TV GUIDE: SURPRISE!

May 18, 1968

Lucille Ball’s surprise reunion with Vivian Vance on “The Mike Douglas Show” was the subject of an inside article in TV Guide on May 18, 1968. 

The cover featured Mike Connors, star of “Mannix.”  

“Mannix” was an hour-long crime drama that was saved from the scrap heap by Lucille Ball when she was in charge of Desilu Studios. CBS planned to cancel the show after one season, but Ball used her influence to convince them to renew it with the assurance that changes would be made. In the second season, Joe Mannix was changed into a more hard-boiled independent private detective. The changes worked and the series became a big hit running for eight seasons. It was the last successful TV show to be produced by Desilu.

Lucy prevailed upon Connors to play Mannix on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage” (HL S4;E4), aired on October 4, 1971. 

The article is about an episode of “The Mike Douglas Show” that aired on March 29, 1968. In addition to Vivian surprising Lucy, it also had Ozzie & Harriet Nelson as Mike’s co-hosts), Neil Diamond, and the Pearce Sisters. Two weeks earlier, “The Lucy Show” ended after six seasons on the air. Ball was busy re-formatting her show as “Here’s Lucy” for the fall.

That week, on Sunday May 19, 1968, Lucille Ball was part of the Emmy Awards telecast.  She walked away a winner!