Happy 55th Anniversary I Love Lucy!

On October 15, 1951 I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley premiered on CBS. Happy 55th anniversary!

Join the anniversary discussion at Long Live Lucy!

Olympic Skating Coach Loves Lucy

Priscilla Hill, a nationally-known figure skating coach, loves Lucy!

From The Post-Journal:

‘‘When I was little, my mom would sit me in front of the TV, but I would sit still long enough only for I Love Lucy. I guess I would say,‘Ucy, Ucy, Ucy, I want to watch Ucy,’ ’’ Ms. Hill said. ‘‘I watched her and I think she’s hysterical.’’

It was only a few years ago, when the first North Atlantic Regional competition was held in Jamestown, that Ms. Hill visited with skaters and discovered Lucy’s hometown in Celoron and that the comedienne’s childhood was spent largely in and around Jamestown.

‘‘I went right to the museum and picked this up,’’ she said, pointing to her jacket.

She describes Jamestown as comfortable and similar to her native Lake Placid, N.Y. She loves the rolling hills here, the changing leaves and eventually, yes, the snow.

Even The Cast Of "I Love Lucy" Had Conflicts

From CBSNews.com:

It turns out there was even conflict on "I Love Lucy," where the cast seemed to be getting along so well. But it was not the case.

"Going back to the 50's, there were reports that Lucille Ball made Vivian Vance wear dresses that were two sizes too small to make her look frumpy by comparison. Vance was also very dissatisfied with her co-star, her husband played William Frawley, who was 22 years her senior. She felt very insulted by the fact that she was playing the wife of a man in her words "that was old enough to be her father."

Desi's SNL Appearance Coming to DVD!

This news comes to us courtesy of DizzyArnizzy (Josh). He writes:

Yes, it's true...the complete first season of "Saturday Night Live" (1975-1976) is coming to DVD DECEMBER 5.

More info here: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6503

Both Desi Sr. AND Desi Jr. appeared in an episode of the show about halfway through the season...it's a great episode, too.

BTW, all episodes on this set will be totally uncut. The eight disc DVD set will have a retail price of $69.98, and contain over 26 hours of total material.

Lucille Ball Featured in November's Now Playing

Back in August, I first reported that Lucy will be TCM's Star of The Month in November. The November issue of Now Playing Magazine, TCM's monthly programming guide, states on page 5:

A once-in-a-lifetime blend of beauty and comic genius, Lucille Ball (1911-1989) is best remembered for I Love Lucy and its sitcom sequels, which earned her the title of "the preeminent woman in the history of television." But before and during her TV reign, Ball was a bona fide movie star.

The Jamestown, N.Y., native got her start in films as a "Goldwyn Girl" and landed a contract at RKO, where her early films included the Astaire/Rogers Top Hat (1935). She soon became known as "Queen of the B's" for a long succession of low-budget programmers such as musical Too Many Girls (1940), which was important mostly for introducing her to future husband and TV partner Desi Arnaz.

After clicking in a rare dramatic role opposite Henry Fonda in The Big Street (1942), Ball began an association with MGM, where she was dubbed "Technicolor Tessie" because her sensational coloring - bright red hair, blue eyes and creamy skin - photographed to vivid effect in such films as DuBarry Was Lady (1943) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946).

A perfectionist who honed her timing by studying the great silent comics, Ball pioneered the art of TV sitcom and returned to films with glory in MGM's hilarious The Long, Long Trailer (1954), co-starring Arnaz.

She delivered mature performances in the romantic comedies The Facts of Life (1960) opposite Bob Hope and Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) with Henry Fonda.

After her death, frequent co-star Hope paid this tribute: "One of the greatest gifts to mankind is laughter, and one of the greatest gifts to laughter is Lucille Ball. God has her now but thanks to television, we'll have her forever."

Unfortunately, Now Playing opted to feature director John Ford on the magazine's cover instead of Lucy. There are, however, 6 smaller photos of Lucy sprinkled throughout the issue.

Desi Arnaz Pioneered Latino Comedy

From The Northwest Indiana News:

And while Vasquez agrees with Ramirez in regard to Prinze's prominent role in the evolution of Latino comedy, she takes its origins a couple decades farther.

"In terms of sitcoms, Desi Arnaz led the pack," she said. "That was a mixed marriage way back when, and I remember there being episodes of them going to Cuba, and with the political attitudes towards Cuba, that made it even more different."

I Love Lucy Halloween Costumes

The Fall 2006 Merchandise Guide from The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center includes photos of I Love Lucy Halloween Costumes.


Click the photo to enlarge it.

