CBS is about to give fans a blast from the past. The latest special on the network will harken back to the era of canned laughter and physical comedy. The network announced today that it will air an I Love Lucy Superstar Special that will include two episodes of the famous comedy remastered for today’s television. Yes, that includes some pretty good-looking colored picture.
This morning’s announcement mentions that fans will get to see “L.A. at Last” and “Lucy and Superman,” presented in color with a “vintage look.” In addition, CBS notes that extra material from “L.A. at Last” will also be included in the special. Even if you are an I Love Lucy expert, the material hasn’t been aired since the original episode hit the schedule more than 60 years ago.
Both “L.A. at Last” and “Lucy and Superman” are fairly famous episodes. “L.A. at Last,” first aired in 1955 and features the Ricardos and Mertzes moving to Hollywood, where Lucy meets William Holden. “Lucy and Superman” is from 1957 and features Lucy planning a party for her son Little Ricky. Shenanigans ensue when Caroline Appleby plans a rival party and Lucy goes to great lengths to ensure TV Superman will appear at her son’s big bash. George Reeves is part of that episode. The second episode as a whole will be a nice nod to the Supergirl series CBS has coming up.
This isn’t the first time that an I Love Lucy special has been presented on television, but it does come during a time that the networks are looking for ways to entice new viewers via specials. Networks need people to tune in live to earn advertising numbers, and NBC has proven the format can work through live musicals, while other networks still bring in big numbers with sports events. While I Love Lucy isn’t quite as big of a draw as the Super Bowl, there’s no reason to think CBS’ older-skewing audience might not get excited about an even program like the I Love Lucy Superstar Special.
The CBS special will air on Sunday, May 17 at 8 p.m. ET, which is a great time to air a revitalized project of this ilk. It’ll hit the schedule following the spring finales of most shows, but before kids are out of school and families begin to vacation. The special will also hit the schedule before much of the summer network programming begins airing. If you would like to find out what else is hitting the schedule this summer, you can peruse our 2015 Summer TV premiere schedule.
