See our review for Lucy Calls the President by Skees53:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2010/03/digital-digest-lucy-calls-president-dvd.html

See our review for Lucy Calls the President by Skees53:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2010/03/digital-digest-lucy-calls-president-dvd.html

Excellent, excellent review! I have this preordered and can't wait to see it, though I'm holding off until the week after it arrives because that is my birthday and I want to watch it then. Great to hear the quality is excellent, no more of the old, faded, generational-loss dubs of this special.

One question that I have is about the comment about the show being on tape. I believe Lucy's final series, Life With Lucy, was also shot on videotape or was it filmed? Just curious for my own knowledge.

I agree with Skees53, "Lucy Calls The President" is probably the best of Lucy's post-series specials. Though "Happy Anniversary and Goodbye" is also very enjoyable. These two, along with her 1964 "Mr. and Mrs." special are some of my favorite non-series work that Lucille Ball ever did.

Here's wishin' April 6 would hurry up and get here!!!

You may be correct about Life With Lucy... I've only seen the show once and it has been over 10 years. James Brodhead mentioned in his interview that it was the only Lucy project done on tape, although it is possible that he could be wrong about that. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like "Mr. and Mrs." is going to be included in the releases from MPI (as they appear to be doing just the 70s ones produced by Lucille Ball Productions), but maybe it'll be part of a future release of The Lucy Show. But that is pure conjecture, I don't know for certain.

Excellent, excellent review! I have this preordered and can't wait to see it, though I'm holding off until the week after it arrives because that is my birthday and I want to watch it then. Great to hear the quality is excellent, no more of the old, faded, generational-loss dubs of this special.

One question that I have is about the comment about the show being on tape. I believe Lucy's final series, Life With Lucy, was also shot on videotape or was it filmed? Just curious for my own knowledge.

I agree with Skees53, "Lucy Calls The President" is probably the best of Lucy's post-series specials. Though "Happy Anniversary and Goodbye" is also very enjoyable. These two, along with her 1964 "Mr. and Mrs." special are some of my favorite non-series work that Lucille Ball ever did.

Here's wishin' April 6 would hurry up and get here!!!

You may be correct about Life With Lucy... I've only seen the show once and it has been over 10 years. James Brodhead mentioned in his interview that it was the only Lucy project done on tape, although it is possible that he could be wrong about that. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like "Mr. and Mrs." is going to be included in the releases from MPI (as they appear to be doing just the 70s ones produced by Lucille Ball Productions), but maybe it'll be part of a future release of The Lucy Show. But that is pure conjecture, I don't know for certain. life with lucy was shot on film

Thanks, I thought it was but I wasn't totally sure.

Thank you as well. I wasn't sure if LWL was taped or filmed, and I was too lazy to dig out the DVDs and take a look at the credits!!!

Thanks, I thought it was but I wasn't totally sure.your welcome

Thanks, I thought it was but I wasn't totally sure.your welcome

Thank you as well. I wasn't sure if LWL was taped or filmed, and I was too lazy to dig out the DVDs and take a look at the credits!!!your welcome as well

I agree that Lucy Calls the President is the best of her TV specials. I find it very great how the cast works together and all get great moments to shine. I hope Mr. and Mrs. (The VCR ate my copy which also had Happy Anniversary and Goodbye.), Lucy in London and Lucy Comes to Nashville will be released because they are not by MPI. I love country music and never saw Lucy in Nashville (Wasn't it produced by Lucille Ball Productions? Probably too many royalities drive up cost on this release but its cross appeal should sell it. I don't think this was a planned CBS special because Lucy Calls the President was supposed to be the last. Why did CBS get sick of Lucy and let her leave to NBC and later ABC. What a dumb mistake, though Stone Pillow aired on CBS.) I have Lucy in London. I like most of ti but the dumb wax museum and especially dumb Shakespeare scenes. I found Mr. and Mrs. good but choppy and I love Happy Anniversary and Goodbye. (This was so modern and I love how Lucy mixed comedy with drama though the critics (Who after the Lucy Show I don't think generally gave her raves.) didn't.) I went on Google newspaper and got from their the ratings for some of Lucy's specials and Lucy Calls the President was #12. (Three for Two was #8, Catherine Curits #16, CBS Salutes Lucy #2, Stone Pillow #9, the rest ?) So, us, her fans and the public, still loved Lucy in 1977, which was in the middle of a 1950s nostaglia craze.

