Desi Arnaz 1977 Detroit Book Tour TV interview audio

Back in 1977 Desi Arnaz visited Detroit to promote his biography "A Book."  I was 13 at the time.  I wrote about this in a previous blog.

He did a morning tv show interview and my mom recorded it for me on my little cassette recorder (aren't mom's great?).

He did an evening talk show "The Lou Gordon Show" on WKBD Channel 50 which I recorded. Lou got him a little upset as he probed into Desi's sex affairs while married to Lucy....or was it before he was married?  I was hoping for a call in show but the program was pre-recorded.

Anyhow, I recently unearthed the audio cassette containing these two interviews and here is the link to it so you can hear both of these shows:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g2e4gtu83pplaxs/desi%20interview%20final%20edited.mp3?dl=0

Just remember, this is audio recorded off of TV....long before VCRs and DVRs were handy. It is also pretty crackly, so don't expect stereophonic or even hi-fi sound...but you will get to hear Desi at the age of 60 talk about his life and career. Pretty fascinating stuff.

At the end there is a Kaiser Broadcasting Company jingle, Channel 50 ID, and even a "coming up next on I Love Lucy" voiceover credit from the show prior to Lucy.

Lucy's NBC and ABC comeback attempts

 This stuff seems like "recent Lucy" to me, but as I see how old these clippings are, I realize some younger fans may not have been alive then!

 Lucy always said she loved her work but the public didn't seem to have a slot for her to fill in her old age. I guess "I Love Lucy" just left too much of an impression.

Lucy's 1980 appearance on NBC was quite unusual and got some press at the time. She was trying to be a tv producer but her idea for a sitcom with Donald O'Connor just didn't work. It's available on DVD if you want to see it.

 In another attempt to come back to TV, it was all mostly rosy press for "Life With Lucy" on ABC in 1986...

The ratings started off pretty good but quickly went south and "Life with Lucy" was axed.  More on the public reaction to all of that in a a future blog.
 

Lucy's Roxbury House

I have so many Lucy clippings in my files that it's hard to choose just what to present here.

I was always fascinated with Lucy's Roxbury house so let's start with an article about that from the archives:

 

Remember when the "lost" Lucy pilot was on TV? Unlike a lot of "lost" items, this one really was lost as you can see in this 1987 ad from "Broadcasting" magazine:

 

Lucy popped up in ads in the strangest places. Here's yet another one from 1992:

 

 

And finally this time around we showcase one of the apparent "Lucy fans will buy anything". This time a $247.50 (plus postage and handling of course) for Lucy phone cards! I wonder how many of those they sold?

 

 

Bag Lady Lucille Ball: Stone Pillow

It seems like singers want to act, actors want to be singers, and comedians want to do dramatic parts. Lucy was no different. In 1985 she starred in a TV movie called "Stone Pillow" which was panned by the critics. Lucy looked terrible but of course that was the part she was playing. At the end of the show she came on in a clip as "herself", probably to reassure the audience that she didn't really look that old and disheveled. I haven't seen the movie since 1985 and really don't care to see it again....but apparently it has its fans and is available on Youtube. Click here to watch it.

Today we look back at some of the publicity for "Stone Pillow."

 

Later Years of Lucy and Desi in the newspapers

After Lucy retired and Desi had long since exited show biz, there wasn't much to read about them in the papers...unless it involved their kids. Here are a couple of tidbits I found in the archives:

This one is regarding Lucie's wedding:

This one is regarding Desi Jr.'s wedding (sorry I didn't save their pics in the article, only Lucy and Desi. It looks like that is the only pic of Desi Senior that the paper had as it turns up in multiple stories!

 

I remember several National Enquirer stories about Lucy. Even though she was out of the public eye she still was able to sell scandal sheets. What did Lucy and Desi think about it? Liz Smith dishes the dirt:

 

And finally let's recall the first time I Love Lucy came out on video. We paid $29.95 plus postage and handling and tax for three episodes! That's over ten bucks an episode. I guess those who are complaining about the various dvd incarnations need to have a reality check. I certainly couldn't afford all of the VHS tapes at the time... or was I still using beta?!

 

 

Lucy's Christmas Wish/We Love Lucy Specials 1987

Since Christmas is almost here, 

here's a message from Lucy about this special day:

 And while we're here, let's take a look back to 1987 when Viacom brought the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour back to their advertising forefront. This is what they presented to the TV stations in an ad from Broadcasting Magazine:

When the We Love Lucy specials aired, it was big news back in 1987:

Will They Love Lucy in the 80s?

In the 1980s Lucy came back with a failed sitcom called "Life With Lucy." It was all upbeat before it aired, as you can read about in this article from July 6, 1986.

 I had forgotten that Desi was talking to CBS in the early 80s about an "I Love Lucy" special. Read what he said about that in this Bettelou Peterson article from the Detroit Free Press.