seacrest: perhaps lucille ball's greatest strength was her comic fearlessness. she was all-in on every bit and always willing to take the pie. like lucy says, you got to take the pie in the face at some point. she always played the wacky, crazy thing, and she took the pie -- literally. i let 'em have it! drop it! drop it! on the floor? no, let me have it. okay. seacrest: on her first sitcom, lucy's husband, desi arnaz, managed the production, staff, and scripts, so lucy could focus on performing. but when the couple divorced, lucy, reluctantly, had to take a larger role. so one morning, when a script wasn't right, lucy had to take action. burnett: lucy did go back after lunch and told them in no uncertain terms how they had to fix that script and it better be done by tomorrow morning or you're out -- she was strong. and she took a sip of her drink and she said, "and, kid, that's when they put the s on the end of my name." [chuckles] seacrest: the only woman on television whose physical comedy skills compared to lucille ball was carol burnett. after 7 years on ga

but here's that moment when she interviewed lucille ball. >> some actresses, the method. they go and they study the bag women and they become a bag woman. did you do anything like that. >> no, i found it very easy to be a bag woman. >> did she not get the johnny carson slot because she was a woman? >> i don't know. i know johnny appreciated her humor. he thought she was very funny. he love young comics. he loved discovering people. he gave so many people a break on "the tonight show." he was a great interviewer of comics. he was a great straight man. he liked her and played off her well. lucille ball was probably the greatest sketch female comic ever and joan rivers would be the greatest stand-up comic ever. >> i want to play another moment just because this is time to obviously thing about some of those. this is again an interview with you back in 2010. she was talking about how she was stopped at the airport because her ticket had the wrong name on it. >> it was a woman, and i think she was premenstrual. and she was just in a terrible -- she just wasn't going to underst

by 1983, she was johnny's regular guest host. >> welcome lucille ball. >> reporter: the late great lucillemovie, and she made a rare appearance on late night television to talk with joan rivers on "the tonight show." >> i didn't realize you were on more times, hours than anybody else. >> i didn't either, until i heard you say it. >> reporter: joan rivers thrived while filling in for johnny. >> today is january 20th, is my daughter melissa's birthday. and i remember so clearly the day she was born, because it broke up my wedding reception. >> reporter: she often made fun of her home making skills. >> i do not cook, i hate to cook. cooking is boring and it's stupid. flies come to my kitchen, they have to brown bag it. the last time my husband had a hot meal, the house was on fire. >> reporter: she didn't much enjoy cleaning either. and like much of the time, was quite vivid about how she felt. >> not one woman here was ever made love to because she did linoleum. the floors are imaccu late, lie down you hot tramp. it's friday night -- >> and you saved the best audience for last. >> joan river

. >> talking to lucille ball. >> the late great lucille ball was promoting a movie, and she made a rare appearance on late-night television to talk with joan rivers on "the tonight show." >> i didn't realize you were on more times, hours than anybody else. >> i didn't either till i heard you say it. >> yeah. >> joan rivers thrived while filling in for johnny. with her self-deprecating humor. >> today, which is january 20th, is my daughter melissa's birthday. [ cheers and applause ] isn't that nice? and i remember so clearly the day she was born because it broke up my wedding reception. >> reporter: she often made fun of her homemaking skills. >> too bad. i do not cook. i hate to cook. cooking is boring and it's stupid. flies come to my kitchen and have to brown-bag it. the last time my husband had a hot meal the house was on fire. you know what? >> reporter: and she didn't much enjoy cleaning either and like much of the time was quite vivid about how she felt. >> not one woman here was ever made love to because she did the linoleum. the floor's immaculate, lie down, you hot tramp. never

