November 15, 1952
Producer
and Director Ralph
Levy
Choreography
by Donald
Saddler
Written
by
George Balzer, Al Schwartz, Si Rose, Hugh Wedlock, Howard Snyder, and
the writers of the CBS shows represented.
The
closing credits indicate that the stars’ dialogue was written by the
writers of their own shows.
THE CBS SHOW AND STARS
“I
Love Lucy” (1951-57)
-
Lucille Ball (Herself / Lucy Ricardo)
- Desi
Arnaz
(Himself / Ricky Ricardo) - William
Frawley
(Himself / Fred Mertz) - Vivian
Vance
(Herself / Ethel Mertz)
“The
Jack Benny Program” (1950-65)
- Jack
Benny (Himself)
would have Lucille Ball as a guest star on his program in 1962 and
1964. Benny appeared on three episodes of “The Lucy Show” and
three episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” - Eddie
‘Rochester’ Anderson
(Himself / Rochester Van Jones) was Jack Benny’s valet and sidekick
first on radio and then on television. He co-starred with Lucille
Ball on two Jack Benny specials in 1969 and 1970.
“The
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” (1950-58)
- George
Burns
(Himself) was
a
good friend of both Jack Benny and Bob Hope. Consequently, he
co-starred with Lucille Ball on many of their specials. He also
played himself on an episode of “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s
Lucy.” - Gracie
Allen
(Herself), wife and co-star of George Burns.
“The
Amos ‘n’ Andy Show” (1951-56)
- Tim
Moore
(Kingfish) - Alvin
Childress (Amos) - Spencer
Williams
(Andy)
“Meet
Millie” (1952-55)
- Ellen
Verdugo
(Millie Bronson) - Florence
Halop
(Mama Bronson) played one of the women on a party line during an
episode of “I Love Lucy” (S2;E8) first aired nine days after
this special. In 1974 she did an episode of “Here’s Lucy.” She
is best remembered as Mrs. Hufnagel on “St. Elsewhere” and the
Bailiff on “Night Court.” - Marvin
Kaplan
(Alfred Prinzmetal)
“Life
With Luigi” (1952)
- J.
Carrol Naish (Luigi)
did a 1958 episode of “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse” hosted
by Desi Arnaz. - Alan
Reed (Pasquale)
played a cafe owner in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show” but is
probably best remembered as the voice of Fred Flintstone. - Jody
Gilbert
(Rosa) appeared on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy” both
times as a prison matron!
“My
Friend Irma” (1952-54)
- Cathy
Lewis
(Herself) - Marie
Wilson (Herself)
“Our
Miss Brooks” (1952-56)
- Eve
Arden
(Herself) had starred with Lucille Ball in the films Stage Door
(1937) and Having Wonderful Time (1938). She did a one-line cameo as
herself on “I Love Lucy” in “Hollywood at Last!” (S4;E16). - Gale
Gordon
(Hubble Robertson) had partnered with Lucille Ball on CBS Radio’s
“My Favorite Husband” but was not available when Lucy and Desi
were casting Fred Mertz. Earlier in 1952 he did a two-episode
appearance on “I Love Lucy” as Tropicana boss Alvin Littlefield.
Gordon joined Ball for the second season of “The Lucy Show” and
from then on was her comic foil for the rest of her career.
Bob
Sweeney
(Harry S. Ackerman) was then starring in “I Married Joan”
(1952-53).
Alan
Young
(Himself) was then starring in “The Alan Young Show” (1950-53)
but is probably best remembered for playing Wilbur in “Mr. Ed.”
Art
Linkletter
(Himself) was the host of “House Party” which featured the
segment “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” Lucille Ball guest-starred on “House Party” in 1965.
Liza
Beatrice West
(Herself) was Eve Arden’s adopted daughter. She was seven years old
during this telecast.
Stephen
Crosby (Himself)
was Bob Crosby’s son, and the nephew of Bing Crosby.
Bob
Crosby (Himself)
was the younger brother of Bing Crosby. He had appeared with Gisele
MacKenzie on “Cavalade of Stars” as well as “The Jack Benny
Program.”
Gisele
MacKenzie (Herself)
was
a violinist and singer, and frequently did duets with her lifelong
friend Jack Benny on his programs.
Cass
Daley
(Herself)
Margaret
Whiting (Herself)
The
Sportsmen Quartet
(Themselves) was a Barbershop Quartet. They were: Bill Days, Max
Smith, Mart Sperzel, and Gurney Bell. They began appearances in 1938
and are most remembered for their thirty-two appearances on “The
Jack Benny Program” from 1950 to 1961. Their final television
appearance was on “The Joey Bishop Show” in 1963.
