I just finished watching the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special & it was such a nice treat. It was wonderfully put together. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the most beloved sitcom of all time! From the moment it started, I knew I was in for a memorable evening! I loved the beginning part of it, when they played the I Love Lucy theme & showed that montage of clips! The "Friendship" montage was awesome too! I don't mind telling you that during a lot of the special, I was a little chocked up & became a little emotional. So, come on all of you "happy, peppy people," what did you think of I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special?

Jonathan

I enjoyed it very much, though I would have liked to have seen Desi and Lucie a bit more. Still, I guess that's unrealistic, given that the show was already 2 hours. The TV Guide said that Desi was going to sing the theme song, so I was disappointed there, but that was really the only disappointment.

I thought it was extremely well done, and I loved the Friendship clips, as well as those at the beginning. I was most touched by Desi and Lucie's visit to Jamestown, and their singing of Patria. Desi and Lucy would have been so proud of them, and it must have been an amazing thing to be able to honor their parents that way.

I enjoyed the I Love Lucy 50th too. Two things though..where was Little Ricky? I know he is still around , wonder why he wasnt on the special? Kinda surprised there werent more authors of the many Lucy books out there like the man & woman who wrote Meet the Mertzes and Ric Wyman who not only wrote one of the Lucy books but runs the Lucy-Desi museum in Jamestown.

Maybe she has a changed heart now but I was shocked that Roseanne was on it. I always thought she ( and Tom Bosley ) were two actors that HATED Lucy. In fact Roseanne ( Barr ) used to go in magazines and other outlets saying how much she hated Lucy. This was back when Roseanne's sitcom first came out. As I can recall Lucy was hurt by her comments.

Tom Bosley ( Happy Days ) someone told me that he was going to appear on this. If he did one must wonder what is going through the heads of Lucie & Desi Jr. I believe it was on the old Tom Snyder radio program where Bosley said he "celebrated" the death of Lucy and how he hated the bitch.
From what I heard his feelings towards Lucy hasnt changed that much since.

Originally posted by bb:
I enjoyed the I Love Lucy 50th too. Two things though..where was Little Ricky? I know he is still around , wonder why he wasnt on the special?

I wondered this, too. He wasn't at the convention this year, which is very odd.

In fact Roseanne ( Barr ) used to go in magazines and other outlets saying how much she hated Lucy. This was back when Roseanne's sitcom first came out. As I can recall Lucy was hurt by her comments.[/QUOTE]

I've heard Roseanne comment on a number of occasions how much she loved Lucy. The only time I heard that she "hated" Lucy was in a headline in the National Enquirer, which ironically came out the week Lucy went in the hospital, days before she died. We all know how much credibility the National Enquirer has.

I believe it was on the old Tom Snyder radio program where Bosley said he "celebrated" the death of Lucy and how he hated the bitch. From what I heard his feelings towards Lucy hasnt changed that much since.[/QUOTE]

That sounds so out of character for Tom Bosley, or at least from my impression of him. He has always seemed like such a nice guy. Did you actually hear him say that? It's just difficult to fathom that he would celebrate a person's death.

I was living in Denver when "Roseanne" started. It was reported in the two papers out there ( Denver Post & Rocky Mountain News) about how much she ( Roseanne) hated Lucy and such. In fact I remember listening to the radio the day Lucy died , someone asked for Roseanne's comments on her death ( which was the #1 show on tv at that time 1989 ) and she said she would Not give any because she never did liked Lucy and it would not be right for her to make a statement. Of course the Enquirer, Globe, Star made a thing out of this.

Tom Bosley: I too was surprised when I heard that. I was helping out a radio station in Virginia fixing their satellite so they can get CNN news, thats when I came across the feed of Synder and the Bosley interview. A caller asks him his thoughts on "Lucy" and he said that he was "glad" she's dead and called her a "bitch". My co-workers who heard this thought he was joking but for some reason I dont think so.

