The Lucy – Desi Comedy Hour
In the spring of 1962, CBS purchased from Desilu Productions, Inc., rerun rights to the 13 “Lucille Ball – Desi Arnaz Show” specials, produced between 1957 and 1960. The network repackaged the 60-minute programs with new opening titles, as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, and scheduled it to run in primetime as a weekly summer-replacement series.
1962 – Monday 9-10PM
For the summer of 1962, the network used the shows as summertime substitute for The Danny Thomas Show and The Andy Griffith Show, which during the winter months aired back-to-back on Monday nights 9-10PM.
This year’s mission was two-fold: to provide good comedy entertainment during the warm months AND to get viewers back into the habit of watching a Lucy comedy every Monday night. Scheduled to begin in the fall, at 8:30-9PM, was the new series, The Lucy Show.
Because The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was pinch-hitting for the Thomas series, “Lucy Makes Room for Danny” was selected as the lead-off program. Interestingly, the release sequence created for this 1962 summer run was followed in all subsequent CBS summer runs.
This first summer, however, included only 12 of the 13 shows. Not used was “Lucy Wants a Career.” 4 of the 12 shows had never been repeated prior to this summer series.
The broadcast schedule was as follows:
Airdate Prod. # Title Exposure
1 7/2/62 7 Lucy Makes Room for Danny 3rd network airing
2 7/9/62 1 Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana 3rd network airing
3 7/16/62 4 Lucy Wins a Race Horse 2nd network airing
4 7/23/62 6 Lucy Goes to Mexico 3rd network airing
5 7/30/62 11 Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos 3rd network airing
6 8/6/62 8 Lucy Goes to Alaska 3rd network airing
7 8/13/62 2 The Celebrity Next Door 2nd network airing
8 8/20/62 3 Lucy Hunts Uranium 3rd network airing
9 8/27/62 13 Lucy Meets the Mustache 2nd network airing
10 9/3/62 5 Lucy Goes to Sun Valley 3rd network airing
11 9/10/62 10 Lucy’s Summer Vacation 3rd network airing
12 9/17/62 12 The Ricardos Visit Japan 2nd network airing
1963 – Saturday 7:30-8:30PM
For the summer of 1963, the network used the shows as summertime substitute for Jackie Gleason’s American Scene Magazine, which during the winter months aired Saturday nights at 7:30-8:30PM.
This year all 13 programs were presented. “Lucy Wants a Career” was being repeated for the very first time.
The broadcast schedule was as follows:
Airdate Prod. # Title Exposure
1 6/29/63 7 Lucy Makes Room for Danny 4th network airing
2 7/6/63 1 Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana 4th network airing
3 7/13/63 4 Lucy Wins a Race Horse 3rd network airing
4 7/20/63 6 Lucy Goes to Mexico 4th network airing
5 7/27/63 11 Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos 4th network airing
6 8/3/63 8 Lucy Goes to Alaska 4th network airing
7 8/10/63 2 The Celebrity Next Door 3rd network airing
8 8/17/63 3 Lucy Hunts Uranium 4th network airing
9 8/24/63 13 Lucy Meets the Mustache 3rd network airing
10 8/31/63 5 Lucy Goes to Sun Valley 4th network airing
11 9/7/63 10 Lucy’s Summer Vacation 4th network airing
12 9/14/63 12 The Ricardos Go to Japan 3rd network airing
13 9/21/63 9 Lucy Wants a Career 2nd network airing
1964 – Saturday 7:30-8:30PM
For the summer of 1964, the network once again used the shows as summertime substitute for Jackie Gleason’s American Scene Magazine, which during the winter months aired Saturday nights at 7:30-8:30PM.
All 13 programs were presented.
The broadcast schedule was as follows:
Airdate Prod. # Title Exposure
1 6/27/64 7 Lucy Makes Room for Danny 5th network airing
2 7/4/64 1 Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana 5th network airing
3 7/11/64 4 Lucy Wins a Race Horse 4th network airing
4 7/18/64 6 Lucy Goes to Mexico 5th network airing
5 7/25/64 11 Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos 5th network airing
6 8/1/64 8 Lucy Goes to Alaska 5th network airing
7 8/8/64 2 The Celebrity Next Door 4th network airing
8 8/15/64 3 Lucy Hunts Uranium 5th network airing
9 8/24/64 13 Lucy Meets the Mustache 4th network airing
10 8/29/64 5 Lucy Goes to Sun Valley 5th network airing
11 9/5/64 10 Lucy’s Summer Vacation 5th network airing
12 9/12/64 12 The Ricardos Go to Japan 4th network airing
13 9/19/64 9 Lucy Wants a Career 3rd network airing
1965 – Wednesday 10-11PM
For the summer of 1965, the network used the shows as summertime substitute for The Danny Kaye Show, which during the winter months aired Wednesday nights at 10-11PM.
Only 11 of the 13 programs were presented.
The broadcast schedule was as follows:
Airdate Prod. # Title Exposure
1 6/30/65 7 Lucy Makes Room for Danny 6th network airing
2 7/7/65 1 Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana 6th network airing
3 7/14/65 4 Lucy Wins a Race Horse 5th network airing
4 7/21/65 6 Lucy Goes to Mexico 6th network airing
5 7/28/65 11 Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos 6th network airing
6 8/4/65 8 Lucy Goes to Alaska 6th network airing
7 8/11/65 2 The Celebrity Next Door 5th network airing
8 8/18/65 3 Lucy Hunts Uranium 6th network airing
9 8/25/65 13 Lucy Meets the Mustache 5th network airing
10 9/1/65 5 Lucy Goes to Sun Valley 6th network airing
11 9/8/65 10 Lucy’s Summer Vacation 6th network airing
1966 – Series Not Used
For the summer of 1966, the network elected not to run The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
1967 – Thursday 7:30-8:30PM
For the summer of 1967, the network used the shows as a summertime filler program for the Thursday 7:30-8:30PM time period.
All 13 programs were presented.
The broadcast schedule was as follows:
Airdate Prod. # Title Exposure
1 6/8/67 7 Lucy Makes Room for Danny 7th network airing
2 6/15/67 1 Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana 7th network airing
3 6/22/67 4 Lucy Wins a Race Horse 6th network airing
4 6/29/67 6 Lucy Goes to Mexico 7th network airing
5 7/6/67 11 Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos 7th network airing
6 7/13/67 8 Lucy Goes to Alaska 7th network airing
7 7/20/67 2 The Celebrity Next Door 6th network airing
8 7/27/67 3 Lucy Hunts Uranium 7th network airing
9 8/3/67 13 Lucy Meets the Mustache 6th network airing
10 8/10/67 5 Lucy Goes to Sun Valley 7th network airing
11 8/17/67 10 Lucy’s Summer Vacation 7th network airing
12 8/24/67 12 The Ricardos Go to Japan 5th network airing
13 8/31/67 9 Lucy Wants a Career 4th network airing
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was retired from the network inventory after the 1967 summer season. It was subsequently released in syndication via Viacom Enterprises.