Lucy-Desi Weekend in Jamestown May 22

Wow! Word is really getting around! I was just getting around to booking my family's reservations in Jamestown,NY for the annual Lucy-Desi weekend. It is an amazing event that fills the whole town with the most amazing Lucy fans you'll ever meet! There are scavenger hunts, contests, prizes, seminars, slide shows, films, presentations, auctions, and so much more brought to you by fans, colleagues, people that worked on the I Love Lucy Show, Some of Lucy's relatives and other well-known celebrities. This year, the celebration is May 22 - 24. Most the the hotels in downtown Jamestown are already booked up so you might find yourself staying 10-20 miles out of town but it's worth it. If you are anywhere within driving distance, this festival is well worth the trip! Rest assured, I will be reporting back with everything that happened. Also, keep in mind, there's also a huge celebration in town for Lucy's birthday in August and hotels are mostly booked up for then too so start thinking about that now and make your arrangements now!

LUCY SIGHTINGS!

Just to keep you updated...some recent sightings. The new TV commercial celebrating Macy's 150 years in business has some clips of I LOVE LUCY shows, Target online stores is now selling an adorable line of Lucy purses and bags and Walmart is selling a very funny card that when opened up plays the infamous "friendship" song made famous by Ethel and Lucy in the twin dresses! There are also plenty of Lucy Halloween costimes and wigs to be seen. If you've seen any great Lucy sightings....keep us posted here!

Here's an example of one of the bags being sold at Target.com

I understand there is also an I Love Lucy board game

being sold there as well.

PLAQUE PRESENTED BY DESI ARNAZ FINDS ITS WAY TO LUCY-DESI CENTER

Here is a great article sent to me from the Lucy-Desi center (I'm on their mailing list, and you can be to). This place is a MUST for any lucy fan. PLEASE try to schedule a visit there soon if you haven't been yet and let me know what you think of this article!

Jamestown, NY - Jamestown, New York, area resident Patrick Malley surprised the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center when he donated a one-of-a-kind plaque that was presented to his father in 1947 by DesiArnaz. After having the award at his home for years, the Falconer, New York,resident decided to retire it to the archives at the Lucy-Desi Center.

The exciting news is that the opening of the new Lucy-Desi Museum in downtown Jamestown, Lucille Ball's hometown, has provided the opportunity to allow this terrific artifact to be seen by the public. Patrick's father, Thomas Malley, was a successful jockey who won theBelmont Stakes riding Faireno in 1932. Desi Arnaz was an avid horseracing fan; at one time he raised horses on his California ranch. The plaque reads "Presented by Desi Arnaz to Thomas Malley, Winning Jockey on Lighthouse, Tavistock Purse 8-26-47."

In sharing the news of the gift, the Lucy-Desi Center's Ric Wyman noted, "Being able to share this artifact with our visitors is a greatway to show Desi's love for horses and horse racing. We are grateful to Patrick for his generous donation."

For more information about the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, call or visit the Lucy-Desi Center Gift Shop, 300 North Main Street,Jamestown, NY 14701, (716) 484-0800 (toll-free: 1-877-LUCY-FAN) orvisit online at www.lucy-desi.com. The Lucy-Desi Museum at 10 W. ThirdStreet, the Desilu Playhouse at 2 W. Third Street, and the Gift Shopare open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. onSundays.

Oh, Those Mertzes!

OK, This is interesting! I can't even begin to imagine anyone else playing Fred and Ethel Mertz but they weren't even close to Lucy and Desi's first choice for the roles. The whole I Love Lucy concept was based off of the radio show, My Favorite Husband, that Lucy had done for CBS radio fro 1948 thru 1951 (**FACTOID: Jess Oppenheimer, Bob Carroll and Madelyn Pugh all worked on the hit radio show with Lucy and then went on to I Love Lucy with her**)

Gale Gordon (Mr. Mooney from Here's Lucy) and Bea Benaderet (Kate from Petticoat Junction) were the two actors who Lucy wanted to plat Fred and Ethel but they were both contractually obligated to other shows, Gordon to Our Miss Brooks - another Desi-lu production and Benaderet to the Burns and Allen Show.

We can thank Desi for finding our Ethel for us. On the advise of director Marc Daniels, Desi went to see Vivian Vance in a play she was appearing in (The Voice of the Turtle) and hired her without even checking it with Lucy but the two became fast friends and soon realized they had a natural chemistry and their work together was an amazing pairing.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the pairing of Viv and Bill Frawley. Bill actually asked for the role of Fred. He had a great resume, was a talented actor but their were rumors about some problems with alcohol that Desi didn't want clouding his show. Desi had a talk with Bill and told him he never wanted to see any alcohol on the set, Bill said that would never be a problem and he was hired. Bill was true to his word and turned out performances that to this day are unforgettable.

