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82-456: Desilu produced the show, which was mostly filmed at their Los Angeles studios with occasional on-location shoots at Lake Arrowhead , Las Vegas , and Sun Valley, Idaho . CBS reran these thirteen specials under the "Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour" title as prime-time summer replacements, from 1962 to 1965, with a final run in 1967. 1966–67 was the first TV season in which all first-run prime time network shows were in color. These "Lucy–Desi" repeats were

164-439: A Cruise to Havana". This episode originally ran 75 minutes and Desi had to get permission to air the show intact, cutting into the next show on the network-schedule. After the initial showing on CBS Prime-Time it subsequently was edited down to fit in the 60 minute version that aired during the summers of 1962-1965 and finally 1967. Little Ricky is used more but is still a minor character. Most of his appearances feature him playing

246-528: A DVD set, Lucy: The Ultimate Collection , which contains 2 episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour , and also 32 episodes of I Love Lucy , 24 episodes of Here's Lucy , 14 episodes of The Lucy Show , and 4 episodes of the short-lived ABC series Life with Lucy (which had never before been released to home media), plus a wide variety of bonus features. As of August 2020, the set was no longer available from Time Life. Desilu Productions Desilu Productions, Inc. ( / ˈ d ɛ s i l uː / )

328-552: A cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine. After graduation, he formed Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees, having named himself after saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft . With this band (formed in 1928), which included two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo, and drums, he began singing as a member of a trio and as a soloist. He had a thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than jazz songs. But his singing, saxophone playing, and

410-403: A gathering of old friends... Rudy is grimly serious about rehearsal. He sometimes has his band spend a quarter-hour going over one short passage that doesn't satisfy him. On those occasions his temper wears thin..." In a heated dispute with producer George White on the set of the 1934 film George White's Scandals , White struck Vallée in the jaw. Dorothy Brooks wrote in 1936, "Other stars on

492-515: A major element of the original program's success, was not up to par (reflecting Ball's and Arnaz's personal problems). Because of these problems (and Desi spending more time trying to maintain Desilu ), the live studio audience was replaced with a laugh track by the final season (although both Milton Berle and writer Bob Schiller stated in The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, that for

574-714: A man who disliked Vallée's music, said, "Rudy Vallee is reaping the harvest of a seed that is seldom sown this day and age: LOVE. The good-looking little son-of-a-gun really and honestly LOVES his audience and his art. He LOVES to please listeners—LOVES it more than he does his name in the big lights, his mug in the papers. He loved all those unseen women as passionately as a voice can love, long before they began to purr and to caress him with two-cent stamps." Vallée made his first commercial recordings in 1928 for Columbia 's low-priced labels Harmony , Velvet Tone , and Diva . He signed with RCA Victor in February 1929 and remained with

656-602: A megaphone, a device he had used when leading the Yale football band. A caricature of him singing this way was depicted in the Betty Boop cartoon Poor Cinderella (1934). Another caricature is in Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee , which parodies him, Bing Crosby, and Russ Columbo . In the words of a magazine writer in 1929, At the microphone he is truly a romantic figure. Faultlessly attired in evening dress, he pours softly into

738-408: A memoir titled My Vagabond Lover . NBC announcer George Ansbro wrote in his memoirs that Vallée "had quite a temper and a very foul mouth... almost always the butt of his nastiness was the orchestra... his outbursts were mean-spirited, and he didn't care who overheard". However, Alton Cook wrote, "Vallée may be fuming at his orchestra, but a Vallée hour rehearsal never quite loses its air of being

820-451: A really bad show in six years." He also noted the high stakes involved in the cost per episode ($ 350,000): "They not only have to be good, they have to be great. We're going to be in an awful spot with these shows; they've got to be good." Arnaz's determination to change scheduling formats went back several years, as far back as 1954. "When I first suggested it, CBS wouldn't listen. Last year (1956) again, they talked me into continuing with

