First, this.
Lucy met Mannix in one of the most unlikely TV crossovers: https://t.co/Ni7Pa1AjRR pic.twitter.com/ZQM7KhH12X
— MeTV (@MeTV) August 30, 2017
Then, this.
…Mannix was originally produced by Desilu, the production company helmed by Lucille Ball. In its original conception, Mannix was more a high-tech spy series, with Joe Mannix working for an agency called Intertect. It was Ball who wanted to bring the show down to earth, ditching the computers and turning Mannix into a hard-boiled private detective.
Her retooling arguably saved Mannix as a series, just as she had saved Star Trek. It was well within her right to bring a little levity to the character and plug him into a sitcom.
…Which leads to this.
According to Solow in Marc Cushman’s history These Are the Voyages, Lucy initially thought Star Trek was about traveling USO performers. But her support for the show was necessary as it became clear how expensive the pilot would be. Lucy overruled her board of directors to make sure the episode was produced.
Her support was even more critical when NBC rejected the initial pilot, “The Cage,” in early 1965. NBC ordered a second pilot—introducing Shatner as Kirk—which Lucy agreed to help finance, again over her board’s objections. Star Trek made the fall 1966 schedule, and the pilot won its time slot (though it later suffered in the ratings). “If it were not for Lucy,” former studio executive Ed Holly told Desilu historian Coyne Steven Sanders, “there would be no Star Trek today.”
You’d think that they’d name something after her on the show.
Wow, I had no idea.
She apparently had the Eye: Lucille Ball could tell what concepts worked for television success, and what couldn’t. I think that the Eye can be learned, but it can’t really be taught.