You were more successful that I've been. I had l bulb do this in 2 ceiling fixtures. I tried the potato fix and just got potato stuck in the base. Then I tried the pliers and the base just crumbled on me. I guess I will have to call an electrician to fix them. I've had a lot of problems with bulbs blowing lately. I was buying Phillips brand at dollar store so they may be seconds. Very annoying. I'm going to start replacing all the bulbs in my house with the LED ones (not the curly ones...hate those.) but they are expensive so will have to do it slowly.