http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/12/-i-love-lucy-in-color-was-most-watched-holiday-program-98542.html

I'm not surprised. The show is a classic and broke ground on more than one level. And nobody, and I mean N-O-B-O-D-Y can equal Lucy when it comes to physical comedy (and she's no slouch at other forms of comedy either!). I have ALL of the I.L.L. eps and watched this Xmas ep off a DVD set last year.

Even though I know many like watching vintage shows in color, I prefer them in B&W; they feel more authentic to me that way. IMO, I.L.L. is the greatest show in TV history. I could watch an ep many times and still enjoy it. The brilliance shown in "Lucy Does A Commercial" always makes me gaffaw. And the tenderness and charm of "Lucy Is Enciente" is hard to beat. And these are just two examples of MANY. For me, there is no such thing as too much lucy.

Like I said in a few other threads, I really hope CBS makes this special a Christmas tradition. Every year they should air the Christmas show along with a new colorized episode. I prefer the B&W episodes because they seem more "real" and more "classic" but to be able to see a few episodes in color (yearly) is a special treat. I know I still love Lucy, as do many more!!

I watched the special and bought the DVD. I think the color enhances the episode because, to me, Santa isn't Santa without the traditional red-and-white costume. I prefer the colorized version of "Miracle on 34th Street" for the same reason. :)

The very last line of Desi Arnaz' autobiography, A Book, sums up the feeling a lot of us ILL fans still feel:

"'I Love Lucy' was never just a title."

And the fact that two television shows that first aired during 1956 still beat out every other modern show that aired this past week proves it!

We still love Lucy, and Ricky, and Fred, and Ethel, and Little Ricky!

To me, ILL is a show that begs to be colorized! I mean, Lucy's red hair and all the crazy antics she gets into are very colorful.

I like that CBS made available both the B&W and color Christmas episodes on the same dvd.

I wish they would colorize the entire series. Of course, the entire series has already been released in B&W so now those of us who want it colorized could buy the color versions and the B&W purists wouldn't be slighted in any way.

It won the night in the 18-49 demo on Dec.20, with a 1.4 rating- while that wasn't enough for the week's top 25 (demo), in total viewers, it finished 14th for the week.

The second telecast on Christmas night scored a 0.7 in the demo (viewing was down across the night, understandably), which tied for the second in the 8-9 hour.

I watched on Dec. 20 and thoroughly enjoyed. :)

the I love christmas episode color episode was last aired in 1990 on cbs.but the color episode that aired this time may have been remaster in color. i have recorded the 1990 show on VHS and this time i record it on dvr. and i will need to transfer it from dvr to a VHS Tape.

This is interesting. I just wrote a piece about this Christmas special (which can be accessed HERE (http://makingsense.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talking&action=display&thread=328&page=1)) and go a bit into the history of it, which is a story in and of its own.

Desi Arnaz was a genius on so many fronts, and you can see why he didn't want the episode to be part of the series' syndication package. And yet, still today, his ingenuity continues to make history.

This episode was done as masterfully as what Columbia Tri-Star did with The Three Stooges. In other words, you could never tell on the surface that it was released in black and white if you did not know it before. Impressive!

I watched and taped the Christmas Special. I will say that I thought the X-Mas episode wasn't that great, to be honest. Btw, did CBS edit stuff out from both episodes? Seemed like they did.

I watched and taped the Christmas Special. I will say that I thought the X-Mas episode wasn't that great, to be honest. Btw, did CBS edit stuff out from both episodes? Seemed like they did.

You're right in the sense that the episode, content wise, wasn't all that great (though I liked the "current" pieces). However, what gives it its charm is that every other episode of I Love Lucy is a classic in some way, and with this episode missing, it is new to audiences who are either getting acquainted with the series, or have seen every other episode not knowing that this one existed. In that, it generates interest (just as the "Lost pilot" episode did in the early 90's) and has a unique feel to it because it is the one and only holiday themed episode of its kind for that series.

I loved the christmas special, i wish they would colorize more episodes

I loved the christmas special, i wish they would colorize more episodes

I would love to see this entire series colorized. It would be different, and interesting in my opinion.

I loved the christmas special, i wish they would colorize more episodes

I wish they would have colorized the series and sold that on DVD now as opposed to Blu-Ray