October 26, 2008

Lucy Saying Farewell to TVLand at Year's End

All things must come to an end sometime or so they say. TVLand who has played "I Love Lucy" series since time remembered is now going to end the beloved series at the end of the year.

According to SitcomesOnline, I Love Lucy is headed for The Hallmark Channel this January, TV Land has to say goodbye. TV Land says "Bon Voyage" to 2008 and I Love Lucy as they countdown to the New Year with everybody's favorite classic sitcom, I Love Lucy, as the show leaves the network. Spend the day living vicariously through The Ricardos' and The Mertzes' antics, escapades and adventures as we countdown the all-time Top 25 I Love Lucy episodes--voted by you the fans. All throughout the month of December, TV Land gives fans the opportunity to vote which episodes they want to see during Lucy's New Year's Eve Countdown. Customized countdown flags and packaged I Love Lucy vignettes with color commentary will air throughout the stunt as it gains momentum and reaches its zenith with the I Love Lucy episode ranked #1 by the viewers. It was a year to remember and it'll be a TV Land send-off viewers will never forget. Goodbye Lucy!

October 21, 2008

Desi Arnaz Interview on ReRun It

Desi Arnaz was much more than Lucille Ball’s co-star. He was an innovative entertainment industry pioneer who was responsible for creating the multi-camera technique, which introduced the concept of having several cameras shooting the same scene, at the same time, but from different angels. It was revolutionary in the 1950’s and remains a standard in the business today.

Desi Arnaz talks about I Love Lucy, his studio and his innovative camera technique in interviews, exclusively at RerunIt.com.

Segment 1 "The Chemestry"

Segment 2 "Universal Appeal"

Segment 3 "Multi-Camera is Born"

October 10, 2008

Lucille Ball Lighting Up in Library


The New York Public Library is running an exhibit featuring various cigarette advertisements from the last century. Many of the ads make claims that today would be ridiculous if not libelous. one proclaiming "more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette."

The exhibit, titled "Not a Cough in a Carload: Images Used by Tobacco Companies to Hide the Hazards of Smoking," opened Tuesday and will be at the library's Science, Industry and Business branch on Madison Avenue through Dec. 26.

Of course, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had many cigarette sponsors such as Phillip Morris. Lucille Ball even became "The Chesterfield Girl" on billboards when she was a model before her movie and TV career. Lucille Ball became such a fan of Chesterfield cigarettes that years later, during the filming of the "I Love Lucy" series, she put Chesterfield cigarettes in her sponsors' Phillip Morris cigarette boxes in order to smoke her favorite brand without annoying her sponsor.

You can view a few of these cigarette ads in video advertisements from "I Love Lucy" at the Everything Lucy website.

In addition to Lucille Ball, you'll see Santa Claus puffing on a PallMall as well as movie stars, athletes and others, such as Ronald Regan, Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Even cartoon characters such as Flintstones appear in the ads. No one was left out, even children and babies were used as props in the ads.

The curator, Dr. Robert Jackler, said he began collecting tobacco ads when his mother, a longtime smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer. This exhibit is a memorial to her since her death last year.

You can read more about the exhibit from the Associate Press or The New York Times


The New York Public Library is located at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City.