I Recommend

[SPLAIN]

Last weekend, i found this Video called Babalu music, watched it last night, and it was excellent. I had seen it at the Lucy Desi museum, but never got a chance to buy it before the changeover mess there. It's 51 minutes long and is produced by Weird Al Yancovic. It has ALL or almost all of Ricky's musical numbers, and in between they give you Lucy's best comedic moments too, it was GREAT, and if you ever see it, you should grab it for your Lucy collection! If there is a show where Babalu is featured, they play the episode that corresponds to it like the Franistan one, i just loved the way it was all set up, there are shots in color at the end in this great MTV style video, as Lucy said about Aunt Martha's salad dressing, go buy some now!

[SPLAIN]

There's also this guy Michael Cordero, out of Las Vegas who makes copies of Lucy specials, TV shows and even radio programs that are in the the public domain, i got a shipment, and i can't tell you how great it was to see all those specials after such a long time. Many of you have all of Lucy's 500 or so programs, but it doesn't end there, besides her 80 movies, there are also dozens of specials, and countless game show appearances and talk shows and numerous guest shots on other people's shows or specials. I ordered all the specials she made after Here's Lucy went off the air. Specials with Gleason and Carney, Dino and Burnett, and the old ones with Berle and Hope. Some of them were excellent. You can contact Michael thru Empire Media, you'll be glad you did. I know i am, as you can never get enough Lucy. If only the distributors of these things would wake up to that fact!

[SPLAIN]

I also recommend the Dean Martin roast of Lucy. Jack Benny, Don Rickles, Henry Fonda, Vivian Vance, Danny Thomas, Bob Hope Milton Berle and many others kid Lucy, the best one is Foster Brooks who does his usual drunk routine, but he also claims to have dated Lucy back in college and he calls her loose, then he says, well that's what the football team called her, she gives him the dirtiest LOOK, before she bursts into laughter! It's definitely worth getting!

[JaneTVFan]

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Last weekend, i found this Video called Babalu music, watched it last night, and it was excellent. I had seen it at the Lucy Desi museum, but never got a chance to buy it before the changeover mess there. It's 51 minutes long and is produced by Weird Al Yancovic. It has ALL or almost all of Ricky's musical numbers, and in between they give you Lucy's best comedic moments too, it was GREAT, and if you ever see it, you should grab it for your Lucy collection! If there is a show where Babalu is featured, they play the episode that corresponds to it like the Franistan one, i just loved the way it was all set up, there are shots in color at the end in this great MTV style video, as Lucy said about Aunt Martha's salad dressing, go buy some now!

I have that video. I agree, it's excellent! Especially the Babalu number.

[SPLAIN]

Today, i'd like to recommend the Lucy specials. Most notably the Carol plus 2 special which was the pilot for Carol's show. Lucy and Zero Mostel guest star and the numbers are great, the sketches funny, this is where you will see the famous Good bye Baby sketch that Lee and Jim keep referring to. That musical number that we've all seen excerpts of with Lucy and Carol as charwomen is a riot and a great song. The specila is one of the best Lucy ever did. I also liked Lucy and Dean Martin in that Vegas special that Lucy did with Dino. She even did her own stunts in this one, at one point she drives a car down a flight of stairs,and she's in sixties by this time. The specials with Gleason and Carney are not as good as this one with Dino who was a friend and someone she admired and it shows, it looks like she's having a good time, and we do too!

[SPLAIN]

Many moons ago, Dawsongirl told us about the Carson videos you could get if you were willing to spend lots of money. Apparently you can get all of Lucy's appearances on his shows over the years. I dun't know if i would go for that as her appearances on Carson were never as good as the ones she did with Merv, or Mike or Dinah or even Dick Cavette or even Tom Snyder for that matter. I have the three she did with Joan Rivers when she subbed for Johnny before their falling out and Lucy is talkative about her kids and grandkids and the audience gives her a standing ovation, and these shows are really worth seing. Desi never let her do talk shows in his days with her as he was afraid her tough demeaner would lose her some fans, but when she was free of Desi she made up for lost time by doing many talk shows, and they were always better if she liked the person interviewing her. Even here in Canada, she was asked by our Pierre Berton if when she was working at RKO, if she said to herself, ONE DAY, I'LL OWN THIS PLACE, which had been written about her countless times, well, she gave him a serious look, and said, what struggling actress would make a stupid comment like that!

[dawsongirl]

I'm peeved at Carson. Apparently he only kept the episodes he hosted. No guest hosts. Well gee Mr. Big Shot, then maybe you shouldn't have left so often!

I really need a punching bag.

So I bet the only Lucy ones available are the ones with Carson as host.

