title: Mama's Family

text: Korman appeared at the beginning of each episode as the stuffed shirt Alistair Quince (a parody of Alistair Cooke), who would soberly introduce the program in the style of "Masterpiece Theatre". These monologues were cut out of the later syndicated reruns. Korman also performed the voice of Thelma's unseen late husband, Carl, in flashback episodes.


title: Mama's Family

text: An extended version of the show's opening theme song, with repeated melodies, was used during the original NBC run, but was never used in reruns.


title: Mama's Family

text: The house and neighborhood shown in the opening credits differed between the original NBC run and the syndicated run (1027 Montrose Avenue in South Pasadena, which was also the house of Lynda’s character in the 1978 film "Halloween". The home was only featured briefly in the film where Lynda walks toward the front door), leading to discrepancies such as in the episode "Mama for Mayor", in which Mama is shown in front of the house used in the original opening theme of the first two seasons.


title: Mama's Family

text: In 2013, StarVista Entertainment released the original NBC seasons with the Alistair Quince intros and original opening credits intact, except for two episodes in Season 1 ("Cellmates" and "Mama's Boyfriend"), as the master prints of those episodes are lost and were replaced by the syndicated version in the re-release.


title: Mama's Family

text: While not a huge ratings success, the first season garnered solid enough numbers to justify being renewed for a second season. For instance, the premiere episode ranked #25 for the week with an 18.6 rating and a 28 share. However, during the second season, the show dropped out of the top 50 shows, losing share to CBS' hit "Magnum, P.I." As a result, NBC canceled the series in May 1984.


title: Mama's Family

text: After "Mama's Family" was canceled by NBC in 1984, it was later relaunched in first-run syndication in 1986. Lorimar Television had just merged with Telepictures and were looking for new projects for the then newly commenced first-run syndication market. After observing high ratings for NBC's "Mama's Family" in summer reruns, production staff decided that the show deserved a second chance and ordered 100 episodes for syndication.


title: Mama's Family

text: Since the original set had been destroyed, a new set had to be constructed. This led to some significant changes in set design details. Adjustments in the show's cast occurred as well, with only Vicki Lawrence (Thelma), Ken Berry (Vinton), and Dorothy Lyman (Naomi) returning as regulars from the original era of the sitcom. Vinton's kids from his first marriage, Buzz (Eric Brown) and Sonja (Karin Argoud), who were regulars in the show's first life, did not reprise their roles for the show's revival; their characters, though mentioned briefly in the first episode of the show's syndicated life, were never to be spoken of again.


title: Mama's Family

text: During the hiatus of the series, both Rue McClanahan and Betty White had gone on to star in the NBC sitcom "The Golden Girls", rendering them unavailable to return. White, however, did return as Ellen for one episode in 1986 while Fran was killed off in the first episode of the revival. Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman, meanwhile, did not reprise their roles either, resulting in their characters (Eunice and Ed Higgins) being written out as having moved to Florida.


title: Mama's Family

text: To fill the void left by Mama's grandchildren, Allan Kayser was cast as Thelma's delinquent teenage grandson Bubba Higgins, Ed and Eunice's son. Bubba was ordered to live with his grandmother after being released from juvenile hall and placed on probation as Thelma was not pleased that Eunice and Ed forgot their own son. Also added to the cast was Beverly Archer, who played the new character of Iola Boylen, the family's wildly quirky and prissy neighbor and Mama's best friend. Her catchphrase was calling out "Knock, knock!" in place of ringing the doorbell.


title: Mama's Family

text: According to Lawrence's autobiography, "Vicki!: The True-Life Adventures of Miss Fireball", Burnett resented Lawrence for accepting the role of Mama for first-run syndication with producer Joe Hamilton (who owned the "Mama's Family" characters). It was during this time that Burnett was involved in an acrimonious divorce from Hamilton, who produced both "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Mama's Family". Burnett felt Lawrence had been disloyal to her and held a grudge against her until Hamilton's death in 1991. By the time of Hamilton's death, Burnett and Lawrence had reconciled. Lawrence's autobiography reads:


title: Mama's Family

text: After "Mama's Family" was picked up in first-run syndication, ratings for the series improved, becoming the highest-rated first-run program in syndication. According to Ken Berry, Lawrence had seemingly grown tired of playing the "Mama" role by 1990 and wanted to end the show. According to Lawrence, who would reprise Mama on stage for many years thereafter, the series ended because it had reached the standard threshold of 100 episodes and no longer needed to produce any more. The series finale featured Naomi giving birth to a baby girl, who was named Tiffany Thelma.


title: Mama's Family

text: Thelma Harper, better known as Mama, is the title character/main character of "Mama's Family". Despite the title of "Mama," few characters in the sitcom actually refer to Thelma as Mama. Thelma plays a variety of roles in the series, including grandmother, mother-in-law, sister, neighbor friend, and mother, depending on the supporting character in question.


title: Mama's Family

text: Thelma is the widowed matriarch of a rural Southern family. She is an elderly country woman in her mid-to-late 60s, who speaks in a southern drawl. Always active with housework and the nurturance of her family, Mama is usually seen cooking, cleaning, and providing (begrudgingly) support to her family.


title: Mama's Family

text: Mama's appearance is based on that of a stereotypical elderly woman. She is a thickset, purse-lipped widow with silvery gray curls. All of her daytime outfits were short-sleeved, floral-print dresses with lace collars. Costumer Ret Turner color-coded Mama in flowery colors, mainly mixtures of blues, greens and lavenders. As much of Mama's time was spent cooking and cleaning, she often wore overlapping aprons over her dresses. Mama's lower legs were always enveloped by visible support hose (a feature that was nonexistent during "The Family" sketches, but made its first appearance when she donned them during a segment of the 1973 "Eunice" movie). For footwear, Mama regularly wore white orthopedic, colonial shoes that took an Alfred J. Cammeyer evening oxford heels style.


title: Mama's Family

text: Mama regularly wore a few fashion accessories, including a white pearl necklace, white pearl earrings as well as a wristwatch.


title: Mama's Family

text: Mama's outerwear worn when visiting public venues always consisted of the same purple sweater, draped casually over her shoulders without arms in the sleeves; headpieces made completely of artificial plant petals; and a white purse, which she didn't hesitate to use as a weapon when given the opportunity.


title: Mama's Family

text: In contrast to her more stereotypically elderly, dependent, invariably spiteful and cantankerous character on "The Family" skits, Mama's hostilities were significantly toned down in the sitcom's first life. Though still cantankerous, the character expanded with wisecracks and humor, pesky antics, unseemliness and naivete. Mama's unseemliness and naivete were exemplified by her inability to drive (episode "Mama Learns to Drive"); inability to act in socially acceptable ways in public and in the presence of guests (episodes "The Mama Who Came to Dinner", "Country Club" and "Ellen's Boyfriend"); inability to hold jobs outside the home (episodes "Mama Gets a Job", "Supermarket" and "Mama for Mayor"); etc. These characteristics often resulted in the humiliation or frustration of her loved ones.


title: Mama's Family

text: By the show's second life, Mama was no longer naive (Vinton overwhelmingly assumed this role) and far more capable of high spirits than ever before. This version of Mama had the fewest stereotypically elderly traits. She was dutiful in caring for her home, garden and family; independent; and active in the community along with best friend Iola Boylen. For example, Mama returned to high school and graduated (episodes "Educating Mama," "Teacher's Pet," and "Pomp and Circumstance"); she was heavily involved in the Church Ladies League and at one point its president (episode "Where There's Smoke"); Mama participated in dirty dancing (episode "Very Dirty Dancing"); went on a trip (episode "Mama Goes Hawaiian"), etc. Highlighting her much more relaxed nature during the syndicated seasons, Mama's main character trait during this time was her many fretful wisecracks, typically made in a high-pitched, whiny voice. Despite that, this era of Mama was more derogatory than ever; rough, abrasive and brash in manner; volatile and explosive in temper; and smart-mouthed with a proneness for making snappy retorts.


title: Mama's Family

text: Unlike the preceding sketch comedy and television movie, Thelma had many characteristic expressions on the program, ""Good Lord!"" being her most frequently used. She occasionally stated this in alternate ways, such as ""Good Lord in heaven!"" ""Well Good Lord!"" ""Good heavens!"" or ""Good night Louise!"" Among her additional expressions included ""Horse pucky!"" ""The hell you say!"" ""Hell's bells!"" "(insert the sender's claim or statement here) "my aunt Fanny!"" ""Now hear this,"" ""God-awful,"" ""In a pig's eye!"" ""In a pig's patoot!"" ""Shoot!"" ""For crying out loud!"" ""For pity's sake!"" ""For heaven's sake!"" ""Real good!"" (sarcastically) etc. Disparaging and impudent, Thelma had a series of name-calling catchphrases she often used to refer to certain members of her family or her family as a whole, such as ""Nitwit,"" ""Dimwit,"" ""Goon,"" ""Goober goon,"" ""Lamebrain,"" ""Dunce,"" ""Tramp,"" ""Floozy,"" etc.


title: Mama's Family

text: Vicki Lawrence has stated that at the beginning of "Mama's Family", she noticed that the writers had made adjustments to her character from "The Family" skits, significantly toning down Mama's hostilities and nastiness. Lawrence originally disapproved of the change in character, believing that toning down her then-familiar aggression and spite into a less difficult, more agreeable Mama, capable of humor and high spirits, would not be funny.


title: Mama's Family

text: Lawrence has revealed, however, that after counsel from Harvey Korman that the character needed to be reshaped for sitcom television, she came to accept the adjustments made to "Mama". Korman suggested that Mama had to be less one-dimensionally hostile because the entire show would revolve around her—that more characteristics would need to be added into the mix. Korman's opinion was that people could not be expected to come home from work, pop a beer, and put up their feet to a character who was so one-dimensional; she would have to be more than just disagreeable for a whole half hour, or viewers would become bored after awhile. According to Korman, silly elements needed to be added to the character.


title: Mama's Family

text: Lawrence has stated that it took her a while to warm up to this, but that she later came to greatly appreciate how Mama "blossomed" and "matured" from her early years on "The Family". She added that she still favors the adjustments in Mama's character and partly credits Korman with who Thelma Harper is today. "The Family" sketch writers, however, who had based "The Family" characters on their own family members, disliked the less aggressive Mama designed for sitcom television. In February 2013, Lawrence also remarked that "The Family" sketch version of Mama was created by writers (Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon) who hated their mothers. Clair and McMahon also created and wrote for "Mama's Family."


title: Mama's Family

text: Altogether, "Mama's Family" had six seasons consisting of 130 episodes. The show's first life consisted of thirty-five episodes, making for two seasons. The show's second life consisted of ninety-five episodes, making for four seasons.