Bill got along great with Lucy and Desi but relations with Vivian were strained ever since he overheard her making a comment to Lucy about playing the part of a women being married to man old enough to be her father. The tension between them never eased from that point on and in fact, only worsened. It got so bad, Viv even refused to do a spin-off series about the Mertzes when I Love Lucy ended because the thought of working with Bill without Lucy and Desi as a buffer was too stressful for her to think about.

But, there you have the most unforgettable foursome in television history. Any comments, suggestions, memories are always welcome.

Quotes from Lucy...

Our Lucy was one smart girl....Every now and then I thought I'd throw in one of her more interesting comments....they are sharp, witty and oh, so true! Let me know what you think. I love this one!

"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead."
Lucille Ball

Some Ricardo Trivia

Address: The Mertzes converted brownstone at 623 East 68th street, wasn't even a real address, but plots out somewhere in New York's East River. As a native New Yorker, I can tell you that 68th street stops at just about 600.

Little Ricky: Little Ricky Ricardo was born January 19,1953 - the same time as Lucy and Desi's real baby, Desi Jr came into the world. More people watched this episode than watched President Eisenhower be inaugurated the very next day. Approximately 45 million viewers to be exact!

Club Memberships: Lucy and Ethel were faithful members of the "Wednesday afternoon Fine Arts League (which, by the way, never really met on Wednesdays!) and even shared the presidency at one time. They also tried to become members of the Society Matron's League but turned that chance down when Lucy decided the ladies were being rude about "show people" while they were being looked over. Oh well, the Ricardos and the Mertzes all got to chow down on some great home-made bread and butter after they left!

Apartment: Ricky and Lucy originally lived in apartment 4A (and Mrs Trumble lived above them because she was banging on the ceiling wanting the baby to stop crying) so the Mertzes building must have had 5 floors. Wow! No wonder Fred was always so worried about heating that place! Then after the baby was born they moved across the hall from the Mertzes to apartment 3D.

Some Background Stuff...

What do you think must have been the saddest day in television history? I wasn't even born yet, but for me and other Lucy fans like me one of the saddest days had to be May 6th 1957. That was the day that the last "I LOVE LUCY" episode aired.
"I LOVE LUCY" only ran for six short seasons, from 1951 thru 1957. That's relatively short for today when shoes like Seinfeld, Cops, Americas Most Wanted and The Simpsons can go on for decades!
Our favorite show was created by Jess Oppenheimer, Bob Carrol jr and Madelyn Pugh who were also the show's writers that brought our favorite strories about the Ricardos and the Mertzes to life for us.

LUCY RICARDO born LUCILLE ESMERALDA McGILLICUDDY

Lucille was born in upstate NY and married a Cuban band-leader who was just starting to make a name for himself in show biz.

RICKY RICARDO born RICARDO FERNANDO ALBERTO RICARDO Y DE ACHA III

Ricky worked had at his show business career and was a good provider. He loved his quirky wife and wanted to make her happy.

FRED & ETHEL MERTZ born FREDERICK HOBART MERTZ

Fred was possibly born in Indiana because Ethel mentions her mother-in-law visiting from Indianapolis once per year. We knew he served in France during World War I and worked in Vaudeville with partner Barney Kurtz and also with Ethel before settling down and buying the brown stone on 68th street in Manhattan.

ETHEL LOUISE ROBERTA MAE POTTER was from Albuquerque where her father ran the candy store in town. When she left after high-school she somehow ran into Fred Mertz and joined his vaudeville act and with their marriage became the co-owner of the converted brownstone apartment building which led to her exciting life of friendship with Lucy.

There you have it, the recipe for success. 4 of the most wonderful characters of American television. In future articles, we'll delve into each character a little deeper and learn more about the people that played those great parts. Please feel free to give your input here. This site is to remember Lucy, Desi and the others because they're special to all of us......let's reminisce.

Welcome to All "I LOVE LUCY" fans!

I am so excited to be starting this new blog! I have been a fan of Lucy and this show since I was about 4 years old. By then it was already in re-runs for about ten years but it was still the mid-sixties and we only got those re-runs once a week! We weren't lucky enough to have TV-LAND or nick-at-nite!

Nearly everyday there is something that happens in my life that I can relate to an episode of "I Love Lucy". Most people would call me crazy, I call that a skill! Call it what you will but I have managed to pass on a love of this show to future generations. All of my children (4 of them ranging in age from 14 to 25) are fans and wonder of wonders, one of my sons married a girl who rivals even me in Lucy trivia. Now with two grandchildren, I've got a whole new generation to convert. This blog will help me do that. It will give me a place to get all the information down in a fun way to share with other Lucy fans.

We can talk about trips to Jamestown and the Lucy/Desi Museum, our Lucy collections, our favorite episodes and whatever else you want. I would love to have input from all of you. I would love to hear from you about your own personal trips and experiences. Its the nostalgic feeling this show brings to us all that makes it so wonderful. Let's share!