Purchase your own I Love Lucy Halloween Costume

Lucy & Desi Scrapbook Inspires Pop-up Pirates Book

From Philly.com :

Swashbuckling Pat Croce could have just written a book about the golden age of pirates.

Instead, his new Pirate Soul (Running Press) is what he calls a 'mini-museum' - including a fold-out treasure map, replicas of trading cards stashed in little pockets, a replica Jolly Roger flag suitable for hanging. It's like a Pop-up Book for adults.

'I wanted something cool that I could sell at Pirate Soul,' says Croce, of the pirate museum he opened early last year in Key West, Fla. The book was modeled on a book about I Love Lucy's Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, which included copies of love letter, birth certificates and scripts.

He says he took a cut in the standard author royalty by insisting that Running keep the cover price under $30.

How un-piratelike.

Ruta Lee Gets Star on Hollywood Walk

From Yahoo! News:

Actress Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where she once worked as an usher and candy girl.

Lee, 70, said it was her lifelong dream to have a star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Ruta Lee was a guest star in several of Lucy's television shows and specials, including Lucy Moves to NBC in 1980. See her filmography.

Lucille's Grave Apart of History Walk

Taking place on Saturday, Oct. 21, the Fenton will host a history walk through the Lakeview Cemetery for the ‘‘Saints and Sinners Living History Walk.’’ Both children and adults will visit the grave sites of both famous and infamous names in Jamestown history.

Approximately 100 people attended the first history walk last Saturday. Three groups of 20 to 25 people ventured out into the night, guided by volunteers dressed in historical clothes. Each guide led the groups with a lantern and visited the graves of the Fenton family, the Prendergast family, Lucille Ball, Catherine Harris, the Lady in the Glass Case and many others.

‘‘It’s great to see a variety of ages and generations interested in town history,’’ Mrs. Blackman said. ‘‘I think it’s great that we have such a good rural county where we can learn about our history.’’


This is an excerpt. Read the full article:
http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=7919

"Cuban Pete" named 40th Best Music Moment

Bullz-eye.com has named Jim Carrey's performance of Desi Arnaz's classic song, "Cuban Pete" as the 40th best music moment in film history.

Read the review and see the video:
http://www.bullz-eye.com/movies/features/2006/movie_tunes.htm

Lucie's 'Black Dahlia' Easier to Follow Than Film Version

From The Courier Post Online:

Tuesday, October 10, 2006


Q: My son and his friends went to see The Black Dahlia recently. They were commenting the story was hard to follow. I remember a TV movie with Lucie Arnaz about the same crime that was very good. Do you know if it's on video?

A: You're referring to the 1975 TV movie Who Is the Black Dahlia? that was indeed less complicated and more factual than the current film. It starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Ronny Cox, and it isn't officially on video, although there are bootleg copies out there.

Desi's High School Gets A Makeover

Miami High architecture to be restored
By Madeline Baró Diaz

South Florida's oldest high school, a landmark known for its 1920s-era architecture, is being restored to its Mediterranean-style splendor.

Miami Senior High School, whose student body over the years has included former Sen. Bob Graham, actor Desi Arnaz, Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem and other prominent South Floridians, will soon undergo a $93 million renovation.

The project, expected to be completed in 2011, will undo some renovations made to the school over the years that stressed function over style and attempt to make the Little Havana school new again.

This is an excerpt. Read the full article:
http://tinyurl.com/ldo6v

DVD Giveaway Scheduled For October 17

DizzyArnizzy (Josh) has scheduled this month's DVD giveaway for Tuesday, October 17. Check out the "Official Board Competitions" board at Long Live Lucy within the next couple of days for the exact time this giveaway will take place. The DVD will contain Halloween-related episodes of The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy.

For more LLL member news check out the September-October newsletter available in your private messages' inbox and on the board.

Congratulations to morethanonesubject (Claude) for being October's member of the month!

Ethel’s Nice, Too

Are there people who don’t love Lucy? Judging by the sold-out crowd at The Museum of Television & Radio’s event “FOUND! I Love Lucy: The Movie” in Beverly Hills Friday night, part of the museum’s “She Made It: Fearless Women” series, we’d say no. Award-winning "Will & Grace" star Debra Messing, who led the pre-screening discussion with "I Love Lucy" editor Dann Cahn and Gregg Oppenheimer, son of "Lucy" creator Jess Oppenheimer, revealed that Lucille Ball was the reason she went into acting. Growing up in Rhode Island, Messing explained, there was little else to do besides watching television, proving kids are gaining something by watching TV all day. Ever heard of a little trophy called Emmy, parents of America?

This is an excerpt. Here's the rest:
http://www.la.com/blog/comments.php?id=3474_0_1_0_C