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  • “I Love Lucy” Pic Gets Paula Deen Employee Fired

    I Love Lucy rarely garners anything but love and nostalgia, but a recent photo posted online has gotten a very popular television personality in some hot water, and now she’s reportedly fired the aide responsible for sharing it on Twitter.

    Paula Deen has cut ties with her social media manager–who hasn’t been named in the media yet–for posting a photo of her dressed as Lucille Ball from the hit sitcom. While that doesn’t sound like a fireable offense, the real problem is that her son, Bobby, was also in the picture and was dressed as Ricky Ricardo…complete with dark brown makeup. The photo was quickly deleted, but enough people saw it and shared it to make it go viral, and a backlash ensued.

    “Paula immediately had this picture taken down as soon as she saw the post and apologizes to all who were offended. As such, Paula Deen Ventures has terminated their relationship with this social media manager,” a rep for Deen told Entertainment Weekly.

    The I Love Lucy reference was seen as insensitive by many, especially coming just a couple of years off the firestorm Deen had on her hands when a lawsuit was filed by a former restaurant manager who claimed the former Food Network star created a “hostile work environment”, in part by using racial slurs. Paula was soon dropped by the network, but was later picked up for her own channel on Roku.

    Though the photo has been scrubbed from Deen’s social media accounts, it originally appeared on Facebook in an album of outtakes from a Halloween episode of her (now canceled) show Paula’s Best Dishes, in which she and Bobby dressed as the I Love Lucy couple for the show.

  • Lucille Ball Fans Demand ‘Ugly’ and ‘Deranged’ Statue Be Removed in the Legendary Star’s Hometown

    Lucille Ball fans are demanding that an “ugly” statue of the legendary comedian be removed from a park in the I Love Lucy star’s hometown.

    Granted, the life-size bronze statue in Celoron, New York, does look more like Conway Twitty, the snake from “Beetlejuice” and actor Steve Buscemi, as fans claim, than Lucille Ball.

    The mayor of Celoron, Scott Schrecengost, has sided with the disgruntled fans.

    Despite the uproar over the statue, it has remained a tourist draw for a legion of Lucille Ball fans since the statue was erected in 2009.

    The campaign to remove the statue began when a resident of Jamestown, where Lucille Ball grew up, started a Facebook page in 2012, called “We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue.”

    A Yahoo! News story about the page started by the resident, who requested anonymity, saying the issue is “not about me; it’s about the statue,” reignited calls for the statue’s removal.

    The resident would like to see the statue removed and a new statue erected outside a planned Comedy Hall of Fame in Jamestown, which is home to the Lucy-Desi Museum & Center for Comedy and the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

    “Lucille Ball was one of the most talented, beautiful, funny women who ever appeared on television; a pioneer, a giant of television. My only goal is to have a sculpture of her in Jamestown which does her justice,” the resident told CNN.

    “This statue in Celoron is not fixable. I love my hometown and I Love Lucy. Let’s get a new statue that is a real tribute to her memory as the Comedy Queen of Television.”

    The resident’s sentiments about the statue were echoed by Colin Dabkowski, a Buffalo News columnist, who said “its deranged grimace and jagged teeth inspire more dread than reverence.”

    “No one here much likes the statue, and one look tells you why. It looks more like an extra from ‘The Walking Dead’ than arguably the most famous comic actress of all time,” he wrote about statue of Lucille Ball.

  • Kellie Pickler and Hubby Cast in CMT Reality Show

    Kellie Pickler and her husband Kyle Jacobs have been cast in an upcoming CMT reality show called I Love Kellie Pickler. Produced by Ryan Seacrest, the show will follow the lives of the former American Idol star and her songwriter husband. It is set to premiere in September.

    Brian Philips is the CMT president. He says the network has long wanted to do a show with and about Kellie Pickler.

    The ‘Red High Heels’ singer “has always been the object of our desire for a show,” he says. “She emanates a natural charisma; she entertains wherever she goes.”