Fletcher
Bowron,
Mayor of Los Angeles (Himself) was elected mayor in 1938 and would
only serve one more
year after this telecast. He
played himself on a 1953 episode of “The
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show”
titled “The
Tax Refund.”
Earl
Warren,
Governor
of California (Himself) was
the nominee of the Republican
Party
for Vice
President
in 1948,
as the running mate of Thomas
E. Dewey.
A year after this telecast he was appointed the 14th Chief Justice of the United States. He was chair what became known as
the Warren
Commission,
which was formed to investigate the 1963 assassination
of President John F. Kennedy.
Jack
Von Volkenberg,
President of CBS Television (Himself)
The
title refers to the (then) newly created Columbia Broadcasting System
logo: The
CBS
Eye.
Still in use today, it is one of the best-known and most highly
regarded corporate trademarks. It was created by William Golden based
on a Pennsylvania
Dutch
hex
sign
as
well as a Shaker
drawing.
Early versions of the logo had the lens telescope to reveal the
acronym. It was often depicted against a field of clouds. The new
logo made its broadcast debut on October 20, 1951, five days after
the premiere of their mega-hit “I Love Lucy.” In 2015, the logo
was the subject of a museum exhibit: “Revolution
of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television” at
The Jewish Museum in New York City.
On
June 2, 1952, Lucille Ball and Mayor Bowron participated in a
ceremony to turn on the electricity at the yet-unfinished site.
CBS
Television City officially opened on November 16, 1952. On
the previous Monday (November 10, 1952) “I Love Lucy” aired “The
Courtroom” (S2;E7).
Television City was built on the site of a former football field and race track,
Gilmore
Stadium, which was the home of a minor league baseball team called
The Hollywood Stars, a rival of the Los Angeles Angels. During “In
Palm Springs” (ILL S4;E26, above) Fred
Mertz bemoans that the rain has caused him to miss “the Hollywood
Stars.” Before the team could make plans to relocate, the Brooklyn
Dodgers confirmed their long-rumored move to Los Angeles. The Stars
were sold to Salt Lake City, becoming the Salt Lake Bees in 1958.
During
the opening credits of many of the shows taped here, a voice-over
announced the phrase “from
Television City in Hollywood”.
This
program was broadcast live, but the “I Love Lucy” segments were
pre-filmed because Lucille Ball was seven months pregnant with her
son, Desi Jr., at the time.
A
kinescope of the program can be found on the DVD set The
Best of Johnny Carson and Friends.
The
nominal plot of “Stars in the Eye” revolves around the
making of special itself, and the fact that Jack Benny, having
fronted the money for the television center, wants to take over its
production.
THE TELECAST
The
broadcast opens with the stars of the now rarely-seen television
version of “Amos
‘n’ Andy”
on an airplane headed to the opening of CBS Television City. Learning
that they are flying 15,000 feet in the “stradivarius” Kingfish
tries to sell Andy an insurance policy.
The
scene shifts to inside Television City, where CBS Vice President
Harry
Ackerman
(Bob Sweeney) is meeting with VP in charge of programs Hubble
Robertson
(Gale Gordon). Harry Ackerman
(1912-91)
was a real-life CBS employee who stayed with the network until 1958
before forming his own production company. Although not an actor, the
real Harry Ackerman did a cameo on the “I Love Lucy” episode “The
Audition” (S1;E6) in November 1951. Hubble Robertson was also the
name of a real CBS executive. He left the network before the infamous
quiz show scandals of 1959.
Ackerman
gets a phone call from Mr. Paley, who was the CEO of CBS. Paley tells
Ackerman and Hubble to handle the situation with Jack Benny, who
wants to take over the entire broadcast. In 1976, Paley opened “CBS
Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years” with a personal tribute. An angry Cass
Daley
barges into the office.
Daley:
“It’s
the wardrobe department! I wanted to look like Marilyn Monroe. Just
look! [plops a wig on her head] I look like President Monroe!”
After
Daley is escorted out, Alan
Young,
now working for the CBS Electrics Department, comes in to check the
office’s television set. With a huge eyedropper, he applies Murine to
the set’s CBS eye, which starts to blink and roll in response. After
Young leaves, all the phones start ringing with complaints.
On
a soundstage, Cass Daley sings “Together”
written in 1928 by Lew Brown, B.G. De Sylva, and Ray Henderson.