title: Mama's Family

text: On September 26, 2006, Warner Bros. Television released season 1 of "Mama's Family" on DVD. The DVD release features the syndicated versions of the episodes, which edits roughly three minutes from what originally aired. Warner Bros. claimed to only own the rights to the syndicated form.


title: Mama's Family

text: Due to issues relating to ownership rights between the show's production companies, "Mama's Family" for a long time had difficulties coming out on DVD, with only its first season available for many years.


title: Mama's Family

text: However, in May 2013, it was announced that StarVista Entertainment would release all 6 seasons of the sitcom to DVD, as well as a complete series box set, which was available only through the StarVista website. Most of the original unedited versions, dubbed "The Joe Hamilton Cuts," were presented on DVD. Included with the package were extras of over 10 hours of bonus material, as well as a new cast reunion with Vicki Lawrence and the show's syndicated cast members. In addition, StarVista offered a "Signature" collection of the entire series, autographed by Vicki Lawrence, which was limited to 500 copies.


title: Mama's Family

text: In the fall of 2013, Star Vista began releasing individual season sets, Seasons 1 & 2 were released on September 10, 2013, followed by season 3 on February 25, 2014. Season 4 was released on June 24, 2014, Season 5 on September 23, 2014 and the sixth and final season was released on February 10, 2015.


title: Mama's Family

text: In conjunction with the complete seasons, Star Vista released a "best-of" single-disc unit for each season. Selected by Vicki Lawrence, each release has 6 (season 1 has 7) of her personal favorite episodes from each season.


title: Mama's Family

text: After the series finale in 1990, the entire series (including the NBC episodes) was placed in off-network syndication, airing in most cities every weekday. "Mama's Family" also ran on TBS from January 1997 until August 2006 premiering weekday mornings. In October 1998, TBS aired a full hour of Mama’s Family weekday afternoons at 6:05 pm/et and then moved the show to 4:05pm/et in November 1998. That same month, ION Television (formerly the PAX network) began airing reruns of the series. The show aired Monday through Friday at 8:00 to 9:00 pm from 2006 to 2008. ET.


title: Love Yourself

text: "Love Yourself" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his fourth studio album "Purpose" (2015). The song was released as a promotional single on November 9, 2015, and as the album's third official single on December 7, 2015. It was written by Ed Sheeran, Benjamin Levin and Bieber, and produced by Levin. A pop song, "Love Yourself" features an acoustic guitar and a brief flurry of trumpets as its main instrumentation. During the song, Bieber uses a husky tone in the lower registers. Lyrically, the song is a kiss-off to a narcissistic ex-lover who did the protagonist wrong.


title: Love Yourself

text: On the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, the song became Bieber's third consecutive number-one, wherein the United States it spent 24 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten (later named the best-performing single of 2016) and was also Bieber's first number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, while in the United Kingdom it spent six weeks at the top. "Love Yourself" topped the charts in fifteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, and Sweden. "Love Yourself" was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. It was the seventh-best-selling song of 2016 in the US.


title: Love Yourself

text: The music video for the song was released along with the Purpose: The Movement project on November 14, 2015. It features dancers Keone & Mari Madrid doing an interpretive dance in a house. Bieber promoted the song with performances on TV shows, as well as awards shows throughout 2015–16, while adding it on the set list of his Purpose World Tour.


title: Love Yourself

text: On September 29, 2015, Justin Bieber announced in an interview with Australia's Sunrise morning show that British singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran had written a song for his then-upcoming album. Later, during an interview for Capital FM, Bieber revealed details about the song, saying: "It's just me and a guitar. Basically that's how I started, playing on the street with a guitar." About Sheeran, he said: "I think he's one of the most talented writers in the game right now, so just to have his input and his stories and our stories and match them up together and say 'What have you been through?,' and telling the same story." In another interview for the same radio network, he commented about the collaboration, stating: "It was a process. Just getting us together, you know, in the same room cause we did a lot of it separate. He is a good guy, super talented. Really good songwriter so just to be able to work with that calibre of songwriter was really, really awesome." In 2017, Sheeran revealed that "Love Yourself" was written for his album "÷". He said in an interview that the track would have been scrapped before Bieber took the song.


title: Love Yourself

text: On November 9, 2015 "Love Yourself" premiered on "Beats 1" along with "The Feeling". The song was also made available on iTunes in the same day as a promotional single of "Purpose", and later it was announced as the album's official third radio single. When talking to Ryan Seacrest, Bieber said "Love Yourself" is "definitely about someone in my past, someone who I don't want to put on blast," he described the song as "cool because so many people can resonate with that because how many women do we bring back that mom doesn't really necessarily like?."


title: Love Yourself

text: "Love Yourself" was written by Ed Sheeran, Benny Blanco and Justin Bieber, with production being done by Benny Blanco, who was also responsible for the song's instrumentation and programming. It features lyrical vocals by Bieber and background vocals by Sheeran. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is composed in the key of E major with a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute and a time signature of . Bieber's vocals range from the note of B to B. It is an acoustic pop, folk and blue-eyed soul song, featuring just vocals and an electric guitar, and a brief flurry of trumpets, which was considered "the most subdued and least electronic of Bieber's new tracks."


title: Love Yourself

text: Lyrically, "Love Yourself" is a kiss-off to a narcissistic ex-lover who did the protagonist wrong, with Bieber singing in a snappy tone while criticizing "a girl for loving herself too much." In the pre-chorus, he sings with a husky tone in the lower registers: "My mama don't like you, and she likes everyone," "in a style that molds well to Sheeran's," according to "Rolling Stone" Brittany Spanos. "And I [never] like to admit that I was wrong. And I've been so caught up in my job, didn't see what's going on, and now I know, I'm better sleeping on my own," he continues. In the chorus, Bieber sings, "Cause if you like the way you look that much, oh baby, you should go and love yourself," which according to Digital Spy's Amy Davidson, "'love yourself' means 'go f**k yourself' in this context." On March 7, 2017, composer Ed Sheeran stated on the "Howard Stern Show" that he had Rihanna in mind for the song at first, and the original lyric was indeed "fuck yourself". In the song's bridge, Bieber uses a "brass-and-vocalese" style.


title: Love Yourself

text: The song received critical acclaim. Andrew Unterberger of "Spin" called it "an earth-salting, cruelly chuckling kiss-off track, it features an unprecedented-for-Bieber caliber of lyrical detail, and its minimal arrangement allows every lyrical barb to pop like one of the song's palm-mutes. For such sour grapes, though, 'Love Yourself' still sounds exultant; one of many reminders this year that for all his insistence on being a good person, Bieber may ultimately be best served as a Top 40 heel." Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" complimented the track as one of her favourites from the album, naming it "the world's first campfire-folk diss track." Amy Davidson of Digital Spy agreed, calling it a 'deliciously evil poison-pen ballad'. Sheldon Pearce of "Complex" praised "Sorry" and "Love Yourself" for "display[ing] the best of Bieber in tandem: the full scope of his pop stylings—blue-eyed soul fleshing out both electronic and acoustic spaces." Kenneth Partridge of "Billboard" wrote that Bieber "overplay[s] his renewed spirituality ... mak[ing] like John Mayer doing Sam Smith," citing the track as an example. Josh Gonzalez of Music Times thought the song was "a cool change of pace and nod musically to his 2014 duet with Cody Simpson 'Home to Mama'," adding: "Bieber is a great vocalist and does well on acoustic tracks."


title: Love Yourself

text: For "Consequence of Sound" editor Janine Schaults, "all the credit goes to Sheeran's cherubic magic powers. Refreshingly, just a guitar and a lonely trumpet interlude accompany Bieber's coy delivery." Michelles Geslani of the same publication opined that the track "sounds exactly what you'd expect from a meeting of these two minds," considering it "'Thinking Out Loud' crossed with low-key, lovelorn Bieber." Kitty Empire, writing for "The Observer", appreciated the song for "strip[ping] everything back very effectively to a guitar line and a vocal." Annie Zaleski of "The A.V. Club" was mixed, noting that "despite being a nicely deadpan kiss-off to a snobby ex, is generic acoustic-pop." In a less favorable review, Pitchfork's Brad Nelson wrote that, lyrically, "it's needlessly mean, neither funny nor clever, and it doesn't do much to justify the severity of its perspective." Al Horner of "NME" noted that the song is "more traditionally Bieber, and [its] big pop hook [is] out of place amidst the forward-thinking electronic scuttle." Sam C. Mac of Slant Magazine called the lyrics "unintentionally hilarious." Alex Macpherson of "The National" called it "a cloying Ed Sheeran collaboration." "Billboard" ranked "Love Yourself" at number 34 on their "100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list.


title: Love Yourself

text: In the United States, the song debuted at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100, giving Bieber his ninth top ten song and his third consecutive top-ten debut from "Purpose". It debuted at number two and four on the Digital Songs and Streaming Songs charts respectively, with 141,000 downloads and 17.4 million streams. The following week, it descended to number seven on the Hot 100. Two weeks later, it ascended from seven to five on the Hot 100, meanwhile Bieber's "Sorry" and "What Do You Mean?" were at number two and four respectively. Thus, as he did three weeks prior when "Love Yourself" debuted at number four, Bieber had three concurrent songs in the Hot 100's top five, becoming the third act to achieve it since 50 Cent in 2005. Bieber and The Beatles are the only acts to earn the honor as a lead artist on all three songs. On the chart dated February 6, 2016, "Love Yourself" ascended from three to two on the Hot 100, meanwhile Bieber's "Sorry" was at number one. With the feat, Bieber became the 17th act in the Hot 100's history to rank at numbers one and 2 simultaneously. He was also the 11th act to hold the Hot 100's top two as a lead artist on both songs.


title: Love Yourself

text: The following week, "Love Yourself" replaced "Sorry" at number one, becoming his third consecutive number-one single. Thus, Bieber was the 12th artist to succeed himself in the Hot 100's 57-year history; the last artist before Bieber was The Weeknd, who is also from Canada. Additionally, Bieber's "Purpose" became the first album by a male artist to produce three number-one songs since Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" did so in 2006–07. After being replaced at the top of the Hot 100 by Zayn's debut single as a solo artist, "Pillowtalk", for one week, it returned to the number one position the following date. Also, "Love Yourself" replaced "Sorry" at the top of the Radio Songs chart with 144 million weekly audience, becoming Bieber's second number-one song on the chart. However, the next week, "Love Yourself" was replaced at the top by Rihanna's "Work" and descended to number two. By the middle of 2016, the song had sold 1.6 million copies in the U.S. On the chart dated 7 May 2016, "Love Yourself" spent its 23rd consecutive week in the Hot 100's top ten, breaking the record for the most consecutive weeks logged in the top 10 from a song's debut, previously set by Nicki Minaj's "Starships", Maroon 5's "Sugar" and Bieber's both "What Do You Mean?" and "Sorry". It has since been passed by The Chainsmokers's "Closer" (2016–2017), which spent 32 weeks in the top 10. And then later passed by Post Malone's "Circles" with 33 weeks. Additionally, the song spent an eleventh week at the top of the Radio Songs chart. Additionally, on the chart dated 14 May 2016, "Love Yourself" became Bieber's first chart-topper on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song was the most-played song in the United States in 2016, with nearly 4 billion audience impressions.


