LUCILLE BALL - I LOVE LUCY CO-CREATOR CARROLL DIES

I LOVE LUCY co-creator and writer BOB CARROLL JR died Saturday (27JAN07) in Los Angeles following a brief illness. He was 87. Carroll created the classic sitcom starring LUCILLE BALL and her then-husband DESI ARNAZ with his longtime writing partner MADELYN PUGH DAVIS and the show's producer and head writer, JESS OPPENHEIMER, in 1951. Carroll and Davis co-wrote every one of the half-hour series' 180 episodes from 1951 to 1957, either with Oppenheimer or with BOB SCHILLER and BOB WEISKOPF, who joined the writing staff in the show's fifth season. The pair first worked with Oppenheimer and Lucille Ball on the CBS radio show MY FAVORITE HUSBAND beginning in 1948. The show was originally intended to be transferred to TV, but I Love Lucy was developed instead after Ball expressed a desire to star opposite her real-life husband, Arnaz, a Cuban-born bandleader. The writing team continued to work with Ball on her subsequent series THE LUCILLE BALL-DESI ARNAZ SHOW, THE LUCY SHOW, HERE'S LUCY and LIFE WITH LUCY. Carroll and Davis worked on the series THE TOM EWELL SHOW, THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW, MR T AND TINA, ALICE, PRIVATE BENJAMIN and DOROTHY.