Back
in the office, Harry Ackerman tells Hubble Robertson that Jack Von
Volkenberg is coming in from the East. He was the very first
President of CBS Television. Alan Young returns, now working for the
props department, looking for a vase. When he turns his back to
leave, his coveralls says NBC.
Robertson:
“First
they send us their old comedians, now their old uniforms.”
Jack
Benny and Rochester are discovered in Benny’s living room. Benny is
on the phone to his wife, Mary. Benny says he is going to finish the
show by singing his new song, then proceeds to sing a bit of it for
Mary, only interrupted by her taking an Alka Seltzer. In
1952, searching for gimmicks for the Benny program, writer Sam Perrin
suggested that Jack write a song, and then try, week after week, to
make it a hit. The song was a suitably terrible ballad, “When
You Say `I Beg Your Pardon’, Then I’ll Come Back to You.”
This led to a succession of programs where various reluctant star
vocalists were urged to sing it. Alka
Seltzer
was a frequent sponsor of Benny’s television and radio programs.
Desi
Arnaz comes over in the company of his lawyer (Jose Gizzler, who only
speaks Spanish) and his projectionist (Jess, a nod to “I Love Lucy”
head writer Jess Oppenheimer) to announce he is suing Benny for
lousing up filming of “I
Love Lucy.”
Jess sets up a screen and projector so Benny can see the havoc he
wrought on their set. What follows is a filmed segment of Lucy, Desi,
Vivian, and Bill rehearsing scenes on the “I Love Lucy” sets,
then filmed at General Service Studios.
In
the first clip set at the Tropicana, Jack Benny turns up in a
handlebar mustache as the waiter to find out if they’ll be on this
special. His mustache flies off and lands on Ethel / Vivian’s plate
where Fred / Bill smacks it with a spoon. This scene was shot at the
beginning of October 1952 while they were filming “Lucy is
Enceinte” (ILL S2;E10). It would air three weeks after “Stars in
the Eye” on December 8, 1952.
Vivian
(to Bill Frawley):
“Gee, Jack Benny playing a waiter. Radio really must be —.”
Vivian’s line may have been deliberately cut off to infer an expletive or just to reinforce the choppy nature of the film clips.
In
the Ricardo apartment, Lucy and Desi are rehearsing another scene
when Benny pops up from behind the sofa, still wondering if they’ll
do the show.
In
the Ricardo bathroom, Ricky is getting ready for work. Lucy turns on
the shower for him, not knowing that Benny is hiding inside. He steps
out dripping wet, his hair dye running down his face.
Back
in Benny’s apartment, he tries to convince Desi not to sue, but Desi
mutters something in Spanish that ends with “catastrophic” and
storms out.
Meanwhile,
three of the cast of “Meet
Millie”
(Millie, Mama, and Alfred) visit Mr. Ackerman’s office. The sitcom
was one
of the first series telecast from the CBS Television
City. Although
the voice on the intercom announces them as “the
cast of the Meet Millie Bronson Show”
the actors play their on screen characters, not themselves. Jack
Benny has sent them so that Alfred (who enters eating a banana) can
recite his poem for them.
Ode
to Television City
by
Alfred E. Prinzmetal
Hail
to thee, child of CBS in Hollywood and New York.
Tonight
you were born weighing two million tons.
(Gee, what a strain on
the store.)
I
thrill to you massive structure,
Over
many an acre you spread.
I
love every rock in your garden,
But
I hope there’s no rocks in your head.
So
all hail thee, mighty newborn child,
Whose
body can never be bent,
Because
your spine is made of steel
And
your bottom is stuck in cement.
In
a hallway of Television City, Alan Young is busy gathering props. He
has trouble distinguishing a prop mannequin’s leg from that of a
dancer – who looks like she has three legs. Since we last saw
Young, he has ripped the “NBC” off the back of his coveralls and
written “CBS” on his exposed back.
GOOF:
One of the prop men tells Alan Young to go to the “Luigi” set and
find something in the “Antiques Room” but quickly corrects
himself to say “Antiques Shop.”
“House
Party” host Art
Linkletter
walks on holding the hand of two small children. The boy is Stevie
Crosby
(son of Bob Crosby) and he wants to be a cowboy. The little girl is
named Liza
West
(adopted daughter of Eve Arden). George
Burns
comes on looking for Margaret Whiting.
In
another room, Margaret
Whiting
rehearses “Why
Don’t You Believe Me?”
by Lew
Douglas,
King
Laney,
and Roy
Rodde
and
published in 1952.
