Ethel Loves Lucy - Vivian Vance salutes Lucille Ball - 1976 

Absolutely.

When they saw each other, they both just cried. I heard the same thing.

They were VERY good friends. Vivian's husband Philip Ober (he played Dore Schary on one of the I Love Lucy episodes when they are in Hollywood) was very abusive. It was Lucy who not only got her to see the abuse and convinced her to leave him, but paid for all of Vivian's therapy sessions as well.

I can't believe they were such good friends all those years.... I miss them

@Lance Lanny It sure looks like it may have been.

Really? God thats so sad but awesome I love Vivian more then any other TV personality and I love lucy will always be my favorite show You can't beat black and white The stuff on TV is garbage

@Avery Pedro 👌

Life with Lucy (1986) flopped during the first season

@@mainecoon6514...during its only season.

Lucy and Ethel were the best. They are so funny after all of these years

@@erikkahoooper2649 They're a big slice of Americana!👩‍🦰👱‍♀️

Actually she wasn't. She had a lot of issues including depression and an abusive husband. She was in therapy for a long time. Lucy paid all of her therapists bills because they were such good friends.

@@retroguy9494 Correct. But she came across that way. I loved her demeanor.

Seems to me Vivian was comfortable in her own skin. She had class an style

@@oceanlover3530 I agree and understand exactly what you mean.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1973 and died from that in 1979. Metastatic cancer puts a strain on the heart, which increase the risks for strokes. Pretty sure her stroke was related to her metastatic breast cancer.

I am a huge fan of Vivian's as well. She was unique and her comic delivery was impeccable. She had an inner warmth which cannot be "faked"; something Lucille did NOT have.

@@scotnick59 Lucy was...

What a nice tribute to Viv with the yellow roses. Robin Williams was also scattered in the San Francisco Bay...

Mine too! I mean, Gale Gordon was funny too. But there was just something missing when Lucy moved from Danfield to Los Angeles in the show. And that something was Viv.

@@retroguy9494 it lost a lot when Viv left..

@@lisagialucci2296 Indeed it did.

I liked Vivian Vance being on The Lucy Show too. They were like Lucy and Ethel all over again.

@@deannaroberson8012 I stopped watching after vivian left

'Job Switching' is probably my favorite episode too. Pure genius as you stated, Fred.

I don't think she's able to read your message these days.

Lucy and Viv are two of the funniest comedians ever. They live on in I love Lucy and the Lucy show.

I feel that way, too!! That happens to me sometimes with other people, too, like historical figures I admire or even fictional characters I've loved. I have never encountered anyone else who has had that experience of missing someone they've never met!

i know right! i’m 14 years old and have watched mostly black and white or before the 2000s. i love lucy, the lucy show, here’s lucy, golden girls, andy griffith show, green acres, and the brady bunch are some of my favorites.

Has been my fav show too since I can remember. It will always be ❤️

Same here!!! I'm addicted to I love Lucy!!🙏❤👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

@@minivegana6516 I Love Lucy will always be Lucy's best. That show was one of a kind.

@@mainecoon6514 TOTALLY AGREE!!!🙏❤

In October of this year it will have been 70 years since it first aired.

@@timcarr6401 I know! It’s crazy. I wasn’t alive back then, but I grew up watching the reruns when I was a little kid ( I’m 19 now)

@@Reed___ Well, I WAS born in the 20th century. Right around the time things started to change in America and not for the better at that. When I was born, The Lucy Show was still on in first run episodes. So what does that tell you that after 70 and 60 years respectively I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show still work with today's younger audiences like yourself?

I agree. The Lucy Show was a notch below I Love Lucy. Here's Lucy was another notch below The Lucy Show. Life With Lucy simply should not have been made.

I agree completely! Well said!@@Lava1964

You know, there is ALWAYS a backstory. Lucy was old school Hollywood and went by the rule that you never have anyone on the set prettier or better looking than you. At first, when Desi first hired Vivian, Lucy was jealous of her looks. But once Lucy realized that Viv would never upstage her, they became VERY good friends in real life.

Hatred is a pretty strong word. And what scandals? I don't think they ever hated each other. Lucy was threatened by her at first, but they got past that. They got past EVERYTHING that came between them & were together just days before Viv died. Isn't THAT what matters? Desi was a womanizer & alcoholic & Lucy realized they couldn't stay married, but they always cared about each other & remained close. They were all just flawed human beings,- some more flawed than others or having different flaws,- who also had good qualities. Isn't forgiveness a good quality? Except in the case of actual physical or emotional abuse, it seems like the deepest relationships almost always involve forgiveness. Lucy didn't abuse Viv. In fact, when Viv WAS in an abusive relationship with one of her husbands, Lucy told Viv she needed to leave him & Viv eventually did. They went through a lot together, including their divorces. It's quite a pronouncement to speak of, "scandals & hatred" being "swept under the rug", as if you were there & witnessed it all. Also, people were way more polite at that time, esp. compared to now, where we have girls dropping the F bomb regularly. When I was a kid, only the crudest of men, like sailers or prisoner, used that word. Now everyone uses it.

Leos. It's plural, not possessive, so there's no apostrophe. You aren't talking about Leo's phone or job or feelings or kids. You are talking about 2 Leos.

Wikipedia says she died of bone cancer which was secondary to breast cancer

E K you honestly can’t trust Wikipedia

@@yes_no_maybe45 it was bone cancer though..

Barbara Paschali yea I know, but I wouldn’t trust Wikipedia on everything. Tho this one was true

@@yes_no_maybe45 yeah i don't trust wikipedia either. I read it in an article

Mine too!

I know, I wonder if there’s more footage of this. She’s spoken elsewhere but we needed more of her here.

