Monday, September 07, 2009

Happy Labor Day; TV Rebels: Desi Arnaz - More Than Just a Bongo Player

Happy Labor Day everyone! Most of you are probably outdoors spending this last "unofficial" last day of summer with your family & friends, but for those of you who are in needs of some TV marathons...you've come to the right place as usual!
We have mentioned many of these already, but it's a good reminder if you have forgotten! The Golden Girls will get the most play this holiday! Hallmark Channel will air a marathon from 8am-12am, while WE tv will air a marathon also from 1pm-7pm. BET is airing a marathon of The Game all-day today, while TBS goes to The Office this Labor Day from 4pm-8pm.
Other notable marathons are for dramas...Criminal Minds on A&E, NCIS on USA Network, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family. Both TNT and SOAPnet have short stunts of Law & Order and One Tree Hill from 11am-5pm, while The N has what else...Degrassi all-day. And on network TV, ABC has a three episode block of Castle from 8-11pm, as the season premiere is two weeks from tonight. TV Land has a movie marathon from 9am-6:30pm.
Reality wise we have Supernanny on style, 16 and Pregnant on MTV, Cops on G4, Catch 21 on GSN, and Dirty Jobs on Discovery. Hope you all find something!

It's time for the return of TV Rebels. We originally had special permission to publish the first 6 essays on TV shows and actors that will be featured in the upcoming book TV Rebels: 100 People and Programs That Shaped the Medium by authors Lou Orfanella and Oscar De Los Santos...and then last year we got rights to 6 additional essays (for a total of 12!), so including today's three essays are left. Upcoming TV Rebel columns will be about Rod Serling and TV Dinners. The book is in the works and will be released in 2010...so stay tuned for that and look for a review of the book right here before it comes out!

So without further adieu, we bring you the tenth essay of TV Rebels:

Desi Arnaz: More Than Just a Bongo Player
by Lou Orfanella

In 1950 when CBS was interested in bringing Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband radio program to television Ball demanded that her real life husband Desi Arnaz play her husband. The network turned her down feeling that the viewing public would not accept Arnaz with his heavy accent as her husband. She held out, the network acquiesced and Mr. and Mrs. Desi Arnaz forever became Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in popular culture history.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had been married since 1940. By 1950 she was doing her radio show and periodic big screen projects in a mostly unnoticed film career. Arnaz was travelling the country with his band and their marriage was strained. By insisting they do what would become I Love Lucy together Ball hoped to solidify their domestic life. "Richard Denning, Lucy's radio hubby, comments: 'She said it would help her marriage. Also the show. And, of course, she was right'" (Andrews 22).

Ball was determined that Arnaz not be seen as playing second fiddle to her. The title, I Love Lucy, in fact was an effort to include Desi in the title and indeed since he is the "I" give him top billing. "The general impression seems to be that he was a lucky Cuban who was handsome, charming, played the bongo, and happened to be married to the funniest lady in the whole world. Well, this was all true, but there was a lot more to Desi than that. He may have only been that when he started, but he had an amazing ability for learning things and he was an astute businessman" (Davis 55).

It was Arnaz' business acumen that changed the traditional method of producing situation comedies. Traditionally shows were broadcast live and "preserved" on low quality kinescopes, which were essentially copies made by aiming a movie camera at a television monitor and which were used to broadcast programs outside of the eastern time zone where sponsors were less likely to view them and challenge the quality. When production was set to begin on I Love Lucy for its premier season, Lucy and Desi lived on the west coast and had no intention of moving to New York where the show could be done live for what was then the largest audience, and the sponsors as well. Desi's solution was to film the show like a motion picture resulting in high quality prints. It would be an expensive proposition requiring three or four cameras, special sound and lighting techniques, and potentially multiple sets which would increase the costs. The network only agreed after the Arnazs agreed to a pay cut to help defray the production costs. "The burden of planning this new method fell heavily on Desi's shoulders. No one had attempted a situation comedy on film, shot before a live studio audience: he was plowing virginal fields" (Andrews 32).

Arnaz was not only successful in changing the way sitcoms were filmed and preserved for the lucrative rerun syndication market, but was shrewd enough to acquire an ownership percentage in the series which he and Lucy parlayed into Desilu Production, at one time, the most successful in the business.

Works Cited
Andrews, Bart. "Lucy&Ricky&Fred&Ethel: The Story of I Love Lucy." New York: Dutton, 1976.
Davis, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr. "Laughing with Lucy." Cincinnati Emmis, 2005.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, October 19

The Simpsons - "Treehouse of Horror XXXVI" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The town is menaced by a mysterious murdering monster from out of the sewers; Krusty has a demonic special guest on his live Halloween special; Springfield's post-apocalyptic future.

Universal Basic Guys - "Golden Beans" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark and David start a coffee shop in the garage; Tammy and Hank struggle to keep Mernft Man from bothering customers.

