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Lucille Ball is a hero: Star Trek, scifi, and I’d even argue the civil rights movement all owe her a debt of gratitude.
For the unfamiliar: As the head of Desilu Productions, she was the one responsible for giving TOS a second pilot.
Vigorously defended by Solow, and despite the fact that Star Trek series was already ordered by NBC, after the second pilot episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, had been produced, virtually the entire Desilu Board of Directors voted to cancel Star Trek in February 1966 nevertheless, board member Bernard Weitzman being the sole exception. Yet, as Chairwoman of the Board, Lucille Ball had the power to override her board, and this she did with a mere nod of her head towards Solow. “That was all Star Trek needed,” as author Marc Cushman had succinctly put it, “A nod of Lucille Ball.” One of the nay-sayers on the board, studio accountant Edwin “Ed” Holly, later conceded, “If it were not for Lucy, there would be no ‘Star Trek’ today.”
Not only that, unless my memory fails me, it was Lucy who basically funded both pilots with little to no external financial assistance.
They should name entire systems and fleets of ships to her name in the Trek universe
Lucy’s name appears on Enterprise’s hull in the SNW episode “Spock Amok,” when Una and La’an go on an EVA to “sign the scorch.”
Can anyone spot it?
Such a legend. During covid lockdown I dove into “I Love Lucy” (streaming on Paramount+™) and was surprised by the quality. When we think of old sitcoms there are a lot of cheesy tropes that come to mind, like “Leave it to Beaver” and “The Brady Bunch” but Lucy had hardly any of them. It was very original and funny, you can tell a lot of thought and heart was put into it. I’d recommend it to anyone!
Lucille Ball was a comedian first and an actor second. That’s why.
Risa Remembers Lucille Ball
