Here's Lucy - Syndication and Rights Issues

Syndication and Rights Issues

Here's Lucy was not offered in syndication when the series ended in 1974 because the other two Lucy series were hits and it was felt that this show might undermine the success of the other two shows or the fact those shows were so successful that this show would not fare as well. This show was also owned by Telepictures, while I Love Lucy was owned by Viacom (successor at that time to CBS Enterprises or CBS Films), and The Lucy Show was owned at that time by Paramount (successor to Desilu), so there would be competitive situations as well. Since that time, Viacom and Paramount merged in the 1990s, and CBS (which spun-off Viacom circa 1970) was purchased by the merged Viacom-Paramount entity circa 2000. CBS retained the rights to run the show in daytime. CBS Daytime reran the series weekday mornings from May 2 to November 4, 1977, in the same time-slot that they had previously rerun The Lucy Show from 1968 to 1972, and before that (1959-67) had at various times rerun I Love Lucy. Finally, in the fall of 1981, Here's Lucy was put into broadcast syndication first by Telepictures, and in turn the rights were later transferred to Warner Bros. Television Distribution (which acquired Telepictures' holdings). Here's Lucy was not all that successful in syndication and not shown much after 1985. Still, the show was also one of the first shows aired on the PAX Network in 1998. Warner Bros. TV remains the distribution rights holder for all media except home video.

The programme was shown in Britain by the BBC fairly soon after it was made, on the Saturday tea-time slot, but it has not often been shown since then. It has been currently seen in Australia on the Go! channel since 31 May 2010. For many years prior to that on Australian television, the show was originally distributed by a syndicator called Pacific Telecasters Pty. Ltd before being later transferred to Warner Bros. Television. It was a perennial favorite seen on the Nine Network and lastly in 1992 on ABC Television. Prior to Go!, the show originally screened on the Ovation Channel.