December Bride: I Love Lucy's other neighbor

You may think of Fred and Ethel Mertz as the neighbors on "I Love Lucy" but From 1954 until 1958 "December Bride" was a situation comedy seen on CBS right after Lucy aired. So December Bride was a Lucy neighbor, too!

Although this series has been long forgotten, LenW's Youtube channel has posted much of the series from washed out reruns on a local station. It is really a hoot for any fan of "I Love Lucy" as the whole series has a "Lucy" aura to it. The laugh track, the music, the set and even the bit players are very familiar.

If you have never seen this series you are in for a treat. Here a a few discoveries I have made as an "I Love Lucy" fan.

The laugh track is the same as from "Lucy." You will often hear the famous "oh-oh" on December Bride (the "oh-oh" lady was supposedly Lucy's mother!).

The series starred Spring Byington, Dean Miller, Frances Rafferty and Harry Morgan. 

Remember Mrs. Porter, the maid hired by Lucy? Mrs. Porter was none other than Verna Felton who played the much more adorable character Hilda in "December Bride"!

Get ready to see a lot of Lucy alumni on the screen or in the credits.

Here's Kathryn Card (aka Mrs. McGillicuddy--Lucy's mom)

Here's Joseph Kerns (who appeared as the theater manager and doctor on "I Love Lucy")

Here's Desi Arnaz himself guest starring in an episode

I even spotted Lucy's stand in Hazel Pierce in the background on at least one episode. 

The background music sounds very familiar. Wilbur Hatch uses incidental music which sounds much like a Lucy episode.

The set looks very "I Love Lucy" like to me. The kitchen door and sink are in the same position as are the open windows leading into the living room area.

Any Lucy fan will recognize these names from the credits

And of course get ready for the Desilu logo!

From what I have read "December Bride" didn't do well when CBS moved it out of its post Lucy time slot. The show later aired daytimes on CBS and was in syndication but never fared too well. One reason is they said children couldn't relate to the story lines as the cast was older. I don't know about that, however it would be great if someone could rescue this show from the archives of oblivion and let us see it again from clear prints! Until then thank you LenW for giving us the rare chance to visit with Lucy's neighbor "December Bride". A real treat.

Lucy Love Affair on her 100th birth anniversary

August 6, 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lucille Ball.

Lucy, you kept me laughing at your antics when I was a child. Back then, you were on TV in your 1950s incarnation every evening when I loyally watched "I Love Lucy." Your 1960s "Lucy Show" was re-run at lunchtime and in the evenings we could see your 1970s brand new "Here's Lucy".

As time has gone by, you've been a "wondaful" break from the current lack of creativity in the media. I don't want to watch today's attempt at comedy. Despite the fact that I can recite your television dialog practically verbatim, you still fascinate me.

Through college, through early adulthood, through my marriage and now through my 45 plus years, there you have been. Unchanging. Forever comfortable and lovely.

You were such a beauty and captivated so many people with your talents. I wasn't around during your 1950s heyday. It must have been something to witness firsthand.

As you aged, you apparently knew that people had forever etched you into your younger days. This week you would have turned 100. The Lucille Ball we remember is still as vital, vivacious, and beautiful as ever. I wish you were here to read this.

The Mothers-in Law: a "new" comedy from Desi Arnaz and "I Love Lucy" writers

Here's something that's so old and forgotten that it's brand new again!











After the iconic "I Love Lucy" series, Desi Arnaz had a tough act to follow....and he had to do it without his former wife Lucille Ball. What he come up with in the late 60s was a show called "The Mothers-in Law" starring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. The show aired for two seasons on NBC. Arnaz produced and also appeared in several episodes.

Although it was fondly remembered by a few people (including a college roommate of mine) I had never seen this series. According to legend, the series rights were mired in legal problems and so for years it hasn't been seen on tv...except for some old grainy prints once in a while which I had never seen either.

Now "Desilu,too" (run by Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr) present a prize package of 1960s television with "The Mothers-in-Law" Complete Series on dvd. Of course it isn't "I Love Lucy" (nothing is....even Lucille Ball's 1960s and 70s tv ventures). "The Mothers-in-Law" is pretty funny though in its own right.

At the time it may have seemed rather 1950s in its plotlines and this of course was the late 1960s when times were a changin'. Now however the show can be looked at with a fresh view and with the stale crap presented as comedy on tv today, this is actually quite refreshing.

Desi Arnaz, Jr introduces the first show, as does the famous "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC" peacock. From there it's 56 half hours of comedy often written by Bob Carroll, Jr and Madelyn Pugh Davis, the same scribes who penned "I Love Lucy."

Eve Arden has quite a sense of comedy timing and Kaye Ballard is the perfect cohort. Their husbands are played by Herbert Rudley and Roger C. Carmel in the first year. The second year Carmel is replaced by Richard Deacon (Mel Cooley of Dick Van Dyke Show fame).

The print is prstine but its the dvd extras that really make this release shine. Kaye Ballard (who now lives in Desi's old house) is interviewed in a delightful reminiscence about working with Desi Arnaz. A cool behind the scenes film is shown with Kaye's commentary. How interesting to see how few people were involved in producing a tv show then. Now we have garbage and hundreds of people are involved!

Great station/show promos featuring the cast and Desi are here as are cast commercials for such things as Scope and Camay! "Desilu, too" unearthed Desi Arnaz's failed pilots of "The Carol Channing Show" and "Land's End" which are presented here as are some rare programs featuring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. Lucille Ball gets onto the dvd as well as she presents several excerpts of her 1960s radio show are featured as she interviews Eve Arden.

You probably already have the dialog memorized after watching Lucy stomp grapes and steal John Wayne's footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater thousands of times in reruns. If so, "The Mothers-in-Law" is a dvd set you will enjoy quite a bit.