title: Love Yourself

text: During 2016, "Love Yourself" sold 1.8 million copies in the US, thus being listed seventh on the best-selling songs of the year list. Overall, it has sold 2.7 million copies in the country.


title: Love Yourself

text: "Love Yourself" finished at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End of 2016 released in December 2016, becoming Bieber's highest-charting song on Hot 100 Year-End to date, surpassing "Boyfriend" on the Hot 100 Year-End of 2012. This made him the youngest artist to date to receive a No. 1 single on a Hot 100 Year-End chart in Billboard's history.


title: Love Yourself

text: In the United Kingdom, "Love Yourself" debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart on 19 November 2015, after the release of "Purpose". The following week, it rose to number two before replacing "Sorry" at the top of the chart on 4 December 2015. Bieber is the first artist to replace themselves at the chart's summit since Elvis Presley in 2005. "Love Yourself" marked Bieber's third consecutive chart-topping song in Britain. The following week, the song stayed at the top of the chart with 114,000 combined sales and "Sorry" stayed at number two, which made Bieber the first artist ever to knock himself off the top spot with both songs holding at one and 2 for two consecutive weeks. "Love Yourself" and "Sorry" remained at the same place the next week, which made Bieber the first artist ever to log four weeks at numbers one and 2 consecutively, breaking the record previously held by The Beatles, who logged three consecutive weeks at numbers one and 2 in 1967–68. "Love Yourself" was beaten to the top by NHS Choir's "A Bridge Over You" charity single by nearly 31,000 chart sales. However, the single rose to the number-one spot the next week, logging a fourth week at the summit and claiming the first number-one song of 2016. The following week, it remained at number one, making Bieber the first artist on the UK Singles Chart to occupy the top three spots on the chart at the same time with "Sorry" at number two and "What Do You Mean?" climbing one place to three. "Love Yourself" spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one. On 4 January 2016, the Official Charts Company announced that 'Love Yourself' has earned 719,000 combined sales.


title: Love Yourself

text: In Australia, "Love Yourself" debuted at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart, after the release of "Purpose", giving Bieber his fifth top-three single in the country. That week the singer had three songs inside the top ten: "Sorry" (2), "Love Yourself" (3) and "What Do You Mean?" (7). Two weeks later, "Love Yourself" was the most streamed track in the country and rose to number two, also it earned a gold certification for sales of over 35,000 copies. In its fourth week, the song ascended from two to one, dethroning Adele's "Hello" and earning a platinum certification for sales of over 70,000 copies. With that, Bieber became the only act to have two number-one songs in 2015 following previous single "What Do You Mean?", which topped the chart during four consecutive weeks in September. The song stayed at the top of the chart the following two weeks. On its third week at number one, Bieber's 'Sorry' and "What Do You Mean?" were at number two and eight, respectively. With that, Bieber became the first act to dominate the top two positions since Macklemore & Ryan Lewis did in 2013 with "Same Love" and "Thrift Shop". He also was the first act to have three singles inside the chart's top ten since 2012. The song was the first number-one song of 2016 and has spent seven consecutive weeks at number one, which places Bieber at number 8 on the list for the most accumulated weeks (11) at number one in the 2010s. Also, it is his longest-running number-one single in Australia. "Love Yourself" also topped the charts in Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands and Denmark.


title: Love Yourself

text: The song's music video was released on YouTube on November 14, 2015, along with the videos for the other songs from "Purpose: The Movement". The video starts with Bieber saying: "Love isn't 'do this for me and I'm going to do this for you.' That's not what love is. Love is just 'I'm gonna do this for you because I wanna do this for you.'" Later, the video features husband and wife dancers Keone and Mari Madrid dancing their way through their house. They are later seen dancing on their phone screens. The video ends when the wife wakes up and finds a note on her husband's pillow saying, "Love Yourself".


title: Love Yourself

text: The video was directed by Parris Goebel. As of September 2021, the music video has received over 1.6 billion views on YouTube.


title: Love Yourself

text: Bieber first performed "Love Yourself" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" during "Purpose" week release. On November 18, 2015, the song was also performed on "The Today Show" along with other tracks from the album. Bieber also added the song to the set list of his show on Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball 2015. He performed the song at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. The singer performed an acoustic version of the track with James Bay on the guitar before performing "Sorry" during the 2016 Brit Awards. He also performed an acoustic version of the song during the 3rd iHeartRadio Music Awards before proceeding to a full performance of "Company". "Love Yourself" is also part of the set list of his Purpose World Tour. The performance has Bieber on acoustic guitar while seated on a red velvet couch down center stage. He performed the song at Radio Disney Music Awards during a special pocket show for fans, previously recorded. On June 4, 2017, Bieber performed "Love Yourself" at the "One Love Manchester" benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.


title: Love Yourself

text: Canadian singer Alessia Cara posted a video covering of the song on her YouTube channel on November 14, 2015. English singer Conor Maynard also posted a video covering the song on his YouTube channel on November 17, 2015. American singer Halsey also performed a cover version for Triple J's Like a Version studio in Australia on February 4, 2016. Her version garnered attention since she replaced "love yourself" with "fuck yourself." British singers Yo Preston and Kelly Kiara teamed up to write a reply to the song, with the version being called "Love Yourself vs F*ck Yourself." In their version, Kiara responds to Bieber's lyrics taking about the boy's cheating habits and overwhelming jealousy. Their version charted on the ARIA Charts, reaching the top-twenty, peaking at number 16.


title: Love Yourself

text: The song was also covered by American pop punk band Grayscale for Punk Goes Pop Vol. 7, a compilation album of covers, which was released by Fearless Records on July 14, 2017. And Spanish singer Maikel Delacalle posted a video covering of the song on YouTube channel on November 18, 2016.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Scarlett Pomers (born November 28, 1988) is a former American actress and singer-songwriter. Her most recognizable roles have been as Naomi Wildman on "" (1998–2001) and Kyra Hart on the television series "Reba" (2001–2007). Her debut EP, titled "Insane", was released January 7, 2010.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Scarlett Noel Pomers was a fan of hard rock from an early age. She began singing and guitar lessons as a child. When she was three years old, an agent at a local shopping mall suggested to her mother Michelle that Scarlett get into the acting business. Scarlett began doing small jobs until they found an agent they both liked.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Pomers made her acting debut at the age of three in Michael Jackson's music video, "Heal the World" (1992). She then began doing commercials and has filmed over three dozen to date. She has also starred in a number of television shows, including "Judging Amy", "That's Life", and "Touched by an Angel".


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Pomers was five years old when she made her debut on the silver screen in "The Baby-Sitters Club". She also appeared in "Slappy and the Stinkers", "Happy, Texas", "Erin Brockovich", and TV-movie "Geppetto", as well as appearing on the Disney Channel film, "A Ring of Endless Light".


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Pomers' first major role began in 1998 as Naomi Wildman on the UPN sci-fi program "". She appeared in 17 episodes over three years and won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Drama Series: Supporting Young Actress. She then joined the cast of the WB series "Reba", playing Kyra Hart, the middle child of the titular character. Pomers stayed with the show until it ended in 2007.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: In 2014 Pomers stated she was "pretty much [done]" with acting save for some voiceover work, and was making a career in photography and jewelry design.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: In an interview with Modern Guitars Magazine, they asked Pomers to talk about how she and her band got together.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: She replied, "I've been singing since I was about six-years-old and I was supposed to finish an album last year when I was on hiatus from "Reba", but I dislocated my kneecap for the third time and had to have surgery to keep it from happening again.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: During my four month recovery, I was pretty unhappy that I couldn't finish working with the writers and producers I was scheduled to do the album with. So by the fourth month I was getting around in my brace and making progress in my physical therapy and my mom said I could put a band together and rehearse sitting down until the brace came off. By that time "maybe" we could do a show.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: What I didn't know was how much fun it would be and now it has become the most amazing experience I've ever had! All of my guys love classic rock and they are really talented and fun to work with."


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: As a singer, Pomers founded the band SCARLETT, sometimes known as the "Scarlett Pomers Band," which played at venues including the Knitting Factory, House of Blues, Club One-Seven, The Roxy, and the Whisky a Go Go.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Pomers' debut EP, "Insane", was released on January 7, 2010, through her official website, CDbaby.com, and iTunes. The album consists of five tracks.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Pomers covered an AC/DC classic, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", in a tribute album to the band titled "Rock & Roll Train: A Millennium Tribute To AC/DC". It was released December 10, 2010 on iTunes.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: In 2014 Pomers stated she was still involved in music, "but I do it mostly for myself and not for money, not for a living. There’s no money in it anyway." Her musical projects at the time included industrial metal and writing songs for the mandolin, which she had learnt to play.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: In late 2005, Pomers checked into an anorexia nervosa treatment facility. The actress' weight had dropped to and she was exercising as much as six hours per day. Scarlett's character, Kyra, was absent from most of the fifth season of "Reba", having only appeared in two episodes out of twenty-two. She was out of the facility by January 2006, became an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association, and began an organization called Arch-Angels which raises money for people who suffer from eating disorders, but cannot afford treatment. Her efforts led "Teen People" magazine to name her one of the 20 teens who will change the world.