902-417: A sound stage, but he worked with Freund to design sets that accommodated audiences, allowed filming, and adhered to fire, health, and safety codes. Network executives considered the use of film an unnecessary extravagance. Arnaz persuaded them to allow Desilu to cover all additional costs associated with filming, rather than broadcasting live, under the stipulation that Desilu owned and controlled all rights to

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984-580: A teenager. The popularity of the saxophone and an unexpected reply from his idol Rudy Wiedoeft prompted Vallée to perfect his technique. He paid Columbia Records to make four "personal records", which he used for audition purposes with a number of bands. From 1924 to 1925, he played with the Savoy Havana Band at the Savoy Hotel in London, where band members discouraged his attempts to become

1066-536: A television production company formed in the early days of national TV broadcasts. The company was incorporated on April 3, 1948. Vallée made 16mm film shorts for television, including These Foolish Things and Under a Campus Moon , in which he appeared himself. Ed Wynn , Pinky Lee , Buddy Lester and Cyril Smith also appeared in Vallee-Video productions. Comedy sequences in the productions featured dubbed-in laughter . In 1949, Vallee-Video produced one of

1148-676: A vocalist. He returned to the United States, briefly attending the University of Maine . While at the University of Maine, he initiated into Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity on December 5, 1921. He transferred to Yale University in 1924, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1927. As a Yale student he led the football band and was the lead saxophonist in the Yale Collegians with Peter Arno , who became

1230-460: A weekly variety show that lasted 11 seasons. In truth, Here's Agnes was offered to Burnett by CBS executives who attempted to dissuade her from having a variety show because they felt that men were better suited for them. Burnett and Ball, however, remained close friends, often guest-starring in each other's series. In 1967, Ball agreed to sell her television company to Gulf+Western , which had only recently acquired Paramount Pictures. The company

1312-559: Is a street named after Desilu in San Antonio, Texas . Desilu Productions was founded in 1950 using the combined names of the husband and wife production team of "Desi Arnaz" and "Lucille Ball". It was created to produce Lucy and Desi's vaudeville act as a television series and sell it to Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) executives. Arnaz and Ball wanted to adapt Ball's CBS radio series My Favorite Husband to television. The television project eventually became I Love Lucy . During

1394-465: Is my favorite character ever and I love I Love Lucy [;] it's my favorite show. I'd rather make a big change while we are still ahead. It would be ridiculous for us to wait until people got sick and tired of the regular half-hour every Monday night. We have been the luckiest show on the air, but we've worked for it. I have never worked so hard in my life. And while I suppose it's not really for me to say, I think I can honestly say that we have never done

1476-455: Is only mentioned once. Fred assumes his role as Ricky's band manager. As noted Arnaz had each episode written to 'stand alone' in order to expand themes and plots using celebrity guests. He also expected those guest stars to have significant screen time. Arnaz, Vance, and Frawley all had their dialog and screen time reduced a great deal compared to I Love Lucy . This reduction was not well received by Vance, who considered leaving. Frawley, however,

1558-400: Is part of CBS Media Ventures (formerly CBS Television Distribution). During Ball's time as sole owner, Desilu developed popular series such as Mission: Impossible (1966), Mannix (1967), and Star Trek (1966). It has been falsely rumored that a Desilu loss during this time was Carol Burnett , who declined to star in a sitcom for the studio in favor of The Carol Burnett Show ,

1640-721: Is possessed of a violent, vicious, and ungovernable temper, and given to the use of blasphemy and the use of intemperate, vile, and vituperative language, particularly when applied to [her]". She accused him of committing adultery with three women, including actress Alice Faye . Vallée denied the allegations and charged infidelity on her part. The judge found him "not guilty of any misconduct or maltreatment of Webb which detrimentally affected her health, physical or medical condition." He married Jane Greer on December 2, 1943 in Hollywood, but they separated after three months and divorced on July 27, 1944. His fourth and final wife Eleanor wrote

1722-490: Is the exception, although Bankhead appears in only that episode and features Lucy's only work with the PTA); and the town, a major plot theme in season 6 of I Love Lucy , is hardly mentioned except in passing. Episodes are one hour. Production costs were estimated to be $ 350,000 per episode. Arnaz had originally proposed to run 10 episodes (one per month) but the high production costs forced Desilu to taper this to 5 episodes each in

