Lucy and Desi's Lost Christmas Episode

**The Following Great Information is taken from a wonderful website, TVPARTY.COM which has great information about some wonderful old TV shows. Be sure to take the time to check them out.

On Christmas Day, 1959, The Desilu Playhouse (1958-1960) presented a special Christmas broadcast starring the whole I Love Lucy gang, in addition to the Desilu Players and numerous stars of other popular Desilu productions like George Murphy, Spring Byington, Lassie, Danny Thomas, Hugh O'Brien and Ann Sothern. Even Hollywood hag Hedda Hopper made an appearance!

The wrap-around plot had Hollywood gossip queen Hedda Hopper interviewing Lucy and Desi about the Desilu Players and the show they recently staged. This led to flashbacks of Lucy (who was directing the stage show) creating chaos backstage between the musical numbers.

This Desilu Christmas special was produced and (essentially) directed by Lucille Ball herself. This is the only Desilu production I can think of that features the I Love Lucy cast members playing "themselves."

The juxtaposition of the 'real' Lucy with the Lucy character is slightly confusing and, though Vivian Vance is referred to as "Vivian" here, her personality is basically Ethel's with more attitude.

If you ever get the opportunity to watch this hour-long special, look for the scene where William Frawley (as himself?) tries to pick up one of the young girls in the show. How's this for a come-on: "Miss Lovell, do you feel about older men the way I feel about younger women?"

This program is significant because it's one of the last appearances of the four I Love Lucy cast members together, Lucy and Desi filed for divorce just a few months after this special was filmed. They only appeared together in one more Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Show; they never again acted together on any another TV show.

The Desilu Players was a pet project of Lucille Ball's, who hand-picked each of the versatile performers as her protégés (they actually were appearing in a stage revue that she produced in LA around the time of this broadcast). The musical and comedy numbers from the live show were filmed almost exactly as originally staged, but only the musical numbers ended up in the Christmas special's final edit.

One of those musical numbers ('I'm Only Happy When I'm Singin' the Blues') featured some wild art direction and garnered excellent revues for the sterling performances by Carole Cook and Dick Kallman as singing/dancing coffeehouse beatniks.

Carole Cook went on to become a life-long friend of Lucy's, appearing on Broadway and several times on The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy. Dick Kallman starred in the fondly remembered TV series Hank in 1965. He also embarked on a promising Broadway career before being tragically murdered in his New York apartment in 1980.

Also in the Desilu Playhouse cast: Majel Barrett (Nurse Chappell on Star Trek another Desilu show) and Robert Osborne (the Classic Movie Channel host and erstwhile writer for the Hollywood Reporter

I Love Lucy episodes often mirror real life

The Club Election (Episode #47)

Lucy often used inserted events and people from hers and Desi's life into Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's life on I Love Lucy. This particular episode was full of names of real life people who were near and dear to Lucy's heart.

Originally aired on February 16, 1953

You will remember that the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League is having its annual club election and Lucy and Ethel both wind up running for club president. Unfortunately, the vote is split pretty evenly between the club members which means the newest member Ruth Knickerbocker (with the cut glass punchbowl and matching cups) will have the deciding vote.

Guest Cast In This Episode: Doris Singleton (Lillian Appleby whose name is later changed to Carolyn Appleby); Ida Moore (Mrs. Knickerbocker); Margie Liszt (Marion Strong); Hazel Pierce (Grace Munson); Lurene Tuttle (outgoing club president); Peggy Rea (Pauline Lopus)



Interestingly, this was the first episode to feature Doris Singleton as Lucy and Ethel's friend... In this story, she is called Lillian Appleby. In real life, Lillian Appleby was one of Lucy's Jamestown, NY teachers. Marion Strong, Grace Munson, and Pauline Lopus were all good personal friends of Lucy.

Here's a funny clip of Lucy talking about Marion Strong's hat and her "cackling" laugh! This one is from "Lucy Tells The Truth"

Fell Like Shopping?

Feel like shopping? I love collecting Lucy memorobilia and there's no better place to get it than the Lucy-Desi online gift shop run by the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown New York. They sell the same great stuff on-line that you can get if you visit but you get to pre-order new and up-coming items that are just in the planning stages. I'm gonna show you a few here. I have a hunch they're gonna be really popular and if they come out in time for Christmas, look out. Pre-order what you like now so you are sure to get them in time. Here's the link. Go to lucy-desi.com to check all the goodies out for yourself!

I Love Lucy Disposable Camera

Have your picture taken with Lucy anytime and anywhere! This clever camera contains 12 different "I Love Lucy" scenes that will surround you in smiles!