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Pomers returned to the set of "Reba" and appeared in season six until the show ended in 2007. Pomers, who is a vegetarian, began practicing Kundalini yoga in June 2006 after reading a book about Golden Bridge studio director Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, and earned her teaching certificate in the practice. "Yoga always made me feel really good about myself. It was the final step of letting go of the demon."


title: Scarlett Pomers

text: Her eating disorder was referenced in the first episode of season six. Upon entering the set to a thunderous round of applause in Season 6, episode 1 (after being absent for most of season 5) Reba asked her character Kyra "Where have you been?" to which Kyra replies, "I went to get something to eat." Later in the same episode, she walks towards the kitchen when Van (Steve Howey) asks, "Where are you going?" She responds, "Just gonna go grab something to eat." Van replies "See you next year."


title: Konnan

text: Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964), better known by his ring name, Konnan, is a professional wrestling personality, manager, and former professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Impact Wrestling. In Impact, he was the manager of The Latin American Xchange (LAX) and currently serves as a member of the creative team. During a career spanning almost three decades, he has wrestled for independent and national promotions in the United States and Mexico, and held fifteen title belts in nine promotions. He has also worked as a manager, color commentator, booker, and creative consultant, primarily for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He was also involved in the creation of Lucha Underground, where he was supposed to serve as a writer and producer, but ended up in an on-camera role as manager to Prince Puma throughout the first season. Outside of wrestling, Konnan is an occasional rapper.


title: Konnan

text: He is best known to United States audiences for his run in World Championship Wrestling as part of the nWo stable and as part of The Filthy Animals. He also formed


title: Konnan

text: the 3 Live Kru for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in the early 2000s and later the Latin American Xchange (LAX) stable there. In Mexico, Konnan was the first-ever CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, and the leader of the Foreign Legion in AAA when they were the top stable.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan was born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises in Santiago, Cuba, of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. In 1966, he and his mother arrived in Boston. Soon after landing in Boston, she met a young half-Jewish, half-Puerto Rican private investigator from New York named Richard Ashenoff. They soon married, and raised Carlos together. By 1967, the family relocated to Carol City in South Florida. When Richard formally adopted Carlos, he listed Carlos' legal name as Charles Ashenoff.


title: Konnan

text: By 1976, under the influence of older friends and neighbors, Ashenoff had gotten into stealing cars. He learned how to drive at 12, learned to box, and was an "avid weightlifter". Ashenoff was expelled from several schools before landing at Miami Senior High. In 1981, he graduated a year early from Miami Senior High School, and was arrested and charged as a juvenile with credit card theft and motorcycle theft. In 1982, shortly after his 18th birthday, Ashenoff was caught selling drugs and charged as an adult. He was given a choice of going to jail or entering the military. He chose the latter, joining the United States Navy.


title: Konnan

text: After basic training, Ashenoff was relocated to San Diego, and assigned to a destroyer tender in the Pacific Fleet – the "USS Cape Cod (AD-43)". He won the California state (amateur) Middleweight Boxing Championship in 1983. He set a goal to qualify for the Junior Olympics in boxing, but injured his shoulder in training and was deployed to the Middle East subsequent to the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut on April 18, 1983. His ship was in the Strait of Hormuz when the US Marine barracks (along with the French paratrooper barracks) in Beirut were bombed on October 24, 1983. By 1984, the "Cape Cod" was rotated out of the Persian Gulf. Ashenoff returned to San Diego, and received an honorable discharge.


title: Konnan

text: In San Diego, Konnan met John Roberts. Dave Meltzer of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" then details Ashenoff's first foray in to professional wrestling:


title: Konnan

text: Carlos traveled to Tijuana on Wednesday, January 6, 1988, (his 24th birthday), where he was led to the dressing area and introduced to Manuel de los Santos, the promoter of the show, and who also wrestled in the main event as "Kiss". De los Santos took one look at the 215-pound bodybuilder and did the classic double-take –– what the hell is this guy doing here, and, how quickly can I get this guy in the ring. Konnan introduced himself and explained how he was brought here by his manager/agent, John Roberts. Roberts had already bragged to de los Santos that Carlos had been a wrestler in Florida. Suddenly, a big roar (laughter) went up from another wrestler, Miguel Lopez, who wrestled as Rey Mysterio. Lopez/Mysterio explained to Carlos that Roberts was just a nutty fan, always in the front row, but that he did nothing involved with managing or agent-ing or anything else in the business. Still, the wrestlers asked Carlos, want to give it a try?


title: Konnan

text: Billed as El Centurión ("The Centurion"), Ashenoff debuted for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) on January 6, 1988.


title: Konnan

text: In the early part of his career, he wrestled for many different promotions. After making his debut for UWA, Konnan wrestled for the UWA Heavyweight title against El Canek at UWA 14 on January 29, 1989, and wrestled six- and eight-man tag matches intermittently for the promotion until 1994, with the likes of Dos Caras, Mascara Sagrada, and others. All of his matches for UWA after 1991 were cross-promotions with EMLL and AAA.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan wrestled in a six-man, two out of three falls, tag team match as "Konnan El Barbaro" ("Konnan the Barbarian") with Lizmark and Yoshihiro Asai against As Charro, Indio Yori & Negro Casas on February 3, 1989, for World Wrestling Association. Konnan joined Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL) later that year. He used "Konnan El Barbaro" with EMLL as well.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan's first stint with World Championship Wrestling lasted only a few weeks. His debut was at Starrcade on December 16, 1990. Teaming with his trainer and mentor, Rey Mysterio, Sr., Konnan entered the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament held at the event. They defeated Norman Smiley and Chris Adams in the quarter-finals, but lost to eventual winners, the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) in the semi-finals. He then won a televised match on WCW Power Hour against Chuck Coates on January 19, 1991. Konnan would not return to the promotion until 1996.


title: Konnan

text: While still part of WCW, Konnan was contacted by talent scout Pat Patterson on New Year's Eve 1990, which led to a meeting with Vince McMahon, where the initial idea for what became Max Moon was discussed. According to Konnan, "When I was wrestling in Japan, I saw this Japanese anime cartoon robot on TV that shot confetti and fire. <nowiki>[Vince]</nowiki> asked if I knew anybody that could design it." Konnan was given an outfit (purchased by the WWF at the cost of $13,000) bedecked with circuitry and a pyrotechnic gun that shot sparkles into the crowd. Konnan recollected later that the costs associated with the costume led to problems between himself and the promotion right from the start.


title: Konnan

text: Days later he received a tryout on January 7, 1991, at a "WWF Superstars" taping in Amarillo, Texas defeating Ultraman. He returned again on March 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada, defeating Louie Spicolli in a "WWF Superstars" dark match. He would defeat Spicolli again one night later at a "Wrestling Challenge" taping in Reno. Konnan returned again on January 7, 1992, at a "WWF Superstars" taping in Daytona Beach, FL. wrestling this time as The Latin Fury, he defeated The Heartbreaker. The next day he defeated The Juicer in a dark match at a "Wrestling Challenge" taping in Fort Myers, Florida. Konnan would wrestle twice more as The Latin Fury, the final time at a house show in Hyannis, Massachusetts on July 19, 1992, when he defeated Pete Doherty.


title: Konnan

text: The next day, when he appeared at a "WWF Superstars" taping in Worcester, Massachusetts against The Mercenary, he was renamed El Relámpago. He wrestled again as El Relámpago the following night against Luis Mendieta.


title: Konnan

text: A little over a month later he received the gimmick that he would become known for, Max Moon (although he was originally called The Comet Kid for a handful of appearances). The Moon character, created by Konnan, was that of a cyborg from "The Future" or "Outer Space".


title: Konnan

text: Back in EMLL, Konnan lost his mask to Perro Aguayo in a "Lucha de Apuesta" mask versus hair match. on June 9, 1991, by disqualification. After the match, a young boy—introduced as Konnan's brother—entered the ring crying and handed Konnan his mask back, generating considerable bonhomie towards Konnan from the sympathetic crowd.


title: Konnan

text: In 1991, EMLL changed its name officially to "Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre" (CMLL). Konnan then became the first-ever CMLL World Heavyweight Champion later that year by winning a tournament consisting of four matches at four events: an eight-man elimination match for the first round on May 24, 1991; a four-man battle royal quarterfinal on May 31; a two-out-of-three falls semifinal match on June 7; and finally, a two-out-of-three falls match against Cien Caras at EMLL Super Viernes in Mexico City on June 9, 1991.


title: Konnan

text: In 1992, Konnan, along with several other EMLL wrestlers, joined Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). Shortening his ring name to simply "Konnan", he feuded with Cien Caras.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan made his WWF debut on September 1, 1992, in Hershey, Pennsylvania during a "Superstars" taping under the name The Comet Kid when he pinned Barry Horowitz. After three televised matches, Konnan abruptly left the WWF following a disagreement with WWF owner Vince McMahon in 1992. Konnan was not showing up for WWF events due to his rising fame in Mexico, and his supposed "bad attitude" and heat from fellow WWF workers lead to a very strained relationship with McMahon, who had invested heavily in the Max Moon character, both financially and creatively, up until that point.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan was still working in Mexico while under contract to WWF, and was also simultaneously appearing in a Mexican "telenovela" aimed at children called ""El abuelo y yo"". As he was becoming more popular in Mexico, he was not as focused on making it in America. Konnan recollected, "Wrestling was so hot in Mexico, because they had lifted this 30-year ban on wrestling on TV in Mexico City. I was able to capitalize on that wrestling boom. I was wrestling three times in one day on many weekends. The amount of work was incredible. It was like when Raw and Nitro were going head-to-head and there was work for everybody."


title: Konnan

text: There was also some locker room tension over the costs associated with the costume, Konnan's perceived attitude, and Konnan also was missing tapings because he was more successful in Mexico and was not focusing on WWF. In the end, the Max Moon character was given to Paul Diamond, who appeared as the character on the first episode of "Monday Night Raw" on January 11, 1993. After a brief run, the character was abandoned.


title: Konnan

text: Back in AAA, following interference from Jake Roberts, Konnan lost a two out of three falls retirement match by count-out to Caras at Triplemanía I on April 30, 1993, in front of 48,000 fans in Mexico City, setting the all-time attendance record for a Mexican wrestling event. Konnan did not comply with the stipulations of the match and returned to defeat Roberts in a hair versus hair match at Triplemanía II on May 27, 1994, in Tijuana.


title: Konnan

text: Later in 1994, Konnan began a storyline where he betrayed his tag team partner, Perro Aguayo, and formed a heel alliance known as Los Gringos Locos with Eddie Guerrero, Art Barr and Madonna's Boyfriend. Aguayo gained his revenge on Konnan by defeating him in the only AAA pay-per-view, "When Worlds Collide", in a steel cage match. He eventually became the AAA booker. Konnan defeated Killer on February 2, 1996, in Querétaro to become the first ever AAA Heavyweight Champion. He vacated the title after leaving AAA in October 1996 to form his own promotion, Promo Azteca, and the title remained inactive until 2004. Konnan's Mexican wrestling career was hampered in the late-1990s by his American wrestling commitments, and "Promo Azteca" closed in 1998. He made a return to the Mexican wrestling circuit in the 2000s after a six-year absence, selling out arenas in Mexico City and Guadalajara.