Krapopolis - "Basket Baby" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A baby arrives in a basket; Deliria encroaches on Apollo's turf; Tyrannis throws a potluck.

Bob's Burgers - "The Twinnening" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Teddy takes a handyman job next door to the restaurant and finds himself trapped inside a store full of spooky antiques.

DMV - "Pilot" (CBS, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
East Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) driving examiner Colette pines for her coworker Noa while enduring teasing from colleagues Gregg, Vic and Ceci. Also, new manager Barb rallies the crew to save their branch from government shutdown.

Electric Bloom - "How We Handled an Unexpected Visitor" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Tulip's sister comes home from college and is jealous of Tulip's bond with Jade; Posey deals with a little incident of her own.

Electric Bloom - "How We Defeated a Jingle Bell Bully" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
To help Tulip rediscover her love of Christmas, Electric Bloom is forced to team up with their sworn enemies, The Two Shellys, to try and win the Holiday Sing-Off.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 13)

Friday, October 17

  • Charlie Hunnam (Undeclared) - Watch Charlie on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Chelsea Frei (The Paper/The Moodys) - Chelsea appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Maz Jobrani (Superior Donuts/The Knights of Prosperity/Better Off Ted) - Maz is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin talks about Queen of Versailles on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - Zachary talks about Brilliant Minds on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - NBC's Today catches up with Tony in the 9am hour.
  • Aziz Ansari (Master of None/Parks and Recreation) - Aziz talks about Good Fortune on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Penn Badgley (Do Over) - Penn talks about Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Mira Sorvino (Shining Vale) - Mira joins Sherri to talk about starring in Chicago the Musical on Broadway on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela stops by Sherri's Laugh Lounge on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Penn Badgley (Do Over) - Penn talks about podcast Podcrushed on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (FUBAR) - Real Time with Bill Maher features a one-on-one interview with Arnold on HBO at 10pm.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

10/18 - SitcomsOnline Digest: First Look at NBC Comedy Stumble; Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage Showrunner Talks When the Inevitable May Happen
10/17 - Apple TV's Palm Royale Returns November 12; Pop Culture Jeopardy! Moving to Netflix
10/16 - Kathleen Madigan Prime Video Special; His & Hers Premiere Date for Netflix
10/15 - ABC Wednesday Comedies Premiere Strong; Sebastian Maniscalco's Hulu Comedy Special Date
10/14 - Tubi's Breaking Bear Premieres March 2026; NBC's Stumble Trailer
10/13 - Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Final Season; Bat-Fam Premieres November 10 on Prime Video
10/12 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 13, 2025)
10/11 - SitcomsOnline Digest: First Look at Upcoming Paramount+ Sitcom Crutch; Yellowjackets to End After Upcoming Season
10/10 - Prime Video Releases Trailer for The Mighty Nein; Season 2 Premiere Date for Cross
10/09 - Rachel Sennott's I Love LA Comedy Series Trailer; Kaley Cuoco Heads to MGM+
10/08 - Prime Video's Kevin Details; Trailer for Crutch with Tracy Morgan
10/07 - The CW's TV We Love Docuseries; Happy's Place Season 2 Trailer
10/06 - Dancing with the Stars Surging in Viewership, Especially Among Younger Viewers; Remembering Kimberly Hébert Gregory of Vice Principals
10/05 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 6, 2025)
10/04 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox Cancels The Great North; Everybody Loves Raymond Cast Set to Reunite for 30 Year Anniversary
10/03 - MeTV Acquires Everybody Loves Raymond; Hazbin Hotel Season 2 Trailer
10/02 - CBS Presents Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion; Apple TV+ Renews Peanuts Specials Through 2030
10/01 - The CW's Six Brand New Movies Starting November 16; Hulu's Family Guy Halloween Special Details
09/30 - Sarah Sherman HBO Comedy Special in December; Huluween Programming for 2025
09/29 - Netflix Renews Haunted Hotel for Season 2; Christmas Comedy Series Sicilia Express
09/28 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 29, 2025)
09/27 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Scrubs Cast Comes Together for First Table Read for Reboot; Monopoly Game Show Moving Ahead
09/26 - Netflix Adds to Cast for Running Point Season 2; Stiller & Meara Apple TV+ Documentary
09/25 - Adam Pally HBO Comedy Special; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Returns with Huge Ratings
09/24 - Weigel's Newest Diginet WEST Launches Monday, September 29; New Baywatch Coming to Fox in 2026-27
09/23 - DMV Trailer for CBS; Mo Amer Returns to Netflix
09/22 - SNL Season 51 Guests for First Episodes; Prime Video's Bat-Fam Series
09/21 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 22, 2025)
09/20 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Paper to Get Linear Run on NBC; Saturday Night Live Announces New Hosts
09/19 - NBC Schedules The Paper and Stumble in November; Remembering Patricia (Pat) Crowley of Please Don't Eat the Daisies
09/18 - UPtv Acquires The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Camp Rock 3 Coming Soon to Disney