Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

I would buy this series in season sets. No question. This was the one Lucy show that I remember watching when it was originally on. Loved this show. Bring it on MPI.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

The prints used in the "Here's Lucy" set released a few years ago were among the best I've ever seen (as were the extras.) I hope that quality is maintained.

As for "The Lucy Show," that will be Paramount, so it might have the dreaded music replacement.

But whatever the situation, these two series are long overdue, although they assuredly won't sell as well as "I Love Lucy."

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Looks like we'll be getting season sets of Here's Lucy AND the Mothers in Law sooner rather than later:

Here's Lucy DVD news: DVDs Planned for Here's Lucy (season sets) | TVShowsOnDVD.com

I remember seeing this one in re-runs as a child. It's hard to believe that this one is going to get season sets before "The Lucy Show". The first 3 seasons of the latter are what I REALLY want.

The transfers of the Best of Collection put out by Shout! a few years back were very clear. It will be interesting to see how the MPI Season Sets look.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Great news!! Between this and The Mothers-In-Law and Peyton Place, I suspect the bank account is in trouble!! And Lucille Ball specials too!

Jack

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

This is great news, even though it is ironic that Here's Lucy will be finished on DVD before The Lucy Show.

Since the Arnaz kids own the series and have the masters, I'm sure crisp clear prints will be available on these sets as well.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Did I miss something in the TVShowsOnDVD.com story - Where does it mention that "Mothers in Law" series is also being released? 70sTVLover's post said there are no plans to release this series.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

It's listed directly under the "Here's Lucy" news item. It's on its' way!! It says "later in 2009".

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Thanks! I didn't check the main page for that site.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

This is GREAT news!!! I am SO excited that this series is finally getting whole season releases. Way to go MPI!! Though my favorite seasons were the first three that included Desi Arnaz Jr. I will be buying the complete series as they are released. To have these complete and UNCUT with bonus features yet, is a dream come true! Aside from the episodes released in the Shout Factory set, I have yet to ever watch any of these episodes complete and uncut. I am hoping that MPI will do an exemplary job when it releases these seasons onto DVD so I am expecting some really incredible sets from them!
Even better news that they will also be releasing Lucy's TV Specials as well.According to TVShowsOnDVD.com the bonus features mention new and vintage material for the specials and the season sets so this is all very exciting!
Its true that I too would very much LOVE to see the LUCY SHOW get complete season releases, but in the meantime having "Here's Lucy" being released is a wonderful surprise to all Lucy fans out there, not to mention "The Mothers-In-Law" (also with extras) too! I know my pocket book will be feeling the crunch, but for me, these will be must-have purchases. This is going to be a GREAT SUMMER!
Thank you MPI!!

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Now I'm glad I passed on that "best of" set from a few years back. There's sometimes a good reason to hurry up and wait. Btw, how did the prints in that set look?

I'm glad Lucy's #3 series is coming, even though I think she was kind of phoning it in the last couple years there...

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

It is still worth getting the existing "Best Of" set for the extras. I don't believe MPI is planning on much double-dipping of bonus materials. And as far as Lucy "phoning it in" toward the end, all you need to do is watch the rehearsal footage on the existing set for proof that this is not true. Lucille lived for her work and would NEVER "phone it in".

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

The "Best of" set looked GORGEOUS. The episodes were beautifully remastered. Chances are, they will not look as good on the complete seasons sets. I would bet we'll see the same video quality for Here's Lucy as we did for The Doris Day Show. Day's company, Arwin, owns those films too (like the Arnazes own HL), and while we got a few eps remastered from the original negatives, most were existing transfers. MPI said they could not afford to remaster all prints from the original negs on TDDS without a sale to syndication to help cover the expense. But the extras MORE than made up for the lesser video quality.

It will probably look most MPI shows look. Not bad, but not how the "Best of" looked.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Just to set the record straight:

Here's Lucy was the fourth television series of Lucille Ball. It came after The Lucy Show and was before Life with Lucy. The two other television series of Lucille Ball came earlier in her career (i.e. I Love Lucy and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour).

But in terms of the long-running television series, Here's Lucy was the third as I Love Lucy was the first and The Lucy Show the second.

Overall, Lucille Ball starred in six series (consisting of four that were long-running and the other two being short-lived) with My Favorite Husband being her first. For those who don't know, My Favorite Husband was a radio program that ran from 1948 to 1951.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

I said somewhere -- hey, in this very thread, come to think of it -- "The prints used in the 'Here's Lucy' set released a few years ago were among the best I've ever seen."

Now, wouldn't it be awful if the Arnaz offspring decide to become penny pinchers and instead of providing the same complete, pristine prints for the Season Sets they release some moldy old syndicated prints? They wouldn't do that, would they? (Let's hope when it comes to money they take after their father and not their mother.)



Phoning it in ... walking through it ... reading off cue cards ... yep.

In some ways, though, the last three seasons are better than the first three. "I Love Lucy" writers Madelyn and Bob returned to her, and wrote about 1/3 of the scripts. Although they're never interesting or funny, at least they aren't brain-deadening stupid like a lot of the episodes, especially those bizarre episodes with various chimps and gorillas.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

By the time the series ended, she was. After you've seen all 144 episodes, see if you can come back here and still make that statement.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

But the "series" and "title" The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour only applied to the CBS repeats of the 13 hour shows, shown in the summers of 1962-65 and 1967.