title: Konnan

text: After meeting Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) booker Paul Heyman while on a wrestling tour of Singapore, Konnan joined ECW in 1995 and feuded with The Sandman. He appeared at ECW November to Remember on November 18, 1995, squashing Jason Knight. He also wrestled at an event co-promoted by ECW and the AAA in Chicago, Illinois.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan returned to WCW on a full-time basis on the January 22, 1996, edition of "Nitro", where he announced that he would defend his "Mexican Heavyweight Championship" against Psicosis, the following night at Clash of the Champions, where Konnan retained the title. As a WCW employee, he was largely responsible for the hiring of several prominent Mexican wrestlers by WCW, including Rey Mysterio Jr., Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera and La Parka. Konnan defeated One Man Gang for the United States Heavyweight Championship on January 29, 1996. During his reign, he continued to defend his IWAS and AAA Heavyweight Championships in Mexico (these championships were billed as a "Mexican Heavyweight Title" wherever Konnan wore one or the other to a WCW ring). Konnan successfully defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against One Man Gang at SuperBrawl VI, Eddie Guerrero at Uncensored, Jushin Liger at Slamboree and El Gato at The Great American Bash before losing the title to Ric Flair on July 7 at Bash at the Beach following interference from Flair's valets Miss Elizabeth and Woman.


title: Konnan

text: Several months after losing the United States Championship, Konnan became a villain and joined The Dungeon of Doom. However, the gimmick was already on its way out. According to Kevin Sullivan (the originator of the stable), speaking in a retrospective interview in July 2016, Konnan "didn't fit in The Dungeon of Doom. He was forced into it." Sullivan also praised Konnan highly: <nowiki>[He's]</nowiki> a fabulous performer and has a great mind for the wrestling business. He should have been on his own. Putting him with us, he just lost all the steam he had. He brought the luchadors into WCW, so he had a real effect on professional wrestling."


title: Konnan

text: Konnan joined the New World Order (nWo) on July 14, 1997. Konnan developed an increasingly hip-hop based gimmick and was nicknamed "K-Dogg." During his first stint in the nWo, Konnan feuded with the Luchadores whom he had brought to WCW. During this storyline, he wrestled in a Mexican Death match at Road Wild against Rey Mysterio, Jr. and a match against Juventud Guerrera at Uncensored in March 1998. When the nWo divided into two rival factions on the May 4, 1998, episode of "Nitro", Konnan sided with the nWo Wolfpac, led by Kevin Nash. The Wolfpac feuded with nWo Hollywood, led by Hollywood Hogan and became tweeners. On the November 30, 1998, episode of "Nitro", Konnan defeated Chris Jericho for the World Television Championship. His reign lasted until December 28, 1998, when he lost to nWo Hollywood member Scott Steiner on "Nitro" following interference from Buff Bagwell. When the two halves of the nWo reunited in January 1999, Konnan was thrown out of the nWo for standing up for Rey Mysterio, Jr and was attacked by Lex Luger. As a result, he became a face and teamed with Mysterio to fight the nWo. After feuding with nWo member Lex Luger, Konnan and Mysterio, Jr. were defeated by The Outsiders at SuperBrawl IX, with The Outsiders removing Mysterio's mask in the process. Konnan later criticized WCW for not respecting Mexican wrestling culture by writing storylines that saw several Mexican wrestlers unceremoniously unmasked (Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, and Mysterio). He compared asking a "luchador" to remove their mask to "going to Japan and telling the Japanese they have to eat with a fork instead of chopsticks."


title: Konnan

text: Konnan was kicked out of the NWO Wolfpac on January 11, 1999. A week later he would enter the ring using the "Psycho" theme music which would later on becoming Rey Mysterio's theme song after his unmasking and the Filthy Animals theme for a while till it was replaced with "The Reason".


title: Konnan

text: Konnan spent several months feuding with Disco Inferno, and then he began a rivalry with Stevie Ray. He and Mysterio formed an alliance with Master P and his No Limit Soldiers and fought with The West Texas Rednecks. After Master P left WCW, Konnan formed a stable known as The Filthy Animals. He and Mysterio, representing the Filthy Animals, defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) for the WCW World Tag Team Championship on October 18, 1999. They were scheduled to defend the titles against Harlem Heat in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on October 24, 1999, at Halloween Havoc, but on the night of the event Mysterio was announced as being injured. The title was then contested in a three-way tag match pitting Konnan and Billy Kidman, representing the Filthy Animals, against Harlem Heat and the First Family (Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs). Harlem Heat regained the title after Stevie Ray pinned Morrus. Konnan and Kidman defeated Harlem Heat for the title the next night on "Nitro", but lost to Harris Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) on November 22, 1999.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan was inactive throughout early 2000, as he was suspended for three months by Bill Busch after requesting his release from WCW, unhappy with the way he was being used. Shortly after returning from suspension and reforming the Filthy Animals, Konnan was sidelined once again, this time with a legitimately torn triceps muscle, damaged when Van Hammer threw Juventud Guerrera at him during a match and Guerrera's elbow connected with Konnan's upper arm as he attempted to catch him. Throughout 2000, the Filthy Animals feuded with other stables, including The Misfits In Action, The Natural Born Thrillers and Team Canada. At WCW's final pay-per-view event, Greed on March 18, 2001, Lance Storm and Mike Awesome (representing Team Canada) defeated Hugh Morrus and Konnan. The assets of WCW was sold to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) five days later, on March 23.


title: Konnan

text: Following the sale of WCW, Konnan returned to wrestling for multiple independent promotions. He first went to Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW), where he took part in a tournament for the then-vacant XPW Television title on August 25, 2001. He defeated Johnny Webb and Vic Grimes in the first and second rounds, respectively, and then lost the final to Kaos. He then wrestled a match with Damian Steele on October 13, 2001. He wrestled Steele again on November 24, 2001, in a "Loser Leaves XPW" match at "XPW Revolution" at Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Konnan won the match.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan wrestled in Australia, the UK, and Germany for World Wrestling All-Stars from October to December 2001. His first match with the promotion was October 19, 2001, where he defeated Gangrel. He would win two further matches against Gangrel during his time at the promotion, but his singles record was generally poor: he lost in the first round of the WWA Heavyweight Championship title in a dog collar match against Road Dogg on October 26, 2001, and lost three tables matches against Norman Smiley on December 8, 9 and 11, 2001. Konnan's tag-team record was much better: Konnan went 6-0 teamed with Nathan Jones (exclusively against the team of Lenny Lane and Lodi, better-known formerly as The West Hollywood Blondes in WCW) between November 27 – December 11, 2001.


title: Konnan

text: After a no-contest match against Sandman on January 12, 2002, at "XPW New Year's Revolution 2", Konnan then went to World Wrestling Council, where he won the World Wrestling Council World Tag Team Championship with Carly Colón, defeating Thunder and Lightning on May 26, 2002.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan appeared on the inaugural Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, in the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He entered the Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but he was chokeslammed and subsequently eliminated by Malice.


title: Konnan

text: He then went to Maximum Xtreme Pro Wrestling, where he lost another heavyweight title match; this time against Simon Diamond for the MXPW Heavyweight Title on August 12, 2002. He lost yet another title match upon returning to World Wrestling Council, losing by disqualification to Carly Colón in a match for the Universal Heavyweight title at WWC 29th Aniversario on September 14, 2002. Konnan finally won the title by defeating Colón on November 2, 2002, only to lose the title back to Colón 21 days later.


title: Konnan

text: Returning to World Wrestling All-Stars in November and December 2002, Konnan defeated Norman Smiley twice in singles matches on November 28 and 29, 2002, and won in three minutes against Nate Webb on December 6, 2002, at "WWA The Retribution" in Glasgow. Subsequent to that, Konnan tag-teamed with Smiley against Disco Inferno and Malice for three matches between December 8–13, 2002, and won all three.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan made two final appearances for World Wrestling All-Stars in May 2003, before the promotion folded. He also wrestled a tag match teamed with Norman Smiley for MXPW in September 2003. These would be his last extended stints in the independent circuit for nearly a decade.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan returned to TNA on February 12, 2003, and formed a short-lived villainous alliance, the Authentic Luchadores, with fellow Hispanic wrestlers Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy and The S.A.T.(Spanish Announce Team). The stable feuded with Jerry Lynn until April 2, 2003, when Lynn claimed that he had been heavily influenced by "lucha libre" and that he respected his Mexican opponents, thus earning the friendship of Konnan.


title: Konnan

text: Throughout May and June 2003, Konnan began teaming with B.G. James and Ron Killings, and in July 2003 the trio formed a stable known as the 3 Live Kru. The Kru first wrestled as a unit on August 13, 2003, defeating The New Church (Sinn, Vampire Warrior and Tempest). On November 26, the Kru defeated Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger and Glenn Gilberti in a six-man tag team match with the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championships on the line. The championship was held by all three members of the Kru, until January 28, 2004, when they were defeated by Kevin Northcutt and Legend in Nashville. After several abortive attempts to regain the tag title, the Kru began supporting Ron Killings's bid to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion. The Kru later feuded with Jarrett's mercenaries, The Elite Guard (Chad Collyer, Hotstuff Hernandez, and Onyx).


title: Konnan

text: While with TNA, Konnan also returned to Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, making his first appearance at "AAA Sin Limite - Guerra De Titanes 2004" on May 12, 2004. Konnan was teamed with Rikishi and lost to Cibernetico and La Parka by disqualification.


title: Konnan

text: On July 14, 2004, the 3 Live Kru, Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko defeated Jarrett, Ken Shamrock and the Elite Guard in a ten-man tag team match. The Kru began feuding with Team Canada in August 2004, and at the inaugural three-hour TNA pay-per-view, Victory Road on November 7, 2004, Konnan and James defeated Team Canada members Bobby Roode and "Showtime" Eric Young for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Their reign lasted one month, with Team Canada regaining the title on December 5, 2004, at Turning Point with the help of the injured Johnny Devine.


title: Konnan

text: Throughout early 2005, the Kru feuded with Michael Shane and Kazarian, Team Canada and The Naturals. Dissension arose after James's former tag team partner from the WWF, Billy Gunn, joined TNA as "The New Age Outlaw" and began trying to convince James to reform their highly successful tag team, the New Age Outlaws. Konnan and Killings feuded with The Outlaw and "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown, with James's loyalties divided. From March 2005 onwards, Konnan was also feuding with Vampiro and La Parka in AAA. The feud went on intermittently through 2006.


title: Konnan

text: Brown and The Outlaw, who had by now renamed himself "Kip James", defeated Konnan and Killings at No Surrender on July 17, 2005, with James declining to help either team. Konnan and Killings became increasingly frustrated, at one point referring to themselves as the "2Live Kru". The two teams faced one another in a No Surrender rematch on August 14, 2005, at Sacrifice, with James appointed guest referee by Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko, and James reaffirmed his loyalty to the Kru by attacking Kip, enabling Konnan to pin him and win the match. The Kru, apparently undivided, celebrated together following the match.