I agree that Lucy Calls the President is the best of her TV specials. I find it very great how the cast works together and all get great moments to shine. I hope Mr. and Mrs. (The VCR ate my copy which also had Happy Anniversary and Goodbye.), Lucy in London and Lucy Comes to Nashville will be released because they are not by MPI. I love country music and never saw Lucy in Nashville (Wasn't it produced by Lucille Ball Productions? Probably too many royalities drive up cost on this release but its cross appeal should sell it. I don't think this was a planned CBS special because Lucy Calls the President was supposed to be the last. Why did CBS get sick of Lucy and let her leave to NBC and later ABC. What a dumb mistake, though Stone Pillow aired on CBS.) I have Lucy in London. I like most of ti but the dumb wax museum and especially dumb Shakespeare scenes. I found Mr. and Mrs. good but choppy and I love Happy Anniversary and Goodbye. (This was so modern and I love how Lucy mixed comedy with drama though the critics (Who after the Lucy Show I don't think generally gave her raves.) didn't.) I went on Google newspaper and got from their the ratings for some of Lucy's specials and Lucy Calls the President was #12. (Three for Two was #8, Catherine Curits #16, CBS Salutes Lucy #2, Stone Pillow #9, the rest ?) So, us, her fans and the public, still loved Lucy in 1977, which was in the middle of a 1950s nostaglia craze.

Thanks for looking up the ratings for all those specials. I remember Stone Pillow being #9, but I never knew where any of those specials placed. As for the Lucy in London, the wax museum and Shakespeare scenes were my two favorites in that special. :confused:

I found the following two ratings
Lucy in London = #1
Lucy Moves to NBC = #52 (out of 68 programs. It was against #2 The Dukes of Hazzards.)

Don't you think Lucy in London will be an "extra" on Season 5 of The Lucy Show? It would make sense since there is an episode of TLS, Lucy Flies to London, which was the lead in to the LIL special, and considering that the Lucille Ball Comedy Hour special was included on the Season 2 release.

I found the following two ratings
Lucy in London = #1
Lucy Moves to NBC = #52 (out of 68 programs. It was against #2 The Dukes of Hazzards.)

Which broadcast of Lucy Moves to NBC did you look up? NBC actually aired that special three times (!!!) that season. If I remember correctly the first airing was in February 1980. Then it aired again later in the spring or summer of 1980. Then it aired a third time in October 1980. I don't think NBC would have aired it three times if it did that poorly during the initial broadcast.

Which broadcast of Lucy Moves to NBC did you look up? NBC actually aired that special three times (!!!) that season. If I remember correctly the first airing was in February 1980. Then it aired again later in the spring or summer of 1980. Then it aired a third time in October 1980. I don't think NBC would have aired it three times if it did that poorly during the initial broadcast.

Oh wow, I just found it. That WAS the first broadcast that wound up in 52nd place!

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Qf4yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZYMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7235,4499782&dq=nielsen+ratings&hl=en

I wonder why NBC ran this special two more times after that weak showing the first time around?

Here's what I found summarized:
Lucy in London = #1 (tied with three others)
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye = #4
Lucy Gets Lucky = Not in Top 20
Three for Two = #8
What Now Catherine Curtis = #16
CBS Salutes Lucy = #2
Lucy Calls the President = #12
Lucy Comes to Nashville = Not in Top 20
Lucy Moves to NBC = #52 (her lowest)
All Star Party for Lucille Ball = #8
Stone Pillow = #9

When is Happy Anniversary and Goodbye, What Now, Catherine Curtis, and Lucy Moves to NBC going to be out by MPI? DO you think Lucy comes to Nashville will ever be released?

I saw a 1980 newspaper article about Lucy's move to NBC that referred to her last CBS special as a disaster. I'm assuming they were referring to Lucy Comes to Nashville. I remember being unaware of that special until sometime after it aired, and I subscribed to TV Guide and always looked for Lucy-related stuff. So I don't know how I missed it. I'm assuming they did a poor job publicizing it.

As for Lucy Moves to NBC, it's not hugely surprising it didn't do well, though 52nd place is really low. But NBC was really, really struggling back in those days. During the 1970-80 season, NBC only had four shows in the top 30. And their top show (Real People) was only in 15th place. Most NBC programs at that time were in the lower rankings. They were looking to Lucille Ball and Mel Brooks to save the network, but ultimately it was Bill Cosby several years later who pulled that off.

