SUPERSTAR CLASS

July 13, 1973

By RICK DU BROW, HOLLYWOOD (UPI)

Television executives take for granted Lucille Ball’s hold on the viewing audience, and you sometimes wonder if the network people genuinely appreciate the miraculous nature of her video longevity. 

The trouble with being the kind of superstar that Miss Ball is with ceaselessly solid ratings and a long-held reputation as queen of the home medium is that people do, indeed, take her, and perhaps even her talents, for granted. I sometimes think that if she took a season off and then came back, she would be regarded with fresh appreciation upon her return, and might well acquire even more fans than the countless number she already has. 

Miss Ball will be back on CBS-TV again next season with her situation comedy series, which has undergone various alterations over the years but which has basically been a succession of shows set up to allow her to display her unique and often remarkable talents. (1)

It really doesn’t matter much whether the individual episodes of Miss Ball’s series are always up to snuff what matters is to watch this amazingly commanding artist take charge. It seems a simple thing: ask a star to take charge of the proceedings for a while proceedings that have been constructed to show you off at your best. But consider how many name performers have been unable to carry off this task on video even for a short while. And yet here is this zany redhead who has done it week after week, year after year. 

The fact is, though, she can do just about anything in show business and with the authority, the presence, that only the truly great stars can radiate. Not merely a marvelous knockabout comedienne, she can sing, dance and act and her acting has a broad range, although my personal feeling is that she registers most effectively when she appears in witty movie roles with a touch of romance to them. If you haven’t seen a Bob Hope-Lucille Ball movie, you’ve missed out on some crackling professional entertainment. 

There are a lot of name performers I wouldn’t walk across the street to see. But Lucille Ball is something very special to me. The episodes her video series are not always exceptional, but she delivers enough delightful moments overall to make show worth tuning in.

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FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) Ball was then preparing for a sixth and final season of “The Lucy Show,” which started off as a sitcom about two single mothers raising children in a small New York suburb, to a show about a bank secretary makin her way in Hollywood.