TV SHOW: LUCY & DESI

September 1952

The September 1952 edition of TV Show Magazine featured Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz on the cover in a romantic pose. The magazine was a publication of ANC (American News Company). ANC was founded in 1867. The company’s abrupt 1957 demise caused a huge shakeup in the publishing industry, forcing many magazine, comic book, and paperback publishers out of business.

During September 1952, “I Love Lucy” premiered their second season, kicking off with “Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1) on September 15, followed by “The Saxophone” (ILL S2;E2) on September 22, and “The Anniversary Present” (ILL S2;E3) on September 29. 

WHY YOU DON’T SEE GOOD MOVIES ON TV

An inside article promoted above the masthead asked why television was not showing ‘good’ movies. The common thought was that television was usurping cinema attendance and that showing recent films would cut into the business of second run theatres. In the early 1950s there was great rivalry between television and cinema. This topic was addressed on “I Love Lucy”.  In “Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio” (ILL S1;E32) in May 1952, the foursome watch a movie on TV. 

LUCY: “That little girl is Margaret O’Brien, isn’t it?”
RICKY: “Look again – it’s Shirley Temple.”
FRED: “Look again – it’s Mary Pickford!”

Not only does this comment on the sorry state of TV reception, it also demonstrates that the film they are watching is much older than they expected!  Mary Pickford was born in 1892, while Margaret O’Brien was just 15 years old in 1952. 

In “Baby Pictures” (ILL S3;E5) in November 1953, station manager Charlie Appleby is trying to impress the Ricardos about his TV station’s offering of motion pictures:

CHARLIE: “We’ve got the newest moving pictures in town. I bought a block of films yesterday, and I want to tell you that they’re going to make television stars out of some of the actors. Now, just remember their names: Conway Tearle and Mabel Normand.”

Both were silent film stars and died in the 1930s!

In “Don Juan is Shelved” (ILL S4;E22) in March 1955, real-life MGM studio executive Dore Schary was supposed to play himself, but he backed out claiming an acute kidney infection. Some sources say he may have had second thoughts about appearing on television, a rival medium. After all, film-making, not television, paid Schary’s salary. At the last minute, Vivian Vance’s husband Phil Ober played the role instead. 

ALL ABOUT TALLULAH

Another inside article is about stage and screen star Tallulah Bankhead. 

Bankhead wrote a bestselling autobiography Tallulah: My Autobiography (Harper & Bros.) that was published in 1952.

Tallulah Bankhead was born in 1903 in Huntsville, Alabama, and left home at the age of 15 to appear on the New York stage. Like Lucille Ball, she was considered for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939). She was briefly married to John Emery who had appeared on “I Love Lucy” as Harold the Tramp in “The Quiz Show” (ILL S1;E5) and as angry neighbor Mr. Stewart in “Little Ricky Gets a Dog” (ILL S6;E14). Bankhead died in 1968.

Lucille Ball does her ‘darling’ Tallulah Bankhead imitation in “Ricky Asks for a Raise” (ILL S1;E35). She first did it (with costumes) in “Lucy Fakes Illness” (ILL S1;E16). The real Tallulah Bankhead would guest star on “The Celebrity Next Door,” the second episode of “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour” in 1957 and would prove to be one of Lucy’s most difficult co-stars. 

JIMMY DURANTE HAS WHAT IT TAKES

Another inside article talks about Jimmy Durante, who at the time was one of several rotating hosts of “All Star Revue” (aka “Four Star Revue”) on NBC, then entering its third season. 

Jimmy Durante (1893-1980) was a multi-talented performer who was distinguished by his bulbous nose. In “Lucy Meets Harpo Marx” (ILL S4;E28) Lucy Ricardo dons a novelty store mask and trench coat to impersonate Durante for a nearsighted Carolyn Appleby. He made a cameo appearance on “The Lucy Show” in February 1966. Lucille Ball had an uncredited role in his 1935 film Carnival.

In December 1965, Lucille Ball appeared with Durante (as well as Jerry Lewis and Danny Thomas) on “The Wonderful World of Burlesque”. 

In May 1969, Desi Arnaz sang a duet with Durante on “The Lennon Sisters Hour”.  Durante calls Desi’s conga drum a “Cuban waste basket”! In “Hollywood at Last!” (ILL S4;E16), Durante’s caricature on the wall at the Brown Derby restaurant takes up two frames – one for his nose. 

MORE LUCY & DESI IN ‘TV SHOW’

Lucy and Desi were back on the cover of TV Show just seven months later, in March 1953. 

Vivian Vance contributed to the June 1953 issue with an article titled “Lucy’s Baby” credited to ‘Ethel Mertz’.  

Desi contributed at story to the April 1954 issue about the television revolution.