TELEVISION ACADEMY HALL OF FAME

“The
First Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Awards”

March
4, 1984 ~ NBC

Directed
by Dwight Hemion

Written
by Buzz Kohan

This
award’s mission is to recognize “persons who have made
outstanding contributions in the arts, sciences or management of
television,
based upon either cumulative contributions and achievements or a
singular contribution or achievement.”

The
honorees received glass statuettes in the form of two ballet dancers created by sculptor and painter Pascal
called “Discipline of Creation.”
The trophies were tall and difficult to handle so they were not
presented during the course of the ceremony itself. 

With that in
mind, since 1988, inductees have received a crystal television screen
atop a cast-bronze base designed by art director Romain Johnston.

Being
the first such telecast, the rating were poor. The special lost not
only its time slot but the entire evening with just a 16 share and a
10 rating. ABC’s TV remake of A
Streetcar Named Desire
won the night with a 39 share and a 23.1 rating.  

Just as Carol Burnett introduces Lucille Ball in this first ceremony, in 1985 the roles were reversed when Lucy introduced Burnett for the honor. 

Of the other participants in this initial outing,

Steve Allen was honored in 1986, Eric Sevareid in 1987, Barbara
Walters in 1989, Jean Stapleton in 2002, Bea Arthur in 2008, and Sherman Hemsley in 2012.

Although
Lucie Arnaz is announced in the opening credits, she did not appear
in the telecast due to a prior obligation.

Cold
Open Archive Footage

• *Milton
  Berle
  (“Texaco Star Theatre”)
• *Lucille
  Ball
  (“I Love Lucy”: “Lucy Goes to the Hospital”)
• Vivian
  Vance (“I
  Love Lucy”: “Lucy Goes to the Hospital”)
• William
  Frawley
  (“I Love Lucy”: “Lucy Goes to the Hospital”)
• Desi
  Arnaz
  (“I Love Lucy”: “Lucy Goes to the Hospital”)
• Ethel
  Merman
  (“Ford’s 50th Anniversary”)
• Mary
  Martin
  (“Ford’s 50th Anniversary”)
• Rod
  Steiger
  (“Marty”)
• Richard
  M. Nixon
  (Checkers Speech)
• Edward
  R. Murrow (“See
  It Now”)
• Ed
  Sullivan
  (“The Ed Sullivan Show”)
• The
  Beatles
  (“The Ed Sullivan Show”)
• Walter
  Cronkite
  (“CBS Evening News”)
• Carroll
  O’Connor
  (“All in the Family”)
• **Rob
  Reiner
  (“All in the Family”)
• Sally
  Struthers
  (“All in the Family”)
• Jean
  Stapleton
  (“All in the Family”) 
• LeVar
  Burton
  (“Roots”)
• Larry
  Hagman
  (“Dallas”: “Who Shot JR?”)

*also
appeared live on stage

**also
appeared live in audience

Also
in the Audience

• Gary
  Morton
• Ted
  Danson
• Rue
  McClanahan
• Bill
  Macy
• Ann
  Jillian
• Sherman
  Hemsley
• Isabel
  Sanford
• Henry
  Winkler

Honorees
and Hosts

Barbara
Walters
(Ceremony Host)

General
David Sarnoff
(posthumous), hosted by Barbara
Walters

• Sarnoff
  died in 1971 so his award is accepted by his son, Robert Sarnoff.

Lucy
Connection:
Walters interviewed Lucille Ball and Gary Morton in 1977.

Milton
Berle, hosted
by Steve
Allen

• A
  video tribute traces Berle’s career and shows some of his classic
  comedy bits over the years.

Lucy Connection: Berle
and Lucille Ball appeared many times together on his show and hers. Steve Allen interviewed Lucy Whittaker in “Lucy Calls the
President” and was often host and panelist when Lucille Ball was on
“What’s My Line?” and “I’ve Got A Secret.” 

William
Paley,
hosted by James
Arness

• A
  video tribute tracks Paley’s career as a television pioneer to being
  the President of CBS.
• During
  Paley’s video tribute, a still frame from “I Love Lucy” is shown.
• In
  the audience, Paley is sitting behind Lucille Ball.
• Although
  the ceremony was broadcast on ABC TV, there was no attempt to lessen
  mentions of CBS and its programming.  

Lucy
Connection:
Paley also appeared on television to tribute Lucille Ball in “CBS
Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years” in 1976.  

Lucille
Ball,
hosted by Carol
Burnett

The
segment begins with a clip of “Lucy Goes To the Hospital” (ILL
S2;E16) which starts with Lucy announcing: “Ricky.
This is it!” 

After the clip,
Desi Arnaz Jr.
enters and explains how his birth coincided with the birth of Little
Ricky. Desi says that his sister Lucie couldn’t attend because she is
appearing on stage back East in The
Guardsman.
The show was produced at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse also
starring Lucie’s husband Laurence Luckinbill. It was hoped that the
show would transfer to Broadway, but this did not happen. 

Desi Jr.
introduces Carol Burnett. 

A cut-away to Lucille Ball in the audience
reveals that she is holding back tears at her son’s tribute. Gary
Morton sits beside her. Carol tells of how Lucy came to the second
night of Once
Upon A Mattress
on Broadway.  