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1804-592: The I Love Lucy episodes were produced there. In late 1957, the company bought the RKO Pictures production facilities for $ 6 million from General Tire and Rubber , including RKO's main facilities on Gower Street in Hollywood and the RKO-Pathé lot (now Culver Studios ) in Culver City . This purchase included Forty Acres , the backlot where exteriors for Mayberry were filmed. These acquisitions gave

1886-591: The Reader's Digest article in November 1964. Vallée maintained an estate at Kezar Lake . Vallée died of cancer at his Los Angeles estate known as Silvertip on July 3, 1986 while watching the televised centennial ceremonies of the restored Statue of Liberty . His wife Eleanor said that his last words were: "I wish we could be there; you know how I love a party." Vallée was married four times. During his divorce from his first wife Fay Webb, she alleged that "Vallée

1968-693: The US Navy in Portland, Maine to fight in World War I , but authorities discovered he was only 15 and had given the false birth date of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island on May 17, 1917, after 41 days of active service. After playing drums in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet and saxophone in bands around New England as

2050-649: The 1957–1958, 1958–1959 seasons and 3 in the final season (1959–1960). Arnaz had signed Debbie Reynolds to appear in a season 4 episode to be broadcast in January, 1961 and had been preparing to produce 3 specials for the 1960–1961 season. Ball and Arnaz divorced in May, 1960. After the final Lucy-Desi program the two never worked together onscreen again, although Arnaz executive produced the first 15 of The Lucy Show episodes before leaving Desilu Productions in 1962. Ratings for each episode broadcast (including reruns) during

2132-493: The 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons were all good. However, by the start of the 1959–60 season, with the habit of viewing Lucy broken up every few months, being broadcast on different nights, as well as the tension revealed between Ball and Arnaz (due to their real-life marriage unraveling), viewing dropped and it was no longer a major hit in the ratings. Critics commented on the lackluster quality and poor scripts. Cast performances were also panned. The interaction between Ricky and Lucy,

2214-519: The 40-piece band to great success. In 1944, he was placed on the inactive list and returned to radio. According to George P. Oslin , Vallée on July 28, 1933, was the recipient of the first singing telegram . A fan telegraphed birthday greetings, and Oslin had the operator sing " Happy Birthday to You ". In 1929, Vallée began hosting The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour , a popular radio show with guests such as Fay Wray and Richard Cromwell in dramatic skits. Vallée continued hosting radio shows such as

2296-494: The Ball-Arnaz TV empire a total of 33 sound stages — four more than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and eleven more than Twentieth Century-Fox had in 1957. The studio's initial attempt to become involved in film production was the film Forever, Darling (1956), Arnaz and Ball's followup to their highly successful MGM release The Long, Long Trailer (1954), but it was a box-office failure. It was produced at Desilu, but under

2378-589: The CBS library. In November 2019 CBS Studios registered the DESILU trademark again to protect its previous Common Law trademark usage. Syndication rights for Here's Lucy were sold by Ball to Telepictures , which later merged with Lorimar Television and ultimately was folded into Warner Bros. Television . Warner Bros. Television is the show's current distributor, although MPI now holds home video rights under license from Lucille Ball Productions and Desilu Too. Desilu began

2460-773: The Four") , and in Belgium as Tevieren Te Parijs. Vallée performed on Broadway as J.B. Biggley in the 1961 musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and reprised the role in the 1967 film version . He appeared in the 1960s Batman television series as the villain Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and in 1971 as a vindictive surgeon in the Night Gallery episode "Marmalade Wine". From 1948 to 1952, Vallée owned Vallee-Video,

2542-527: The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC ). Arnaz attempted to sell other television pilots, including a comedy with Carol Channing and an adventure series with Rory Calhoun . Neither series sold. Arnaz also tried to create a law drama called Without Consent , with Spencer Tracy as a defense attorney, but after several attempts at developing a suitable script failed and because of insurance concerns regarding Tracy's heavy drinking,

