Color or Black and White?

[PPatters]

I like the idea of colorizing a few, but how about colorizing a few at first, see how well those do, and if they do well, colorize all of them, but, of course, make sure that the black and white episodes are still existant and that they are still aired.

[DarleneIllyria]

nevermind

[This message has been edited by Jenny (edited 11-03-2001).]

[PPatters]

::thinks someone joined in the conversation without completely reading it:: It has been pointed out that, while some people do do some cheap colorizations, that new colorizations (ala I Dream Of Jeannie's first season) have been doen very nicely. Also, it has been mentioned that colorization would not be on original tapes, hence there would still be black and white tapes. Not only that, though, by colorizing episodes would help to pull in younger demographics, while other airings of black and white episodes of the series would help to satisfy the people who do not believe in the colorization of classic sitcoms. This would, therefore, help to attract new viewers without alienating the other ones.

[Terry Ross]

I would be 100% opposed to colorizing ILL. Have you ever seen the color version of "It's A Wonderful Life"? Yuck.

Nuff said.

[PPatters]

I think it needs to be re-iterated for those who haven't taken the time to read everything (and I think, if you want to contribute, you should read all posts), but some shows (i.e. I Dream of Jeannie's first season) have had some masterful colorizations.

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by Roz1013:
Where did you see that "L.A. at Last" in colour at?

It was played at this year's Loving Lucy convention.

[Sean Snow]

If they ever colorize it, I hope it's done by the people who did 'Jeannie' and "Bewitched". I went to their site, and it says they've colorized French films, the two above mentioned series, and "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin".....They had pictures from those, and they looked great!

If they made this, and TV Land picks those up (WHich They Almost Certinally Wouldn't), I would maybe have one of the repeats in color with the rest in B&W

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by LucyFan:
Here is a suggestion: instead of colorizing "I Love Lucy", they should bring back "The Lucy Show" since it's a LUCY program that is in color. I am sure that will attract some of the younger generation. Anyone like this idea?

How 'bout this: Colorize the classic first 30 episodes of "The Lucy Show," then remove from rotation the 40 or so weakest episodes of the 72 episodes produced during the last three seasons of the series (the "California episodes"). (I have my own ideas about which 40 episodes should be withdrawn.) This way, those mediocre episodes that have always turned people off to this series, and which no doubt have hurt this series' success in syndication, would no longer be around to burden the show. And those stations that in the past have neglected to air the outstanding first 30 episodes simply because they're in black and white (even though they are by far the best episodes of the series) would air them. Even with 40 episodes withdrawn from the syndication/rerun package, there would still be a sufficient number of episodes left for rerun purposes (116 episodes out of a total 156 produced; 100 episodes is generally what's considered necessary for a show to be eligible for syndication reruns; by comparison, "The Brady Bunch" has 117 episodes). This is my idea for a leaner, meaner "The Lucy Show," which might elevate the series to a level of quality closer to to that of "I Love Lucy."

[dawsongirl]

Originally posted by PPatters:
but some shows (i.e. I Dream of Jeannie's first season) have had some masterful colorizations.

I agree. I think it looks great. The only thing is Jeannie's hair. It does at times look strawberry blonde. But with Lucy, since her hair color was fake anyway, it wouldn't matter.

BTW, if anyone has the Columbia House Lucy tapes, you get to see a sample of a colorized Lucy at the beginning of the tape.

------------------
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Happy Birthday to Me!

[LucyFan]

Originally posted by NCVARick:
How 'bout this: Colorize the classic first 30 episodes of "The Lucy Show," then remove from rotation the 40 or so weakest episodes of the 72 episodes produced during the last three seasons of the series (the "California episodes"). (I have my own ideas about which 40 episodes should be withdrawn.)

I like your idea alot. That would probably help the series tremendously. Maybe the network thats running "The Lucy Show" could air the 40 or so weakiest episodes upon viewer request only. By the way, which 40 episodes do you think should be withdrawn? I am curious to know.



[This message has been edited by LucyFan (edited 11-04-2001).]

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by LucyFan:
I like your idea alot. That would probably help the series tremendously. Maybe the network thats running "The Lucy Show" could air the 40 or so weakiest episodes upon viewer request only.

Or offer them on video as "lost" episodes of "The Lucy Show."

[NCVARick]

Originally posted by LucyFan:
I like your idea alot. That would probably help the series tremendously. Maybe the network thats running "The Lucy Show" could air the 40 or so weakiest episodes upon viewer request only. By the way, which 40 episodes do you think should be withdrawn? I am curious to know.

Or perhaps they could offer those withdrawn episodes on video as "lost" episodes of "The Lucy Show." As for the ones I would withdraw, it would probably be easier to name the ones I would keep. They withdrawn episodes would almost all come from the final three seasons of the series. I would keep the first two episodes of the fourth season, "Lucy at Marineland" and "Lucy and the Golden Greek," not because they're great episodes, but because they establish Lucy's relocation in California and her meeting Mary Jane Lewis. I would also keep "Lucy Helps Danny Thomas" for similar reasons. This is the episode where she first goes to work for Mr. Mooney (strangely, the opening scene of that episode where Lucy talks Mooney into hiring her has been cut from certain syndication prints, including those aired on Nick-at-Nite). The only other episodes I would keep from that season are "Lucy the Undercover Agent," "Lucy and Art Linkletter," "Lucy Dates Dean Martin," and "Lucy, the Gun Moll." Most of the rest of the episodes from that season involve the ridiculous theme of Lucy "coincidentally" running into Mr. Mooney -- ridiculous because this is the huge city of Los Angeles, not Danfield.