George Burns comes by to ask if they could do a duet. He suggests "It
Might as Well Be Spring,”
a
song from the 1945 film,
State
Fair,
with music by Richard
Rodgers
and
lyrics by Oscar
Hammerstein II. It
won the Academy
Award for Best Original Song
that
year.
Whiting had a hit with the song which charted at #6. When Burns asks
if she knows it, she replies dryly “I’ll
fake it.”
Whiting asks the Sportsmen
Quartet
to join them. Every time Burns opens his mouth to sing, the Sportsmen
sing over him. This same comedy routine was used on “I Love Lucy”
when Lucy played Camille, snaggle-toothed queen of the Gypsies in
“The Pleasant Peasant.”
“My
Friend Irma”
star Cathy
Lewis
is looking for co-star Marie
Wilson,
who pops out of a phone booth, thinking it is a small dressing room,
but at least it has a telephone.
GOOF!
Cathy Lewis drops her lipstick. Marie Wilson picks it up saying “I’ll
get it.”
Wilson
(to
viewers): “Well,
what can you expect from a girl who goes to night school to study
trigonometry because she wants to learn all about Roy Rogers’ horse?
You see, that’s my friend Irma!”
In
the street, Jack Benny’s dilapidated Maxwell car breaks down with
Rochester driving. Eve
Arden
hitches a ride to the studio when the Mayor of Los Angeles, Fletcher
Bowron,
walks by having run out of gas. He gives a brief history of the site
of Television City, telling Benny there was an oil field there at one
time, something that piques Benny’s interest. When the car refuses to start, Benny and Bowron end up pushing
it!
Bob
Crosby and
Gisele
MacKenzie
are discovered in their shared dressing room (one of 49 at Television
City) rehearsing their duet “Two
To Tango”
by
Al
Hoffman
and
Dick
Manning,
first published in 1952.
Fade to the soundstage, where the number is being danced by couples
throughout history in various musical styles.
Alan
Young finally arrives at the “Life
With Luigi”
set to find the vase. Luigi (J.
Carrol Naish) is
wearing an oversized tailcoat because he’s been invited to the
Television City delicatessen. Pasquale (Alan
Reed) enters
to inform him that it is a ‘dedication’ not a ‘delicatessen’.
Pasquale’s hefty daughter Rosa (Jody
Gilbert) enters
and flirts with Alan Young.
Pasquale: “What a combination; Young and beautiful! How-a you think she be on a-TV set?”
Luigi: “Rosa canna go on the television set yet-a.”
Pasquale: “Why not?”
Luigi: “Because they no-a have a hundred inch screen.”
The show was popular on radio, but had a short life on television due to pressure from the Italian-American community and returned to radio. The cast featured here was replaced with more ethnically appropriate actors, but it was still canceled within weeks.
“Life
With Luigi” was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in “The
Black Wig” (S3;E26) in 1954.
Fred: “Ethel, why don’t you take off that silly-looking toupee?”
Ethel: “That is the new Italian haircut!”
Fred: “Well on you, it looks like ‘Life With Luigi’.”
In
an official-looking office, California Governor Earl
Warren
is told Mrs. George Burns is there to see him.
Governor
Warren:
“Mrs.
George Burns! I’ve heard her husband sing and I’m not gonna pardon
him.”
Gracie
Allen
arrives to take the Governor to the dedication ceremony. But first,
the Governor ‘rehearses’ his speech. Gracie has some questions
about taxes. While Gracie writes to Washington, the Governor sneaks
out of his own office. Although George and Gracie both appear in this
program, they do not appear in the same scenes.
Jack
Benny stands in front of a model of CBS Television City talking about
the structure, which covers 63,000 square feet. The amount of
concrete used to build the structure could have created a two-lane
highway eight and a half miles long. Robertson and Ackerman
interrupt Benny to tell him that they are returning his money and
getting it elsewhere. An armored car drives up and dumps piles of
cash out the back doors. They tell him to take his money and go. But
first, Jack needs to count it to make sure it is all there.
In
another studio, the cast of the telecast is gathered around the REAL
president of CBS Television, Jack
Von Volkenberg,
who is introduced by Eve Arden. Von Volkenberg thanks the stars and
the viewers while Jack Benny continues to count his money.
This
Date in Lucy History – November 15
“Ricky’s
Screen Test”
(ILL S4;E7) – November 15, 1954
“Lucy
and the Sleeping Beauty”
(TLS S4;E9) – November 15, 1965
“Lucy
and the Celebrities”
(HL S4;E10) – November 15, 1971
“Mother
of the Bride”
(LWL S1;E8) – November 15, 1986
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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