Here's Lucy

Here's Lucy
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Bob O'Brien Milt Josefsberg
Starring	Lucille Ball Gale Gordon Lucie Arnaz Desi Arnaz, Jr. Mary Jane Croft
Theme music composer	Wilbur Hatch
Composer(s)	Wilbur Hatch (1968-1969) Marl Young (1969-1974)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	144
Production
Executive producer(s)	Gary Morton
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Lucille Ball Productions (in association with Paramount Television, 1968-1969)
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 23, 1968 – March 18, 1974
Chronology
Preceded by	The Lucy Show
Followed by	Life with Lucy

Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.

Background

Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous (1967–68) season, finishing in the top five of the ratings (at #2), Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season, as there was enough episodes for syndicated reruns. Ball did not wish to continue to star in a show unless her two children agreed to co-star, and thus an entirely new show was written for this purpose. Here's Lucy was produced by Ball's newly created production company, Lucille Ball Productions. Desilu's successor Paramount Television (PTV) co-produced the first season, but sold its stake in the show to Ball afterwards.

Premise

Lucy and her children at Carter's Unique Employment Agency, where she worked.

The program's premise changed from The Lucy Show. Ball's character lived in Los Angeles and was named Lucy Carter, as a tribute to her ex-husband Desi Arnaz, whom she felt helped to launch her career. In this new incarnation, she had two children named Kim and Craig, played by her real life children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. She was employed at 'Carter's Unique Employment Agency' by her brother-in-law Harry, played by Gale Gordon in a role similar to his Mr. Mooney role from The Lucy Show. Mary Jane Croft, who had costarred on the last three seasons of The Lucy Show, also became a regular on the new series, and Ball's longtime costar Vivian Vance also made numerous guest appearances as Vivian Jones through the series' run. The series was created by Milt Josefsberg and Bob O'Brien in 1968. They wanted to comically present the "generation gap" struggle between a working mother and her two increasingly independent teenagers. They wanted change this time around and to escape the shows for which Lucy had previously been so well known. They touched upon current events (civil rights, rock music, the sexual revolution and changing gender/sexual morals).

The writers interviewed Lucie and Desi Jr. to allow a more realistic approach to how teenagers acted. In addition, they were given free rein to choose the names for their respective characters.

Guest stars and notable episodes

Elizabeth Taylor tries to get her diamond back from Lucy's finger as Richard Burton looks on, 1970.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor guest starred in the 1970 season opener, in a storyline involving their famous diamond, which becomes stuck on Lucy's finger. Ball and Burton reportedly did not get along, as he found Ball's rigid perfectionism grating and he subsequently wrote about her in extremely unflattering terms in his memoir. Another noteworthy episode was "Lucy Visits Jack Benny." In addition to Jack Benny appearing, Jackie Gleason made a surprise cameo reprising his role of bus driver Ralph Kramden. During its run, Here's Lucy featured a number of famous guest stars, many of whom were Ball's real life friends, often playing themselves (as had also been the case during the final three years of The Lucy Show). Among the stars, Ann-Margret, Milton Berle, Carol Burnett, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Liberace, Petula Clark, Eva Gabor, Helen Hayes, Dean Martin, Eve McVeagh, Vincent Price, Tony Randall, Buddy Rich, Joan Rivers, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Danny Thomas, Lawrence Welk, Flip Wilson, Shelley Winters, Donny Osmond and Patty Andrews of The Andrews Sisters all appeared during the run of the show. Mary Treen was cast as Mary Winters in the 1974 episode "Lucy Fights the System". Lucille Ball appeared as herself in an episode in which Lucy Carter enters a Lucille Ball look-alike contest. This episode, designed to cross-promote Ball's then current film Mame, featured then fairly new technology, which enabled Ball to appear on screen with herself.

Lucy organizes a strike against her boss, Mr. Carter.

In 1972, Ball suffered a leg fracture in a skiing accident and as a result, spent much of the 1972–1973 season in a full-leg cast. (This was written into the show, with the Lucy Carter character also breaking her leg.) The "slapstick" was toned down for the remainder of the series, given Ball's decreased ability to perform physical comedy as a result of her injury. According to Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, author of The Lucy Book, this was the point where the "Lucy" character was "finally allowed to age." Ball's reduced capacity for physical comedy gave the other members of the cast, such as Lucie Arnaz and featured players Mary Jane Croft and Vanda Barra a chance to shine.

In the spring of 1973, Here's Lucy had fallen to #15 in the ratings – the first time that a series starring Lucille Ball had fallen out of the top 10. Ball then decided that her fifth season would be her last. A final episode was filmed with Gale Gordon without a studio audience. In that installment, Harry's business was sold and he and Lucy reminisced together (using flashbacks) about their various adventures together. At the end of the episode, they both leave the office. Lucy then leaves a sign that says "closed temporarily", then she looks at the camera and winks. At the last minute, CBS president Fred Silverman convinced Ball to change her mind and return for a sixth season.

Cancellation

Here's Lucy ceased production at the end of the 1973–74 season, thus ending nearly 23 years of Ball appearing regularly on television. It was widely reported at the time that it was Ball's decision not to continue. Desi Jr. had left the show earlier to pursue movies, and Lucie chose to work in summer stock and roadshows, which would have kept her off the show for months. Without her children, and with enough episodes in the can for reruns, Ball allegedly chose to end the series. The ratings had also fallen, yet Here's Lucy finished in the top thirty in the spring of 1974. The network was also in the process of reinventing its image, having already replaced much of their "old guard" television product with more contemporary fare such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show, and M*A*S*H. Except for Gunsmoke, which would remain for one more season, Ball was the last performer from TV's classic age who still had a weekly series at the beginning of 1974.

Nielsen ratings

• 1) 1968–69: #9
• 2) 1969–70: #6
• 3) 1970–71: #3
• 4) 1971–72: #10
• 5) 1972–73: #15
• 6) 1973–74: #29

DVD releases

On August 17, 2004, Shout! Factory released Here's Lucy: Best Loved Episodes from the Hit Television Series. The four-disc set features 24 episodes from the series as well as several bonus features. This release is now out of print as Shout! Factory no longer has the distribution rights.

MPI Home Video (under license from the copyright holders, "Desilu, Too", and Lucille Ball Productions, Inc.) has released all six seasons of "Here's Lucy" on DVD in Region 1.

In Region 4, Madman Entertainment has released all six seasons on DVD in Australia.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release dates
		Region 1	Region 4
Season One	24	August 25, 2009	October 6, 2009
Season Two	24	November 3, 2009	March 15, 2010
Season Three	24	June 15, 2010	September 15, 2010
Season Four	24	March 29, 2011	April 20, 2011
Season Five	24	February 28, 2012	May 9, 2012
Season Six	24	December 18, 2012	March 20, 2013

External links

• Here's Lucy at the Internet Movie Database
• Here's Lucy at TV.com
• TVShowsonDVD.com – Here's Lucy DVD news articles
• Here's Lucy Episode Guide
• The Lucy Lounge
• The Gale Gordon Archive