    Kellie Pickler says that I Love Kellie Pickler won’t focus on her music career, but rather her life with her husband.

    “Most people that are familiar with me kind of know what I do,” she says. “This is more what goes on behind the curtain, not just in music but personally. We want to keep it upbeat, light and comical.”

    Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs announced their new show on Thursday at the The Times Center in New York City. She described the show as being akin to a southern I Love Lucy.

    Do you suppose Ryan Seacrest ever imagined when Kellie Pickler was a contestant on American Idol that he would one day produce her show on CMT?

    Will you tune in to catch Kellie Pickler’s reality show when it airs on CMT this coming fall?

  • Kristen Wiig Says She’d Have Ricky Ricardo, Desi Arnaz’ Character In ‘I Love Lucy,’ Score the Soundtrack of Her Life

    Kristen Wiig says she would have Ricky Ricardo, Desi Arnaz’ character in the legendary series I Love Lucy, score the soundtrack of her life if she had the choice.

    Kristen Wiig revealed her choice at the The Hollywood Reporter‘s Sundance Lounge in Park City during the film festival.

    Kristen Wiig is at the festival founded by Robert Redford for the screening of two films in which she stars.

    She joined co-stars Sebastian Silva and Tunde Adebimpe Saturday to present their film Nasty Baby, in which she plays the character of Polly, a woman who agrees to carry the baby of a gay couple.

    She is also on hand for the world premiere of The Diary of a Teenage Girl, a film based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, alongside Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgård.

    During the same “who would you have score the soundtrack of your lives” segment, Jack Black said he would go with Don’t Worry Be Happy vocalist Bobby McFerrin or Black Sabbath to score his life.

    To see what other stars said about who they would choose to score the soundtrack of their lives, check out the video below:

  • Lucie Arnaz Remembers Christmas With Ricky & Lucy

    The I Love Lucy show is such a familiar favorite that it runs on many different channels at all times of the year. It originally aired in 1951 through 1959 on CBS and it was one of the most watched shows on television. It can still be viewed today via reruns.

    I Love Lucy is an American television comedy sitcom that starred Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. Their show names were Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel.

    I Love Lucy was the most watched show in the US in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings.

    A total of 193 episodes aired over over six seasons on CBS. The show is still syndicated in dozens of languages in nations around the world. The show also won 5 Emmy Awards.

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    When the show went off the air in 1959, because of its success, the producers extended I Love Lucy to 60 minutes, with a big guest star each episode. They renamed the show the The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. Thirteen hour-long episodes aired from 1957 to 1960.

    An amazing accomplishment of this dynamic duo was the creation of Desilu Productions by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, founded in 1950.

    Imagine being a child of such a well known couple in the 50’s. Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. who grew up in Beverly Hills, California, have fond memories of their childhood, especially during Christmas.

    Arnaz says her parents, Ball and Desi Arnaz, made the most of the holiday at their Beverly Hills home in the 1950s. Arnaz and her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., reveled in it.

    “It was the only time of the year when there wasn’t stress,” recalled Arnaz, an actress-singer who tours nationally in concert. “There was a lot of stress because of how hard they worked, and their marriage wasn’t doing well. But Christmas was always a good time.”

    Arnaz went on to describe their Beverly Hills home, “My mother loved the East Coast so she tried to bring it to Beverly Hills. We always had a flocked white tree with blue lights. At night, it made it look like wintertime in the snow,” Arnaz said.

    She fondly recalls watching her parents on the set of I Love Lucy, and hopes the “I Love Lucy Christmas Special” (8 p.m. EST Friday, CBS) will introduce the sitcom to a new generation of viewers.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons 1
    Wikimedia Commons 2

  • Lucie Arnaz Remembers Mom ‘Lucy’ During the Holidays

    Lucille Ball’s comedic genius portrayed in the timeless classic I Love Lucy still garners an audience today. In honor of the holidays, a special colorized episode is being released on CBS. Christmas was a special time enjoyed by Lucille Ball in private as well. Ball’s daughter, 62-year-old Lucie Arnaz, recently spoke about her childhood family memories surrounding the holiday season.

