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.

Desi Arnaz dies in his daughter's arms 1986

 Here are some more obituary articles about Desi Arnaz. Hard to believe it has been almost 27 years....

News Room Bulletin from 1986: Desi Arnaz Dies

In 1986 I was working as the news director for WMBN in Petoskey, Michigan. In those pre-internet days we got our breaking news off of the teletype machine. I was in shock when this came through and saved it for the archives:

 Of course a day later it was all over the newspapers....

I have several other Desi obits that I hope to post soon.

The day I met Desi Arnaz

An excerpt from my book "The Little Grownup: A Nostalgic Michigan Boyhood" available at bookstores on line everywhere or order here.  The year was about 1976. I was 12 years old. We were living in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

"The 1950s sitcom "I Love Lucy" was my obligatory viewing every weeknight. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz became my idols. Although the reruns were still quite popular, no one had tapped into the huge marketing of Lucy products so pervasive today. That didn't frustrate me!  I produced my own fan articles. Cutting out a picture of the Arnazes, I sent it to a poster company and had my own poster made for my bedroom. I had a sweatshirt produced with the words "Lucy-Desi Power" emblazoned on it. I was a fan.

Channel 50 was my Lucy station and their studios were just up the road a bit from Grandma and Grandpa's house. I thought it would be a great place to work some day. Broadcasting sounded like the future I had picked for myself. Not only did they show "I Love Lucy" on a regular basis, Desi Arnaz had also made a recent appearance there on the "Lou Gordon Show." Gordon had a sometimes controversial talk show interviewing various local and national celebrities and politicians.  I was in heaven when Arnaz came to Detroit to promote his autobiography entitled "A Book." I tried calling into the show when his interview came on, but found out it had been pre-taped.

These were bookmarks promoting the book that day.

My book "The Little Grownup: A nostalgic Michigan boyhood"

 


The good news was that he was going to be at Northland Mall to sign his new book. Of course I pestered Ma to no end and she agreed to take me to the book signing. It was a once in a lifetime meeting for me. Mr. Arnaz had accomplished so much during his lifetime, marrying the beautiful Lucy, starring and producing in their landmark series, and owning the famed Desilu Studios.

The man at the mall was still larger than life but a bit saddening. He hadn't aged well and certainly didn't look like Ricky Ricardo anymore. He still did have the same hat Ricky wore. He had a cigar in one hand and a glass of beer close by as he graciously chatted with the fans and signed their books. I asked him if he would ever return to television in a special with Lucy. He said "I would love to, but it's up to her." He signed my copy of his book "To Hans, Gracious! Desi Arnaz." I also brought along a copy of an "I Love Lucy" biography written by someone else. He hesitated signing it at first, saying it was full of mistakes. He then inscribed it "I forgive the author," and signed his name.

This was the only book on the market about "I Love Lucy" when Desi's book came out.

Desi didn't think much of this book but autographed it anyway. Years later the author Bart Andrews himself autographed it for me and added "I accept"...whatever THAT meant!

My prized autograph (using my legal name!)

Unfortunately we didn't bring a camera along. I'm sure the picture of me with white haired Desi Arnaz would have become a full sized poster, too!"

Added comment: Somewhere I must still have the audio cassette tape I recorded off of the tv with Lou Gordon talking to Desi. As I recall Lou kept grilling Desi about his "girlfriends" and Desi was not amused. 

All Star Party For Lucille Ball 1984

Here are a couple of interesting clips from my collection. First, from the Detroit Free Press December 9, 1984 an article about the "All Star Party for Lucille Ball."  Lucy says she would never do another series (!), she gets nervous being on Johnny Carson, and loves Bill Cosby.....

 I think I got this at a garage sale. It was a 1953 "Yearbook for Radio-TV".  I cut out these two pages and threw away the book. Wish I had the rest of it now....

 I like the "phonograph" in the background!

Lucille Ball Falls In Love With Encyclopaedia!

When I was a kid Lucy was hawking something called Pivot Golf. It was a game that was a piece of junk, but I had to have it. Of course I did if Lucy was advertising it! You can read all about my childhood including my Lucy obsession in my book "The Little Grownup." 

Here are a few ads Lucy was in...This one was was probably from the 80s and features Lucy in a drawing for Detroit's famous J.L.Hudson's Department Store optical department! I wonder if they got her endorsement for these. There was a whole series featuring celebrity drawings.

 Here's a fun one I cut out of a magazine. Did you know Lucy fell in love with an encylopaedia? I wonder if Gary knew at the time....

Lucy's Fans Keep Coming To the Door

Here's an article from the Detroit Free Press, August 21, 1977. I always wondered what would happen if someone went to Lucy's house in Beverly Hills and knocked on the door. This kind of tells you what happened....

 By the time I got to visit Hollywood, Lucy was gone. I don't know if she would have opened the door for me. Oh well, I can hope she would have made an exception....

Don't know where this picture came from, but it offers a rare look at Lucy and Desi as seniors.....

Lucy: The First 25 Years 1976

In 1976 I was 12 years old! That same year I clipped this article out of the newspaper. CBS was going to have a salute to Lucille Ball's 25th anniversary on television. Wow! As you can see from the article (from the Detroit News most likely), there was hope that this might be a Luci (Luci?) and Desi TV reunion on that show. Well, it didn't happen. Desi saluted Lucy in a filmed segment. But hey, at least he was on the special.

I recall the show very well and in those pre-VCR and dvd days I set up my little cassette recorder and captured some of the audio from that tv show which I listened to for years.

 This is one of the first articles in my Lucy scrapbook started all those years ago. My sister Monika provided the first page art work. She was 11 at the time!

There is a man out there who calls himself "Lucy's Biggest Fan." I'm sure the guy is sincere, but after all these years, this blog will be proof of perhaps a rival he or Lucy never knew of!