CBS Airing Colorized I Love Lucy Special on May 19th

The latest hour-long colorized I Love Lucy special airs this Friday (May 19th) from 9-10PM ET on CBS. “The New I Love Lucy Superstar Special” features two episodes from the iconic sitcom’s fourth season: “Dancing Star” with Van Johnson (originally broadcast May 2nd, 1955) and “Harpo Marx” with Harpo Marx (originally broadcast May 9th, 1955). The special presents the two episodes as one continuous story with a single set of opening and closing credits.

A full press release can be found here.

CBS began airing colorized specials in December 2013 with a pair of I Love Lucy episodes. The Andy Griffith Show got the color treatment in December 2015. The Dick Van Dyke Show became the third classic CBS sitcom colorized for modern viewers in December 2016.

Previous I Love Lucy Color Specials

Here’s a list of the I Love Lucy episodes CBS has colorized and broadcast since 2013:

December 2013
“The Christmas Episode”
“Lucy’s Italian Movie”

December 2014
“The Christmas Episode”
“Job Switching”

May 2015
“L.A. At Last!”
“Lucy and Superman”

December 2015
“The Christmas Episode”
“Lucy Does a TV Commercial”

May 2016
“Lucy Visits Grauman’s”
“Lucy and John Wayne”

December 2016
“The Christmas Episode”
“Lucy Gets in Pictures”


What do you think of CBS colorizing I Love Lucy episodes? Will you be watching this special on May 19th? Are there any other shows you’d like to see CBS colorize? Hit the comments with your thoughts.


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11 Replies to “CBS Airing Colorized I Love Lucy Special on May 19th”

  1. Is this really necessary? You can watch all the originals in black and white and without commercials and editing on various streaming sites. Strangely, CBS All Access has fewer Lucys then either Hulu or Amazon Prime.

  2. I’m surprised the whole show hasn’t been colorized by now. Younger audiences don’t adjust to B&W as easily as the older viewers.

    I do find colorizing works better for comedies than dramas. It would be hard to colorize something like The Twilight Zone and still keep it the same.

  3. I am a HUGE, HUUUGE I Love Lucy fan. I actually don’t mind the colorization for these specials. I think it’s fun. But to colorized the entire series…NOOOOOO WWAAYYY.

    To be colorization is a gimmick. For these specials it’s ok. I Love Lucy does not need a gimmick. It’s endured for 66 years without a gimmick and will go on forever without one! TALENT, TALENT, TALENT. That’s what keeps the show going. In front of the camera and behind it.

    1. I agree with your sentiment about I Love Lucy not needing a gimmick. However, as mentioned by the other poster, colorization will allow the younger generation to not only discover but enjoy the show. Black and white version is always there for those who require it.

      My guess of why the entire series has not been colorized yet is financial. It’s most likely not cheap.

      1. I don’t think it’s as expensive as it use to be considering the technology and techniques have been around for a while. But they need to be able to justify the cost of doing it. DVD sales may not be enough.

        When these shows were made they were made in B&W, mono sound and standard definition. Updating all that takes time and limits the results. Most shows of this time, if not lost, aren’t worth even bothering with.

        And eventually, at the rate of two a year, they will do the whole series. Chances are once they get half way they’ll commit to doing them all.

  4. I watched the Lucy colorized episodes tonight and it was fun to watch again but I was appalled at the cuts and editing done to some of these shows just so the sponsors can push their damn drugs. They edited a small portion of a scene in the Van Johnson episode. But the Harpo Marx was the worst. They eliminated some of Lucy’s imitations of movie stars like Gary Cooper and Bing Crosby. But the worst of all was eliminating portions of Harpo Marx’s harp solo. I just could not watch any more. I was disgusted. I’m glad I have all these shows in their entirety and I will gladly skip over any more Lucy specials from now on.

    1. I noticed that also with the cuts on her imitations of celebrities. It was a shame to see the harp music cut. But loved watching the episode with Van Johnson. I hadn’t seen it in a long time. The color was beautiful!

  5. Seems John Wayne and Lucy as “Gary Cooper” got delted from CBS’s colorized Superstar Special May 19.

    Any reason way?

    I seem to recall the Wayne bit was a full half hour and it has aired many
    times.

    1. Seems my question was answered. Thank you.

      I wasn’t as familiar with the series, believe it or not, to catch
      the other cuts.

      And I need to learn how to spell delete!

      Best to all the Lucy/Desi fans.

  6. I am nearsighted. When I saw Lucy & Ethel snipping the cord of a friend’s new eyeglass holder and then hiding the friend’s glasses I was in no mood to enjoy Lucy’s celebrity impressions. I kept thinking of how, if I’d just found my glasses, took the precaution of buying a device to kept the glasses always around my neck, and then still misplaced the glasses, I would probably go into a panicky crying jag.

    Yes, I get it. This show was a comedy, and impossible situations were the weekly norm. But oh my goodness, hiding a friend’s eyeglasses to keep her from learning you had been lying about partying with movie stars does not endear me to I Love Lucy.

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