The first five of those were "specials," with names like "Ford Presents The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show."

The last eight of them ran as part of the anthology series "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse."

It's possible some of this seems odd to younger people, because regular network television has changed so much since those days. There really aren't "specials" like those anymore, nor "anthology series" or shows with the sponsor's name in the title.

By the way, at the end of the 1957-58 television season, the trade paper Variety ran a list of the highest rated specials of the year. There were a lot of them back in those days, including some big, expensive, all-star musical shows.

The first five spots were the five Ball-Arnaz specials, each with a rating over 40, which would be unheard of today.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Of course, back in the fifties and sixties, the television universe was a lot smaller (although not necessarily better) . Most major markets had three network affiliated stations (CBS, NBC, ABC), a public educational tv station, and an independent station or two (if even that). Getting a 40 share wasn't impossible back then. Now, network execs would gladly commit murder to come up with a program that would get that kind of share.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Well, those 40's for the Lucy-Desi specials weren't the shares ... those were the actual ratings! The shares were even higher.

Obviously, the reason TV shows could get such high ratings back then is there was no competition from cable, satellite, home video and the Internet. The world may not have been a better place, but the programming on network TV sure was, at least in my not humble opinion.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

How can that be??? I've seen several networks such as Nick-at-Nite and TV Land repeat the show under the title The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

Also, all 13 shows are treated as a series and not as specials when it comes to putting them into an syndication package.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Well, I have seen all 144 episodes and she looked fine to me throughout. I didn't see any difference of her acting in the later seasons.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Nick at Nite (and the versions on the DVDs) were the "summer repeat" prints. I think some of the original openings were shown as extras on the DVDs.

It was a series to the extent that it was a series of specials. They were on every other month, for the most part. But it wasn't a series in the sense of a weekly series, except for 13 weeks in the summers of 1962-65 and 1967.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

I don't consider the "Lucy-Desis" as its own series; it's really just an extension of "I Love Lucy" itself--same characters and situations. Bigger guest stars.

As for the "phoning it in" comment, I was referring to the fact that "Here's Lucy" was a little shopworn in the end. It was just getting repetitive and at the time, I had the feeling that it was only still on the air for old time's sake, not because it was comedically brilliant in and of itself. It was a comfortable but worn old pair of shoes.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

I HAVE seen all 144 episodes numerous times, and I stand by my statement. Thank you.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Possible Differences:
1. One is called I Love Lucy and the other is called The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
2. In their original runs, one was shown on a weekly basis and the other on an occasional basis.
3. In syndication, one is usually shown daily and the other one is almost always shown weekly.
4. The Opening Credits
5. The Closing Credits
6. One was an hour long and the other a half hour.
7. One was located in a Country house, the other was located primarily in New York City apartment.
8. One featured celebrites as a regular thing while the other featured them on just an occasional basis.
9. The Theme Song
10. The Background Music
11. One used the supporting players, Fred and Ethel, less (remember the "Lucy's Summer Vacation" episode?) and the other featured them more.
12. One featured Lucy trying and scheming to get into Ricky's act while the other had Lucy clowning around with celebrities all the time.
13. One had recurring characters the other did not.
14. The Overall Feel (like you get the feeling something is missing or something was added in that wasn't in the original series ... it kind of hard to explain).

Other Possible Differences:
1. They are not included in the same syndication package.
2. They are treated by most (if not all) networks as two unique series. For instance, the cycles of both shows do not alternate or interwine with each other meaning once their cycles end they go back to their first episode instead of continuing on with the first episode of the other series.
3. The ratings for one don't match with the other.
4. One is short-lived and the other is long-running.
5. People remember the original series (ILL) quite well but not near as much with the subsequent series (TLDCH).
6. One is often regarded/referred to as "being classic" and the other as "being pale and tired".






If that is so, then why does "a series of specials" need to be lumped with an actual weekly series?

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Dude--what is the issue??? The Lucy/Desi's are an extension of "I Love Lucy." I did not say they were an actual part of the series. They are sequels or follow-ups; however you want to view them. But they do in fact continue the adventures of Lucy Ricardo. Is there some sort of Lucy snobbery factoring in here? I can't quite understand the umbrage.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

You just said that you didn't consider The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour it's own series. Now you are saying it's a follow-up? Isn't a follow-up program a series?

So does this mean that other "sequels/extensions" such as Archie Bunker's Place, Mayberry R.F.D., The Golden Palace, Three's a Crowd and Sanford are not their own series either?

I don't have problem. I'm just confused by your logic.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

The other series you mentioned were indeed regularly scheduled weekly series. The Lucy-Desi's were originally made as individual specials sponsored by Ford and special episodes of the Westinghouse Playhouse. It was only many years later that they were packaged together, slightly edited down and re-aired as "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour." And indeed years after that, they were edited further and re-aired yet again as "We Love Lucy." But originally they were no more a series than the various Gilligan's Island Reuniun Specials were. If this counts as a series, then so does the Sunday Lucy Show and Lucy in Connecticut, which were packages of old ILL episodes re-aired in CBS primetime.

Re: Possible 2010 release for Here's Lucy?

Nevermind.