TV GUIDE

February 9, 1991

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz appeared posthumously on the cover of the February 9, 1991 issue of TV Guide (issue #1976) in connection with the unauthorized bio-pic “Lucy and Desi: Before The Laughter” airing that week. 

Lucie and Desi Jr. felt the film was “biased” while the filmmakers contended it was “truthful”.  

The inside article was written by Timothy Carlson, with photographs from the teleplay. 

Frances Fisher recreated Lucille Ball’s ‘Professor’ routine for the film. 

The film starred Frances Fisher and Maurice Bernard as Lucy and Desi. Programmed against two other network films – Big and The Chase – it narrowly won its time slot with a rating of 16.4 and a 25 share.