another colorized episode of I Love Lucy in existence

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

I know there is another colorized episode of I Love Lucy in existence. It the "LA at Last" episode and was shown at one of the Loving Lucy Conventions. I heard it was pretty good and wasn't all that bad. I would love to have seen this on The Complete Fourth Season on DVD. I wonder who owns it and has the rights to it & why it wasn't available on any of the DVD releases thus far. I for one have always wondered what it looked like and have wanted to see it since I heard about it. Did anybody attend that convention and/or see it in general? If so, what did you think? I'd love to see screen caps if anybody has them!

Thank you

[gilligan fanatic]

I would love to see Lucy's nose catch on fire in color-lol

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

Even if they didn't want to colorize complete episodes, how about colorizing just the classic moments from either each and every episode or selected episodes, with the correct color, of course! LOL I mean, that would be so great for either Colombia House or paramount to put on a forthcoming I Love Lucy DVD release. All of the episodes are on DVD, but I bet there's a lot more stuff out there that we haven't seen. If the "Colorized Classic Moments" is a hit, then they may do entire episodes. It all depends on how the colorization is and what it looks like.

[Dizzy Arnizzy]

Only a segment of the episode was colorized, the Brown Derby scene, I believe it was. CBS very foolishly LOST the master copy, so every time they want to show it at one of the conventions, they have to borrow the only known existing copy, on VHS, it from the man who colorized it. Gregg Oppenheimer didn't want to include it on the DVDs because a transfer from the VHS is not nearly good enough quality-wise to release on DVD. Hopefully, CBS will eventually find their copy, so it can be released on DVD.

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

Hey, Dizzy Arnizzy!

I think I do remember reading online that only the Brown Derby scene was colorized. When was this colorized? Was this colorization done exclusively for the Loving Lucy convention? I can't believe that CBS lost the original master copy. How could they do such a thing and be so careless? I wonder if the man who colorized this was also the same man who colorized the Christmas show. I was wondering why this wasn't included on any of the DVDs. I'd have settled for the VHS version for the time being. You'll have to admit, it's better than nothing, right? They could have released that one and when they found the original master copy, they could have included it on an upcoming Lucy DVD release. Well, if worst comes to worst, they'll just have to contact the man who colorized it and ask him if he wouldn't mind colorizing it again! LOL

[Dizzy Arnizzy]

I believe it was colorized in the late '80s or '90s, but I'm not sure. I'm not really sure why it was colorized...maybe to air on CBS like the Christmas Special, but I don't think it was done exclusively for the Loving Lucy convention. I, too would have settled for just a VHS quality, and I'm sure many other fans would be, too, but Gregg told me he didn't think fans would be satisfied with just VHS quality. Oh, well...You know, I wish the man WOULD actually colorize it again...it would probably come out much better than when it was in the '80s/'90s with more up-to-date technology.

There are rumors that "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" was also colorized, and was shown only once on the TBS cable network in the mid-'80s.

This is a little off-topic, but Gregg told me he is currently restoring the "'I Love Lucy' Movie" (more info here), which I think will be his next project, since he's done with the ILL DVDs...he's still not sure if he will produce "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" on DVD. He hopes that after he's done restoring the movie, that it will be aired on TV and/or released on DVD.

He also says he hopes when ILL/LDCH is released in HD in upcoming years, actual color footage/home movies shot by Lucy & Desi's personal film camera during rehersals and filmings will be included on those DVDs. Bits & pieces of this rare, color footage were included in Lucie Arnaz & Desi Arnaz, Jr.'s "Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie."

Here are a few screen caps I've taken of this rare footage:

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

Thank you for this useful and informative information, Dizzy Arnizzy! I wasn't sure if the Brown Derby scene was colorized before or after the Christmas special. I'd love to conduct an interview with the man who colorized both The Brown Derby Scene, Christmas special and/or anything else associated/affiliated with Lucy. Gregg evidently doesn't know us Lucy fans, does he? LOL I mean, I can understand if the quality of the audio and/or is very poor to the point where you can't see and/or hear it, that's one thing. The nest time you correspond with him, tell him that we would most definitely be interested in seeing this & would be satisfied with just the VHS copy. I mean, the longer you wait, the VHS videocassette tape is gonna disintegrate. I was thinking the same thing in regard to the man colorizing it again. Technology has gotten us so far since then. A lot has happened since then.

That is news to me regarding the rumors of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour also being colorized. That's interesting. I didn't know that. I had no idea. Do you know which episode(s) were colorized? I also posted a thread entitled, "Fiction or fact" with a link inside. Maybe you and/or somebody else could shed some light on this because, I don't understand. LOL I'd love to see all of these little gems!

