Couple in running to win 'Lucy' wedding

Reported fm democrat and chroniclee by Meaghan M. McDermott, Staff writer:

As a young girl, Jessica Battaglia relished snuggling in front of the television, watching episodes of I Love Lucy with her mom.

As she grew older, I Love Lucy became a bigger part of the Battaglia family's traditions, when they'd gather together to watch reruns of the long-running CBS series or wholesome comedies starring husband-and-wife team Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Now, Battaglia, 27, hopes I Love Lucy can become an even larger part of her life: she and fiancé Benjamin Bianchi are in the running to win the Lucille Ball Hometown Wedding Giveaway. They are competing in the online contest against four other contestant couples from across the country.

Grand-prize winners in the mediaonebridal.com contest will receive a 1950s-inspired wedding and cocktail reception at the Tropicana Room in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, and a free honeymoon.

Battaglia, a 2001 graduate of Greece Arcadia High School and 2005 St. John Fisher College graduate, said she loves Lucy because the comedy is timeless, Ball's skills with physical comedy are unmatched and the humor is family-friendly.

"It would be a dream come true to win this wedding," said Battaglia. The wedding would be a perfect complement to the extensive collection of I Love Lucy and Lucille Ball memorabilia that fills parts of her Penfield home, and to her tradition of visiting Jamestown for annual Lucy-Desi Festival events. Jamestown is Lucille Ball's hometown, and home to the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center.

Battaglia wouldn't have had even a shot at the dream wedding if not for her fiancé. Although the couple learned of the contest early, they'd let the days slip away from them and it wasn't until late in the morning of the contest deadline that Bianchi remembered they hadn't finished their entry.

"I ran home on lunch and put (the video) together, just on a whim," he said. "I knew she really wanted to win."

He told her on Dec. 15 that he'd submitted the entry and on Dec. 16, they learned their entry was picked for the finals.

"Winning this would really be a memorable experience," said Bianchi, 32.

"It would be something we'll always be able to tell our grandkids. There's nobody else going to have a wedding like that."

The contest winners will be announced around Valentine's Day. The wedding will take place July 30, in honor of what would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday.

How to vote

To cast an online vote for Penfield couple Jessica Battaglia and Benjamin Bianchi in the mediaonebridal.com Lucille Ball Hometown Wedding Giveaway, go to www.lucilleballhometownwedding.com. Voting closes Feb. 11.

Lucille Ball Specials: Happy Anniversary and Goodbye & What Now Catherine Curtis to be Released on DVD by Christmas!

MPI is releasing two of the Lucille Ball Television Specials on December 14, 2010: "Happy Anniversary and Goodbye" and "What Now Catherine Curtis?". These one hour Specials both featured the great Art Carney (from The Honeymooners) with Lucy.

Happy Anniversary And Goodbye directly followed the last episode of Season 6 of Here's Lucy, airing on November 10, 1974. Lucy was paired with Art Carney again, as they had previously played a married couple in the great 1967 Walter Matthau/ Inger Stevens comedy, A Guide For The Married Man. Lucy and Art play Malcom and Norma Michaels who are celebrating their 25 year Wedding Anniversary, and at the same time are losing their only daughter who is getting married. When their daughter marries, they see each other alone for the first time in decades and realize they are very unhappy with what they see and decide to separate. After living apart for awhile, they realize just how much love there actually was between just the two of them. This is just a beautifully acted special and is very touching. Lucy played comedy/drama just as well as comedy. (If you've ever seen Stone Pillow or any of her earlier drama films, you'll know what I mean.) You will also see a very young Arnold Schwarzenegger making his American television debut as Rico, the muscled masseur.

