CBS’ annual colorized “I Love Lucy Christmas Special,” which airs this Friday (8-9 p.m.), includes “The Christmas Episode,” originally telecast Dec. 24, 1956.
In the episode, told mostly in flashbacks, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz) and Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley, Vivian Vance) reminisce about their friendship while Fred trims a Christmas tree in the Ricardos’ apartment — cluttered with Little Ricky’s (Keith Thibodeaux) presents, including a bicycle and a drum set for the fledgling percussionist.
“Lucy gave me two drum sets, one for the house and one for the set,” says Thibodeaux, 69, the last surviving cast member from “I Love Lucy,” who was 6 years old when the episode aired. “I still have one of [the drum sets], which I had restored in Atlanta.
“My behind-the-scenes memories [of the Christmas episodes] are just the toys on the set,” he says. “And the [show’s] writers, Madelyn [Pugh] and Bob [Carroll Jr.], gave me a Lionel train set and that was a real big treat for me as a kid.”
Thibodeaux, who runs the Ballet Magnificat! ballet company in Mississippi with his wife, Kathy, played Little Ricky on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” (when he was billed as Richard Keith). He later appeared as Johnny Jason opposite Ron Howard on 16 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” and fronted the pioneering Christian rock band David and the Giants. He shared some memories from his time on “I Love Lucy” with The Post in advance of Friday’s CBS special, which also includes a colorized version of the 1956 episode “Paris At Last.”
CBS’ annual colorized “I Love Lucy Christmas Special,” which airs this Friday (8-9 p.m.), includes “The Christmas Episode,” originally telecast Dec. 24, 1956.
In the episode, told mostly in flashbacks, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz) and Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley, Vivian Vance) reminisce about their friendship while Fred trims a Christmas tree in the Ricardos’ apartment — cluttered with Little Ricky’s (Keith Thibodeaux) presents, including a bicycle and a drum set for the fledgling percussionist.
“Lucy gave me two drum sets, one for the house and one for the set,” says Thibodeaux, 69, the last surviving cast member from “I Love Lucy,” who was 6 years old when the episode aired. “I still have one of [the drum sets], which I had restored in Atlanta.
“My behind-the-scenes memories [of the Christmas episodes] are just the toys on the set,” he says. “And the [show’s] writers, Madelyn [Pugh] and Bob [Carroll Jr.], gave me a Lionel train set and that was a real big treat for me as a kid.”
Thibodeaux, who runs the Ballet Magnificat! ballet company in Mississippi with his wife, Kathy, played Little Ricky on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” (when he was billed as Richard Keith). He later appeared as Johnny Jason opposite Ron Howard on 16 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” and fronted the pioneering Christian rock band David and the Giants. He shared some memories from his time on “I Love Lucy” with The Post in advance of Friday’s CBS special, which also includes a colorized version of the 1956 episode “Paris At Last.”