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2624-829: The Ricardos, soon followed by the Mertzes, had moved to Westport, Connecticut , reflecting the growth of the suburbs throughout America during the 1950s. Ricky commuted into New York City where he now owned Club Babalu. A key part of the Comedy Hour format was guest stars in each episode, including Hedda Hopper ; Ann Sothern ; Rudy Vallee ; Cesar Romero ; Tallulah Bankhead ; Fred MacMurray and June Haver ; Betty Grable and Harry James ; Fernando Lamas ; Maurice Chevalier ; Danny Thomas and his Make Room for Daddy co-stars; Red Skelton ; Paul Douglas ; Ida Lupino and Howard Duff ; Milton Berle ; Bob Cummings ; and, in

2706-711: The Royal Gelatin Hour, Vallee Varieties, and The Rudy Vallee Show through the 1930s and 1940s. When Vallée took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1937, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute. This was the first instance of an African-American hosting a national radio program. Vallée wrote the introduction for Armstrong's 1936 book Swing That Music . In 1929, Vallée made his first feature film, The Vagabond Lover , for RKO Radio . His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity. While his initial performances were rather wooden, his acting greatly improved in

2788-403: The air have their troubles, their disagreements, and yet you don't read about their ending in black eyes. Only Rudy Vallee seems to figure in endings of this kind." In an interview with Brooks, Vallée claimed he found fighting "savage and stupid" and "the wrong way to try to solve problems, because it never solves them." When asked why he fought, he replied, "I just lost my temper. I'll admit I have

2870-514: The banner of Zanra Productions (Arnaz spelled backward). Most subsequent attempts to bring projects to the big screen were aborted until Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) with Ball and Henry Fonda . This film was a critical and financial success. In 1960, Desi Arnaz sold the pre-1960s shows to CBS. Desilu Productions retained ownership of those shows that premiered after 1960, and were still in production. Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960. In November 1962, Arnaz resigned as president when his holdings in

2952-403: The cameraman on I Love Lucy , and Arnaz himself have been credited with the development of the linked multifilm camera setup using adjacent sets in front of a live audience that became the standard production method for situation comedy . The use of film enabled every station around the country to broadcast high-quality images of the show. Arnaz was told it was impossible to allow an audience onto

3034-438: The change. Arnaz quickly found a new sponsor for the 1957–1958 season: Ford Motor Company . Originally Comedy Hour was slated to produce ten original episodes per season. However, due to high production costs Arnaz cut that to eight, then five episodes. Five were produced in season one (1957–1958) and season two (1958–1959) then cut back to three in season three (1959–1960). During the final season of I Love Lucy (episode 14),

3116-643: The comic strip Hawkshaw the Detective . However, Byrd died in August 1952, bringing the Dick Tracy production to a halt, and spelling the end for Vallee-Video. Vallée was a Republican who strongly supported Richard Nixon 's 1968 presidential campaign , saying: "Every chance I get I sound off for Nixon. I'm advocating that Reader's Digest reprint 'Cuba, Castro and JFK,' a very brilliant article. I also send in checks from time to time." Nixon had written

3198-558: The company through 1931, leaving after a heated dispute with executives over song selections. He then recorded for the short-lived Hit of the Week label which sold rather poor quality records laminated onto a cardboard base. In August 1932, he signed with Columbia and remained with the label through 1933. Vallée returned to RCA Victor in June 1933; his records were initially issued on Victor's low-priced Bluebird label until November 1933, when he

3280-446: The company were bought out by Ball, who succeeded him as president. Ball served as president and chief executive officer of Desilu while at the same time starring in her own weekly series. This made her the first woman to head a major studio and one of the most powerful women in Hollywood at the time. Ball founded Desilu Sales, Inc., for syndication which distributed Jay Ward Productions ' Fractured Flickers in 1964. Today, Desilu Sales

