THE CHANGE IN LUCILLE BALL

September 5, 1964

This issue of TV Guide was published just two weeks before the debut of season three of “The Lucy Show” on September 21, 1964. Although the series was now being filmed in color (thanks to the foresight of Lucille Ball), CBS still insisted on airing them in black and white. This would be the final season that viewers would be forced to see a monochrome redhead. 

The cover illustration of Lucille Ball is by Al Parker, one of the artists that founded the Famous Artists School in 1948.  The school was based in Westport, Connecticut, which was also where the Ricardos moved to in 1956 on “I Love Lucy.” Parker also contributed an illustration of Lucille Ball (inset) for the June 12, 1971 TV Guide cover. 

Published by Triangle Publications, this was issue #597, volume 12, number 36, published on September 5, 1964. Lucille Ball is the TV Guide Cover Queen with a record 39 covers to her credit, including the very first national edition in 1953. 

By the 1960s, TV Guide was the most read and circulated magazine in the United States. Each issue’s features were also promoted in a weekly television commercial.

That Saturday, September 5, 1964, CBS presented a rerun of “Lucy’s Summer Vacation” (LDCH S2;E5) from June 1959. The listing notes that Lucille Ball is profiled on page 18. Throughout the Guide, titles are often shortened. Here, “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” is known simply as “Lucy-Desi Hour.”

On Monday, September 7, 1964, the morning re-run of “I Love Lucy” was “Lucy Meets John Wayne” (ILL S5;E2).  At 10:30, there was a re-run of “The Real McCoys” (here just called “McCoys”) which was filmed at Desilu.  That was followed by a rerun of “Pete and Gladys”, a sequel sitcom to the Desilu show “December Bride.” Notice that this Chicago NBC affiliates (channels 5, 16, 39) is airing nearly all color programming, while CBS (2, 13, 22) has none. RCA, the parent company of NBC, was ahead of most all others in the development of color television, both in transmission and television sets. CBS was working on a rival system that never materialized.

THE COVER STORY…

“They Still Call Her Lucy” – by Richard Gehman

The Name’s The Same, The Facade’s Unchanged, But Behind Them Is A Woman Vastly Different From Her Days With Desi

Author Richard Gehman contrasts the Lucille Ball he interviewed in 1959 (just before the divorce) and 1960 (during Wildcat on Broadway) with the Lucille Ball he is meeting today, noting her confidence and a pride in her work previously absent.

During the interview, Lucy’s husband Gary Morton enters with a tape recorder, and talks about her upcoming CBS radio show “Let’s Talk To Lucy.” The first 10 minute program would air on September 7, 1964 with an interview of Danny Kaye. 

Gehman compares Lucille Ball’s loving glance at Gary to that of Elizabeth Taylor. Coincidentally, exactly six years later, on September 5, 1970, Lucille Ball was back on the cover of TV Guide with none other than Elizabeth Taylor, promoting the much-touted episode of “Here’s Lucy” featuring Richard Burton, Liz, and her enormous diamond ring. 

ALSO IN THE ISSUE…

“The Prettiest Indian He Ever Came Across” – Profile of Kamala Devi, wife of Chuck Connors. Earlier in 1964, Devi appeared on an episode of “My Three Sons” opposite William Frawley. Chuck Connors played himself on an episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973.   

“He’s Only A Part-Time Panther” – Profile of Italian singer Sergio Franchi. He  appeared with Lucille Ball on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1970. The title refers to the fact that a female reporter once said that he “moves like a panther.” 

“Vaudeville’s Resurgence at the Hollywood Palace” – “The Hollywood Palace” (1964-70) was an ABC TV variety series that kicked off as a mid-season replacement in January 1964. Desi Jr. and his band appeared on the show in 1968. 

Former FCC Chairman “Newton N. Minow Revisits Television” – During his first speech as FCC chairman in 1961, Minow famously referred to television as a “vast wasteland.” He left his post in 1963. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on November 22, 2016.

“To my way of thinking, that speech was badly misinterpreted. It didn’t condemn all of television. It said there are great things in television which are unique in uniting and serving the country, but you, the broadcasters, have got to remember that you are trustees for all of us. That you have got to pay more attention to your obligations to children. You’ve got to pay more attention to not only the bottom line, but to public service.” ~ Newton N. Minow

“Profiles in Courage: The Program That Started with President Kennedy” ~ “Profiles in Courage” (1964-65) was an NBC anthology series that presented episodes in the lives of true-life historical figures who each faced a crisis in their life. Based on the 1955 book by John F. Kennedy, the series was shot at Desilu Studios. Listings for Friday, September 11, 1964 on the facing page include a rerun of “The Ann Sothern Show” produced by Desilu.