LOOK: FALL TV FORECAST

September 17, 1957

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Look Magazine (volume 21, #19) featured the 1957 Fall TV Forecast on the cover, including a photograph of Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and Richard Keith (aka Keith Thibodeaux) by Bob Vose. 

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At the time of publication, “I Love Lucy” had ended its half-hour format and was about to launch an hour-long show airing every other month. It would become known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  Fred, Ethel, and Little Ricky would be back for the new iteration, including the first one, “Lucy Takes A Cruise To Havana” (LDCH S1;E1) in November 1957.

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The trio previously appeared on the cover of Look in December 1956, just ten months earlier, also photographed by Bob Vose. Vose was a regular contributor to the magazine. 

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The article (page 72) was titled Fall TV Forecast: New Labels…Old Ideas.  

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On page 52, there is question and answer column with Norman Vincent Peale. It is well known that Lucille Ball was an inveterate disciple of Peale’s and strongly believed in his philosophy of living. Lucille and Gary Morton were even married by Dr. Peale (author of the best-seller The Power of Positive Thinking) in an intimate ceremony at his Marble Collegiate Church in November 1961.

Others On The Cover:

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Clint Walker and Venetia Stevenson (photo by Maurice Terrell) ~ Walker played the title character in “Cheyenne” a western then entering its third season on ABC. The series continued for seven seasons, ending in 1963. Stevenson did only one episode of the series, in October 1957. The series returned on September 24, 1957.  

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In 1965 Clint Walker played Frank Winslow, Lucy’s hunky boyfriend, in “Lucy and the Sleeping Beauty” (TLS S4;E9) and “Lucy and Clint Walker” (TLS S4;E24)

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Alfred Hitchcock (photo by Maurice Terrell) ~ was also entering his third season on television, as host of the anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955-62). 

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In “Lucy Meets the Mustache” (LDCH S3;E3) Lucy wants to open a sealed letter Ricky has written to his Uncle Carlos in Cuba, so she tries a inserting a knitting needle under the flap, a method she says she saw in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The scene is underscored with “Funeral March of a Marionette” by Charles Gounod, which served as the theme tune of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”.   

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Gisele MacKenzie (photo by Philip Harrington) ~ was a Canadian-American singer best known for her appearances on “Your Hit Parade.” She made her last appearance on the show ten days before this issue was published. She premiered “The Gisele MacKenzie Show” on September 28, 1957. The live show ran only one season on NBC. 

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In November 1952, Gisele MacKenzie and Lucille Ball were both part of “Stars in the Eye” a televised celebration of the opening of CBS Television City in Hollywood. At the time, MacKenzie was a newcomer and Ball was representing “I Love Lucy.” A year before this magazine was published, Lucy, Desi, and MacKenzie were guests on the same “Toast of the Town” with Ed Sullivan. 

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Perry Como (photo by Philip Harrington) – hosted a weekly hour-long variety show called “The Perry Como Show”, which premiered in September 1955. It was so popular that in the 1956-57 television season it reached ninth in the Nielsen ratings, the only show on NBC that season to land in the top ten. It was then entering its third season and would end in 1959. 

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In a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy” starring pregnant Petula Clark, Lucy insists that that the British songbird be allowed to sit during her recording session, saying that

Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Frank Sinatra all sat down when singing!  Early in his career, Como was a spokesman for Chesterfields, Lucille Ball’s favorite brand of cigarettes. The only time they were seen on the same screen was at the 1987 Kennedy Center Honors induction of Como, although Ball was there to introduce fellow honoree Sammy Davis Jr. 

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NEW TV – FALL 1957

  • September 14 – Have Gun – Will Travel (1957-63) on CBS
  • September 18 – Wagon Train (1957–65) on NBC
  • September 21 – Perry Mason (1957–66) on CBS
  • September 21 –

    The Polly Bergen Show (1957-58) on NBC

  • September 22 – Maverick (1957–61) on ABC
  • October 3 – The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom (1957–60) on ABC
  • October 3 –

    The Real McCoys (1957-63) on ABC, filmed at Desilu

  • October 4 – Leave It to Beaver (1957–63) on CBS
  • October 10 – Zorro (1957–59) on ABC
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