[SPLAIN]

I used to like Carson, but no longer. I used to think he made up those comments on the show, i actually thought he was funny, there was nothing better than to see a show with Burt Reynolds or Don Rickles where they all went nuts. Then i read Here's Johnny and i found out it was all scripted, nothing made up on the spot, it was such a let down, and his characters were rip offs of other comedians' routines like Aunt Blabby being like Johnathan Winters character Maude Frickerd. He had Lucy on his show many times, she LOVED him, and never missed his show. He had her on the last time while she was in her black wig mode after Mame, he had just introduced her as the world's most famous red head and she comes out in a black wig, he even said how it shocked him, and he never had her on again. That could all be my imagination run wild as usual, but it wouldn't surprise me of him, he was cold and aloof and nobody ever got close to him. I only felt for him after that one time, when his son died and he showed some of his photography on the air, i thought that was nice, and now i look upon him as a successful retiree who did a great job all those years. Then i bought his video collection, and found only a picture of Lucy, so he's off the list again!

[SPLAIN]

Somebody just told me they don't like watching compilation tapes as only the best moments are shown from the show. I on the other hand think they are great, the small scenes you see make you want to watch the entire shows they were taken from. You know when they show you these scenes, it's always the same magic moments, i live to see the day they show the second best moments of ILL, that would be worth it to me!

[dawsongirl]

Originally posted by SPLAIN
Somebody just told me they don't like watching compilation tapes as only the best moments are shown from the show.

I don't agree. I don't want to watch filler material like people walking through doors, eating toast, etc.

[SPLAIN]

No, i think what we're talking about here is the Job Switching episode for example also has scenes where the guys try to make a meal and clean the house but that's never shown, it's always only the conveyor belt sequence which is the classic scene, but you yourself have said before that we pros are getting a might tired of seing those same scenes all the time, and would welcome seing SOME different scenes now and then in the specials.

[dawsongirl]

Originally posted by SPLAIN
No, i think what we're talking about here is the Job Switching episode for example also has scenes where the guys try to make a meal and clean the house but that's never shown, it's always only the conveyor belt sequence which is the classic scene, but you yourself have said before that we pros are getting a might tired of seing those same scenes all the time, and would welcome seing SOME different scenes now and then in the specials.

Well in that case yes. That scene in the kitchen is hilarious. But you know what? Lucy wasn't in it, so it must not be from I Love Lucy. :rolleyes: Pardon me, but weren't there four people on that show?

[buddy love]

Dawson Girl is soooo right. Alot of people regard ILL simply for Lucy. Don't get me wrong I think Lucy was great. The best physical comedian around. She quite obviously and deservedly was the star. But she was aided immeasurably by Vivian Vance--who was not a straight woman for Lucy--though she could play straight beautifully--but an excellent comedian in her own right. William Frawley--a great character actor who brought just the right gruffness and lovability to the role of Fred Mertz--and the scenes with Fred and Ethel sometimes are the best parts of some episodes (even if they hated each other in "real life"). And finally, Desi Arnaz. He was also more than a straight man. He was very funny. When I was a kid and used to watch ILL I didn't care for the musical numbers with Desi--but as I got older--I consider some of those numbers highlights of the show. The episode with the Ricardo's in Cuba--I watch that one for Desi and Keith's performance of Babalu. They all complemented each other. Desi was also the great creative force behind the show. Lucy acknowledged as much. He understood how the show should be constructed. Without Desi in subsequent shows, the shows were not quite as good (though Lucy could be--especially in the early years of the Lucy Show)--and after Viv left the Lucy Show--I think it got even worse. They all complemented each other. Desi once said, "Lucy deserves 95% of the credit and divide the other 5% between the rest of us" that was a generous thing to say and in my thinking completely wrong. Each character on ILL is lovingly drawn out and performed superbly. While its true that Ricky, Ethel, and Fred wouldn't be complete without Lucy--it is equally true that Lucy would be incomplete without them.

[SPLAIN]

This is a toughee! I am a Lucille Ball fanatic, it took me years to appreciate that lip biting co star with those darn musical numbers, i too hated them as a kid, but find them enjoyable now. As many people have said, his reactions to her actions made the show funnier. As for Viv, well, she NEVER again found a rold that could measure up, she was Hardy to Lucy's Laurel. I never enjoyed Bill's acting, sometimes his line readings were terrible and his actions clumsy, but i think on the episode The Adagio, he showed his mettle, and ended up being one of the most beloved characters although he had few endearing qualities, but most of us grew up with people like him around us, and now, that type of character is always put in a show for gratuitous laughs. My point being that it took me years to realize the value of these people, because when you're next to Lucy, it takes years to get noticed. Yes, Lucy WAS the show, nobody else could have come close, but she was smart enough to surround herself with this perfect bunch of co stars, and maybe her greatness made them reach for new heights. Desi's overacting at the beginning became so much better later on, Viv matched Lucy in many ways and Bill created a character that's now a staple of all great comedy shows.