Loving
Lucy 97'
My parents surprised me with the trip for my high school graduation. It was better than getting a car(which my best friend got). So here goes.
Friday: While
after the little bus mix-up we arrived at the Television Academy
an hour late but Tom was nice enough to hold the show till we al
l got there. It was well worth it. They showed clips of many
programs Lucy and/or Desi appeared on and also the Lucy bloopers.
The special presentation that night was The Lucille Ball Comedy
Hour from 1964 with Bob Hope. One of the neatest things was at
the beginning when Tom was introduced, by Lucy. The phrase
"And now the president of We Love Lucy, Tom Watson" was
edited from clips of Lucy on different shows saying these words.
During intermission, I got my picture taken with Suzanne as Lucy
Charmichael and I got a picture of the Borden Twins.
Saturday: The first panel
discussion was at 10:00 that morning and was very informative. I
wish that 
they had left more time for Q and A though.
The autograph line was very long but I did get to talk to Mike
and meet Tarah while I waited. Meeting Keith Thibodeaux. was
great, but I got all tongue tied when I tried to tell him where I
got his book. The second panel discussion was at 1:00 and as
others had noted Maury was the hit of the panel. The one story
that was told in both sessions was the story about Tallulah
Bankhead and her strip tease in Desi's office. I had read about
it in a few books, but it was so neat to hear someone actually
tell it. The auction followed at 4:00. I did get a bidding number
but didn't bid. Everything was out of my price range. Congrats to
Glen on his two Elois Jennessn sketches. Someone else mentioned
the Ricky Jr. baby carriage went for $1700, and the next day the
woman who bought it got Keith T. to autograph it.
Saturday
Evening: That evening was the banquet. Thanks Glen on
getting us the great table. By the way Glen got the center piece
on the table. The show was great. The Borden twins sang
"Ricochet Romance" and other songs. Suzanne did not
have that big a part in the show, but I think it was because s he
was saving most of it for her show Sunday. She did do Lucy
Charmichael in the Main Street USA Lucy Show and the Freddy the
Freeloader sketch from the LDCH. Ralph Hart did a very touching
tribute to Vivian Vance. I was crying by the end of his story.
For the finale of the show they put together pieces of news
events form 1951 to the present and showed Lucy related pictures
along with it under the song "Through the Years", to
show that Lucy was and is always around, from being on TV weekly
through 1974 and in reruns, books, and conventions ever since. I
was crying again by the end of it. The most thrilling part of the
evening was after the banquet when I got to ride in an elevator
with Ralph Hart and his family. I also got to talk to his mother
and him the next morning and tell him how much I loved his story
about Vivian. He was so sweet.
Sunday: The
morning started with a brunch and book signing with the authors
where I got all my books autographed. The trivia game was fun,
except I listened to my mother on the one question and got myself
eliminated. I was trying to do math in my head(not my best
subject)and my mom kept pointing to B when I knew the answer was
C. I knew every answer after that. Suzanne's show was that
afternoon. She was so good . The first act was her as Lucy
Ricardo. She had every little facial, and body movement down.
People were saying how creepy it was watching her. It was like
Lucy was on stage. The second act was Wildcat, Mame, and Lucy at
home. The last part involved the phone call on, November 30, 86,
and they showed slides of Desi under the song "My Best
Boy" from Mame which Suzanne sang. At the end, the screen
said "Desi Arnaz died on December 2, 1986." "Lucy
left us three years later." It was so sad. I was crying.
Suzanne then came out as herself. The show ended on such a sad
note but it was an excellent show none the less, and a great way
to end a great weekend.