Google Loves Lucy!
Posted on August 6, 2011 at 9:20 pm
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Posted on August 6, 2011 at 9:20 pm
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Posted on August 6, 2011 at 8:00 am
Today we celebrate the 100th anniversary birthday of one of the most talented, hardest-working, and best-loved comic performers of all time, Lucille Ball. She insisted on having her then-husband, bandleader Desi Arnaz, as her co-star in what became a comedy classic from the early days of television, I Love Lucy. And Arnaz insisted on putting the show on film, very unusual in that era when no one was giving any thought to re-broadcasting television programs. While many comic gems of that era have been lost, “Lucy” is indeed loved all over the world and being shown and appreciated on some station just about any moment of every day.
The complete serieshas been re-issued this week on DVD in honor of her centenary. Lucille Ball talks to Dick Cavett about two of her best-remembered episodes, the stomping on the grapes and her “mirror scene” with Harpo Marx (a tribute to the brilliant mirror scene in the Marx Brothers film, Duck Soup).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiCwDBJB5Y0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkRZTEk-mkM
This is my all-time favorite Lucy episode, partly because what happened was an accident and I love the way she just went with it. The expressions on her face and William Holden’s are priceless!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z76QqL_AozI
Before she was a zany redhead on television, Ball showed her acting skill in some movie roles. Here she holds her own with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in the witty Washington wartime romance, “Without Love.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWxFWDxh09c
Ball’s biographer said her best performance was in the wonderful film, Yours, Mine and Ours (infinitely better than the Steve Martin remake). It was her second co-starring role with Henry Fonda, based on the true story of a woman with eight children who married a man with ten. I love the way this fan tribute combines the clips with scenes from their film together, a heart-breaking Damon Runyon drama called The Big Street about a disabled showgirl and the busboy who makes an enormous sacrifice to make her dream come true.
Be sure to tune into Sirius Radio’s special tribute to Lucille Ball from Lucy Fest, the annual gathering in her hometown of Jamestown, NY. Redhead Radio will launch at 12:00 am ET on August 6, 2011—the day Lucy would have celebrated her 100th birthday—on SiriusXM channel 82, taking over SiriusXM’s RadioClassics for two days. SiriusXM’s Greg Bell will host Redhead Radio featuring the festival’s headliner, Joan Rivers. Sirius will broadcast dozens of episodes of her classic 1940s radio comedy series My Favorite Husband, which inspired l Love Lucy; an interview with stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone—a featured performer at this year’s fest— about the influence Lucy has had on her career; and interviews with Lucy impersonators, experts, historians, event organizers and fans at Lucy Fest. The channel will chronicle fan participation in “Be a Lucy,” the attempt set the world’s record for the most people dressed as Lucy Ricardo in one place at one time. Additional content includes Lucy’s guest-starring role on the classic radio dramatic series Suspense; radio versions of her films “Fancy Pants” (with Bob Hope) and “Dark Corner” and interviews Lucy did with legendary personalities Abbott & Costello and Bob Hope on their classic radio shows.
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:00 am
The latest in the Family Movie Night series on NBC is Who Is Simon Miller? this Saturday, August 6, at 8/7 central. It is the story of a family discovery that the husband and father they thought they knew had another life — maybe many other lives. Stars include Loren Dean (“Say Anything” and “Mumford”) and Christine Baranski (“Mamma Mia”). It is an exciting spy story and a warm-hearted family drama. And it raises some good questions for family discussion about when it can be difficult to find the time and the right words to tell our families the things they should know — and about how getting away from our daily concerns can strengthen family bonds, even in a high-stress environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT83qkDbzQgSome peeks behind the scenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDbsCZnWeUoFor more information, check out their Facebook page. And don’t forget to hit “like” to let NBC and sponsors Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble know how much we appreciate good movies the entire family can enjoy.
Posted on August 3, 2011 at 3:48 pm
“Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” welcomed children with low-key warmth and delivered its affirmations and lessons with great sweetness. It ran nationally from 1968-2001 and its reruns are still watched by the children and grandchildren of the original viewers. PBS has announced an animated spin-off featuring some of the characters from the neighborhood. It will be called “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and will premiere next year and it will focus on the next generation in the Neighborhood of Make Believe, including Prince Wednesday, son of King Friday and Queen Sara; Miss Elaina, daughter of Lady Elaine Fairchild; Katerina Kittycat, daughter of Henrietta Pussycat; and O the Owl, nephew of X the Owl. Trolley and Mr. McFeely will be on hand as well.
Sounds like a very nice neighborhood to visit.
Posted on July 20, 2011 at 3:55 pm
I’m on my way to Comic-Con 2011, this year featuring the first glimpses of Twilight’s “Breaking Dawn — Part 1” along with Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin,” the Colin Farrell remake of “Total Recall” and “In Time,” a thriller with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. You haven’t heard about some of these? That’s the fun of it; Comic-Con is where it all begins. It’s not just movies. “True Blood,” “Lost,” and “Glee” got the word out via Comic-Con and this year we will see get updates on longtime fan favorites like “Buffy” and hear about the new projects from some Comic-Con regulars like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon.
Entertainment Weekly points out in the current issue that back in 1976 a film no one had ever heard up sent a rep with a card table to sell the Con’s first promotional posters for a movie whose release was still a year away. Those posters are now sold (if you can find one) for $3000 and this year, that same film will be saluted with an elaborate booth in support of its six-movie Blu-Ray release with never-before-seen footage: Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI). What will this year’s attendees know about before anyone else? Stay tuned for my reports — and of course my always-popular pictures of the attendees in costume.