3362-511: The costs incurred by the production into the first episode of a season rather than spreading them across the projected number of episodes in the year. As a result, by the end of the season, episodes were nearly entirely paid for, at preposterously low figures. At that time, most television programs were broadcast live, and as the largest markets were in New York, the rest of the country received only images derived from kinescopes . Karl Freund ,

The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour - Misplaced Pages Continue

3444-537: The creation of its productions using conventional film studio materials, production, and processing techniques. The use of these materials and techniques meant that the 35 mm negatives (the source material for copyright purposes) were immediately available for production and distribution of prints when the Lucy series went into syndication at local stations around the country. As such, no "lost" episodes of programs occurred, and no programs were recorded by kinescope from

3526-574: The days before microphones. Crooners had soft voices that were suited to the intimacy of radio; the microphones, in this case, promoted direct access to "a vulnerable and sensuous interior," or in other words, "a conjured intimacy". Vallée was one of the first celebrity radio vocalists. Flappers pursued him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out. Contrary to popular belief, he did not have screaming girls at his appearances. However, his voice still failed to project in venues without microphones and amplification, so he often sang through

3608-622: The drums, coming and going (examples include "The Celebrity Next Door" and, in several, off to school or some other function); he has no friends, unlike the 6th season of I Love Lucy , where a few are noted ("Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright", "Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums", several of the Connecticut episodes, etc.); and no plot theme centers on him. Also the Ricardos do not interact with any neighbors in Westport ("The Celebrity Next Door"

3690-549: The entire series of all thirteen Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour specials on DVD under the package name I Love Lucy: The Final Seasons 7-9 on March 13, 2007, in Region 1, and is presented with certain edits such as "The Celebrity Next Door" when Tallulah Bankhead remarks at the Ricardo's house about being allergic to strawberries (which is a plot point later in the episode) and digitally remastered. In September 2018, Time Life released

3772-566: The episode or the famous couple. Adams stated that the mood on set was tense and sad. Although it had yet to be publicly announced, all of the Desilu executives, the cast and crew knew the fate of the stars' marriage and the effect their divorce would have on the series. Critics have generally regarded the series as a rather pallid continuation of I Love Lucy , with not enough of the original show's brisk pace and memorable sketchwork, and an excessive use of celebrity guest-stars. Still, many fans enjoy

3854-484: The film prints and negatives. Arnaz's unprecedented arrangement is widely considered to be one of the shrewdest deals in television history. As a result of his foresight, Desilu reaped the profits from all reruns of the series. Desilu soon outgrew its first space and in 1954 bought its own studio, the Motion Picture Center on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, what is now Red Studios Hollywood . Most of

3936-527: The final episode, "Lucy Meets the Moustache", Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams . Comedy Hour episodes focused on Lucy's interaction with the celebrity guest stars. Although still a key character, Ricky is not a major part of the episodes and has less interaction with Lucy. Nearly every episode features him not allowing her to do something, which allows Lucy to interact with the guest stars to confound Ricky. Ricky's 'manic' personality had changed as well, and by

4018-471: The final episode, "Lucy Meets the Mustache", tensions between them were so high that Ball and Arnaz could not speak to each other without having loud arguments or shouting matches on set. They soon realized it would be best if they did not speak directly to each other there and instead used surrogates to carry messages or questions back and forth. This allowed them time to calm down and stay in character when

4100-475: The first cartoon shows on television, Tele-Comics . Vallee-Video's breakthrough in 1952 would have been a 15-minute television show based on the Dick Tracy comic strip starring Vallée's friend Ralph Byrd , who played the character in four successful Dick Tracy theatrical serials from 1937 to 1941. Vallée sold the show as a pilot to NBC . Vallée and Byrd also worked on a proposed radio show based on

4182-488: The innovative arrangements he wrote for his band attracted attention from a rapidly increasing number of listeners, especially from young women. In 1928 he started performing on the radio, first at New York station WABC, leading his Yale Collegians Orchestra, and then on WEAF and the NBC Red Network beginning in February 1929. He became one of the first crooners . Singers needed strong voices to fill theaters in