A video tribute tracks Lucy’s childhood in Jamestown to
her unlikely breakthrough television series “I Love Lucy.” Clips
are from “The Audition” (Lucy as The Professor), “Lucy Does a
Television Commercial” (“It’s so tasty, too!”), “Hollywood at
Last!” (at the Brown Derby), and “Job Switching” (“Speed it
up!”). 

Lucy:
“We
all know we never do anything alone.”

Lucille
Ball gets a standing ovation both walking to the podium and then
again back to her seat. Cuts to the audience, show stars like
Ann Jillian dabbing their eyes at Lucy’s tearful acceptance speech.

Lucy
Connection:
Lucy and Carol Burnett were each others biggest fans. They
alternately appeared on each others television shows, as well as
numerous specials and awards shows.

Paddy
Chayevsky
(posthumous), hosted by Bob
Fosse

• A
  video interview with Chayevsky talks about his producing television
  dramas like “Marty”.
• Eddie
  Albert and
  Peter
  Falk pay
  tribute to Chayevsky by acting out moments from his most notable work
  including Marty,
  The Tenth Man, and
  Network.
• Susie
  Chayevsky could not be there to accept the award for her husband, so
  Fosse reads a message from her.
• Chairman
  of the Academy John H. Mitchell takes the stage to talk about the
  Hall of Fame.

Lucy
Connection:
The following year Fosse and Ball were both part of “Night of 100
Stars II.”

Norman
Lear,
hosted by Beatrice
Arthur

In
a pre-taped segment,
Jean Stapleton
talks about the craft of acting which leads to a montage of scenes
from “All in the Family” starring Carroll O’Connor, Rob Reiner,
Sally Struthers, and Stapleton.

• Bea
  Arthur talks about Norman Lear and quotes Paddy Chayevsky talking
  about Lear. Arthur starred in “Maude” a spin-off of “All in the
  Family.”  
• A
  video segment traces Lear’s personal and career history. It includes
  clips from “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” “All in the Family,”
  “Fernwood Tonight,” “One Day at a Time,” “Maude,” “Good
  Times,” and “The Jeffersons.”

Lucy
Connection:
Bea Arthur played Vera opposite Lucille Ball in the feature film Mame
(1974). The two went on to appear together on “CBS On The Air” in
1978.  

Edward
R. Murrow
(posthumous), hosted by Eric
Sevareid

• Sevareid
  talks about his personal and professional relationship with Murrow.
• A
  video segment talks about Murrow’s war reporting. Moments from his
  show “See It Now” are seen.
• Murrow’s
  wife Janet accepts the award.

Lucy
Connection:
Murrow and his show were parodied on “The Ricardos Are Interviewed”
(ILL S5;E7) as “Face To Face” with Edward Warren.

---

“The
Seventh Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Awards”

September
23, 1991 ~ NBC

Honorees

• Desi
  Arnaz (posthumously)
• “I
  Love Lucy”
• Leonard
  Bernstein
• James
  Garner
• Danny
  Thomas
• Mike
  Wallace

Special
Appearances

• Lucie
  Arnaz,
  daughter of Desi Arnaz
• Laurence
  Luckinbill,
  husband of Lucie Arnaz
• Desi
  Arnaz Jr.,
  son of Desi Arnaz
• Amy
  Arnaz,
  wife of Desi Arnaz Jr.

Lucie
Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. were misty-eyed as they accepted the honor
for their father. The
brother and sister recounted how their own childhoods were reflected
on their parent’s show when the "Little Ricky” character
was introduced.

Vintage
footage of “I Love Lucy”, including snippets from the
pilot, and other moments from the careers of the honorees were shown
at the ceremony held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

“I
Love Lucy” producer Jess Oppenheimer’s widow Estelle and
original writers Madelyn Pugh-Davis and Bob Carroll Jr. accepted the
award for the CBS show. It was the first show ever inducted into the
Hall of Fame.

In
1994, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, featured an outdoor
exhibition of statues and plaques dedicated to Hall of Fame winners.
The exhibit was removed in 2016 and the statues and busts returned to
the Academy.

---

“The
21st Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Awards”

March
1, 2012 ~ NBC

Hosted
by Jon Cryer

Honorees

• Mary-Ellis
  Bunim and Jonathan Murray, “The Real World”
• Michael
  Eisner, Disney Executive
• Sherman
  Hemsley, “The Jeffersons”
• Bill
  Klages,
  Lighting Designer
• Mario
  Kreutzberger, aka
  “Don Francisco”
• Chuck
  Lorre, writer
• Vivian
  Vance and
  William
  Frawley
  (posthumous)

Doris
Singleton
(“I Love Lucy”) inducts Vivian Vance.

Barry
Livingston and
Stanley
Livingston
(“My Three Sons”) induct William Frawley

• From 1960 to 1965, Frawley appeared on “My Three Sons” as Uncle Bub Casey. 
• Barry Livingston made two appearances on “The Lucy Show” as Arnold Mooney. 

With
this ceremony, all four main characters on “I Love Lucy” and the show itself are in
the Television Hall of Fame.