The second special What Now Catherine Curtis?, is divided into 3 Acts. This Special aired on March 30, 1976. The first Act is a Monologue with just Lucy speaking of her life on being divorced after 23 years of marriage. Act 2 titled, First Night, is about how Catherine, now living alone in her own new apartment, is getting ready to embark on a new romance with Art Carney- a widowed carpenter. The last Act 3 is titled First Love. Catherine is confronted with fears of falling in love with a man 14 years younger than herself, played by Joseph Bologna. Lucy is magnificent in these 3 Acts! I think it's because she is playing a part so close to herself! She was faced with fears of being alone after her divorce from Desi and both Desi and Gary Morton are younger than Lucy, so these are fears that Lucy really did deal with in her own personal life. Lucy's performance is priceless!

With these two Specials being released on December 14, 2010, that only leaves 4 more Lucy Specials left to be released on dvd- Lucy In London, Carol Plus Two, Lucy Comes To Nashville and Lucy Moves To NBC!

You can order this directly through the Everything Lucy store!  Your purchase helps support our site and continuing news updates on this blog!  Thanks for your support.  You can also pre-order through the link below as well as order the previous Lucille Ball Specials that were released:

Here's Lucy Season 4 DVD Revealed

MPI Home Video will be releasing the Lucille Ball hit, "Here's Lucy" - Season 4 sometime in the first quarter of 2011. MPI still hasn't formally announced the actual release date yet.

Lucille Ball is joined by her real-life children in her third long-running sitcom. Lucy plays Lucille Carter, widowed mother of teenagers Kim and Craig. Lucy works for her brother-in-law, played by Gale Gordon, who owns Carter's Unique Employment Agency, leading Lucy into endless predicaments and hilarious hijinks.

The complete fourth season of Here's Lucy (1972-72, CBS TV) features all 24 color episodes uncut and digitally remastered for superious quality, plus a wealth of new and never-before-seen special features. Guest starts include Tony Randall, Flip Wilson, Ginger Rogers, Mike Conners, Dinah Shore, Rich Little, Kaye Ballard, Bob Cummings, Helen Hayes, Wally Cox, David Frost, Dan Dalley, Allen Funt and Vivian Vance.

Each Here's Lucy DVD features a treasure-trove of new and previously unseen bonus material, including exclusive featurettes and videotaped introductions by Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr., Gues Stars and Production Personnel. Unreleased Home movies and behind-the-scenes footage.  It also includes "Let's Talk to Lucy", the long-lost radio show where Lucy interviews celebrities.  It also contains bloopers, promos, original commercials and other special footage.

If you don't have Seasons 1 through 3 yet of Here's Lucy, be sure to visit the Everything Lucy Store to purchase your copies!   Or click on the links below:

    

The Lucy Show, Season Three DVD Released Today!

Today, the long awaited Season Three of "The Lucy Show" is being released!

This season's DVD includes a featurette that shows archival news footage of Lucy at the 1964 New York World's Fair during "Lucille Ball Day" there.

The classic comedy, hilariously performed by TV superstar Lucille Ball, playing suburban mom Lucy Carmichael. This season, Lucy squares off again with Theodore J. Mooney (Gale Gordon), the stubborn bank president who controls her finances - but who always manages to fall for Lucy's schemes. Also returning are Lucy's TV family: her partner-in-crime Vivian (Vivian Vance, I Love Lucy), Lucy's daughter Chris (Candy Moore), Lucy's young son Jerry (Jimmy Garrett), and Vivian's son Sherman (Ralph Hart). The Lucy Show is pure gold, confirming Lucille Ball as the queen of TV comedy!

Be sure to visit the Everything Lucy Store to purchase your copy of "The Lucy Show" Season 3 or click on the image above to purchase and show your support for our website and our continued news on Everything Lucy!

If you don't have the previous seasons of "The Lucy Show" - get them at the Everything Lucy Store or click on the links below:

Upcoming Here's Lucy - Season Four DVD and Lucille Ball Specials

MPI will release "Here's Lucy - Season 4" on DVD sometime in the first quarter of 2011 (but that could still possibly move).

Upcoming for December 2010 MPI DVDs for their Lucille Ball line-up will be a double-feature of specials Lucy starred in (both with Art Carney of The Honeymooners) back in 1974 and 1976: "Happy Anniversary and Goodbye" and "What Now, Catherine Curtis?"