I remember reading about the I Love Lucy Movie and wondering why it wasn't part of any of the I Love Lucy DVD releases. It's nice to know it's getting the "treatment, Ricky, treatment" it deserves. LOL I've always wanted to see this. I hope he does produce the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour DVDs!

That's awesome about that color home movie footage shot on the I Love Lucy set. I can't wait to see them on the forthcoming DVD releases. I wonder if and when they are going to release "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie" on DVD.

[Dizzy Arnizzy]

I will definitely tell Gregg Oppenheimer that we're very interested in seeing the colorized "L.A. at Last!" episode on DVD, even if it's just VHS quality. And you're very correct about the VHS quality...it's deteriorating, and the longer we wait, the worse the quality will be. A very good decision would be to release the colorized episode along with the "'I Love Lucy' Movie"!!

And who knows?? Maybe one day between now and when ILL is released in HD on DVD, CBS will find their master copy, and they can release a better quality copy of the episode, along with the colorized "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour"'s (if they were every created.) Rumor has it that Ted Turner colorized all 13 episodes of "LDCH" to air on his TBS network, U-TBS.

Unfortunately, at the moment, Gregg Oppenheimer is leaning toward not producing "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" on DVD, as it is a lot harder for him to find bonus features...his father, Jess Oppenheimer was not producing the ILL/LDCH series at that point. But I'm sure with help from people like Tom Watson (who helped him produce the ILL Season 6 DVDs, released last Tuesday, May 2), he'd be able to do a fine job with the "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" on DVD.

Gregg was telling me last year that he was thinking about releasing portions of the "ILL Movie" on the Season 3 or Season 4 DVDs, but that didn't happen. But at least, we'll get a DVD release of the full thing in the future. Plus, it might even get aired on TV!!

[PolarCub75@aol.com]

Thank you so much for passing that in formation regarding the colorized episode of "LA at Last" on DVD to Gregg Oppenheimer. We really need to preserve what ever we can on CDs and DVDs. That's what I've been doing with my collection. I've been upgrading everything to those sources. I have old LP record albums as well as audiocassette tapes that I just transferred onto CDs. It's worth it. I'm sure that the quality of the episode can't be that bad. Maybe he can find someone to remix and/or remaster the episode, if need be. And I agree with you wholeheartedly that the colorized episode along with the I Love Lucy movie should coincide with one another.

I hope CBS does find their master copy of the episode. It's got to be there somewhere amongst everything.

It's a shame that Gregg Oppenheimer is leaning toward not producing "The Lucy-Desi" Comedy Hour DVDs. I know he only wanted to do the seasons his father worked on. And, yes, if the Lucy fans like Tom and Gregg team up again for "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour," they'll produce some bang-up DVDs!

I was for sure that the ILL movie would have been included on the DVDs. No, I understand why they were not. I can't wait to see that when it's released.

[gilligan fanatic]

wow, I have learned a lot in this thread.

Thanks for posting those screen caps too Dizzy

[storrs19]

Yes, thanks for posting the screencaps. I have some of that footage somewhere on VHS from a special N@N ran in February 1996 that I taped. It is so weird to see anything black and white in color. Now I am a huge B&W tv fan as I feel the best shows were done during this era but I do love to see some color footage when it is in good shape or at least has been colorized with modern technology.

Seeing photos of the ILL set in color just blew my mind the first time because your mind forgets that "these people making the show actually saw it in color as they were doing it". It's kind of hard to splain but you know what I mean. You start thinking the world just existed in B&W back then.

Chad

[NOVARick]

Originally Posted by Dizzy Arnizzy

Only a segment of the episode was colorized, the Brown Derby scene, I believe it was. CBS very foolishly LOST the master copy, so every time they want to show it at one of the conventions, they have to borrow the only known existing copy, on VHS, it from the man who colorized it. Gregg Oppenheimer didn't want to include it on the DVDs because a transfer from the VHS is not nearly good enough quality-wise to release on DVD. Hopefully, CBS will eventually find their copy, so it can be released on DVD.

Actually, the entire "L.A. at Last!" was colorized, not just the Brown Derby scene. They only ran that scene at the opening ceremonies at the convention, but at the screenings during the day, the ran the full episode and I fortunately got to watch it all. And it was in color from start to finish. It was very well done, perhaps better than the Christmas episode, but not as well as the "Bewitched" colorized episodes, which were done much more recently with more advanced technology.

[JYuhas]

What were the heart on satin opening credit colors?

[JYuhas]

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...ight=colorized

[JYuhas]

http://www.lucylounge.com/index.php?...l-airs-dec-20/