Anyway years later ( 1996 ) on the Mike Walker radio show Bosley-Lucy-Bitch was brought up again. Walker was talking about the then recent death of Jerry Houser ( who appeared in my Lucy eps. ) and how he thought Lucy was a control freak, Desi a drunk and such. And for some odd reason Tom Bosley came up, I believe it was a caller who brought it up.

Mike Walker by the way appears in the Enquirer so I took the things I caught on his show with a grain of salt.

I also heard that the great Jerry Lewis hated Lucy too. Wonder why there? I dont think those 2 ever worked together. Could be wrong though.

Originally posted by bb:
I was living in Denver when "Roseanne" started. It was reported in the two papers out there ( Denver Post & Rocky Mountain News) about how much she ( Roseanne) hated Lucy and such. In fact I remember listening to the radio the day Lucy died , someone asked for Roseanne's comments on her death ( which was the #1 show on tv at that time 1989 ) and she said she would Not give any because she never did liked Lucy and it would not be right for her to make a statement. Of course the Enquirer, Globe, Star made a thing out of this.

Tom Bosley: I too was surprised when I heard that. I was helping out a radio station in Virginia fixing their satellite so they can get CNN news, thats when I came across the feed of Synder and the Bosley interview. A caller asks him his thoughts on "Lucy" and he said that he was "glad" she's dead and called her a "bitch". My co-workers who heard this thought he was joking but for some reason I dont think so.

Anyway years later ( 1996 ) on the Mike Walker radio show Bosley-Lucy-Bitch was brought up again. Walker was talking about the then recent death of Jerry Houser ( who appeared in my Lucy eps. ) and how he thought Lucy was a control freak, Desi a drunk and such. And for some odd reason Tom Bosley came up, I believe it was a caller who brought it up.

Mike Walker by the way appears in the Enquirer so I took the things I caught on his show with a grain of salt.

I also heard that the great Jerry Lewis hated Lucy too. Wonder why there? I dont think those 2 ever worked together. Could be wrong though.


I just got a video call "Lucy and Desi: A home Movie". it was all about the lifes of Lucy and Desi and about there marrage. it was hosted my Lucy arnez (Lucille ball's daughter). Lucie Arnez said that her mother would always tell her all the good stuff and never the bad stuff that went on in her life.
The movie was some research the Lucie did to find out the truth about her parents.
Lucy once said to Desi that she wish he would die. and Family members said that lucy was only happy at work. She was never seen playing with her kids. but when her kids were not "perfect" she would yell at them.
everyone (includeing me) Looks at the "I Love Lucy" series and thinks that that was LUCILLE BALLS life in real life. but it was really the total oppisite. It was very sad to hear this about Lucy. the lady that brought so much pleasure and laughter to not only you and me but to the whole world.
To see Lucie Arnez crying while she talked about her mother and father brought tears to my eyes. Like i said, the life of LUCILLE BALL was nothing like "Lucy". Lucie Arnez said that Lucy and Desi did the I Love Lucy series for them selfs, to save there marrage. but instead it just helped everyone else in the world and made it worse for them.
I know it least for me my love for Lucy' as an entertainer will never change.but my respect for her as a person has changed to see what she did to her kids and to see what kind of a person she was. she was just thinking about her self most of the time.
she was very troubled and obbsessed with her work.
They said that yes desi did cheat on Lucy but cared about there kids so much.
At the end of the movie i was crying and shocked to hear the truth about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez.

Please do not take this like i am puting Lucy down because in some respects she was a good ladie.I am also not saying that she did not love her kids, but she did not give them the proper attention because she was so overly obsessed with her work. i am just trying to give you all the truth about the ladie who made us laugh!

I loved the 50th anniversary special. Although, I think they should have shown the complete episodes from 1-10. I can't believe "The Ballot" was not in the top 10. I once heard that Lucy was mean when she was old and that she did not like comedy anymore, or did not make jokes. When hearing something like this, I feel sad. Same with those shows that tell you the real truth about the old shows, like Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, Cheers, and many others, I just feel bad that they did not get along in real life.

