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"That Wacky Redhead", an Alternate Timeline

Emperor Norton

Emperor Norton

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Captain
Hopefully this is alright to post. I do think it would be of interest.

A brief summary: In actual history, Lucille Ball sold Desilu to Gulf+Western and returned to acting. One of the better known series under Desilu was Star Trek, which was cancelled.
The change is that in this reality Lucille Ball forgoes a return to acting and remains behind the scenes, and thus does not sell Desilu. Lucille Ball went to bat for shows that may not have otherwise had a chance, meaning that in the alternate reality, Star Trek does not get cancelled after Season 3.

Lucille Ball, beloved comedienne, star of the classic 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy, and entrepreneur as the head of her television studio, Desilu, is visited in a dream by her late friend Carole Lombard. Once before, her friend had convinced her to “give [television] a whirl” and star in what would become I Love Lucy; her second visit, in late 1966, marks the POD. She is on the verge of selling Desilu to media conglomerate Gulf+Western, but Lombard warns her away from it, assuring her that her destiny is to remain a studio chief.
The rest of the timeline chronicles what changes have been wrought, and all on account of That Wacky Redhead!
Click to expand...

It's really interesting, and I won't spoil it.

http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/timelines/that_wacky_redhead
 
I'm up to "Let the Sunshine In" and all I can say is: this is catnip, and you are a pusher. :adore:
 
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You're evil! You've practically knocked me off TrekBBS until I can finish this! (I'm up to 1977 right now.)

Really, though, thanks - this is really cool.
 
No more so than if you read the chapter list. You don't know for sure what Next Voyage is. It could be a delightful pie recipe.
 
Makin me so sad. "It would have been glorious."


EDIT: SPOILER: SADDER: "the fifth and final once-a-season contribution by Theodore Sturgeon" ARRGH, yer killin me!!

EDIT - just read the finale -- he made me cry -- who IS this Turtledove Award winner?!
 
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plynch said:
Makin me so sad. "It would have been glorious."


EDIT: SPOILER: SADDER: "the fifth and final once-a-season contribution by Theodore Sturgeon" ARRGH, yer killin me!!

EDIT - just read the finale -- he made me cry -- who IS this Turtledove Award winner?!
Click to expand...

Per his profile pic, Carroll O'Connor.
 
I just caught up to that post - they're still writing this thing! I did not expect that.

BigJake is right - and now I'm addicted and there's no end in sight! ;)
 
I've been thinking today about something that hasn't been covered much in the TTL thus far - the effects on the Top 40. For one, I'm fairly certain that "Suicide Is Painless" (theme from M.A.S.H.) and a whole bunch of war protest and otherwise war-inspired songs wouldn't have charted - might not have even been written or recorded - which kicks off a whole butterfly effect from what it would have done for the artist who was at #41 when they kept them from getting played by Casey Kasem OTL, and also what the artists that were responsible for those songs did instead. One hit wonders might never have found their limited OTL fame at all, and established artists that did those sorts of songs OTL might have had different hits - or a dry spell.

Elvis and Lennon probably managed to score some TTL hits that they didn't OTL - and those might have kept other artists from charting for the reverse of the reason described above for the M.A.S.H. theme. And speaking of Lennon, I wonder what effect his being around will have on the his son Julian Lennon's possibly upcoming-in-TTL 1984 album "Valotte" - in its reception or even possibly in its composition. And would Lennon have kept McCartney from selling the Beatles catalog to Michael Jackson? Would Tiffany have still been allowed to cover "I Saw Him Standing There"? Would ANY of the Beatles covers that we're familiar with from 1980 forward exist? Would the Beatles have gotten back together at some point?

And if CED technology beat our OTL CD tech from Sony to market, or in prominence IN the market, then, if the audio was limited to 30 minutes on a side, different cuts might have been necessary on MOST albums - possibly including using some songs that they didn't OTL and not using some that they did. And if they were able to use the "bandwidth" that wasn't used for video for additional audio, then there's a whole slew of additional room for songs that may have been cut from albums OTL - or it might have prompted a surround sound revolution earlier since the discs could include more than two channels. And none of that even gets into what Pink Floyd or KISS might have done with the ability to include video in their albums back then.
 
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