title: Konnan

text: Over the following weeks, Kip James began assisting the 3 Live Kru, and on October 23, 2005, at Bound for Glory, he saved Konnan from a beating at the hands of Team Canada. On the November 26 episode of "Impact!", B.G. James brought Kip James and the 3 Live Kru to ringside, then asked Killings and Konnan whether James could join the stable. Following a heated argument between the still skeptical Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their assent, and the 4 Live Kru was born. At Turning Point the 4 Live Kru faced Team Canada in an eight-man tag match. In the course of the match, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip James.


title: Konnan

text: On the December 31, 2005, episode of "Impact!", Konnan told B.G.'s father, Bob Armstrong, that he was a "hothead" and invited Armstrong to accompany him backstage for an apology. Instead of apologizing, Konnan turned heel by leading Armstrong into an ambush at the hands of Apolo and the debuting Homicide. The trio, later identified as The Latin American Xchange (LAX), then instructed an unconscious Armstrong to tell B.G. and Kip to "take care of their own business". At Final Resolution on January 15, 2006, Konnan and Homicide defeated The Naturals. After Apolo was released by TNA, he was replaced by Machete, who was in turn evicted from LAX by Konnan and Homicide. In subsequent weeks, Konnan began feuding with Bob Armstrong. On the April 8, 2006, episode of "Impact!", Konnan faced Armstrong in an "Arm Wrestling Challenge"; the contest ended in a no-contest after LAX member Hernandez attacked Armstrong. At Lockdown on April 23, 2006, Konnan was defeated by Armstrong in an arm wrestling contest held within the confines of a steel cage; following the bout, each member of the LAX received ten lashes from the James Gang.


title: Konnan

text: May 2006 was very busy for Konnan. In AAA, he made his first appearance with "La Legión Extranjera" (with Chessman & Ron Killings) on May 1, 2006, losing to El Zorro, Octagon & Vampiro Canadiense at "AAA Sin Limite". He soon became the leader of the stable, which was active through 2009. That same month, Konnan became the "TNA Impact!" Spanish color commentator. Additionally, he and the LAX began a storyline that saw them refuse to wrestle (as well as himself and Moody Jack refuse to commentate), claiming that Latinos were discriminated against within TNA.


title: Konnan

text: On June 24, 2006, Konnan participated in the first "lucha libre" event in San Diego. He stated that "Unfortunately there has never been "lucha libre" in the South Bay, there has never been "lucha libre" for "la raza." Finally they will be able to see the "lucha libre" that they watch on television live here a few minutes from their home."


title: Konnan

text: In early 2007, Konnan underwent hip replacement surgery, and his appearances in TNA from then on saw him frequently using a wheelchair. In June, Konnan left TNA, as did Ron Killings. Konnan gave several interviews about the drug abuse problem in pro wrestling around that time, most notably to the "New York Daily News", which indicated that Konnan believed his "hip degenerated after years of steroid abuse and the physical toll of his sport, and...painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs ruined <nowiki>[his]</nowiki> kidney." He would reiterate the issue on his podcast some years later He successfully underwent kidney transplant surgery on July 23, 2007.


title: Konnan

text: While with TNA, Konnan also returned to Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, making his first appearance at "AAA Sin Limite - Guerra De Titanes 2004" on May 12, 2004. Konnan was teamed with Rikishi and lost to Cibernetico and La Parka by disqualification. From March 2005 onwards, Konnan was also feuding with Vampiro and La Parka in AAA. The feud went on intermittently through 2006. On May 1, 2006, he made his first appearance with "La Legión Extranjera" (with Chessman and Ron Killings), losing to El Zorro, Octagon and Vampiro Canadiense at "AAA Sin Limite". He soon became the leader of the stable, which was active through 2009.


title: Konnan

text: Despite having left TNA in June 2007, Konnan did not wrestle for AAA until October, and only wrestled in four matches during the remainder of the year, due to his aforementioned surgeries. Konnan returned to World Wrestling Council at "WWC Euphoria Tour 2008" on January 6, 2008, with Ron Killings of the 3 Live Kru, losing a tag team match against Eddy and Orlando Colon. In March 2008, Konnan sued TNA for racism and discrimination, alleging that while the company said that they would help pay for his hip replacement surgery, they did not. Konnan also claimed that TNA helped pay for Scott Steiner's operation, but did not pay for Ron Killings's surgery from around the same time.


title: Konnan

text: On October 24, 2008, Konnan took part in an "Eight Man Domo De La Muerte Steel Cage Winner Gets Control Over AAA" match where "La Legión Extranjera" (consisting of Konnan, Electroshock, Kenzo Suzuki, and Rellik) defeated La Parka, Latin Lover, Octagon & Super Fly. On March 15, 2009, Konnan lost a Hair vs. Hair match against Vampiro Canadiense. He continued to wrestle with "La Legión" until February 2010.


title: Konnan

text: On June 12, 2010, in a Four Way Elimination Match for the vacant AAA Parejas Increibles Tag Team Title, Cibernetico & Konnan defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. and Silver Cain, Electroshock & Super Fly, and LA Par-K & La Parka to become the champions. Konnan wrestled his last official match for AAA on October 1, 2010, a three-on-two Handicap Hardcore match pitting Joe Lider and Nicho el Millonario as "La Hermandad Extrema" against the threesome of Damian 666, Halloween and Konnan as "La Sociedad". Konnan's team lost the match.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan then made a series of appearances for independent promotions again, beginning with his only appearance as a performer for El Hijo de Perro Aguayo's promotion Perros del Mal on November 6, 2010. "La Sociedad" defeated Charlie Haas, Super Crazy & Tony Wilson at "PDM The War" at Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.


title: Konnan

text: On July 3, 2011, Konnan, together with El Canek and El Rayo de Jalisco Jr, defeated Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras, Mascara Ano 2000, and Universo 2000) by disqualification at International Wrestling Revolution Group's "Festival De Las Mascaras 2011" at Arena Naucalpan in Naucalpan de Juarez, Estado de Mexico, Mexico. He then took part in a Mixed Five-on-four Handicap Match on August 7, 2011, where the team of Dr. Wagner Jr., Electroshock, El Elegido & El Zorro defeated Konnan, Chessman, Jennifer Blake, Mini Psicosis & Nicho el Millonario as part of a telethon benefit show in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. On October 7, 2011, Konnan and Nicho el Millonario, wrestling as La Sociedad lost by DQ to El Mesias and Extreme Tiger in an event for Promociones MV held at the Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.


title: Konnan

text: At "Pro Wrestling Superstars' WrestleReunion VI" held at The Westin Los Angeles Airport in Los Angeles, California, on January 28, 2012, Konnan took part in a 20-man Battle Royal featuring Brutus Beefcake, Gangrel, Greg Valentine, and others. The match was eventually won by The Godfather. Konnan then defeated The Convict at High Impact Wrestling's "HIW Summer Invasion 2012" at Treaty Grounds in La Loche, Saskatchewan, Canada on August 23, 2012.


title: Konnan

text: On February 3, 2013, Konnan was (in-storyline) fired from AAA. However, he returned to the promotion on April 15, announcing that he was once again becoming an in-ring performer. However, he instead moved on to other duties. He told Stephen Dean Johnson of "SLAM! Wrestling" that he is "kind of a jack-of-all-trades with Triple AAA. I write, produce, act as agent, and international liaison for talent. I am also on TV as one of the main managers for heels." In that same interview, he teased the then-upcoming deal that would lead to "Lucha Underground". Konnan wrestled what appears to be his final match to date on September 15, 2013, in a six-man tag match. He, El Mariachi and Kafu defeated Derek Sanders, Oliver John and Vaquero Fantasma at an event taking place at the Santa Cruz County Fair in Watsonville, California.


title: Konnan

text: In August 2014, Konnan had his left hip replaced. He was also very critical of WWE on Twitter regarding Alberto Del Rio's release from WWE for "unprofessional conduct regarding an alleged racist joke made by a WWE employee and a concurrent contract dispute involving Rey Mysterio where WWE extended Mysterio's contract without permission.


title: Konnan

text: In September 2014, Konnan was announced as one of the AAA wrestlers to star in the El Rey network's new television series "Lucha Underground". In the first season, he appeared as the manager of Prince Puma and claimed responsibility for bringing Fénix, Pentagón Jr. and Drago into the promotion.


title: Konnan

text: On March 20, 2015, Konnan was ringside at a show organized by the independent promotion The Crash, in Tijuana, Mexico, when El Hijo del Perro Aguayo died in a freak accident during a match. He was named Crash' Head of creative until December 2017, when he was released.


title: Konnan

text: In February 2016, Konnan stated that he had lost his creative position in AAA and was now merely a consultant for the promotion. He then levelled several accusations at AAA regarding non-payment of talent.


title: Konnan

text: In March 2017, Konnan returned to Impact Wrestling as the manager of The Latin American Xchange (Homicide, Ortiz, Santana and Diamante). On January 23, 2019, it was revealed that Konnan would now be working as a member of the creative team for Impact Wrestling.


title: Konnan

text: On June 4 in "Verano de Escándalo", Konnan returned to the AAA helping Jeff Jarrett win the AAA Mega Championship against Rey Wagner and Rey Mysterio Jr. before being faced by Fénix. On July 14 in Querétaro, Konnan and his group MAD make their debut, but were interrupted by La Parka, starting a rivalry.


title: Konnan

text: Starting in 2018 Konnan began appearing in Major League Wrestling as a manager for Pentagon Jr. and Fenix, among other AAA wrestlers. He and his clients engaged in a feud with MLW World Heavyweight Champion Low Ki. On December 14, 2018, Konnan challenged Low Ki in a no-disqualification match for his championship, in a losing effort. The match was stopped by the referee when Low Ki, Ricky Martinez, and Hijo de L.A. Park wouldn't stop attacking Konnan. Low Ki then "shanked" Konnan with some object, but Tom Lawlor ran out to make the save.


title: Konnan

text: On November 17, 2020, Konnan returned to TNT for the first time since 2001, when he appeared on an episode of "AEW Dynamite". During his appearance, Konnan reunited with former LAX members Santana and Ortiz, both of whom were now wrestling for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and were also members of Chris Jericho's wrestling stable Inner Circle. The reunion occurred during an Inner Circle party in Las Vegas. Konnan later appeared at AEW's marquee event Double or Nothing on May 30, 2021. During the main event match, which was a Stadium Stampede match that involved The Inner Circle, Konnan had a cameo appearance as a DJ inside a club in the TIAA Bank Field stadium, briefly assisting Santana and Ortiz. Konnan appeared on the June 26 edition of Dynamite, being supportive of Santana and Ortiz until attacked by their rivals FTR at the behest of Tully Blanchard.


title: Konnan

text: Konnan has appeared in the video game "WCW Nitro", "WCW/nWo Revenge", "WCW/nWo Thunder", "WCW Mayhem", "WCW Backstage Assault", "".