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4264-481: The last episode (aired in April 1960) he is more subtle, and melancholy. His contributions are generally low-key (with the exception of the 'Berle' episode). Fred and Ethel are featured in fewer plot themes after the move to Connecticut, although Ethel does help Lucy carry out her schemes. Although noted in I Love Lucy as the main reason they were able to afford moving to Connecticut, the joint Ricardo-Mertz egg business

4346-557: The last time its characters: Fred, Ethel, Little Ricky, Ricky and Lucy would ever be seen. Adams commented that Ball's emotions were up and down the entire week of rehearsals and that she had commented to Kovacs how harshly Ball was treating her. Kovacs passed that along to Arnaz who took Adams aside and explained to her that Lucy was under a lot of pressure and was not feeling very good. And that she should just be herself and not let Ball push her around. She took his advice and things between them were fine. Kovacs never commented publicly about

4428-521: The late 1930s and 1940s, and by the time he began working with Preston Sturges in the 1940s, he had become a successful comedic supporting player. He appeared opposite Claudette Colbert in Sturges's classic 1942 screwball comedy The Palm Beach Story . Other films in which he appeared include I Remember Mama , Unfaithfully Yours and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer . In 1955, Vallée

4510-482: The latter 1930s. His last hit record was a reissue of " As Time Goes By ", popularized in the 1942 film Casablanca . Due to the 1942-44 AFM recording ban , RCA Victor reissued the version he had recorded in 1931. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard to help direct the 11th district Coast Guard band as a chief petty officer . He was promoted to lieutenant and led

4592-443: The new hour-long show, Desi Arnaz wanted to keep the famous I Love Lucy theme composed by Eliot Daniel , but with some changes. The task of updating the theme fell to music arranger Frank Comstock , who kept most of the theme (like the harp "hits") similar, but added were more syncopation and flourishes, as well as a few "punch" notes. Even though Wilbur Hatch was still musical conductor, studio musicians were employed to record

4674-413: The ninth-season premiere, "Milton Berle Hides Out at The Ricardos", a live audience was brought in for some of the scenes to give a sense of timing). In the penultimate episode of the series, titled "The Ricardos Go to Japan", Lucy was red-eyed due to her crying during the arguments between herself and Desi (although not seen on-screen due to the show being filmed in black and white). While in production of

4756-540: The number-one independent production company, until Ball sold it to Gulf and Western Industries (then the parent company of Paramount Pictures ) in 1968. Ball and Arnaz jointly owned the majority stake in Desilu from its inception until 1962, when Ball bought out Arnaz and ran the company by herself for several years. Ball had succeeded in making Desilu profitable again by 1968, when she sold her shares of Desilu to Gulf+Western for $ 17 million (valued at $ 155 million in 2023). Gulf+Western then transformed Desilu into

4838-411: The only black and white series aired that year, after which it, and I Love Lucy , went into syndication . Arnaz was often questioned why he changed the format of I Love Lucy , a weekly, 30-minute program produced at 25 new episodes a season very successfully, to the Comedy Hour format of one-hour specials shown weeks or months apart. He noted at the time: "You've got to change in this business. Lucy

4920-573: The program in the original one-hour format during the summer of 2012. The Decades Channel ran a weekend binge marathon of Lucy-Desi in August 2015 and again in August 2021. With 13 episodes produced and broadcast during its 3-year run the series was released as one DVD box collection separate from the I Love Lucy sets. The show is briefly memorialized in the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New York . With

5002-403: The project was abandoned. After selling Desilu, Ball established her own new production company, Lucille Ball Productions (LBP), in 1968. The company went to work on her new series Here's Lucy that year. The program ran until 1974 and enjoyed several years of ratings success. Ball returned to network television in 1986 with the short-lived Life with Lucy . It lasted eight episodes before it