I absolutely loved the 50th anniversary special. I was SO glad to see the many celebrities (Whoopi Goldberg, Arnold Swartzenager, Dick Van Dyke, Larry King, ect)appear in the special talking about our favorite redhead. The one thing that I noticed was that Desi Arnaz, Jr. is sure aging fast. I can't believe he has white hairs and wrinkles already. Lucie, on the other hand looks FABULOUS! She looked very beautiful in the special. Another thing I noticed was that the special did not even mentioned Lucy's later shows (The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy) at all. I was little bit disappionted there. Other than that the special was GREAT!

The reason that they didn't mention Lucy's other shows was that this was specifically an anniversary show for I LOVE LUCY, not just a special on Lucille Ball.

Lucie looked gorgeous as always; I thought Desi looked good, if a little thin.

I thought it was great! I especially liked the part when Lucie and Desi Jr. went to Jamestown and saw the house where their mom grew up. Very, very touching. Also, their duet of "Patria" was beautiful.


------------------
Lucy: "Ever since we said 'I do' there are so many things we don't."

Lucy : "That must be my dear friend Ethel. I'll open the door, Fred."
Fred : "Open it?! I was going to lock it!"

Lucy : "Gee, did you hear that, honey? It's going to be called "Bitter Grapes." I wonder what part they want me for."
Fred : "Oh, you're probably going to be one of the bunch."

I thought the 50th celebration show was horrible. Same ol' information, nothing new. Same ol' comments from celebrities. I actually turned it off after her kids started singing....ugh! And why does the countdown have the same ol' favorite episodes, not everyone thinks the candy episode is the best. Just my two cents. I would love to see a real behind the scenes of I Love Lucy.

Originally posted by AdiTheGame:
I loved the 50th anniversary special. Although, I think they should have shown the complete episodes from 1-10. I can't believe "The Ballot" was not in the top 10. I once heard that Lucy was mean when she was old and that she did not like comedy anymore, or did not make jokes. When hearing something like this, I feel sad. Same with those shows that tell you the real truth about the old shows, like Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, Cheers, and many others, I just feel bad that they did not get along in real life.

Lucy was depressed when she was old. She still had lots of friends, but she wasn't happy. Especially after her last series got cancelled and Desi died. I think that's what caused her to die.

I was THRILLED with the special last night. I don't know how they could have made it better. I loved hearing the comments from all those celebrities. I loved the way they used clips from the show. I was laughing so hard. I think Lucie and Desi Jr. did a wonderful job with this show. Their parents would have been so proud!

Originally posted by Betsyp:
Lucie looked gorgeous as always; I thought Desi looked good, if a little thin.

She does look nice with her hair grown out. Actually, she looks younger than her brother. But then, premature gray runs in their family. Desi Sr. was going gray during ILL.

I'm surprised they didn't go more into how difficult it was to get ILL on the air. With Desi, CBS didn't want it, Philip Morris didn't want it, etc. But, Lucy wouldn't do it without him. Seems pretty important to me.

I thought it was a wonderful tribute! The only thing I hated was Roseanne's comment at the beginning, that in my opinion was distasteful and should've been edited out. Other than that it was wonderful. Its too bad that the cast members weren't here to enjoy this honorable tribute.

