CBS to air loony Lucy episodes: 1 rare, 1 classic
Here’s the perfect opportunity for boomers to round up those grandkids spoiled by modern computer-generated special effects and video games and show them what was really funny when you were their age.
It’s a teachable moment. Go forth and teach.
The I Love Lucy Christmas Special, featuring two backto-back episodes of the classic 1950s series, will be broadcast at 7 p.m. today on CBS. They are the rarely seen “Christmas Episode” (Dec. 24, 1956) and the newly colorized “Job Switching” (Sept. 15, 1952), also known as the “Chocolate Factory” episode.
The latter is frequently cited as the funniest episode in all the I Love Lucy playbook. Others claim “Lucy’s Italian Movie,” where Lucy stomps a vat of grapes, is No. 1. That episode was in last year’s CBS special.
As a bonus, this year’s offering includes never-before-broadcast footage from the I Love Lucy costume and makeup tests filmed just days before the first Lucy episode went into production in 1951.
Tonight’s episodes star Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as the Ricardos’ friends and landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz.
“The Christmas Episode” finds the Ricardos and Mertzes decorating Lucy and Ricky’s Christmas tree and reminiscing about how their lives have changed since the arrival of Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux). Black-andwhite flashbacks recall the night Lucy tells Ricky she is pregnant; the time Lucy shows up unexpectedly as part of a barbershop quartet; and the day Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse taking Lucy to the maternity ward.
In “Job Switching,” a squabble over the value of money results in the Ricardos and Mertzes all changing roles: Ricky and Fred try their hand at housekeeping (they fail miserably), while Lucy and Ethel go to work in a chocolate factory (they fail miserably).
The episode was the first one of Season 2 and originally aired on Sept. 15, 1952. It was an instant classic and the scene with Lucy and Ethel trying to keep up with a speeding conveyor belt full of chocolates was selected by the Paley Center for Media as the funniest TV moment of all time.
Aside: For my money, TV’s funniest moment was the final scene of Newhart on May 21, 1990. That was when Bob Newhart woke up in bed, turned to his wife and said, “Honey, wake up. You won’t believe the dream I just had.”
Instead of Mary Frann as Newhart’s Joanna Loudon, the wife was Suzanne Pleshette, who played Newhart’s wife, Emily Hartley, in his previous sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78). It was a genius dream ending and 30 million viewers were caught
totally by surprise.
The Librarians. TNT ventures once again into the secret, thrill-packed lives of librarians. It’s also a lot of fun. The two-episode premiere of The Librarians airs at 7 p.m. today and stars several familiar faces.
The Librarians deals with an ancient clandestine organization hidden beneath the Metropolitan Public Library and dedicated to protecting a clueless world from the secret, magical reality hidden all around.
The newly recruited librarians solve mysteries, fight supernatural threats and recover powerful artifacts, including the Ark of the Covenant, the Spear of Destiny and Excalibur. Here’s the crew.
Rebecca Romijn ( X-Men) plays Eve Baird, a counter-terrorism expert and the library’s guardian.
Christian Kane ( Leverage) is Jacob Stone, an art, architecture and history genius (IQ 190) who was targeted for assassination by the immortal Dulaque (Matt Frewer) and his evil Serpent Brotherhood.
Lindy Booth ( October Road) portrays Cassandra Cillian, who has the ability to link all five senses to her memory.
John Kim ( The Pacific) is Ezekiel Jones, a master thief who can get the librarians out of tight jams.
John Larroquette ( Night Court) plays Jenkins, the reclusive caretaker of the library’s sleepy little annex in Portland, Ore.
Tonight’s episodes: “And the Crown of King Arthur,” “And the Sword in the Stone.” Season 1 is set for 10 episodes.
Hallmark Channel. One Christmas Eve at 7 p.m. today stars Anne Heche as a recently divorced mom who wants her two kids’ first Christmas “without dad” to be perfect. An entertaining but unfortunate series of Christmas Eve mishaps (puppies, the ER) ensures that won’t happen — unless “perfect” means the family has its most memorable and heartwarming Christmas ever.
Poirot! Fans of the Belgian super sleuth Hercule Poirot are in for a treat. The special Being Poirot, hosted by Stanley Tucci, airs at 7 p.m. today on AETN, followed by Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Curtain at 9. It’s Poirot’s final case.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com