After years of I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were not done with the characters of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. They resurrected them (and Vivian Vance and William Frawley as the Mertzes) for 13 hour-long episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, broadcast as part of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, a drama anthology show, from 1957-1960.

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This time, the action was anchored on two couples' life in suburban Connecticut (though at least half of the 13 episodes shows the fab foursome in flashback - i.e., how Lucy and Ricky Ricardo met - or in an exotic locale other than Connecticut (Alaska, Japan, Las Vegas).

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Desi Arnaz decided on an hour length for the series so that episodes could explore concepts that didn't fit into the half-hour sitcom format. Sprinkled liberally with guest stars, à la I Love Lucy's successful Hollywood shows, these longer shows were a mixed bag. Some were fabulous, some were good, and some fell flat.

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The very first episode, which aired November 6, 1957, ran overtime a full 15 minutes. Such was Desi's clout at the time that he persuaded the sponsor of the show that followed it, U.S. Steel, to let the Comedy Hour run its extra 15 minutes into U.S. Steel's show. Desi promised the big Comedy Hour audience would stay for The U.S. Steel Hour, and he was right.  

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The additional 15 minutes of footage from the first episode was never broadcast again, and was cut by CBS for syndication so the show would fit into an hour time slot. Most of the cut footage, which has recently surfaced, revolved around Lucy and Desi's pal, Hedda Hopper, interviewing Lucy and Desi about how they first met. The story itself, involving a cruise to Havana, took place in flashbacks.

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Lucy wanted Bette Davis to guest star in the second of the hour-long shows, but her fee was too expensive and she wouldn't come down. She was replaced by Tallulah Bankhead, who, though unnerving during the rehearsal period due to her fondness for alcohol, rose to the occasion and made her episode, "The Celebrity Next Door," one of the series' best.

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The funniest episode featured Danny Thomas and his TV family, from the Desilu sitcom Make Room for Daddy. In it, the Ricardos rent their house for the summer to the Williamses (Thomas, Marjorie Lord, Rusty Hamer, and Angela Cartwright), but end up staying in the cramped Mertz guest cottage when their trip is cancelled. Naturally, Lucy can't help but interfere in the Williams household, and she tries to get them to leave so she can have her house back. The result is a snowball fight free-for-all which ends in a hilarious courtroom sequence, featuring Gale Gordon as the judge. The writing, performances (watch for the Mertzes in court), and plot all come together for an hour of true classic comedy.

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"Lucy Wants a Career," the ninth episode of the series, aired on February 9, 1959, and was the one most like the original half-hour sitcom. Lucy, desperate to be in show-biz as always, finagles her way to becoming guest star Paul Douglas' assistant on his new morning show. She becomes a big success, but the extra hours and the long commute make Lucy realize she's happier at home. Well-acted and truly poignant, this was the series' peak. The final four episodes (with the exception of "Lucy Goes to Japan," thanks to guest-star Bob Cummings) went steadily downhill in quality.

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Though it was not technically a "Lucy" show, the Desilu Playhouse's Christmas epsiode in 1959 played out like one. Showcasing Lucille Ball's little repertory company of actors and actresses she'd been working with for several years (including TCM host Robert Osborne and actress Carole Cook), the script loosely followed Lucy's attempt to have her "kids" put on a show, an old-fashioned revue. And old-fashioned it was, with even Cook's and Dick Kallman's "beatnik" number more of a brassy jazz piece than anything else. The Lucy-ish plot involved Desi, Vivian and Bill (playing themselves but really their Lucy characters) trying to keep Lucy away from the kids before and during the show, lest she upset them and make them nervous. Rarely seen since its broadcast, this show is a must for Lucy-philes, and anyone interested in just how odd television could be in the 1950s. With cameos from Ann Sothern, Spring Byington, George Murphy, Hedda Hopper, and Betty Furness doing a full-out Westinghouse commercial in front of the entire cast. Crazy, man.

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The last episode of the series, "Lucy Meets the Moustache," guest-starred Ernie Kovacs and his wife, Edie Adams. The Arnazes had already decided to divorce and were both emotional messes during the filming. The episode was not one of the couple's finer hours, but there were still bits and pieces of the old Lucy and Desi magic on display. But by then the marriage could not be saved. Lucy filed for divorce the day after the episode aired (April 1, 1960), ending an era.