Here's what I found summarized:
Lucy in London = #1 (tied with three others)
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye = #4
Lucy Gets Lucky = Not in Top 20
Three for Two = #8
What Now Catherine Curtis = #16
CBS Salutes Lucy = #2
Lucy Calls the President = #12
Lucy Comes to Nashville = Not in Top 20
Lucy Moves to NBC = #52 (her lowest)
All Star Party for Lucille Ball = #8
Stone Pillow = #9

When is Happy Anniversary and Goodbye, What Now, Catherine Curtis, and Lucy Moves to NBC going to be out by MPI? DO you think Lucy comes to Nashville will ever be released?

The second airing of Lucy Moves to NBC aired October 28, 1980 and was #20 (tied)! That's more like it. I cannot find oon Google News Archive the other airing, when was it? Did any other of Lucy's 70s specials get reran?

NEW TV SHOWS FALL SHORT IN NIELSENS
Pay-Per-View - Los Angeles Times - ProQuest Archiver - Nov 5, 1980

... blazing start in the ratings the A.C. Nielsen Co reported TuesdayLadies Man ... and MarriageEight Is EnoughFantasy IslandMASHReal PeopleThe World's Most Spectacu lar StuntmanThe Body Human Sexes IIFather Damien The Leper Priest the Lucille Ball special andThat's Incredible.

2 Sexually Oriented Films Propel CBS to Top Rating; TV RATINGS
$3.95 - New York Times - Nov 5, 1980
CBS defeated ABC by 1.5 ratings points, and NBC by 3 points. ... aec 13 21.1 Fantasy Island aec 14 21.1 MA'SH ces 15 20.8 Real People (P] [R]epeat [S]pedal.

The second airing of Lucy Moves to NBC aired October 28, 1980 and was #20 (tied)! That's more like it. I cannot find oon Google News Archive the other airing, when was it? Did any other of Lucy's 70s specials get reran?

NEW TV SHOWS FALL SHORT IN NIELSENS
Pay-Per-View - Los Angeles Times - ProQuest Archiver - Nov 5, 1980

... blazing start in the ratings the A.C. Nielsen Co reported TuesdayLadies Man ... and MarriageEight Is EnoughFantasy IslandMASHReal PeopleThe World's Most Spectacu lar StuntmanThe Body Human Sexes IIFather Damien The Leper Priest the Lucille Ball special andThat's Incredible.

2 Sexually Oriented Films Propel CBS to Top Rating; TV RATINGS
$3.95 - New York Times - Nov 5, 1980
CBS defeated ABC by 1.5 ratings points, and NBC by 3 points. ... aec 13 21.1 Fantasy Island aec 14 21.1 MA'SH ces 15 20.8 Real People (P] [R]epeat [S]pedal.

Oh wow, thanks for digging up that information. That's very interesting that the rerun of this special did so much better in the ratings than the original broadcast! I have a couple theories on why it did so poorly the first time around, then did so well on the second airing. I'm assuming that the original February 1980 broadcast was not promoted enough. As I mentioned before, NBC was doing horribly in the ratings at that time, with only four shows in the Top 30 during the '79-'80 season. So for most of the timeslots where NBC might have been running promos, nobody would have seen the promos in the first place because they weren't tuned into NBC to be able to see the promos! And Lucy Moves to NBC aired on a Friday night, which was dominated by CBS back then with The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes of Hazard and Dallas, and Fantasy Island on ABC. In fact, with a Family Circus cartoon special as the lead in, Lucy Moves to NBC didn't come on until 8:30, a half hour after The Incredible Hulk (on CBS) and Fantasy Island (on ABC) began. So unless they were really lousy episodes of The Incredible Hulk and Fantasy Island, most people watching it wouldn't change channels in the middle.

When it was rebroadcast in October of that year, there was a writers strike going on that affected almost all of television. Every TV show that had writers (in other words, practically everything but news and sports) was out of production for several months as this strike went on. There wasn't much of anything on the air in primetime that was fresh. So a Lucy special that nobody had seen the previous February would have been about the freshest option to watch when it was rebroadcast in October.