Can you BLAME Lucy? There were VERY close friends in real life. My guess is that is WHY Lucy had Mary Wickes drive her. Lucy probably knew she would be too upset to drive back and wanted a friend for moral support.

She did! 🙂

What did you think of her as a person? What did you think about as you watched this video?

@@Michelle-pn9xt i thought she was a great person and i thought she was great in this video....all around great.

I doubt that. By the time she was in hospice, I'm sure she looked pretty bad. I can't imagine how difficult that last visit was for them. People in the house gave them privacy & said they could hear laughter coming from the room at first as they reminisced, and later, sobbing. My God, I cry just thinking about it.

The fact that no pair of human beings could possibly wrap every piece of candy coming down the conveyor belt at that speed does not take away from the comedic brilliance of that scene.

Lucille ball said she cried like a baby when Vivian Vance died.

Was her acting ability tied to her friendship with Lucille Ball?

Ricky and Fred were a hoot as housewives

That's what I assumed

I was thinking the same thing! It was a cute nod.

It wasn't coffee. It was water. Look closely and you can see it.

@@retroguy9494 Vivian's commercials were for Maxwell House Instant Coffee so the nod recognizes that she'd be pouring hot water into a cup that contains the instant coffee (though that may not have been in there).

@@chrisparker7256 Gotcha! And yes. I remember those commercials. Even more, I remember Margaret Hamilton's (the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz) commercials for Maxwell House coffee as well!

Me too! I was born in Nov. of '72.

@@crmay72 November 72 also?? What day?? I was born in the 8th.

@@Carlsjennifer The 2nd so I am six days older than you! We will be "over the hill" later this year, ha ha ha! ;)

@@crmay72 😊😊

@@crmay72 I still feel like I’m 25 years old 👍😊

Oh, good catch! I thought it was weird that they'd show her sipping a beverage before she addresses the camera.

Do you know she almost died making that scene? They used a real Italian vineyard employee and not an actress. She was given instructions on how to let let Lucy up from time to time so the camera could see her. But instead, she got angry and held Lucy's head under the grapes (which were real) and wouldn't let her up. That fighting you see in the scene is real. Lucy insisted it be left in BECAUSE it was so real.

I wouldn't exactly say downhill. The show changed its format to include a lot of guest stars in the episodes because Lucy Carmichael was then living in Los Angeles. But there was definitely something missing. And that something was Viv.

@@retroguy9494 exactly definitely not downhill LOL

@@anamarier4791 👍😃

She eventually got Mary Jane to fill the gap left by Viv, but before that had Joan Blondell at least in a few episodes. I'm not sure what happened but apparently Joan had upset Lucy somehow and she yelled (at Joan) in front of the studio audience, ending that 'experiment' for a fill in. It's too bad because Joan was really good. It's also a little shocking when you realize Joan Blondell was a very big star also.

@@robmcgowan4034 For Lucy, no one could replace Viv. She may have sabotaged having Blondell as a substitute. Honestly, I'd never even HEARD of Blondell until recently, while binging on The Lucy Show eps here on YT. So she wasn't THAT big of a star! Who was she?

They weren't estranged for that long!! The Dinah Shore Show brought on Viv to surprise Lucy 2 years before Viv was diagnosed with bone cancer. They were affectionate & so happy to see each other. Then Viv tells a story that made it sound like they got together regularly. You make it sound like they didn't make up until Lucy went to visit Viv just days before she died! Vivian was tired of commuting to do The Lucy Show & was finally in a happy marriage (after 3 failed marriages, one of which was abusive) & wanted to spend time with her husband. Regarding any conflict between them re The Lucy Show, the only person alive that I trust to know the truth is Lucy Arnez. I wish I could ask her to clarify exactly what happened. I heard that Viv wanted to direct some episodes. IDK if that's true. It would be remarkable if it was because there just weren't any women directors in television in those days. I also heard that Lucy got some bad advice regarding Viv's desire for more creative control. Friends fight. Their relationship was quite complex because not only were they best friends, but Lucy was Viv's boss, her co-worker, & her scene partner. Those are 4 roles that are sometimes going to come in conflict with each other no matter who the people are. Maybe Viv wasn't so much mad as she was frustrated & hurt.

Perhaps you are right, but that's news to me. From what I gather, the was no ill feeling. Vivian Vance lived on the east coast and was simply tired of the trans-continental flights she had to make to play Vivian Bagley on the Lucy Show.

Vivian Vance did more than just appear in the scene where Lucy talked to Jimmy Carter's mother on the phone. She had a big part and was very much in the show "Lucy Calls the President."

@@crmay72 Okay. But I do remember one side of her face showing the effects of the stroke. How many speaking lines did she have?

@@rcruz4510 I don't know about that but she was in quite a few scenes throughout the whole show. She was a major co-star. I agree that when you watch her, you can tell something is different. If I can find the link, I'll send it to you. Viv was so talented!

@@crmay72 I watched some of it. Viv keeps the right side of her face away from the camera. When the right side of her face is in view, you can tell there's some sort of paralysis.

Glory Grace K. Hey! Nice to see this comment! I full approve and endorse it. Thank you!

That was her character's name Vivian Bagley in "the Lucy Show"

that is a horrible myth, people that knew her have stated that Vivian would never have said such a thing especially in public regardless of how she felt about him

@@videox222ify Hopefully you're correct! I always thought the 4 main cast characters on the I Love Lucy Show were the absolute best!

William frawley didn't like Vivian Vance because he thought she was too frumpy to play his wife.

@@harperstacey9604 Vance resented playing the wife of a man who was 22 years her senior.

Actually, Vivian Vance was named "Viv" on the show.