title: Konnan

text: Konnan had a weekly podcast on MLW Radio which moved to The Jericho Network in July 2016. Konnan became the "first new voice" on the podcast network, which was started by Chris Jericho. The podcast, "Keeping it 100 with Konnan" is co-hosted by Glenn Gilberti. Konnan also made an appearance at San Diego Comic Con.


title: The Lucy Show

text: The Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to "I Love Lucy". A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star.


title: The Lucy Show

text: The earliest scripts were titled "The Lucille Ball Show"; but, when that title was rejected by CBS, producers thought of calling the show "This Is Lucy" or "The New Adventures of Lucy", before deciding on the title "The Lucy Show". Ball won consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the series' final two seasons, 1966–67 and 1967–68.


title: The Lucy Show

text: In 1960, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz divorced, and the final episode of "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour" aired (using the "I Love Lucy" format). Later that year, Ball moved to New York to try the Broadway stage in an unsuccessful musical, "Wildcat". During the show's run, Ball was plagued by illness and fatigue and in early 1961, the show closed when she collapsed on stage from total exhaustion. Later that year, she married for the second time, to comedian Gary Morton. Ball returned to television in the spring of 1962, when she teamed with Henry Fonda in a CBS special titled "The Good Years". However, she was adamant about not returning to weekly television, feeling she could never top the success of "I Love Lucy".


title: The Lucy Show

text: At that time, Desilu Productions was struggling. In the spring of 1961, four of the studio's situation comedies were cancelled: "The Ann Sothern Show"; "Angel", a sitcom starring Marshall Thompson and French actress Annie Farge; "Harrigan and Son", starring Pat O'Brien and Roger Perry; and "Guestward, Ho!", starring Joanne Dru and Mark Miller. After a two-year run, the comedy series "Pete and Gladys" (which was a spin-off of the popular Desilu sitcom "December Bride"), was canceled in the spring of 1962. It starred Harry Morgan and Cara Williams in the title roles. At that time, the red-headed Williams, who had been promoted as the next Lucille Ball, had just received an Emmy nomination as Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on the show. That left Desilu with only one hit series, "The Untouchables".


title: The Lucy Show

text: Arnaz, as president of Desilu, offered Ball an opportunity to return to television in a weekly sitcom. At that time, CBS executives were somewhat dubious as to whether Ball could carry a show without Arnaz, and whether she could follow such a landmark series as "I Love Lucy". It was "never intended for this program to go beyond a single season." This arrangement was "meant to be a stop-gap measure for the beleaguered studio" and that through the sale of this series, Desilu was able to "force the CBS network to invest in and air other upcoming Desilu products." It was a strategy that Ball would use in the future to take control of "The Lucy Show"'s renewal from CBS. With Arnaz's encouragement and persuasion, Ball agreed to do the show, provided that it would be shown on Monday nights (the night on which "I Love Lucy" had aired), and that she would be reunited with Vivian Vance and her writers from "I Love Lucy". CBS agreed to a full season of episodes without a pilot, and "The Lucy Show" premiered on Monday, October 1, 1962, at 8:30 p.m.


title: The Lucy Show

text: The original premise of the series was that widow Lucy Carmichael lives in the fictional town of Danfield, New York, with her teenage daughter Chris and younger son Jerry, with her divorced friend Vivian "Viv" Bagley and Bagley's young son Sherman as tenants. Early episodes included their next-door neighbor, Harry Connors. Lucy's late husband left her a substantial trust fund, managed by a local banker (originally recurring character Mr. Barnsdahl, and later regular character Mr. Mooney); Lucy would frequently try to persuade the bank to let her raid the fund for various purchases or harebrained projects. Lucy also took on various jobs to boost her finances. Lucy, Viv, and Chris all dated regularly, yielding additional fodder for plots; in early episodes, Viv had a regular boyfriend, Eddie Collins.


title: The Lucy Show

text: In 1965, the show was extensively retooled for its fourth season. Lucy moves to Los Angeles to be closer to Chris, who was attending college in California (but no longer appeared on the show), and enrolls Jerry in a military boarding school there (facilitating his also being written out). Viv, now remarried as Vivian Bunson, remains in Danfield with Sherman, but visits Lucy a few times; Lucy's new best friend is Mary Jane Lewis. Lucy finds that Mr. Mooney has been transferred to the Los Angeles branch of the bank, and she eventually becomes his employee there. The new setting provided ample opportunity for celebrities to appear as themselves, often becoming entangled in Lucy's zany schemes. References to Lucy's children and her trust fund were eventually dropped, and this remained the show's premise through the sixth and final season.


title: The Lucy Show

text: The Lucy Show was one of only two sitcoms at the time to use the multi-camera setup and film with a live studio audience ("The Dick Van Dyke Show", which was also filmed by Desilu and aired on CBS, was the other).


title: The Lucy Show

text: The show began with Lucille Ball as Lucy Carmichael, a widow with two children, Chris (Candy Moore) and Jerry (Jimmy Garrett), living in the fictional town of Danfield, New York, sharing her home with divorced friend Vivian Bagley (Vance) and her son, Sherman (Ralph Hart). In order to get Vance to commit to the series, Arnaz acquiesced to her demands for an increase in salary, co-star billing, a more attractive wardrobe and, finally, that her character's name be Vivian. After doing "I Love Lucy", she was still being referred to as Ethel Mertz by people on the street, much to her annoyance.


title: The Lucy Show

text: Although the book on which the show was based, Irene Kampen's "Life Without George", centered on two divorcées living together in the same house raising their children, it was decided early on that the Lucy Carmichael character should instead be a widow. The consensus was that fans would be offended with a Lucy who was divorced, despite the fact that this was a new character and Ball herself was divorced. The character of Vivian Bagley became the first divorced woman on primetime television.


title: The Lucy Show

text: In the show's original format, Lucy had been left with a substantial trust fund by her late husband, which was managed during the first season by local banker Mr. Barnsdahl (Charles Lane). Comedian Dick Martin, working solo from his longtime partner Dan Rowan, was cast in ten episodes as Lucy's next-door neighbor and frequent boyfriend, Harry Connors, during the show's first season. Character actor Don Briggs was also featured in six episodes as Viv's beau, Eddie Collins, and Tom Lowell, a young actor seen on various primetime television shows, appeared in three installments as Chris Carmichael's boyfriend, Alan Harper. The first season of "The Lucy Show" fully utilized the talents of Bob Carroll Jr., Madelyn Martin, Bob Schiller, and Bob Weiskopf (four of the five original writers of "I Love Lucy") in creating its thirty episodes, with Desi Arnaz as executive producer for fifteen of those shows. At the end of its first season, "The Lucy Show" received rave reviews from the critics and ranked #5 in the Nielsen ratings. Ball was nominated for an Emmy Award as Best Actress in a Series, but lost to Shirley Booth for the NBC comedy hit "Hazel". Bolstered by great ratings, the series was renewed for a second year, but many changes were made.


title: The Lucy Show

text: At the beginning of the 1963–64 season, Desi Arnaz resigned as head of Desilu and as the executive producer of "The Lucy Show". Ball took over as president of the studio and Elliott Lewis replaced Arnaz as executive producer of Ball's series. Dick Martin, Don Briggs, Tom Lowell, and Charles Lane left the show. The characters of Harry Connors and Alan Harper were never mentioned again. Briggs would make one more appearance as Eddie Collins in the episode "Lucy Goes Duck Hunting". The Barnsdahl character was replaced by Theodore J. Mooney, played by Gale Gordon, who would remain with the series for the remainder of its run, surviving another format change. In the episode "Lucy Gets Locked in the Vault", Gordon's character is introduced when Lucy discovers that Mr. Barnsdahl has been transferred to another bank and that the management of her trust fund has been taken over by a new banker. The name "Theodore Mooney" had been used earlier by the actor George Cisar, who was cast as a police sergeant on thirty-one episodes of Gordon's other CBS sitcom, "Dennis the Menace".


title: The Lucy Show

text: Gordon had worked with Ball as far back as 1938 on the CBS radio program "The Wonder Show" and later worked with her on another radio show, "My Favorite Husband". When CBS retooled "My Favorite Husband" for television as "I Love Lucy", Gordon was offered the role of Fred Mertz, but he was already committed to the radio series "Our Miss Brooks" (which also was about to move to television) so William Frawley was cast in the part. In 1952, Gordon guest starred on the first season of "I Love Lucy" as Ricky Ricardo's boss at the Tropicana, Alvin Littlefield. Six years later, Gordon became a regular on the short-lived NBC-TV sitcom "Sally" which starred actress Joan Caulfield (who inherited Lucille Ball's role as Liz Cooper when "My Favorite Husband" was directly adapted to television in 1953). In the late fall of 1958, Gordon guest-starred as a judge in the hour-long "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" episode "Lucy Makes Room for Danny". From 1960 to 1962, he had recurring roles on two CBS-TV sitcoms – "The Danny Thomas Show" and "Pete and Gladys". Gordon was to have joined "The Lucy Show" at its premiere in the fall of 1962, but he was still contractually obligated to "Dennis the Menace", in which he had replaced Joseph Kearns, who had unexpectedly died earlier in the year. It was later revealed that Ball had grown unhappy with Charles Lane because of his difficulty remembering his lines in front of the studio audience and was eager to have Gordon join the cast. Lane then became a semi-regular on the CBS-TV sitcom "Petticoat Junction" as Homer Bedloe.


title: The Lucy Show

text: During the first two seasons, a few guest stars were brought in for some episodes such as Broadway superstar Ethel Merman, actor-comedian Wally Cox, singer Roberta Sherwood, and golf pros Jimmy Demaret and Bo Wininger. Character actor-comedian Hans Conreid, who was a semi-regular on The Danny Thomas Show playing Uncle Tonoose, appeared on two episodes of "The Lucy Show" in 1963 ("Lucy's Barbershop Quartet" and "Lucy Plays Cleopatra") playing Dr. Gitterman, a voice teacher. At this time, Ball also used many other well-known character actors in featured parts such as Carole Cook, Mary Wickes, Roscoe Karns, John McGiver, William Schallert, John Carradine, Robert Alda, Majel Barrett, Karen Norris, Dorothy Konrad, Lou Krugman, Stafford Repp, Ellen Corby, Philip Carey, Carl Benton Reid, Lyle Talbot, Leon Ames, Jackie Coogan, Kathleen Freeman, Keith Andes (who was Ball's leading man in the Broadway musical Wildcat), William Windom, Vito Scotti. Robert Rockwell, Frank Aletter, Reta Shaw, Murvyn Vye, Hazel Pierce, J. Pat O'Malley, Roland Winters, Sandra Gould, Cesare Danova, Bobs Watson, Nancy Kulp, future Academy Award-winning actor Jack Albertson, and even the "Queen of the Hollywood Extras" Bess Flowers. In addition, young performers like Don Grady, Tina Cole, Barry Livingston, Eddie Applegate, Stephen Talbot, Lee Aaker, Eddie Hodges, future Academy Award-nominee Michael J. Pollard, and even Ball's two children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. also made appearances on the program. In the second season, Ball's second husband Gary Morton made his acting debut on "The Lucy Show".


