Editing Desi Arnaz (section)

===Later career===
In the 1970s, Arnaz co-hosted a week of shows with daytime host and producer [[Mike Douglas]]. [[Vivian Vance]] appeared as a guest.<ref name=LucyFAQ>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNCGDwAAQBAJ|title=Lucille Ball FAQ: Everything Left to Know About America's Favorite Redhead|last=Monush|first=Barry|date=June 1, 2011|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781557839404|language=en}}</ref> Arnaz also headlined a ''[[Kraft Music Hall]]'' special on [[NBC]] that featured his two children, with a brief appearance by Vance. Arnaz suffered a severe attack of diverticulitis in 1971, which required an operation and several years of recovery.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Warren |title=Lucy & Desi : the legendary love story of television's most famous couple |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=NY |page=301}}</ref> He worked with Universal Studios for two years working on development deals for two shows that eventually fell through, ''Dr. Domingo'' (the character did appear on one episode of ''Ironside'') and ''Chairman of the Board'' starring [[Elke Sommer]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Warren |title=Lucy & Desi : the legendary love story of television's most famous couple |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=NY |page=302}}</ref> Arnaz moved on to work on his autobiography for two years.

To promote his autobiography, ''A Book'', on February 21, 1976, Arnaz served as a guest host on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', with his son, Desi, Jr., also appearing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/saturday-night-live/episode-14-season-1/desi-arnaz/100385|title=Saturday Night Live {{!}} TV Guide|magazine=TV Guide|language=en|access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref> The program contained spoofs of ''I Love Lucy'' and ''The Untouchables''.<ref name=LucyFAQ /> The spoofs of ''I Love Lucy'' were supposed to be earlier concepts of the show that never made it on the air, such as "I Love Louie", where Desi lived with [[Louis Armstrong]]. He read [[Lewis Carroll]]'s poem "[[Jabberwocky]]" in a heavy Cuban accent (he pronounced it "Habberwocky"). Desi Jr., played the drums and, supported by the ''SNL'' band, Desi sang both "[[Babalú]]" and another favorite from his dance band days, "[[Cuban Pete (song)|Cuban Pete]]"; the arrangements were similar to the ones used on ''I Love Lucy''. He ended the broadcast by leading the entire cast in a conga line through the ''SNL'' studio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=about&p=887&item=T:02112|title=The Paley Center for Media|website=The Paley Center for Media|language=en|access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75n.phtml|title=SNL Transcripts: Desi Arnaz: 02/21/76|last=King|first=Don Roy|author-link=Don Roy King|date=October 8, 2018|website=SNL Transcripts Tonight|language=en-US|access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref>

In 1976, CBS paid tribute to Lucille Ball with the two-hour special ''CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years.''<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Bart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q6LyRdRL20C&q=CBS+Salutes+Lucy%3A+The+first+25&pg=PA222|title=Loving Lucy: An Illustrated Tribute to Lucille Ball|last2=Watson|first2=Thomas J.|date=January 15, 1982|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-49975-4|language=en}}</ref> Both Ball and Arnaz appeared on the screen for the special, which is the first time they appeared together in 16 years since their divorce.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Warren |title=Lucy & Desi : the legendary love story of television's most famous couple |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=NY |isbn=0671747096 |pages=306–307 |url=https://archive.org/details/lucydesilegendar0000harr_n1d6/page/306/mode/1up}}</ref>

When asked about returning to television in a 1976 newspaper article, Arnaz said, "People ask me to go back on TV but the thin' is, it's too tough competing with the Ricky Ricardo of 20 years ago. He looks a lot better than I do."<ref name="Alabama Journal">{{cite news |last1=Freeman |first1=Don |title=Desi Arnaz Says Past is Too Tough for Competition |agency=Copley News Service |work=Alabama Journal |date=April 16, 1976}}</ref> Arnaz made a guest appearance on the TV series ''[[Alice (American TV series)|Alice]]'', in 1978 starring [[Linda Lavin]] and produced by ''I Love Lucy'' co-creators [[Madelyn Pugh]] (Madelyn Davis) and [[Bob Carroll, Jr.]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scua2.sdsu.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=60|title=Desi Arnaz Papers, 1947-1976 {{!}} Special Collections & University Archives|website=Scua2.sdsu.edu|access-date=March 2, 2019|archive-date=March 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044524/https://scua2.sdsu.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=60|url-status=dead}}</ref> His last acting role was as Mayor Leon Quiñones in the 1982 film, ''[[The Escape Artist (film)|The Escape Artist]]''.

Arnaz owned the {{interlanguage link|Indian Wells Country Club|nl}} in Palm Desert, CA. He also taught classes at [[San Diego State University]] in studio production and acting for television.