In one of J. Randy Taraborrelli's books about Diana Ross, he wrote that Lucy and Dinah "gave Diana hell", and took advantage of her inexperience with comedy. First hand accounts, however, relate that Ross's experience with Lucy and Dinah was a good one. The "gave her hell" line just referred to the fact that hey worked her hard, but she wasn't intimidated because they were all working hard to make it right. In the planning stages they all met at Lucy's house to discuss the special and everyone was very cordial. Diana and Lucy had a friendly relationship after the special as well with Lucy praising Ross's performance in Lady Sings The Blues. In a Diana Ross book, she's quoted as saying Lucy and Dinah pretty much ignored her. She may have been over-sensitive or it may be that Lucy and Dinah found it hard to find common ground for chit-chat, their backgrounds and ages being so different. When this special was shot, Lucy was 57 (going on 58) Dinah was somewhere between 52 and 55 (depending on your source) while Diana was just 25.
Ironically, NBC's lead-in for "Like Hep" was the final episode of the Desi Arnaz produced "The Mother-In-Law." That night's episode was directed by Elliot Lewis and featured his wife, Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane on "Here's Lucy"). It was written by Lucy's favorite writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis.
In the fall of 1969, George Schlatter also had Diana Ross as a guest on two episodes of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." The NBC smash hit's second half hour competed with "Here's Lucy" on CBS. Both Dan Rowan and Dick Martin had appeared many times on "The Lucy Show" before their big success with "Laugh-In." Interestingly, "Here's Lucy" frequently incorporated catch phrases from "Laugh-In" like "Here Come the Judge" and "Sock It To Me". "Laugh-In" regulars Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson guest starred on "Here's Lucy."
Later in 1969, Diana Ross appeared on television with The Supremes in "G.I.T. on Broadway," also produced by George Schlatter. That special also contained the song "Let The Sunshine In" from the Broadway musical Hair.
"Like Hep" was programmed opposite "The Smothers Brothers" on CBS which that night guest starred Dan Rowan. Following "The Smothers Brothers" was the Desilu produced series "Mission: Impossible."