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Here's Lucy
Created by	Bob O'Brien Milt Josefsberg
Starring	Lucille Ball Gale Gordon Lucie Arnaz Desi Arnaz, Jr. Mary Jane Croft
Theme music composer	Wilbur Hatch
Composers	Wilbur Hatch (1968-1969) Marl Young (1969-1974)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	144
Production
Executive producer	Gary Morton
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Production companies	Lucille Ball Productions (in association with Paramount Television, 1968-1969)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 23, 1968 – March 18, 1974

Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.

Background

Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous (1967–68) season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings (at #2), Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create a new show, as she had just sold Desilu Productions (which owned and produced The Lucy Show), to Gulf + Western. Ball did not wish to continue to star in a show that she no longer owned. Here's Lucy was produced by Ball's newly created production company, Lucille Ball Productions. Desilu's successor Paramount Television (PTV) co-produced the first season, but sold its stake in the show to Ball afterwards.

Premise

The program's premise changed from The Lucy Show. Ball's character lived in Los Angeles and was named Lucy Carter. In this new incarnation, she had two children named Kim and Craig, played by her real life children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. She was employed at 'Carter's Unique Employment Agency' by her brother-in-law Harry, played by Gale Gordon in a role similar to his Mr. Mooney role from The Lucy Show. Mary Jane Croft, who had costarred on the last three seasons of The Lucy Show, also became a regular on the new series, and Ball's longtime costar Vivian Vance also made numerous guest appearances as Vivian Jones through the series's run. The series was created by Milt Josefsberg and Bob O'Brien in 1968. They wanted to comically present the "generation gap" struggle between a working mother and her two increasingly independent teenagers. They wanted change this time around and to escape the shows for which Lucy had previously been so well known. They touched upon current events (civil rights, music, the sexual revolution).

Guest stars and notable episodes

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor guest star in a storyline involving their famous diamond, which becomes stuck on Lucy's finger. Ball and Burton reportedly did not get along, as he found Ball's rigid perfectionism grating and he subsequently wrote about her in extremely unflattering terms in his memoir. Another noteworthy episode was "Lucy Visits Jack Benny." In addition to Jack Benny appearing, Jackie Gleason made a surprise cameo reprising his role of bus driver Ralph Kramden. During its run, Here's Lucy featured a number of famous guest stars, many of whom were Ball's real life friends, often playing themselves (as had also been the case during the final three years of The Lucy Show). Among the stars, Ann-Margret, Milton Berle, Dean Martin, George Burns, Carol Burnett, Johnny Carson, Petula Clark, Vincent Price, Tony Randall, Buddy Rich, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Joe Namath, O.J. Simpson, Danny Thomas, Joan Rivers, Lawrence Welk, Flip Wilson, Donny Osmond, Herbie Faye, Helen Hayes, Totie Fields, Eva Gabor, and Shelley Winters all appeared during the run of the show. In addition, Lucille Ball appeared as herself (in an episode in which Lucy Carter enters a Lucille Ball look-alike contest; the episode, designed to cross-promote Ball's then current film Mame, featured then fairly new technology, enabling Ball to appear on screen with herself).

In 1972, Ball suffered a leg fracture in a skiing accident and as a result, spent much of the 1972–73 season in a full-leg cast. (This was written into the show, with the Lucy Carter character also breaking her leg.) The "slapstick" was toned down for the remainder of the series, given Ball's decreased ability to perform physical comedy as a result of her injury. According to Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, author of The Lucy Book, this was the point where the "Lucy" character was "finally allowed to age." Ball's reduced capacity for physical comedy gave the other members of the cast, like Lucie Arnaz, and featured players Mary Jane Croft, and Vanda Barra a chance to shine.

