The Lucille Ball Specials [discussion thread] (1 Viewer)

[Emcee]

Lucille Ball (television's "First Lady of Comedy") ended her near-25-year-run as a TV star when Here's Lucy concluded in 1974, but she continued to appear in the medium.

She did a series of television movies and specials, such as Happy Anniversary and Goodbye (1974) and Lucy Calls the President (1977), the latter reuniting her with old pals Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, and Mary Jane Croft, among others.

Several of these specials have been released under "The Lucille Ball Specials" banner.

Does anybody own any of these?

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[KPmusmag]

Yes, I have all of them.

 

[Emcee]

Yes, I have all of them.

Really? Are they any good? Which one is your favorite?

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Was anything Lucille Ball did after I Love Lucy any good?

 

[KPmusmag]

I am a life-long Lucy fan and I would say no performer has given me more pleasure over the years.

That being said, I will be really honest here - I do not think any of these are great. The one that I think is the best IMO is What Now, Catherine Curtis? It stretches Lucy the most as an actress and the story is pretty far afield from anything she had done on TV since creating the "Lucy" character. Catherine Curtis is a lonely widow who has a romance with a younger man. It has touching moments and Lucy is not over the top in this one, but gives a nuanced and real performance. Fortunately, it is paired on DVD with Happy Anniversary & Goodbye, which I would rank #2. #3 for me would be Three for Two, which features Jackie Gleason in three different one acts all revolving around marriage issues. My least favorite is Lucy Gets Lucky which plays like a really, really long episode of Here's Lucy (although there is a some nice footage of Las Vegas).

While most of the material is not stellar, seeing her team up with Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin, Vivian Vance (for the last time), and other familiar faces is special in its own way and they are all - well, pleasant - if not great. It is really all about the writing IMO.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have the disc that includes the Jackie Gleason episode, and one other. I only watched the Gleason one and found it to be very disappointed - here you’ve got two brilliant comedy legends, and they decided to do three short, unrelated, uninspired dramatic stories rather than comedy. I don’t doubt that they could have done great drama together but this was pretty cliched, uninspired writing. I have no desire to revisit it.

 

[Emcee]

Was anything Lucille Ball did after I Love Lucy any good?

This is a valid question. But I'd be inclined to say "yes", there was post-I Love Lucy work from Lucille Ball that was good. The premiere, B&W season of The Lucy Show is actually quite good, and she and Vivian Vance play hilariously off one another. The episode "Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower" is a classic.

Sure, her shows got stale and repetitive as time went on, but Lucy could still be very funny in the right circumstances. Even the old-fashioned (when in comparison to the other shows of the era) Here's Lucy managed to have some good sight and physical gags. When Lucy banged up her leg and was M.I.A. from the physical comedy, I thought the show did a good job at trying to "age" her character. That time also gave room for her other co-stars, especially Lucie Arnaz and Mary Jane Croft, some time in the sun.

Life with Lucy did, despite its sour reputation, offer some sentiment and at least a handful of deserved laughs.

So, yes, I'd defend that Lucille Ball still had some tricks up her sleeve, even after I Love Lucy.

 

[Matt Hough]

I always wanted to see Stone Pillow but never got around to it. She got some good reviews for it.

 

[Emcee]

I always wanted to see Stone Pillow but never got around to it. She got some good reviews for it.

I've heard varying things about this movie. For Lucy's "departure" to drama after over three decades in sitcoms, people had a mixed reaction.

Still, I'd like to see it myself.

 

[KPmusmag]

IMO, Lucy gives a great performance in Stone Pillow. But I will not watch it again; seeing Lucy in those circumstances is very painful as is knowing that she had health issues as a result of making it. I feel the same way about Julie Andrews in Duet for One - a great performance but so painful to watch (although I will definitely get the upcoming blu-ray as I have never seen a good copy of it).

I do recommend watching Stone Pillow at least once. It is impactful and very brave of Lucy to tackle it.

 

[Emcee]

Mary Jane Croft

And since we've already mentioned her, let's take a moment to honor Mary Jane Croft. Aside from Vivian Vance, she worked as Lucy's on-screen sidekick longer than anyone else, but gets far less recognition. I can understand why she sometimes gets the shaft, especially considering the programs she frequented more often (i.e. The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy) are not as well-regarded as I Love Lucy.

But Mary Jane Croft did guest on several episodes of I Love Lucy. She played Lucy's snotty high school friend, Cynthia Harcourt; a nosy passenger on an airplane, Evelyn Bisby; and the Ricardos' new neighbor, Betty Ramsey, in the Connecticut episodes.

She originally played Audrey on The Lucy Show during its first two seasons, before eventually taking over for Vance in 1965 as Mary Jane Lewis (her real-life name at the time, owing to marriage to actor-producer Elliott Lewis), albeit less frequently. She continued to play Mary Jane Lewis on Here's Lucy.

The only episode of all the shows to center on Croft was "Mary Jane's Boyfriend", one of the final episodes of Here's Lucy in 1974.

Let's give some love to one of Lucy's longest-lasting sidekicks.

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