Posted on 08/13/2023 2:55:11 PM PDT by Macho MAGA Man
The TV studio Desilu was founded in 1950 by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, which you can probably tell by the name. The famous performing couple initially pitched a TV adaptation of the marriage-based radio sitcom "My Favorite Husband" to the execs at CBS, but that show eventually mutated into "I Love Lucy," more explicitly sold as a vehicle for Ball. To this day, "I Love Lucy" remains one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, and every modern comedy show contains traces of its DNA. The series ran for 180 episodes over six seasons, ending its run in 1957. Lucy and Desi divorced a few years later, and Ball became the sole owner of Desilu.
Desilu oversaw a wide spectrum of shows, from sitcoms like "Our Miss Brooks" and variety shows like "Shower of Stars," but also Westerns like "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" and adventure programs like "Whirlybirds." When Ball took over sole ownership in the 1960s, her plans became far more ambitious. Ball oversaw the later seasons of notable shows like "The Untouchables," as well as "Mannix," "Mission: Impossible," and, most importantly to this article, "Star Trek."
According to stories told in the 2016 book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Ball was incredibly keen to promote "Star Trek." Despite being a relatively expensive show, and one that wasn't earning boffo ratings, Ball continued to push and push for the series. Sadly, her insistence on producing Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi program contributed to Ball selling off Desilu entirely. It seemed that her business legacy would have to end to launch a new one.
(Excerpt) Read more at slashfilm.com ...
Lucy boldly went where no female Hollywood executive had gone before.
“Cushman also wrote for other high-profile shows”
In the article — I fail to see the value in putting this crud in the article. Idiots.
“… I fail to see the value in putting this crud in the article.”
The content producer is a relative of the previously mentioned crud?
What’s wrong?
You don’t like sheet that don madder???👻👍
I guess it took landing on the moon for space adventure shows to gain attention..
“We owe it to Lucy for bringing us Star Trek that’s endured to this day.”
Like the Adult themes in the Flintstones, the stories on Star Trek will continue to resonate with people for eternity...as they both deal with how we’re wired.
Yup. She made a great decision concerning Star Trek and she didn’t even know how big it would get.
I met her as a little kid my mom modeled clothes for her at Bullocks Wilshire she was always a joy to us Imma twin and she always sent us a card and a few bucks up till about 1970
I’ve never bet too heated up about Science Fiction, but
Mannix and Mission Impossible were Must See TV in my household. One of the few prime time shows my parents both liked. We watched Mannix on Friday nights, right after Wild, Wild, West and That Girl on a different network.
Lalo Schifrin wrote the theme songs for both Mannix and Mission Impossible. Those themes paved the way for the excited of the episode. In Mannix, it started with a frantic brass section, moving quickly into a commanding trombone solo.
One of Lalo’s American influences was Dizzy Gillespie.
The first episodes that I saw - during the show's original run, - were on a black & white TV. By the time syndication re-runs began, a lot more of the viewing public had color TVs, which added to the surge in popularity.
Would have been if Lucy had made a cameo in an episode.
Arrrrgh. It would have great if Lucy had made a cameo.
I remember how exciting it was to see color TV shows.
Mission Impossible was on Sunday night correct?
It would have to have been a Cameo scene for Lucy.
That was near her peak in national fame. Everyone who watched any TV knew her. She might have played it for laughs and appeared as Red Queen of the Tribbles.
I don’t believe Star Trek ever had any black and white episodes
To be honest, I don’t recall the exact days for all those shows, but we would often watch at least 2 or the 3 on the same evening. I saw more of them during Summer Vacation anyway, when I could stay up later. Those re-run times jumped around.
Gawd it seemed Mannix got shot or bashed over the heads every week.
MI has given birth to a long string of hits for Tom Cruise. I preferred Stephen Hill to Peter Graves (aka James Arnese’ brother).
Poor Donald always frustrated by a chaste Marlo Thomas.
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