A Christmas Eve Treat: “I Love Lucy” is Back On CBS in Primetime -- Ed Martin

It looks like December 2013 brought with it the arrival of two new holiday season traditions on the broadcast networks Lavish live musical extravaganzas on NBC last year amp8220The Sound of Musicamp8221 this year amp8220Peter Panamp8221 and on CBS repurposed repeats of sixtysomethingyearold episodes of the timeless comedy amp8220I Love Lucyamp8221 arguably the best and most successful scripted television series of all timeLast year CBS presented backtoback episodes of two amp8220I Love Lucyamp8221 classics placed together as a onehour Christmas special Both were colorized to the consternation of purists who rightfully complained that the original black and white versions had held up so well since they were first seen in the Fifties that they made the show as enduring and successful as it has been But the reality is that younger viewers arenamp8217t used to black and white television in any capacity and tend to turn away from it I have seen this happen right in front of me So there was a certain method to CBSamp8217 madnessThe first amp8220Lucyamp8221 classic in the holiday special was amp8220The Christmas Episodeamp8221 which debuted 58 years ago on December 24 1956 and which many amp8220Lucyamp8221 fans including myself had never seen because it wasnamp8217t included in the syndication packages that have kept amp8220I Love Lucyamp8221 at the forefront of popular entertainment for dozens of years It was followed by one of the series bestknown episodes amp8220Lucyamp8217s Italian Movieamp8221 which first aired on April 16 1956 during the arc when Lucy and Ricky Ricardo and their friends Fred and Ethel Mertz traveled through Europe Itamp8217s the one in which Lucy is offered a part in an Italian movie visits a vineyard to prepare for the role and tries her hand at stomping grapes with disastrous resultsTonight in a special Christmas Eve telecast CBS will bring amp8220Lucyamp8221 back to primetime once again with a repeat of amp8220The Christmas Episodeamp8221 and a different episode after it amp8211 one featuring a scene that may be even better known than Lucyamp8217s grapestomping fiasco Itamp8217s titled amp8220Job Switchingamp8221 and itamp8217s the one in which Lucy and Ethel take jobs on the assembly line at Krameramp8217s Kandy Kitchen where they try their hardest to wrap individual chocolates as hundreds of them speed by on a conveyor belt Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance proved to be a dynamic comedy duo and masters of physical comedy throughout the run of amp8220I Love Lucyamp8221 but never more so than in this sequence amp8220Job Switchingamp8221 was first telecast on September 15 1952 It was the opening episode of the second season of amp8220I Love Lucyamp8221In case you missed it last year amp8220The Christmas Episodeamp8221 features multiple flashbacks from previous episodes all from the second season of the series as the Ricardos and the Mertzes reminisce about their lives while decorating the Ricardosamp8217 tree Happily the flashbacks are not colorized amp8230 or at least they werenamp8217t last year Most of the halfhour is quite charming but the ending is really weirdamp8220I Love Lucyamp8221 ran on CBS from 195157 and has remained in domestic and global syndication ever since Given the fact that most of the people reading this column werenamp8217t even born when amp8220Lucyamp8221 reached its series finale and that many of us can recall dozens of episodes of the show to assert that it has maintained extraordinary power throughout the more than five decades since it ended is something of an understatementHereamp8217s hoping CBS continues to showcase amp8220I Love Lucyamp8221 episodes during the Christmas season for years to come I would like to see the network have similar holiday fun with other family friendly series from its past especially amp8220The Beverly Hillbilliesamp8221 amp8220Petticoat Junctionamp8221 and one of my alltime favorites amp8220Green Acresamp8221 three silly shows that kids used to love and just might learn to love all over againABC for that matter ought to consider trying something like this as well perhaps with popular Christmas themed episodes from amp8220Bewitchedamp8221 amp8220A Vision of Sugar Plumsamp8221 which premiered on December 24 1964 amp8220The Brady Bunchamp8221 amp8220The Voice of Christmasamp8221 first telecast December 19 1969 and amp8220The Partridge Familyamp8221 amp8220Donamp8217t Bring Your Guns to Town Santaamp8221 first seen on December 11 1971 paired with each other or with others from each series I realize ownership might be an issue with these series but surely that can be dealt with right When it comes to matters of the media these days just about anything is possible Why shouldnamp8217t the broadcast networks do whatever it takes to consistently celebrate their massive histories and create vital new traditions in the processEd Martin is the Editor of MediaBizBloggers and the television and video critic for the Myers Business Network Follow him on Twitter at PlanetEd Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentariesamp160

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A Christmas Eve Treat: “I Love Lucy” is Back On CBS in Primetime -- Ed Martin

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