By the time this major 1960 NBC TV special came about, Hedda Hopper was a Hollywood legend.  She had been a top gossip columnist in Movieland since the early forties, head-to-head with her top rival, the longer-established Louella Parsons, for title Queen of Hollywood (for movie actresses hit the top, and went down again; these two ladies stayed on top through their whole careers).  Hedda was not only known for her hob-knobbing with Tinseltown's biggest names, and for getting the dirt before anyone else, but also for being ruthless when it came to dealing with those who displeased her, intentionally or otherwise.

In 1959, NBC offered her the chance to host a televison special, with the option of five more if she liked the first.  She accepted, and began rounding up every top star she could muster.  Well, not every top star -- in her 1963 autobiography The Whole Truth and Nothing But, she told the story of how Jack Benny came to her after the special aired, and asked why he hadn't been invited on.  "I don't know you as well as I do the others," she recalled replying.  "I wasn't sure you'd respond."  Benny said he would have been happy to, remembering "the pressure Ed put on me to appear with him when he started his shows."  In any case, the guest list was impressive.

However, "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" (the title of the special, and also that of her column) ended up scheduled against a rival columnist's Sunday night variety show -- Ed Sullivan, or as she called him, "Stoneface."  Sullivan was well-known within the industry for pressuring performers to appear on his series sans payment, for the mere publicity value.  When it came time for Hedda's special, all the stars agreed to interview appearences -- as opposed to guest performances.  The Screen Actors Guild had set the price of an interview at a mimium of $210.  Therefore, this was the amount Hedda paid each star for their appearences.  Sullivan, however -- seeking to hurt the show's status, as it had a good chance of trampling him in the ratings -- lashed out at the pay scale, calling this "the most grevious form of payola.  Here is a columnist using plugs in a column to get performers free."  Hedda struck back, recounting major stars' stories of Sullivan's own attempts to use their services for free.  In the end, her show went on, and according to her autobiography, it "matched Ed's [rating] exactly -- and we were brand new."

Lucy appears standing outside of her Desilu Workshop, with some playhouse students.  She is wearing a dark suit with a fox collar, pearls, and her hair in a long French twist.  She is quickly interviewed by Hedda, and discusses her plans for the playhouse, then drives off in her electric cart to fulfill her duties around the studio.  It is significant to note that with just five months before her divorce from Desi, she mentions her husband several times.