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5084-781: The public would enjoy them and their potential for long-term success. This led to continued profits from the programs through reruns , which would recover their high development and production costs. Even decades after the absorption of Desilu Productions and the production end of all original series Desilu approved for development, some series have achieved enduring success and, in some cases, redevelopment into feature-length movie franchises in their own right. Examples are The Untouchables , Star Trek and Mission Impossible . Much of Desilu Productions' early success can be traced to Arnaz's unusual business style in his role as producer of I Love Lucy . For example, lacking formal business training, he knew nothing of amortization and often included all

5166-399: The radio's delicate ear a stream of mellifluous melody. He appears to be coaxing, pleading and at the same time adoring the invisible one to whom his song is attuned. Vallée had his share of detractors as well as fans when his popularity was at its height. Radio Revue, a radio fan magazine , held a contest in which people wrote letters explaining his success. The winning letter, written by

5248-462: The script required them to act. Filmed on March 3, 1960, Ball started divorce proceedings the next day. In the final episode, Edie Adams chose to sing "That's All", later commenting that she personally chose the song, unaware of Ball and Arnaz marital problems or their pending divorce. Adams and her husband, the avant garde comedian Ernie Kovacs , guested starred on what turned out to be the final new episode ever made of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour and

5330-477: The season 4 I Love Lucy episode "The Hedda Hopper Story." Arnaz believed the use of celebrity stars would allow him to demand higher fees, take some pressure off himself portraying Ricky Ricardo, and keep the "Lucy" concept fresh by encouraging continued ratings success. Although done during the last season of I Love Lucy , the move to Connecticut allowed the writers to expand possible script ideas as they had "used up every conceivable story line that could be set in

5412-416: The series because of the cast, which remained intact from the original. The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour is occasionally seen on nostalgia outlets like TV Land in its original hour-long format, or in edited thirty-minute installments (beginning in 1987) as We Love Lucy and run directly after the sixth season of I Love Lucy the additional "episodes" broadcast as a 7th season of I Love Lucy . Me-TV broadcast

5494-482: The show's first few years, Desilu rented space at General Service Studios (now the Sunset Las Palmas Studios ) at Santa Monica Boulevard and North Las Palmas Avenue. They used Stage Two, which was named Desilu Playhouse. Later, a special entrance was added at 6633 Romaine Street, on the south side of the lot, to allow direct access to it. Ball's contribution was more on the artistic side. She

5576-801: The television broadcast. Through the use of film-studio production techniques, the content and quality of Desilu productions displayed a high standard relative to peers in television of the 1950s and '60s. Moreover, they were readily adaptable to both comedy and drama formats and were able to handle special effects or feature interior or exterior sets and locations with equal ease. Some of these programs were created and owned by Desilu; others were other production companies' programs that Desilu filmed or to which Desilu rented production space. 34°05′23″N 118°20′05″W  /  34.089777°N 118.334722°W  / 34.089777; -118.334722 Rudy Vallee Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée ,

5658-474: The television production arm of Paramount Pictures , rebranding the company as the original Paramount Television . Desilu's entire library is owned by Paramount Global through two of its subsidiaries. The CBS unit owns all Desilu properties that were produced and concluded before 1960, which were sold to CBS by Desilu itself. Its CBS Studios unit owns the rights to everything Desilu produced after 1960 as successor in interest to Paramount Television. There

5740-595: The theme, as the Desi Arnaz Orchestra had been disbanded. Most, if not all, end credit music themes on each episode have been edited for time in the syndicated versions of the series. However, in 2018 a fan uploaded to YouTube a complete theme song, reconstructed from the different episodes. Jerry Thorpe directed ten, and Desi Arnaz three, of the Comedy Hour episodes. Ball, Arnaz, Vance, Frawley, and Keith appeared in all thirteen episodes. CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment ) released

5822-476: The tiny New York apartment." Not noted publicly at the time, Arnaz was suffering serious health problems, and was ordered by doctors to cut back on his work and acting schedule. When he entered into negotiations with CBS, for a seventh season of I Love Lucy , Arnaz insisted Desilu be allowed to change to the hour format and a monthly production schedule. CBS president William S. Paley would have sued Desilu had Arnaz's health not been an issue but instead agreed to