. >> lucille ball was a female comedian. but it's different.-up. >> it's very different what you're talk about, being on the mic, on the stage by yourself. >> all alone. >> i thought it was so cool the night before she went into the coma, she did an hour-long set at a small theater in new york for the love of the game. she didn't have to. >> that's the incredible thing. the documentary that was made of her recently. >> "a piece of work" which is really good. >> if somebody hasn't seen it, it's good. >> it's a must-watch. >> she was out doing stand-up repeatedly late at night in small comedy clubs just trying out new material. >> and having fun doing it. >> she also -- i want to go to this clip. she had every joke she told in these filing cabinets. let's take a look at the film. >> these are all my jokes. these are jokes over the last 30 years. these are just -- every time i write a joke, try to remember to get it on a card. why should a woman cook? so her husband can say my wife makes a delicious cake to some hooker? [ laughter ] and you wonder

females were expected to be like lucille ball. it was comedy of pratt falls. very physical comedy. it could be like phyllis diller where it was all about self-deprecation but the type of really biting humor that she specialized in really was new, especially in the '60s and '70s to the point where sometimes some of these talk shows didn't quite know what to do with her. >> you know, it's interesting, billy, that male comedians don't have to be good looking but women comedians tend to be pretty good looking. i was thinking of sarah silverman, certainly joan when she first started. that was a lot of her appeal. she was damned attractive. >> she was beautiful and what flew out of her mouth made men love her more. talk about relevance. you talk about some of these comedians what go on. joan was 81. she was the queen of the "e!" network, sorry, kardashians, along with the kardashians. because she made fun of celebrities and took pot shots at them. chris, we're in a politically correct world run amok here, and joan could make fun of anyone because she was joan. she's grandmothered in. you

. >> it also, i mean, at the time that she started doing stand-up the really lucille ball was a female>> it's different when you're talking about being on the mike by yourself. >> all alone on that stage. >> you're all alone. i thought it was so cool that the night before she went into the coma she did an hour long set. >> yeah. >> at a small theater in new york. for the love of the game. she didn't have to. >> that's the incredible thing. the documentary that was made of her recently. >> "a piece of work," it's really good. >> really must see it. >> it's a much watch. >> i want to show our viewers a clip from it. again, she was out doing stand-up, repeatedly late at night at small comedy clubs trying new material. >> she was having fun doing it. >> she had every joke she had told in these filings cabinets. let's look at the film. >> these are all my jokes. these are jokes over the last 30 years. these are just -- every time i write a joke i try to remember to get it on a card. why should a woman cook? so her husband can say, my wife makes a delicious cake to some hooker. you wonder wh

. >> also, at the time that she started doing standup, there really -- i mean, lucille ball was a female-- >> not a standup comic. it's very different when you're talking about being on the mike by yourself. >> all alone on that stage. >> you're all alone. i thought it was so cool that the night before she went into the coma, she did an hour-long set. >> yeah. >> at a small theater in new york. for the love at game. she didn't have to. >> that's the incredible thing. the documentary that was made of her recently -- >> "a piece of work." really good. >> if somebody hasn't seen it. >> it's a much watch. >> i want to show our viewers a clip from that. again, she was out doing standup, repeatedly late at night in small comedy clubs just trying out new material. >> and having fun doing it. >> she also in -- i want to show this clip because she had every joke she'd told in these filing cabinets. let's take a look at the clip from the film. >> these are all my jokes. these are jokes over the last 30 years. these are just -- every time i write a joke, i try to remember to get it on a card. why s

ricky used to slap lucille ball on the bottom when she misbehaved. remember "i'll punch you to the moon." that's domestic violence and that was part of our comedic bits of two of the most iconic comedies of all time. that should tell you where we are and how far we've come in terms of domestic violence being seen as a serious crime in this country. i wrote a piece about chris brown about five or six years ago talking about how it was difficult for me to listen to his music. more women came after me defending chris brown than men. "he made a mistake. rihanna for gave him, you should too, mind your own business." these are the conversations we hear surrounding ray rice and surround miles davis and his legacy and history of domestic violence, with chris brown and many, many, many more. so we need to continue to use this as a springboard to talk about the seriousness of domestic violence and that the world health organization said 40% of all women who are killed are killed by their intimate lovers, husbands, boyfriends. 40% on the globe. that is global i

