‘Lucy,’ Jackson Specials Airing Again

If at first you succeed, do it again, is among the mantras in the television business. When CBS aired “I Love Lucy’s 50th Anniversary” special during the November ratings sweeps, the broadcast drew close to 18 million viewers and helped CBS win the week. Then the network scored big with “Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary” special and “The Carol Burnett Show” reunion in subsequent weeks.

CBS is now rebroadcasting the “I Love Lucy” special Wednesday at 9 and the Jackson special on Jan. 9, featuring an appearance by Britney Spears, who, due to her then-pending HBO special, was contractually unable to appear in the original broadcast, a CBS official said. “The Carol Burnett Show” reunion is not set to re-air at this point, the spokesperson added.

The rebroadcast of the Jackson special, meanwhile, is coincidentally on the same night as the American Music Awards on ABC. Jackson was scheduled to perform on that show but backed out, according to the show’s producer, Dick Clark, because of pressure from Grammy Award producers, who have invited Jackson to perform on their show Feb. 27. The Grammys will air on CBS.

In recent years, Grammy producers have told artists they cannot appear on the show if they first appear on the American Music Awards, according to a lawsuit Clark recently filed accusing Grammy chief Michael Greene of unfair business practices.