Post by Rob W. Case on Dec 30, 2013 20:14:02 GMT -6
On December 20th, 2013, the most popular sitcom in American history, I Love Lucy, made television history once again, this time by the network that originally aired it in the 1950’s airing the “lost” Christmas episode again, in 2013, with the latest technology in colorization, along with airing another popular episode in color as well. And what was the result? Blockbuster response!
The episode itself:
The Christmas episode of I Love Lucy originally aired on December 24, 1956, and was the only full length Christmas episode ever made for that series. I say “full length Christmas episode ever made” because in 1951, there was a short Christmas “segment” that was tacked on to the episode entitled “Drafted” (aired December 24th of 1951) in which the cast of I Love Lucy danced around the apartment singing “Jingle Bells” in Santa suits. And what is similar between both the episode and the short segment, is the clip where Santa Clause “disappears” at the very end. At any rate, the reason why this episode is considered “lost” is because, when Desi Arnaz sold the catalog of older episodes to CBS to be aired in what would eventually become known as the “re-run,” he did not want the episode to be part of the package due to the lengthy flashback sequences from past episodes, and the fact that the episode is a holiday one (back then TV programs never aired holiday themed episodes except only within the episode’s designated holiday season). And so the film was stored for many years, and forgotten.
Decades later, when the vice president of CBS got word that there was an I Love Lucy Christmas episode, he ordered a search for it in the vaults. When they found the original negative for it, they transferred it, and aired it on December 18th, 1989, almost 33 years after its original airing. The episode was highly rated, with some 29 million viewers, beating out ABC’s Monday Night Football in the ratings. Then the following year (on December 10th, 1990), CBS re-ran the episode, but colorizing the Christmas segments, and leaving the flashback sequences in black and white. That move earned CBS 18.2 million viewers. Then in 1991, at the height of the VHS to television revolution, CBS Video released the episode on that medium, including with it an episode of the Honeymooners, and throwing in the 1951 “Jingle Bells” segment.
Since then, the episode has been released on VHS multiple times, and was included (with the colorized pieces as a special bonus feature) on the 2007 DVD release of the sixth season of I Love Lucy.
And today, in the world of high definition, and extraordinarily impressive, state of the art technology in digital colorization, CBS decided to digitally restore and re-colorize the classic Christmas episode again both for a new DVD release, and for another prime-time airing on CBS.
Notes on the Colorization:
What makes releases such as these so outstanding is the new way in which they colorize (within the confines of digital polygons). The advent of high definition has allowed for a tremendous increase in pixels and shades of color for shadows. In the old days, when movies were colorized, the pixels were tremendously limited, and that made the images appear unnatural and artificial. Today’s colorization techniques makes the images appear natural, but with a “vintage” look to them, much like older films that were actually shot in color.
The I Love Lucy Colorized Christmas special also aired alongside another popular episode of the series, the one entitled, “Lucy’s Italian movie,” which featured the famous “grape fight” in the wine vat. Both episodes aired December 20th, 2013, and both episodes, as well as “Lucy Goes to Scotland” in which the dream sequence was actually shot in color (probably as an experiment) are included in the most recent DVD release.
This release definitely deserves 4 stars, and an Emmy Award.
For more information about this release, please click HERE!
The episode itself:
The Christmas episode of I Love Lucy originally aired on December 24, 1956, and was the only full length Christmas episode ever made for that series. I say “full length Christmas episode ever made” because in 1951, there was a short Christmas “segment” that was tacked on to the episode entitled “Drafted” (aired December 24th of 1951) in which the cast of I Love Lucy danced around the apartment singing “Jingle Bells” in Santa suits. And what is similar between both the episode and the short segment, is the clip where Santa Clause “disappears” at the very end. At any rate, the reason why this episode is considered “lost” is because, when Desi Arnaz sold the catalog of older episodes to CBS to be aired in what would eventually become known as the “re-run,” he did not want the episode to be part of the package due to the lengthy flashback sequences from past episodes, and the fact that the episode is a holiday one (back then TV programs never aired holiday themed episodes except only within the episode’s designated holiday season). And so the film was stored for many years, and forgotten.
Decades later, when the vice president of CBS got word that there was an I Love Lucy Christmas episode, he ordered a search for it in the vaults. When they found the original negative for it, they transferred it, and aired it on December 18th, 1989, almost 33 years after its original airing. The episode was highly rated, with some 29 million viewers, beating out ABC’s Monday Night Football in the ratings. Then the following year (on December 10th, 1990), CBS re-ran the episode, but colorizing the Christmas segments, and leaving the flashback sequences in black and white. That move earned CBS 18.2 million viewers. Then in 1991, at the height of the VHS to television revolution, CBS Video released the episode on that medium, including with it an episode of the Honeymooners, and throwing in the 1951 “Jingle Bells” segment.
Since then, the episode has been released on VHS multiple times, and was included (with the colorized pieces as a special bonus feature) on the 2007 DVD release of the sixth season of I Love Lucy.
And today, in the world of high definition, and extraordinarily impressive, state of the art technology in digital colorization, CBS decided to digitally restore and re-colorize the classic Christmas episode again both for a new DVD release, and for another prime-time airing on CBS.
Notes on the Colorization:
What makes releases such as these so outstanding is the new way in which they colorize (within the confines of digital polygons). The advent of high definition has allowed for a tremendous increase in pixels and shades of color for shadows. In the old days, when movies were colorized, the pixels were tremendously limited, and that made the images appear unnatural and artificial. Today’s colorization techniques makes the images appear natural, but with a “vintage” look to them, much like older films that were actually shot in color.
The I Love Lucy Colorized Christmas special also aired alongside another popular episode of the series, the one entitled, “Lucy’s Italian movie,” which featured the famous “grape fight” in the wine vat. Both episodes aired December 20th, 2013, and both episodes, as well as “Lucy Goes to Scotland” in which the dream sequence was actually shot in color (probably as an experiment) are included in the most recent DVD release.
This release definitely deserves 4 stars, and an Emmy Award.
For more information about this release, please click HERE!