RIP Lucy, Desi, Vivian, and William

Originally posted by ilovelucyjg15:

I just got a video call "Lucy and Desi: A home Movie". it was all about the lifes of Lucy and Desi and about there marrage. it was hosted my Lucy arnez (Lucille ball's daughter). Lucie Arnez said that her mother would always tell her all the good stuff and never the bad stuff that went on in her life.
The movie was some research the Lucie did to find out the truth about her parents.
Lucy once said to Desi that she wish he would die. and Family members said that lucy was only happy at work. She was never seen playing with her kids. but when her kids were not "perfect" she would yell at them.
everyone (includeing me) Looks at the "I Love Lucy" series and thinks that that was LUCILLE BALLS life in real life. but it was really the total oppisite. It was very sad to hear this about Lucy. the lady that brought so much pleasure and laughter to not only you and me but to the whole world.
To see Lucie Arnez crying while she talked about her mother and father brought tears to my eyes. Like i said, the life of LUCILLE BALL was nothing like "Lucy". Lucie Arnez said that Lucy and Desi did the I Love Lucy series for them selfs, to save there marrage. but instead it just helped everyone else in the world and made it worse for them.
I know it least for me my love for Lucy' as an entertainer will never change.but my respect for her as a person has changed to see what she did to her kids and to see what kind of a person she was. she was just thinking about her self most of the time.
she was very troubled and obbsessed with her work.
They said that yes desi did cheat on Lucy but cared about there kids so much.
At the end of the movie i was crying and shocked to hear the truth about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez.

Please do not take this like i am puting Lucy down because in some respects she was a good ladie.I am also not saying that she did not love her kids, but she did not give them the proper attention because she was so overly obsessed with her work. i am just trying to give you all the truth about the ladie who made us laugh!



The National Enquier may not exactly be the New York Times but many of their stories do appear in regular newspapers, like all the recent Ann Heche stuff ( getting cured of her lesbian disease, having a baby, tying the knot with a rich boy from Kentucky ).
When Roseanne started out I'm sure she was just "talking" stuff but not really meaning it.

About Jerry Lewis "hating" Lucy. The man is not exactly in the best of health and in the right mind as well. You have to take his "words' with a salt. Kinda like if someone tried to interview Bob Hope today.

Dawson, my mother had seen the first hour, and she commented that Desi looked sickly, that he was sweating throughout the whole Jamestown segment, etc...She thought that maybe he was still having "episodes" from his younger days, when he had drug and alchohol problems ,because she said she thought he wasn't speaking right. I thought she was bananas, and practically forced her to sit through Patria and Babalu, which she loved. She thought he looked better then, and I told her to forget the gray; his father had to use black dye to hide the gray in his hair on ILL.

Did you think Desi looked ok? He's obviously not a big guy.....

Ditto about Lucie Arnaz, she looked(as Fernando Lamas would say) MAHHVELOUS. Hard to believe that she, too turned 50 this year.

Desi looked way too thin, considering that he supposedly battled weight most of his life. His body may be cathching up with all the years of drug and alcohol abuse, though he supposedly cleaned up his act many years ago.

Hopefully he just decided to slim down for the TV special...

You know Betsy, my mom thought he looked sick too. She even asked me if he was. He did look "different," but it could have been a small case of nerves. And maybe the substance abuse is catching up with him; it did with his dad. However, I thought he looked way better later in the show. I think at his age, he still looks better than his dad did when he was the same age (48). And since they look so much alike, a comparison is probable.

Desi definitely looked much better later in the show; maybe he was just sick when he filmed that Jamestown part. I hope so. He seems like such a good guy; I'd feel very sad if anything was seriously wrong with him.

The possibility that Desi's past may be catching up to him is interesting, but I'd find it a bit unusual (then again, I'm not an expert). Desi was very young when he had his problems, and he's been in recovery for a long time. His dad, on the other hand, didn't really get his demons under control until it was too late, and he was ill with cancer.

I always thought Desi was the spitting image of his father, especially as a younger man, but I have to look harder to see that resemblance now (except for the eyes: wonderful, dark brown eyes, and when he laughs). I still can't see Lucy in her children. I couldn't tell who Lucie resembled a few months ago, but now I think I can see Desi in her.

Originally posted by Betsyp:
I still can't see Lucy in her children. I couldn't tell who Lucie resembled a few months ago, but now I think I can see Desi in her.

I can't either! But my mom thought Lucie did look a little like Desi, so I guess I'll have to look harder.