title: The Lucy Show

text: At the end of the second season, a disagreement erupted between Ball and head writers Bob Carroll, Jr., and Madelyn Martin regarding a particular script which Ball found to be inferior. As a result, Carroll, Martin, Weiskopf and Schiller left the series.


title: The Lucy Show

text: In the fall of 1964, though CBS began to broadcast sporting events and cartoons in color, they still refused to broadcast "The Lucy Show" in color. Through that year ownership of color TV sets grew, and several other manufacturers began making color equipment and color TV sets.


title: The Lucy Show

text: At the beginning of the 1964–65 season, "The Lucy Show" went through a significant staff change. Elliott Lewis left the series as executive producer and was replaced by Jack Donohue, who served as producer and director. With the absence of Carroll, Martin, Weiskopf, and Schiller, Ball hired veteran comedy writer Milt Josefsberg, who had written for Jack Benny, as script consultant. Under Josefsberg's supervision there were no permanent writers for the series and different writers were employed each week (among them, Garry Marshall). Ball persuaded Weiskopf and Schiller to return and write four installments.


title: The Lucy Show

text: There were further changes to the series. Vivian Vance reduced the number of episodes in which she appeared in that season to spend more time on the East Coast with her husband, literary editor John Dodds. Ann Sothern, whom Ball considered to be "the best comedian in the business, bar none" and a personal friend, made a number of appearances during 1964 and 1965 as the "Countess Framboise" (née Rosie Harrigan) to fill Vance's absence. The Countess, who had been widowed by the death of her husband, "who left her his noble title and all of his noble debts," was always trying to get money to pay off her debts. She also did battle with Mr. Mooney, whom she called "Mr. Money". Because it was known that Vance would be leaving the series, Sothern was proposed as the new co-star, but she declined. Sothern allegedly wanted to share top billing with Ball, a term that Ball was unwilling to accept. Sothern made three more guest appearances during the following (1965–66) season.


title: The Lucy Show

text: In the spring of 1965, Vance was growing tired of commuting weekly between her home on the East Coast and Los Angeles. To continue appearing on the show, Vance wanted more creative control with the opportunity to produce and direct episodes and to receive better pay. Agents and studio executives misinformed Ball regarding Vance's desires, believing that she wanted to be Ball's equal. It was decided not to meet Vance's requests, leaving both Ball and Vance feeling betrayed by the other. As a result, Vance decided to leave the series. Ball would later regret not giving Vance what she requested. Without Vance on the show, Ball seriously considered ending the series, feeling she couldn't continue without her.


title: The Lucy Show

text: Even though Candy Moore, Jimmy Garrett, and Ralph Hart were still contracted to the series, they were used minimally during the third year. For example, in the episode "Lucy and The Old Mansion", which was the final Season 3 installment, filmed in January 1965, Moore, Garrett, and Hart appear in the opening scene, have a few lines of dialogue, then exit. It is the last time in which all of the three children are seen, and they were subsequently written out in Season 4. Dropping Candy Moore, in fact, was Ball's decision. Because Moore was very popular with teenagers and the subject of dozens of articles in youth-oriented magazines at the time, her departure was originally nixed by CBS but finally accepted when Ball threatened to "retire."


title: The Lucy Show

text: In the first episode of the fourth season, Lucy and Jerry Carmichael and Mr. Mooney moved from Danfield to California, where Lucy began working for Mr. Mooney at the bank. Lucy's daughter Chris was said to have gone away to college and was not mentioned again. It was explained that Vance's character (Vivian Bagley) remarried and that she, along with her son Sherman and her new husband, remained in Danfield, although she returned for a few guest appearances towards the end of the series' run. With Candy Moore and Ralph Hart having already left the show at this point, only Jimmy Garrett was retained, but he would make only two appearances to support the transition before he, too, was phased out of the series.


title: The Lucy Show

text: This procedure was later explained by Oscar Katz, one of Desilu's vice presidents. According to Katz, "If you go into a network with the same series but a radically changed format, the contracts allow for greater financial renegotiation." Candy Moore adds, "By dropping all of us at once, Desilu was able to get a lot more money out of CBS for the continuation of "The Lucy Show"."


title: The Lucy Show

text: In the fourth season premiere episode, "Lucy at Marineland", Jerry was quickly shipped off to a military academy. He made one final appearance, in a Christmas-themed episode, midway in the 1965–66 season. Sothern made three more guest appearances as the Countess, and Joan Blondell guest-starred in two episodes as Lucy's new friend Joan Brenner. However, Ball felt there was no chemistry between them and so, the idea of Blondell becoming Lucy's new comrade on the series was quickly rejected.


title: The Lucy Show

text: Finally, Lucy gained a new best friend, Mary Jane Lewis (Mary Jane Croft). Croft had prior experience performing with Ball and was the wife of former executive producer Elliott Lewis. In 1954, she made her first appearance on "I Love Lucy" playing Cynthia Harcourt, a rich friend of Lucy Ricardo in the episode "Lucy Is Envious". In 1956, she returned to the series playing Evelyn Bigsby, a traveler seated next to Lucy on an airplane in the fifth season finale, "Return Home from Europe". In 1957, she made her final appearances on the series as Lucy's neighbor Betty Ramsey in the sixth season. During the 1950s, Croft also had occasional roles on "I Married Joan" and "Our Miss Brooks". She was also the voice of Cleo the basset hound in the sitcom "The People's Choice". Croft then portrayed Lucy Carmichael's friend Audrey Simmons during the 1962–64 episodes of "The Lucy Show". In the third season, with the departure of Elliott Lewis as executive producer, Croft had also left the series, although her character of Audrey was still referred to in a few episodes but never seen. At this time, Croft had also been a regular for ten years on the long-running ABC-TV sitcom "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", which was in its final year of production in 1965. In returning to "The Lucy Show" in the fall of 1965 as a new character, Croft was replacing Vivian Vance as Lucy's pal and co-conspirator; she did not, however, get co-star billing – like Roy Roberts, who played Mooney's boss at the bank, Mr. Cheever, she received featured billing despite playing a regular character.


title: The Lucy Show

text: In the fall of 1965, CBS began broadcasting all programming in color, but continued to produce some programming in black and white.


title: The Lucy Show

text: By January 1966, all references to Lucy Carmichael's children, her trust fund, and her former life in Danfield were dropped. Lucy Carmichael was firmly established as a single woman living in Los Angeles. Lucy worked in films disguised as stunt man "'Iron Man' Carmichael" for three episodes ("Lucy the Stunt Man", "Lucy and the Return of Iron Man", and "Lucy and Bob Crane"). At the end of the 1965–66 season Lucille Ball was nominated for her second Emmy for "The Lucy Show" as Best Actress in a Comedy Series, however, Mary Tyler Moore took home the trophy for her role as Laura Petrie for "The Dick Van Dyke Show".


title: The Lucy Show

text: The next two seasons featured many stars making guest appearances as themselves conducting business at Lucy's bank. For the last two seasons, Vivian Vance made three guest appearances in her role as Vivian Bagley (except it was now Vivian Bunson, as her character had gotten married again when Lucy Carmichael moved to California). In all three episodes in which Viv visited Lucy, there were passing references to their former life in Danfield as well as Viv's new husband, but no mention was made about any of their children. In the fifth-year episode "Lucy Gets Caught Up in the Draft", Lucy Carmichael receives a letter from her son, who is away in military school. In that installment, he is called Jimmy, not Jerry. During the filming of that particular show, Ball was constantly being corrected by her crew saying that the son's name was Jerry and that Jimmy Garrett had played that part and that was the reason for her being confused. However, Ball refused to listen and so the error stayed in and that was the last reference to Lucy Carmichael's son. For the 1966–67 season, Gale Gordon was nominated for an Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, but lost to Don Knotts, who won for his guest appearance in the episode "The Return of Barney Fife" on The Andy Griffith Show. Maury Thompson received a nomination for Best Directing in a Comedy Series and is the only Lucy director ever to receive a nomination in the directing category. After eleven years, Ball was finally awarded an Emmy as "Best Actress in a Comedy Series" (she had previously won two, as "Best Comedienne" in 1953 and as "Best Actress in a Continuing Performance" in 1956 for "I Love Lucy").


title: The Lucy Show

text: During the 1967–68 season, Ball's second husband, Gary Morton, became executive producer of "The Lucy Show". Lucille Ball sold Desilu Productions to Gulf+Western Industries, abandoning ownership of the series. In the spring of 1968, "The Lucy Show" won Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series, Milt Josefsberg and Ray Singer for Best Writing in a Comedy Series, Lucille Ball for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Gale Gordon). This time, Gordon lost the award to Werner Klemperer of "Hogan's Heroes", and the show itself lost the Best Comedy Series Award to the NBC sitcom "Get Smart". For the second straight year, Ball was awarded the coveted statuette. At the end of its sixth season, "The Lucy Show" posted its highest Nielsen rating, ranking at #2.


title: The Lucy Show

text: After six seasons, Ball decided to end the series, feeling that the show had enough episodes for syndication. Ball opted to continue on television under the provision that her two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., agreed to appear alongside her. Thus, in the fall of 1968, an entirely new series, "Here's Lucy", debuted. This series featured her and her children, as well as Gordon. Croft was gradually added as a regular and Vance made several guest appearances. Gordon, as well as both actresses, played new characters which were similar to their characters on the former series. Like "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy Show", "Here's Lucy" also ran on CBS for six seasons.


title: The Lucy Show

text: From the 1965–66 season onward, with the change in format, a number of celebrities guest starred on "The Lucy Show", usually playing themselves under the premise that the Lucy Carmichael character, now living in Hollywood, crossed paths with them, either in her day-to-day life, or through her job at the bank. These included Jack Benny, Mickey Rooney, Carol Burnett, George Burns, Joan Crawford, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Dean Martin, Frankie Avalon, Wayne Newton, Robert Stack, Mel Tormé, John Vivyan, Jack Cassidy, Clint Walker, and Milton Berle.


title: The Lucy Show

text: Other CBS shows were sometimes brought in. In the episode "Lucy and John Wayne", a photograph of Bob Crane as Colonel Hogan from "Hogan's Heroes" can be seen as guest star Wayne is exiting a scene.