I Love Lucy- 2 NEW Colorized Episodes in May

[cp2k]

Here's the press release. I'll be curious to see what kind of DVD release these get. Hopefully a new "special" release with all the colorized episodes.

Newly Colorized Episodes of “L.A. at Last!” and “Lucy and Superman”
To Be Seamlessly Combined



Special Includes Additional Footage Not Broadcast in 60 Years



I LOVE LUCY SUPERSTAR SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the 1950s series, will be broadcast Sunday, May 17 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.



The two episodes – like those presented in previous years during Christmas – are newly colorized with a vintage look, a nod to the 1950s period in which they were filmed. The main titles and end credits are seamlessly combined into one set – at the beginning and end of the hour – with no interruption between the episodes.



Included in the special is material from “L.A. at Last!” that has not been broadcast since the episode first aired on CBS 60 years ago.



The episodes star Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as the Ricardos’ friends and landlords, Ethel and Fred Mertz. William Holden guest stars in “L.A. at Last!” and George Reeves, star of the “Adventures of Superman” series, reprises his role in “Lucy and Superman.”



“L.A. at Last!” finds the Ricardos and Mertzes arriving in Hollywood, where Ricky is appearing in a new motion picture. Star-struck Lucy is anxious to meet some movie stars up-close, and decides to have lunch with the Mertzes at the famed Brown Derby Restaurant, where she meets film star William Holden and causes a major mess. Ricky innocently complicates matters when he meets Holden at the studio later, and invites him home for coffee.



“L.A. at Last!” originally aired Feb. 7, 1955, and became an instant classic. The script was nominated for an Emmy® Award.



In “Lucy and Superman,” Lucy and longtime friend and rival Caroline Appleby want to schedule their child’s birthday party on the same afternoon. Lucy finally “wins” the battle by promising that TV superhero Superman will appear at Little Ricky’s party. However, things take a hilarious turn when the “Man of Steel” has a scheduling problem and Lucy decides to replace him.


“Lucy and Superman” originally aired Jan. 14, 1957, and was an immediate hit with fans of both “I Love Lucy” and “Superman.”




“I Love Lucy” aired on CBS from Oct. 15, 1951 until June 24, 1957. It was voted “the best TV show of all time” in a 2012 viewer poll conducted by People Magazine and ABC News.

[Zoneboy]

CBS will offer colorized 'I Love Lucy' episodes with William Holden and George Reeves

Link


Purists may balk, but CBS keeps trotting out colorized specials of classic "I Love Lucy" episodes..


For the May ratings period, CBS will deliver colorized installments of famous episodes with Oscar-winner William Holden and "Superman" star George Reeves.

The "I Love Lucy Superstar Special" will air at 8 p.m. May 17. CBS is going this route again because colorized episodes have performed well in the ratings at Christmas.


The Holden episode, called "L.A. at Last!," focuses on the Ricardos and Mertzes in Hollywood. Lucy makes a bad impression on Holden at the Brown Derby Restaurant and later tries to alter her look when meeting him again.

Here's a particularly interesting tidbit from CBS: "Included in the special is material from 'L.A. at Last!' that has not been broadcast since the episode first aired on CBS 60 years ago." What could that be? The episode first aired Feb. 7, 1955.

The "Lucy and Superman" has Lucy Ricardo pledging to produce Superman at a birthday party for Little Ricky. That episode first aired Jan. 14, 1957.



"I Love Lucy" remains one of the best-remembered and best-loved TV series. A chief reason: The wonderful ensemble of Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley.

[Zoneboy]

[jimmo]

RE: the "I Love Lucy Superstar Special," did anyone figure out what "material from 'L.A. at Last!' that has not been broadcast since the episode first aired on CBS 60 years ago" was?

I watched the special and didn't notice any new material, other than perhaps the opening and closing sequences.

[jimmo]

Does anyone know where one may download or watch online "The I Love Lucy Superstar Special?" I visited the CBS website, as well as Hulu and YouTube, and could find no video of the complete special.

I also notice CBS is very skimpy about sharing its content in the free On Demand area of my cable television service (Comcast). There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to sharing of regular programming. For example, CBS On Demand provides "The Late Late Show," but not "The Late Show with David Letterman."

Does anyone have any information about either of these issues?

[PracTz]

In addition to being pleasantly surprised at how BLUE Lucy's eyes really were back then, I liked that the closing credits actually credited George Reeves as Superman at the end. In the original credits as well as the B&W syndicated reruns, they NEVER said the performer's actual name who played Superman even though they had a credit for the Superman copyright. Even though I like Lucie Arnaz's explanation that it likely was due to the Arnazes' senior knowing that the children in the audience believed he WAS Superman and wanting to honor that [ perhaps the same reason why they didn't credit who the '5th Santa' was in the Christmas show], I think by now everyone knows that Superman is a character not an actual person- and it's good that Mr. Reeves FINALLY got the literal credit he deserved even though he and every single adult performer seen are no longer in this world .

[tv star collector]

The excuse that the CBS network wanted to maintain Superman's mystique kind of falls apart when one considers the fact that George Reeves' name is prominently displayed in the closing credits of every episode of The Adventures of Superman.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by jimmo

RE: the "I Love Lucy Superstar Special," did anyone figure out what "material from 'L.A. at Last!' that has not been broadcast since the episode first aired on CBS 60 years ago" was?

It was the dialogue with Bobby, the bellboy when he was talking about appearing in Julius Caesar.

[MichaelKeith]

LittleRickyII, thanks for pointing that scene with the bellboy out. Now that I think of it, I don't ever remember seeing that scene in the syndicated versions. I guess they cut is as filler to fit in more commercials.