Tourists of the street walk into the Oscars. Was this the most surprising moment?

[marylander1940]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGYyp1p06po

 

To your left, you’ll see… Ryan Gosling?

 

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel brought an unsuspecting group from a Hollywood Starline tour bus into the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, letting them get up close and personal with the biggest names in the industry.

 

Before their arrival, Kimmel prepped the gathered group of stars to be quiet, and even dimmed the lights in the theatre as they entered under the ruse that they were visiting an exhibit. Check out PEOPLE’s full 2017 Academy Awards coverage and complete winners list!

 

The star-struck crew followed Kimmel down to the front row, where they looked wide-eyed at their close proximity to everyone from Emma Stone to Nicole Kidman – certainly a better view than from atop a double decker bus.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/hollywood-star-tour-makes-surprise-034019900.html

[+ WilliamM]

I learned also from an article in Vanity Fair years ago about Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills.

 

"Lucille Ball handed out candy on Halloween at No. 1000, Jimmy Stewart grew sweet corn at No. 918, and at No. 1019 Rosemary Clooney and José Ferrer’s kids sold lemonade to tourists. With the Ira Gershwins, Jack Bennys, and Oscar Levants, they made Roxbury Drive the starriest street in Beverly Hills—and a true American neighborhood."

 

When a few years ago I met a young actor who lived on that street and loved Jimmy Stewart Hitchcock films, I was able to tell him once Stewart once lived on his street.

 

"THE STREET WHERE THEY LIVED" Vanity Fair, June, 1999

 

One ordinary evening when the world was still young, the telephone rang at 1000 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, just as the family who lived there was sitting down to dinner. It was the next-door neighbor, wondering if the family was home, and asking the man of the house to leave the back door open.

 

A few minutes later, the unmistakable creaky sounds of America’s most famous bad violinist came floating through the big white Colonial house, and Jack Benny strolled into the dining room in his trademark Gypsy scarf. The hostess, a redhead by the name of Lucille Ball, collapsed in laughter, and her husband, Gary Morton, offered the perennial 39-year-old a tip.

 

“Which he took, of course—totally straight-faced,” Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, recalls, laughing all over again at the retelling, nearly 40 years later. “And he runs out the front door, because he knows just how long he has before the next tour bus to get home. And the next thing we hear is this voice yelling, ‘Mary … oh, Maaaaaaaary,’ because he’s locked out. And the next bus comes up, and imagine what those people must have thought: Jack Benny.........

[Scott Virginian]

Am I the only one who thought that didn't go at all the way Kimmel thought it would?

[+ Eric Hassan]

Am I the only person who thought this was a dumb idea?

[Mydavid]

Am I the only person who thought this was a dumb idea?

same here

[mike carey]

Am I the only person who thought this was a dumb idea?

My thought was, 'Meh, so what?'

[+ OliverSaks]

Am I the only person who thought this was a dumb idea?

Think you meant to post this in the curmudgeon thread...

 

I bet it will be pretty memorable for all of them, and I thought it was a cute idea.

[+ WilliamM]

I was interested in the Vanity Fair article, which I post above, because of knowing a little about Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hill from spending part of 1969 in LA.

 

Back when Lucille Ball and Jack Benny lived in those houses there was no security, no fences. Anyone could walk up to Lucy's front door and ring the door bell. She still have a weekly TV series on CBS back then.

[MikeBiDude]

Am I the only person who thought this was a dumb idea?

You are not alone....

[marylander1940]

Am I the only one who thought that didn't go at all the way Kimmel thought it would?

 

how do you think Jimmy Kimmel and others imagined the whole reaction?

 

[+ Funguy]

I learned also from an article in Vanity Fair years ago about Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills.

 

"Lucille Ball handed out candy on Halloween at No. 1000, Jimmy Stewart grew sweet corn at No. 918, and at No. 1019 Rosemary Clooney and José Ferrer’s kids sold lemonade to tourists. With the Ira Gershwins, Jack Bennys, and Oscar Levants, they made Roxbury Drive the starriest street in Beverly Hills—and a true American neighborhood."

 

When a few years ago I met a young actor who lived on that street and loved Jimmy Stewart Hitchcock films, I was able to tell him once Stewart once lived on his street.

 

"THE STREET WHERE THEY LIVED" Vanity Fair, June, 1999

 

One ordinary evening when the world was still young, the telephone rang at 1000 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, just as the family who lived there was sitting down to dinner. It was the next-door neighbor, wondering if the family was home, and asking the man of the house to leave the back door open.

 

A few minutes later, the unmistakable creaky sounds of America’s most famous bad violinist came floating through the big white Colonial house, and Jack Benny strolled into the dining room in his trademark Gypsy scarf. The hostess, a redhead by the name of Lucille Ball, collapsed in laughter, and her husband, Gary Morton, offered the perennial 39-year-old a tip.

 

“Which he took, of course—totally straight-faced,” Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, recalls, laughing all over again at the retelling, nearly 40 years later. “And he runs out the front door, because he knows just how long he has before the next tour bus to get home. And the next thing we hear is this voice yelling, ‘Mary … oh, Maaaaaaaary,’ because he’s locked out. And the next bus comes up, and imagine what those people must have thought: Jack Benny.........

 

I used to go Trick or Treat-ing to all of those houses - they were always generous and having great fun with all of us. The Miser, Jack Benny, gave everybody a silver dollar! And he never ran out!

[foxy]

I kept wondering if all those actresses who got their hands kissed had or wished they had handi wipes? Also the people on the tour bus didn't seem all that overwhelmed and were pretty casual about the whole thing. I think it must have looked better on paper as most ideas. I felt sort of uncomfortable watching it and couldn't wait till it was over.

[tanman4u]

And one of the guys on the bus had just been released from prison a few days prior having served 20 years for multiple felonies including attempted rape.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/oscars/oscar-sensation-gary-from-chicago-reveals-he-had-just-gotten-out-of-prison/ar-AAnDK1F

[LADoug1]

Am I the only person who thought this was a dumb idea?

Embarrassing and a bit cruel.

[+ WilliamM]

I used to go Trick or Treat-ing to all of those houses - they were always generous and having great fun with all of us. The Miser, Jack Benny, gave everybody a silver dollar! And he never ran out!

 

When Lucille Ball took questions from the audience at the Paley Center in New York, she mentioned someone climbing over her backyard fence (seen in a "I Love Lucy" in Hollywood episode). He slept in her guest house and took her personal address book. He called her a few days later.

Lucy did get her address book back, but not without a great deal of negotiations.