The Truth About "Lucy Buys Westinghouse"
Black and white or color, the film NEVER aired on television. It was produced by Desilu (the official title: "Lucy Buys Westinghouse") after Desi Arnaz signed a two-season deal with the appliance maker for the new CBS anthology series "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse." As part of the deal, Desi agreed to help sell Westinghouse products on the air, along with Lucy, Vivian Vance, Bill Frawley, and Westinghouse spokespeople Betty Furness and John Cameron Swazye. The 45-minute film was written by "Lucy" scribes Bob Carroll Junior, Madilyn Pugh, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf. Ross Elliott played the Westinghouse dealer. It was shown to dealers across the nation to get them excited about the various promotions that would air on "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse." And frankly, it would have made a better episode of "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show" instead of many of the hour-long episodes that actually aired on CBS during the final two seasons; the format was getting tired and Lucy and Desi were barely speaking to each other--not good signs.
During its two-season run, "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" not only aired new and repeat episodes of the hour-long adventures of the Ricardos and the Mertzes (with guest stars such as Milton Berle, Bob Cummings, Danny Thomas and Maurice Chevalier), but it also aired two historic programs. One was "The Time Element," which sparked the Rod Serling anthology series "The Twilight Zone," along with a two-part show that served as the pilot for "The Untouchables," which--suprisingly--aired on ABC instead of CBS.