“A Book” by Desi Arnaz: Pepito’s Contributions to the Lost Pilot for “I Love Lucy” Explained (1976)
An Excerpt From “The Outspoken Memoirs of ‘Ricky Ricardo’ — The Man Who Loved Lucy” I had a very dear friend named Pepito, who used to go fishing with me. He’s retired now but he was one of the world’s…
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Los Angeles Times: “I Love Lucy” Pilot Discovered (1990)
Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press, by Greg Braxton Monday, April 9, 1990 “I Love Lucy” Pilot Discovered. The original pilot for “I Love Lucy,” which has been missing for…
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People Magazine: Lucie Arnaz on Seeing the Lost Pilot: “I Just Laughed” (1990)
Even Lucy and Desi’s Daughter Saw Something Newly Hilarious in the I Love Lucy Pilot Airing This Week Monday, May 7, 1990 Call it “I Found Lucy.” When Joanne Perez, 84, peered under a bed in her Orange County, Calif.,…
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Jess Oppenheimer’s Treatment for the “I Love Lucy” Pilot (1951)
Friday, March 2, 1951 On March 2, 1951, Jess Oppenheimer registered his treatment with the Screen Writer’s Guild for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy.” The final paragraph: “The first story concerns a TV audition for Ricky, where Pepito, the…
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Deseret News: Long Lost ‘I Love Lucy’ Pilot Is Found (1990)
Tuesday, April 10, 1990 By Scott D. Pierce, Television Editor, Deseret News If you still love Lucy, you’re in for a treat. The “I Love Lucy” pilot has been found, and will be broadcast by CBS next month. For TV…
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“I Love Lucy: The Lost Pilot” (1951)
Friday, March 2, 1951 Pepito played a large supporting role as himself, Pepito the Spanish Clown, in the pilot for the “I Love Lucy” show. Five months pregnant, Lucy stepped before the live TV cameras at Studio A at CBS…
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Pepito, Lucy and Desi Rehearse Vaudeville Act at the Hotel Del Coronado (1950)
The Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego, California was instrumental in helping to launch the careers of some television giants. In fact, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz retreated to The Del in 1950 to polish their comedy routine under the…
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Orange County Register: “And In the Beginning Was ‘Lucy:’” Joanne and the Lost Pilot (1990)
Sunday, April 29, 1990 Byline: Ray Richmond, The Orange County Register On March 2, 1951, a pilot episode was shot for a televised version of a comedy radio show that Lucille Ball had done called “My Favorite Husband.” By October…
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The Cello Museum: Pepito and a Cello Helped Launch One of the Most Popular TV Shows of All Time (2020)
Without this “loaded” cello, the most popular TV show of all time might never have existed. It was 1951 and due to prejudice in America at the time, it had taken 10 years for Lucille Ball to get a chance…
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USA Today: Decades Later, Lost “Lucy” Pilot Finally Gets On the Air (1990)
Monday, April 30, 1990 USA TODAY, by Tom Green HOLLYWOOD – Here’s “I Love Lucy,” the home video. Sort of. On March 10, 1951, a five-months-pregnant Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz, with $5,000 out of their own pockets, filmed…
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1951 “Lucy” Pilot Beats 1990 Shows (1990)
Wednesday, May 2, 1990 NEW YORK (Associated Press) America still loves Lucy — particularly the pilot for what became CBS’s classic “I Love Lucy” series. No matter that the show was made during the Korean war, when Harry S. Truman…
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Tribune Media Services: “I Love Lucy” Pilot Airs (1990)
Saturday, April 28, 1990 by Jay Bobbin, Tribune Media Services Just when you thought you’d seen every episode of “I Love Lucy” in existence, here comes one more. In 1951, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz did a portion of their…
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TV Guide: A Long Lost Gem, the Pilot That Launched Lucy (1990)
April 29, 1990 In March of 1951, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz filmed an “audition” for a TV sitcom that premiered as a series on CBS the following October. Since then, the 179 half-hour episodes of I Love Lucy have…
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VIDEO: Lucille Ball Biographer Kathleen Brady Explains Pepito’s Involvement In How “I Love Lucy” Came to Be (2019)
From the “Great Lives” lecture series at Mary Washington University, watch author Kathleen Brady recount the life and career of Lucille Ball, and how the television series “I Love Lucy” was created in 1951. For details on about Pepito’s involvement…
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VIDEO CLIP: “I Love Lucy, The Very First Show” (1990)
Monday, April 30, 1990 “If you are wondering how we got tonight’s film [the Lost Pilot of “I Love Lucy”], my father (Desi Arnaz) gave it to Pepito the Clown as a thank you for guest-starring in the Pilot ……
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TV Time Capsule: I Love Lucy, The Very First Show (1990)
Monday, April 30, 1990 by Chris Baker Think you’ve seen every episode of “I Love Lucy” dozens of times? You probably have. But maybe you’ve never seen the sitcom’s “lost” pilot, which CBS aired for the first time on this…
Keep readingCBS Unveils A Long-Lost Episode of ‘I Love Lucy’ (1990)
Monday, April 30, 1990 by Hal Boedeker, Knight-Ridder Newspapers Tonight, CBS will take us back to March 2, 1951, a night television history was made — then lost for almost 40 years. On that day, two characters named Lucy and…
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Huffington Post: Pepito the Clown Mentioned in Article About Van Zandt & Milman’s script for “I Love Lucy, The Very First Show” (2010)
Thursday, September 23, 2010 They’ll Take Manhattan: Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore’s cyber-comedy “You’ve Got Hate Mail” opens lengthy run at NYC’s Triad Theatre (Scroll down to the pertinent paragraph in red). Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the 1979…
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Papermoon Loves Lucy: The “I Love Lucy” Pilot
Papermoonloveslucy’s Tumblr page about the Lost Pilot of “I Love Lucy” is a delight.
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Washington Post: “Love That ‘Lost’ Lucy” (1990)
Monday, April 30, 1990 by Tom Shales The Washington Post On Dec. 18, 1989, 33 years after its first and only previous broadcast, CBS aired “The I Love Lucy Christmas Show” in prime time. Result: A very healthy 18.6 rating…
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Papermoon Loves Lucy … and Pepito
This Tumblr post by papermoonloveslucy is a condensed biography of Pepito Perez’s life.
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Television Obscurities Website: “I Love Lucy” Unaired Pilot Episode (2008)
Saturday, December 20, 2008 In March of 1951, a 34-minute pilot episode for a proposed I Love Lucy series was filmed in an attempt to sell the series to CBS and potential sponsors. It worked, but the pilot itself was never broadcast.…
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All That’s Left: A Lasting Impression (1990)
Wednesday, April 11, 1990 For those who still love Lucy, there’s more to love. An audition film (these days known as a pilot) for “I Love Lucy,” which runs 34 minutes and has never been seen on television, will be…
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New York Times: Broadcasting Museum Seeks TV’s Self-History (1987)
Sunday, January 25, 1987 (Scroll down to paragraph in red). Thousands of people will videotape Super Bowl XXI today. But fans looking for a copy of the first Super Bowl broadcast — in which the Green Bay Packers trounced the…
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Pepito & Joanne 