Price: $14.95


"Peppy People" Travel Mug

You will definitely be a "peppy person" when taking this sturdy ceramic Lucy travel mug full of coffee! Stands 6.5" high.

Price: $12.95


I Love Lucy Fabric (there are a lot of different fabrics, so check out the link!)

These fantastic fabrics will allow any Lucy-Desi fan's imagination to run wild! Create pants to curtains, aprons to quilts using these long awaited fabrics.

(You'll even find a quilting kit which includes all necessary fabric and instructions!)
PLEASE INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF YARDS IN THE QUANTITY AREA. PRICE INDICATED IS PER YARD.

Price: $9.95 per yard

Well, there's a few ideas to 'whet your whistle'. I've already pre-ordered the camera. I can't wait for it to come in! If you order anything, let us all know!

Lucy's Wardrobe

I know we've mentioned it before, especially when talking about our Paper Doll give-a-way. Most Lucy lovers agree, we loved Lucy's I Love Lucy wardrobe from her cocktail dress right down her house dresses and even her weird "I'm gonna get Ricky back for that!" outfits! We owe the majority of those lovely creations to Eloise Jenssen who was Lucy's dress designer, on and off the set, for many years.

Eloise died on Valentines day in 2004. This is an excerpt of the 2004 "Still In Love With Lucy newsletter that was written by Thomas Watson for the Lucy - Desi Museum contributors and members. Thomas had run a previous article about Eloise. These are the readers comments. I thought you might enjoy reading them. I did.

"Many thanks for the nice e-notes regarding fashion/costume designer Elois Jenssen, who passed away February 14. One fan wrote: "I always loved the outfits that Miss Jenssen did for Lucy... Even her everyday clothes were suddenly smart and spiffy. Many of the outfits Lucy wore in the real early episodes were a little on the dowdy side..."

Another said: "Elois did not just dress Lucy... She seemed to participate in the creative process, because in some instances, her outfits WERE the joke. I am thinking particularly of the Charm School get-ups that Lucy and Ethel wore. Whatta riot!"

Author Allan Glaser agrees... "There are many times that Elois' contributions 'made the moment.' I am thinking particularly of the breakaway outfits Lucy and Ethel wore for the 'Friendship' number, the Marilyn Monroe outfit, and the heavy showgirl headdress Lucy tried to wear in Hollywood. The outfits made the comedy moments believable."

If you want to have some fun and go through some old newsletters, you can get to them through this link. Go to lucyfan.com to find some interesting information. If you like what you read and find anything you'd like to share, leave a comment on this post for everyone else to read.

I'll have more information on Eloise in a later post.

WE HAVE OUR WINNER!!!

Congratulations to Lynn! She's the winner of the beautiful I Love Lucy paper dolls give-a-way! Thanks to everyone else who entered. We still have our other contest going on right now for the second season of I Love Lucy on DVD so be sure to enter!

Early Desi information

Young Desi Arnaz first started his 'rhumba band' when he came to America at a very young age. He became very attracted to the musical rhythms of his own nationality and decided he wanted to work in the nightclub business. Even though it eventually became a long running joke, Desi began a partial partnership with fellow bandleader Xavier Cugat and Cugat promised Desi that he would send him a few band members.

Instead of experienced Spanish musicians, Cugat sent band members alright,but each man came from a completely different background. Not one of them even knew any Latin songs, so Desi had to start from scratch and teach them. The men didn't get along very well at first, however, with some hard work their personalities melded and Desi would soon developed his own actual rhumba band.

NEW FALL CONTEST!!! I Love Lucy - The Complete Second Season from 1951

To wish my wonderful "Lucy" readers a Happy Fall season, I've decided to have another contest! Yes, that's right! This time, we'll be giving away the boxed set of I Love Lucy - The Complete Second Season (1951 on DVD.

All you have to do to enter is follow these two simple steps:

1. either subscribe to this blog OR become a follower of it. Either way, you'll receive automatic notifications of updates.

2. Leave a comment on this post telling us which one of the "supporting" cast of characters on the show was your favorite. For example; Mrs. Trumble, Freddie Filmore, Ernie Ford, Teensie or Weensie, Marion Strong, Caroline Appleby...or any of the many others.

That's it! That's all there is to it! The contest will run through Midnight of Friday November 27, 2009. After all of that Christmas shopping, some lucky reader will be getting a nice gift for themselves! The winner will be chosen at random. There will be only ONE winner and the contest is only for those in the Unites States.

So, tell your friends and REMEMBER....there's still time to enter our PAPER DOLLS contest. That one runs until Halloween so happy entering!