernie come in and says "Cousin Lucy, didya hear about them Vietnamese?". When I heard about it, I thought they were serious. 

 

My trusty inflation calculator says that the budget for each Lucy show was $601,000.   I wonder what the budgets are today. Didn't each of the 6 Friends cast members get $1mil per episode during its popular period (or was that "Seinfeld"....or both)?   The production company could afford to take a loss because of syndication and DVD sales, but neither of those are what they used to be.

 

 

1966LucyReturns__zps5zgqptov.png

Not only the cast of Friends, but also the two at Mad about You, dunno about seinfeld but it goes on to this day, the three top members of Big Bang Theory just signed for a million a show, which i think is just ridiculous, as is 20 million a movie for some superstars.  I forgot about the daytime shows shown in MY childhood, true, great classic sitcoms while today all we get is carp talk shows, courtroom worse shows and the like.

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How serious was Lucy's threat to resign?  Would she give up her weekly series, which she loved doing, to concentrate on her executive duties at Desilu, which she professed to loathe?   Within the industry, her threat was seen as leverage for CBS buying Desilu pilots.  Her threat to quit in 1964 after two seasons was taken seriously enough that when CBS first announced their 64-65 fall season, "Petticoat Junction" had Lucy's 8:30 slot.   That ploy didn't work at all because CBS passed on Desilu pilots (including Ethel Merman's "Maggie Brown") and between 1964 and 1966, Desilu had only "Lucy" on the air.   The fall of 1966 saw "Mission Impossible" (and "Star Trek" on NBC), so I guess it worked this time.   1964 and 1966 are the only years I can find articles about Lucy threatening to quit.  The "threat" is portrayed as annual in this article.  It has been written that The Lucy Show in 1962 was only meant to be a one-season show, but I find that hard to believe.

Yeah, that makes two of us.  The top people at Desilu more or less forced Lucy to try and sell their pilots by making threats to leave, it was definitely a ploy she had no intention of ever actually doing.  Lucy is definitely the greatest actress of her time, but her choices for what SHE'd like to see on the air certainly was not what the studios or networks were buying, no wonder the shows never sold.

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Neil: If only for consideration of 'space', I won't repeat all your posts above; but, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for posting this interesting 'stuff'......  where would I be if not for all you 'contributors' here on the Lounge??????

 

Well, let me answer that myself:  PROBABLY AT ONLY 700 PAGES!!!!  TEE HEE  Loving you, JK :fabrary:

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Neil: If only for consideration of 'space', I won't repeat all your posts above; but, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for posting this interesting 'stuff'......  where would I be if not for all you 'contributors' here on the Lounge??????

 

Well, let me answer that myself:  PROBABLY AT ONLY 700 PAGES!!!!  TEE HEE  Loving you, JK :fabrary:

PIKER!  Publisher wants at least 2000 pages.

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