Bad' rocks into Nielsen top 10
[FINAL Edition]

USA TODAY (pre-1997 Fulltext) - McLean, Va.
Author: Karen Ridgeway
Date: Sep 11, 1987
Start Page: 03.D
Section: LIFE
Text Word Count: 388

Abstract (Document Summary)
ABC's Making of a Male Model was the lowest of the three Sunday movie offerings at No. 49. But its competition didn't score high, either: NBC's Dirty Dozen: The Last Mission, starring the late Lee Marvin, was No. 40; CBS' Stone Pillow, with Lucille Ball as a New York bag lady, was No. 38.

Looks like Saturday nights are horrible for ratings. No wonder Life With Lucy had no chance. I thought it was interesting the Stone Pillow movie was rerun and won its slot.

Bad' rocks into Nielsen top 10
[FINAL Edition]

USA TODAY (pre-1997 Fulltext) - McLean, Va.
Author: Karen Ridgeway
Date: Sep 11, 1987
Start Page: 03.D
Section: LIFE
Text Word Count: 388

Abstract (Document Summary)
ABC's Making of a Male Model was the lowest of the three Sunday movie offerings at No. 49. But its competition didn't score high, either: NBC's Dirty Dozen: The Last Mission, starring the late Lee Marvin, was No. 40; CBS' Stone Pillow, with Lucille Ball as a New York bag lady, was No. 38.

Looks like Saturday nights are horrible for ratings. No wonder Life With Lucy had no chance. I thought it was interesting the Stone Pillow movie was rerun and won its slot.

Actually, all three of those movies were reruns. I wonder what was going on that night that all three networks would put on movie reruns?

Bad' rocks into Nielsen top 10
[FINAL Edition]

USA TODAY (pre-1997 Fulltext) - McLean, Va.
Author: Karen Ridgeway
Date: Sep 11, 1987
Start Page: 03.D
Section: LIFE
Text Word Count: 388

Abstract (Document Summary)
ABC's Making of a Male Model was the lowest of the three Sunday movie offerings at No. 49. But its competition didn't score high, either: NBC's Dirty Dozen: The Last Mission, starring the late Lee Marvin, was No. 40; CBS' Stone Pillow, with Lucille Ball as a New York bag lady, was No. 38.

Looks like Saturday nights are horrible for ratings. No wonder Life With Lucy had no chance. I thought it was interesting the Stone Pillow movie was rerun and won its slot.

I wouldn't say in the 1980s that Saturdays were horrible for ratings. The Golden Girls aired on Saturdays and did fairly well for NBC on Saturday nights, back in the day when TV on Saturday night was worth watching.

I wouldn't say in the 1980s that Saturdays were horrible for ratings. The Golden Girls aired on Saturdays and did fairly well for NBC on Saturday nights, back in the day when TV on Saturday night was worth watching.
Yeah, that was before cable TV had scripted television, plus before dvds, the internet etc. etc. And the '70's has the memorable classic Saturday night Line-up of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol Burnett! Times just have changed.

Yeah, that was before cable TV had scripted television, plus before dvds, the internet etc. etc. And the '70's has the memorable classic Saturday night Line-up of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and Carol Burnett! Times just have changed.

To this day my parents still talk about Saturday nights in the 1970s when CBS had its line-up of:
1) All In The Family
2) M*A*S*H
3) Mary Tyler Moore
4) Bob Newhart
5) Carol Burnett

Yes, times have changed .... a lot!!!

Lucy got #1 again but nowadays with so much shows with what a lower rating of 1.4

TV Ratings: CBS' 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special Leads Friday

CBS special colorized broadcast of the I Love Lucy Christmas special kicked off the evening with the top showing among adults 18-49. The one-hour episode of the classic comedy averaged a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. Hawaii Five-0 (1.2 adults) held the previous week's score, and Blue Bloods (1.1 adults) dropped a tenth. CBS topped the night with total viewers (9.4 million) and shared a demo victory with ABC (1.2 adults)

was not a Lucille Ball Special. It was not produced by Lucille Ball Productions. CBS just stuck her name to it hoping to get viewers. It aired opposite ABC's War & Remembrance which got huge ratings. However, since it was not a Lucy special, it didn't do too badly. It received a 20.2 rating and 28% share of audience.

Sunday December 7, 2014
CBS' "I Love Lucy" special averaged 9.36 million viewers for second and a 1.4 key demo rating in fourth.

Wednesday December 24, 2014
On CBS, I Love Lucy Christmas Special scored a 0..7 adults 18-49 rating, even with last year's Christmas day telecast.
This was second for the night with 3.58 million viewers