    “It was the only time of the year when there wasn’t stress. There was a lot of stress because of how hard they worked, and their marriage wasn’t doing well. But Christmas was always a good time,” Arnaz said.

    Arnaz went on to explain why her mother spent time decorating the Beverly Hills house in which the family resided. “My mother loved the East Coast so she tried to bring it to Beverly Hills. We always had a flocked white tree with blue lights. At night, it made it look like wintertime in the snow.”

    Arnaz even spoke about how her father (Desi Arnaz) dressed in a Santa suit. “He bent over and kissed me and said `Merry Christmas!’ I thought, `Santa sounds just like daddy,’” Arnaz said before adding that her mother’s response to the memory years later was not one of awe. “Yes, he did that. He got all liquored up and banged on the roof and got in his Santa suit with the presents and the whole thing. And then he had to open his mouth,” Lucille Ball had said.

    Lucie Arnaz is a talented singer and actress in her own right, and starred in Here’s Lucy with her mother. Arnaz recently shared news on her personal website about the release of her previous work. “I am proud to announce all six seasons of HERE’S LUCY (the series I co-starred in with my mother, Lucille Ball, and my brother, Desi Arnaz, Jr.), are now available on DVD courtesy of MPI. The wrap around commentaries on these are priceless.”

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Shirley Mitchell, From “I Love Lucy” Dies At 94

    Shirley Mitchell died yesterday at the age of 94. She was most well-known to audiences as Marion Strong, the funny friend of Lucy Ricardo’s on the hit television show, I Love Lucy. She is believed to be the last surviving member of the cast, and the television world lost another star yesterday.

    Mitchell’s sister-in-law, Nancy Olson, was the one who initially reported her death, and she passed away due to heart failure. She died at her condo in Westwood, California.

    She was born in 1919 in Toledo, Ohio, and began her career as a radio star, where she met and became friends with Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball, of course, was the star of I Love Lucy, along with Desi Arnaz, a team that continues to make people laugh to this day, through reruns of the show.

    Mitchell joined the show for the third season, which aired from 1953-1954, and appeared in only three episodes. She played the character of Marion, a character that was originally portrayed by Margie Liszt, and who set Lucy and Ricky up on their first date.

    Throughout her career, Shirley Mitchell appeared in many television shows including Three’s Company, The Odd Couple, Dallas, and several others. She was an actress that was in high-demand throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and received roles in almost every big show from the time period.

    She also appeared in a few films such as Jamboree, Big Business, and The War Of The Roses.

    Shirley Mitchell was the widow of Alan Livingston, a pop composer, and is survived by her two children, Scott and Brooke. She will be remembered as one of the comedic geniuses of television, and forever in the hearts of her family and friends, and anyone who watched the hit shows that she appeared on.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7oZYXtRU2w

    Image via Youtube

  • Doris Singleton Dies: “I Love Lucy” Star Was 92

    Doris Singleton, best known as Lucy and Ricky’s next door neighbor on the popular ’50s show “I Love Lucy”, has died. She was 92-years old.

    Singleton worked on a number of successful television programs, including “My Three Sons”, “The Munsters”, and “Dynasty”. But she said she very much enjoyed working with Lucille Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, during her stint on the show as their boastful neighbor Carolyn Appleby.

    “Lucy was very nice to me because she really liked my work,” she said. “And when you did [“I Love Lucy”], if Lucy liked you — not just Lucy but Desi [Arnaz] as well and the producers, writers, and directors — you did the show a lot. So she had her stock company, too. If she didn’t like you or you made a mistake … you didn’t come back.”

    Singleton and Ball formed a friendship after a chance meeting on a radio program in 1948. She once said that there was very little fun to be had on set, as Ball was all business when she was working.

    In a bizzarre twist of fate, Singleton passed away in the same week one of her former costars, Don Grady, died. The two worked on “My Three Sons” together.