5904-425: The weekly half-hour. But this time (1957) I made up my mind." Keeping the main plot line of the I Love Lucy program allowed Comedy Hour to retain the main cast. It also allowed Arnaz to drop any hint of continuity by releasing all of the I Love Lucy characters and substituting them with celebrity guest stars. That concept, which proved so successful during the program's Hollywood episodes in seasons 4 & 5,

5986-683: Was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York City to national popularity as a " crooner ". Vallėe was born in Island Pond, Vermont on July 28, 1901, the son of Catherine Lynch and Charles Alphonse Vallée. His maternal grandparents were English and Irish, while his paternal grandparents were French Canadians from Quebec . He grew up in Westbrook, Maine . On March 29, 1917, he enlisted in

6068-483: Was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball . The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy , The Lucy Show , Mannix , The Untouchables , Mission: Impossible and Star Trek . Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA 's Revue Studios , until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained

6150-511: Was back on the standard Victor label. He remained with RCA Victor until signing with ARC in 1936. ARC issued his records on the Perfect , Melotone , Conqueror and Romeo labels until 1937, when he again returned to RCA Victor. With his group the Connecticut Yankees, Vallée's best-known recordings include " The Stein Song " (a.k.a. University of Maine school song) in 1929 and "Vieni, Vieni" in

6232-472: Was cancelled—a first for Ball—because of poor ratings. LBP continues to exist, and its primary purpose is residual sales of license rights for Here's Lucy . Desilu-Paramount TV's holdings are owned by Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS), the owner of the pre-1960s shows. Desilu Productions Inc. was reincorporated in Delaware in 1967, by Paramount Pictures and still exists as a legal entity. Desilu Too LLC

6314-645: Was featured in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes , co-starring Jane Russell , Alan Young , and Jeanne Crain . The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the Anita Loos novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes . Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris for

6396-652: Was happy with the reduction which gave him more time to attend to his other interests. New friends from the I Love Lucy Connecticut episodes, the Ramseys (or the Mortons), were not in the Comedy Hour cast and are mentioned twice, each as babysitters for Little Ricky. Besides the Mertzes the only character from I Love Lucy to appear on the Comedy Hour were Lucy's mother (who appeared briefly in "The Ricardos Go to Japan"). The first hour had Hedda Hopper in "Lucy Takes

6478-528: Was later created by Lucie Arnaz mostly as a licensee for I Love Lucy -related merchandise. Desilu Too also partners with MPI Home Video and Lucille Ball Productions (formed by Ball and second husband Gary Morton ) on the video releases of Here's Lucy and other material Ball and Arnaz made independently of each other. Desilu Too officials have worked with MPI Home Video for the home video reissue of The Mothers-In-Law . Paramount Home Entertainment (through CBS DVD ) continues to hold DVD distribution rights to

6560-624: Was renamed Paramount Television, and the former RKO main lot on Gower Street was absorbed into the adjacent Paramount lot. The old RKO globe logo is still in place. The company is now called CBS Studios (formerly CBS Television Studios). Perfect Film purchased Desilu Studios' other lot in Culver City in 1968. Arnaz left television production for a few years but returned in 1966 when he formed his own company, Desi Arnaz Productions, based at Desilu. Desi Arnaz Productions, along with United Artists Television , co-produced The Mothers-in-Law for

6642-414: Was skilled at proposing new programs that were popular to broad audiences and successful in both their original broadcasts and syndication reruns. Before starring in I Love Lucy, she starred in many B movies , and had a good idea of what television audiences wanted. She approved original production concepts (such as The Untouchables and Star Trek ) for development into broadcast series, assessing how

6724-404: Was what Arnaz had in mind when he commented "you can't stand still." Except for the main characters (still played by Ball, Arnaz, Vance, Frawley, and Thibodeaux) one character from I Love Lucy appeared on Comedy Hour : Lucy's mother Mrs. McGillicuddy as Little Ricky's babysitter, in "The Ricardos Go to Japan"; columnist Hedda Hopper played herself in "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" as she had in

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