and by the time it left, dry aarnes and lucille ball owned the back lot.ve it on a man who took it to atlanta, hoping to start a museum. tara today is not in the state that it was in movie wise, it doesn't look like a house. it is the doors, windows, side porches, all stacked and numbered. inventoried here in a barn on the south side of the town. the "gone with the wind" book touched a nerve somewhere. it became an iconic book, of course. then the movie. >> open your eyes and look at me. >> what i am finding is people like to sea a piece it have. it brings them back to some connection there. the look of tara is so iconic, because of the big white columns, the brick columns, in fact, the studio actually built a picket fence in front of the front door and columns while it was on the back lot because as they filmed nearby they didn't want rory calhoun's scene to be ruined in the show the texan because you could see tara less than 100 yards away from where he got off his horse in front of the saloon. we are restoring pieces one at a time. they are being set up

you think about some of the legends of comedy, especially on the female side, phyllis diller, lucille ball, so many were isolated in their generation because it was a mail dominated genre. since joan came on, how many more women are behind this trail that she blazed in comedy today? >> she was the first woman to host the tonight show, first woman to have her own late night talk show. kathy griffin is saying how she could phone her up if she had a query and say how do i deal with this. the example is saying she had to appear before the troops in afghanistan and i'm frightened. joan rivers said don't worry, these people have been to war, they've seen a lot of hard things. hit them at the top with your best gags. she said she was able to succeed because she first phone her up. >> she was trailblazing among women and men in the sense that no topic was off limits for her. >> i remember when she came to britain in the mid 80's. she erupted on our screens and some people were jayse jazzed b. some people weren't. >> the brits offended? >> let's bring in anymore mitch for the weather. >> this syste

. >> he was like lucille ball on the assembly line. >> here's a great example -- here's a story of two00 years old, they started in brooklyn and then decided to come home and build up this business here. and they are expanding. >> yeah. >> look, we didn't creat these guys they created themselves to that point. but at the end of the day they are a little bit topped out they don't know how to get to the next level. they've few employees. help opportunity. you take a man and teach him a little bit how to do business planning. how to do negotiation. take the business plan that was their term paper. they walk it over to the bank and immediately they get financing. immediately with the finance they go out and buy some more equipment and hire two more people, et cetera, et cetera. it's a circle. >> warren i say all the time that i'm sick and tired of people betting against america. you know, we hear two or three years ago the chinese will take over. then i said this sounds an awful like 1989 japan. i love what you did, when we were at our lowest point in the fall of 2008, you said you know wh

i think after lucille ball and maybe carol burnett, she was probably the preeminent female comedienne raw. within the feminist movement she was really the first raw feminine voice. >> dirty. >> yeah. >> "the new york times" basically saying she is a woman, she's cute. you know, if reminds me of nora efron she never thought anybody would be allowed to do anything but be a secretary. joan rivers was kicking down walls in 1965. >> there are a lot of people working today that owe a huge debt for her. even in a weird way lena dunham. >> two years ago here she is when she offered me some of feedback in a way only joan could. is my sweater okay? >> okay for a serious person. i wouldn't send you on the red carpet in that. don't to this personally. and you're very thin, so you got the good body. >> yeah. >> you should look more like the chicks they have doing news. >> i should? i'm 45. >> we never say that. you're 39. >> too late. mika is very honest. >> i'll start 46 before i turn 46. >> that's good. they say she looks great. she looks great for 90, wow! >> she was very funny when she was on

>> no, don't say that, i don't want lucille to hear you. this is a ballhon and if they feel threatened they curl up in a ball. she has a forked tongue, it lets them locate their prey, if they smell an animal on the right side of their tongue, they know the animal is on the right. if they smell the animal on both sides of the tongue, they know the animal is in front of them. a rare and elusive animal later from the philadelphia zoo. >> what is she doing now? i would be careful. >> a lot of botox. more when "action news" at 5:00 comes right back. celebrate blinds to go's 60th anniversary sale. buy one get 50% off one. because you know what they say: 60 is the new 50. they also say your're only as young as you feel. we feel great. how about those blinds of yours? blinds to go blinds for life. you two day-dreaming? (millers, in unison) yes. (postal worker) about your victorian dream home? (mrs. miller) uh huh. (postal worker) or maybe a colonial home? (mr. miller) how did you... (postal worker) you have the new game from the pennsylvania lottery. (mr. miller)