In the spring of 1973, Here's Lucy had fallen to #15 in the Nielsens - the first time that a series starring Lucille Ball had fallen out of the top 10. Ball then decided that her fifth season would be her last. A final episode was filmed with Gale Gordon without a studio audience. In that installment, Harry's business was sold and he and Lucy reminisced together (using flashbacks) about their various adventures together. At the end of the episode, they both leave the office. Lucy then leaves a sign that says "closed temporarily", then she looks at the camera and winks. At the last minute, CBS president Fred Silverman convinced Ball to change her mind and return for a sixth season.

Closedown

Here's Lucy ceased production at the end of the 1973–74 season, thus ending nearly 23 years of Ball appearing regularly on television. Though it was widely reported at the time that it was Ball's decision not to continue (as she wanted to pursue other projects), a number of sources through the years have stated that it was CBS that chose not to renew the series for the following season. The ratings had fallen, though Here's Lucy did still finish in the top thirty in the spring of 1974. (The network was also in the process of reinventing its image, having already replaced much of their old guard television product with more contemporary fare like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show, and M*A*S*H; Ball was the last performer from TV's classic age who still had a weekly series at the beginning of 1974.)

Nielsen ratings

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Here's Lucy struggled to become as popular as Ball's previous series The Lucy Show and I Love Lucy. Where, I Love Lucy never ranked out of the top 5 programs, and The Lucy Show ranked in the top 5, in 4 of its 6 seasons, Here's Lucy only once ranked in the top 5: which happened to be season 3; finishing in the 3rd spot. During the show's last two seasons, ratings were extremely low, especially for a "Ball show". After ending in the 29th spot at the end of season 6, the series was cancelled. This proved to be the first Ball show which was cancelled due to declining ratings. Ball herself tried to save the show, but producers saw that ratings wouldn't recover for a show already on the air for six years. NOTE: The highest average rating for the series is in bold text.

Syndication and rights issues

Not initially offered in syndication when the series ended in 1974, CBS Daytime reran the series from May 2 to November 4, 1977. By 1982, Here's Lucy was finally put into broadcast syndication first by Telepictures, and in turn the rights were later transferred to Warner Bros. Television Distribution (which acquired Telepictures' holdings). The show was also one of the first shows aired on the PAX Network in 1998. Warner Bros. TV remains the distribution rights holder for all media except home video.

The programme was shown in Britain by the BBC fairly soon after it was made, on the Saturday tea-time slot, but it has not often been shown since then. It has been currently seen in Australia on the Go! channel since 31 May 2010. For many years prior to that on Australian television, the show was originally distributed by a syndicator called Pacific Telecasters Pty. Ltd before being later transferred to Warner Bros. Television. It was a perennial favorite seen on the Nine Network and lastly in 1992 on ABC Television. Prior to Go!, the show originally screened on the Ovation Channel.

DVD releases

On August 17, 2004, Shout! Factory released Here's Lucy: Best Loved Episodes from the Hit Television Series. The 4-disc set features 24 episodes from the series as well as several bonus features. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print as Shout! Factory no longer has the distribution rights.

MPI Home Video (under license from the copyright holders, "Desilu, Too", and Lucille Ball Productions, Inc.) has released the first five seasons of on DVD in Region 1. Season 5 was released on February 28, 2012.

In Region 4, Madman Entertainment has released the first four seasons on DVD in Australia.

References

1. Lucille Ball Here's Lucy
2. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Heres-Lucy-Season-5/16308
3. http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/808186
4. http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/810933
5. http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/814661
6. http://www.cdwow.com.au/DVD/heres-lucy-season-4-complete/dp/20471619

External links

• Here's Lucy at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• TVShowsonDVD.com – Here's Lucy DVD news articles
• Here's Lucy Episode Guide
• The Lucy Lounge
• The Gale Gordon Archive

• Use mdy dates from September 2010
• CBS network shows
• American television sitcoms
• 1960s American television series
• 1970s American television series
• Television series by Warner Bros. Television
• Television shows set in California
• 1968 television series debuts
• 1974 television series endings