From the fifth season, I would keep "Lucy the Bean Queen," "Lucy and the Ring a Ding Ring," "Lucy Goes to London" (and turn the special "Lucy in London" into a two-part episode of TLS), "Lucy Gets a Roommate" (with Carol Burnett), "Lucy Gets Caught in the Draft" (but delete that scene where Lucy refers to her son as "Jimmy"), "Lucy and John Wayne," "Viv Visits Lucy," "Lucy Meets the Law" (where Lucy is mistakenly arrested for grand larceny, but she thinks she's been jailed for dropping a candy wrapper on the sidewalk), and "Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard."

From the sixth season, I would keep "Lucy Meets the Berles," "Lucy Gets Trapped" (where Lucy gets her picture in the paper for being the millionth customer at a store on a day she stayed out of work, pretending to be sick), "Lucy and the French Movie Star" (for the drunk scene), "Little Old Lucy," "Lucy Gets Mooney Fired" (I love the "Gaslight" treatment Lucy does on Mr. Cheever), "Lucy Sues Mooney" (funny courtroom scene with Lucy feigning serious injury), "Lucy and the Pool Hustler," "Lucy and Carol Burnett, Part One" (where Lucy and Carol become flight attendants; part two is horrible, though, so should be left out); "Lucy and Viv Reminisce," "Lucy Gets Involved" (the one where Lucy moonlights at a drive-in and is a disaster, "Lucy and the Stolen Stole" (guest-starring Buddy Hackett, whose character keeps landing Lucy and Mooney in jail), and "Lucy and Sid Ceasar."

I think that totals 30 episodes, including the hour-long "Lucy in London" special, which means I've actually withdrawn 44 episodes. But if you add these 30 episodes to the 84 from the first three seasons, you wind up with 114 episodes. Any other opinions? Perhaps some episodes I've kept out that some of you feel strongly should remain?

[LucyFan]

Originally posted by NCVARick:

I think that totals 30 episodes, including the hour-long "Lucy in London" special, which means I've actually withdrawn 44 episodes. But if you add these 30 episodes to the 84 from the first three seasons, you wind up with 114 episodes. Any other opinions? Perhaps some episodes I've kept out that some of you feel strongly should remain?

From the fourth season, I would keep "Lucy at Marineland," "Lucy and Joan," "Lucy Helps the Countess," "Lucy and the Sleeping Beauty," "Lucy and the Countess Have a Horse Guest," (William Frawley made a brief appearance in this episode) "Lucy the Undercover Agent," "Lucy Bags a Bargain," (The stilts scene) "Lucy the Choirmaster," (Christmas episode)"Lucy and Art Linkletter," "Lucy and Dean Martin," (Lucille Ball's favorite episode of this series) "Lucy the Robot," (Lucy pretending to be a toy robot is hysterical!) "Lucy and Clint Walker," (Charming episode)"Lucy, the Gun Moll," and "Lucy the Superwoman" (a classic!)

From the fifth season, I would keep "Lucy and George Burns," (another classic) "Lucy the Bean Queen," "Lucy and the Ring-A-Ding Ring," "Lucy Gets a Roommate," "Lucy and Carol In Palm Springs," "Lucy and the Submarine," "Lucy Gets Caught In a Draft," "Lucy and Paul Winchell," (a classic!)"Lucy and John Wayne," "Lucy Goes to London," "Viv Visits Lucy," "Lucy the Babysitter," "Main Street U.S.A." Part 1, "Lucy Puts Main Steet On the Map" Part 2,
"Lucy Meets the Law," "Lucy and Sheldon Leonard," "Lucy and Tennessee Ernie Ford," (a classic!)

From the sixth season, I would keep "Lucy Gets Trapper," "Little Old Lucy," "Lucy Meets the Berles," "Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account," (a classic among classics) "Lucy and Robert Goulet," "Lucy Gets Mooney Fired," (this episode is very hysterical when Lucy trys to convince Mr. Cheever not to fire Mr. Mooney) "Lucy Sues Mooney," "Lucy Gets Involved," "Lucy the Philantropist," "Lucy's Mystery Guest," (Mary Wickes guest stars in this episode) "Lucy and Viv Reminisce,"
"Lucy and the Lost Star," (Vivian Vance guest stars in this episode) "Lucy and Sid Caesar," and the final episode "Lucy and 'The Boss of the Year Award".

That is 45 episodes I would keep from of the last three seasons which means I've withdrawn 27 episodes. If you add these 45 episodes to the 84 from the first three seasons it comes out in total of 129 episodes. I find the fourth season to be the weakest season from the series.

At some point, it's going to happen (just like your favorite tune being covered by another artist). Let's just hope that they'll do a good job. The purists will always have their B&W tapes/DVD's.

[mahlerfan]

I seem to remember that the day Lucy died, CBS did a tribute show to her in the early evening hours. It was kind of thrown together and badly edited, but I recall that it contained a colorized scene of an ILL episode. I think it was "Lucy Goes to the Hospital." Does anyone else remember this?