I LOVE LUCY 7th, 8th, and 9th season (1 Viewer)

[JohnMor]

I certainly hope so! I'll hang on to that good news and hope the release has complete episodes as much as possible. Thanks for a ray of hope, Larry!

 

[Ethan Riley]

It's a pity this thread has been hijacked by the (usual) threadcrappers. I would reserve such negativity until the specs are released. But keep in mind that all six of the previous Lucy releases were as complete and perfect as could be. I can't imagine that this last release would suddenly be a huge disappointment.

 

[ChadP2k]

A few points here. First of all Greg Oppenheimer's father Jess left I Love Lucy before the original series ended, and as such Oppenheimer has no 16mm copies of any of the season six episodes or the Lucy Desi Comedy Hour specials. In fact he was going to cut off his involvement with the DVD project after the season in which is father left, but based on the urging of the fans and others he stayed to see that series through to completion.

I believe Tom Watson of lucyfan.com has been hired as the consultant to the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour project, and knowing what the fans want I can assure you he is going to do the best he can to make it happen as good as possible for all of us. Also there might be hope for locating copies. According to Lucy's former film archivist she recieved and kept copies of every one of the episodes of her shows in a personal vault so presumably these copies would be complete and available for use.

One question I do have though looking at that cover art. Have t hey switched to one of the "slim four" DVD cases with this one, or is it simply a very thin box containing two double thinkpaks like "The Brady Bunch"?

 

[JeffT.]

Well I wouldn't say that anyone in this discussion thread has gotten particularly out-of-line here...at least no more than usual!

It's just that the news coming out of a certain other "informed" discussion forum hasn't exactly been the most encouraging you have to admit.

Fans fully expect the original longer version of "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana" and rightly want the complete copies of the other 12 hour long THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR presentations.

I really don't see what the problem is here. Surely CBS Television still has this intact 35mm print negative source material in its library archive vaults...right?!

But as suggested we will just have to wait and see exactly what Paramount has to say on the subject which should be shortly forthcoming.

I never thought of myself as being a Lucy fan especially but the latter produced hour long episodes have always had a particular fascination for me as they mark the end of a celebrated 1950s iconic tv classic with the final bow actually having been filmed in early 1960 ("Lucy and the Mustache").

Jeff T.

 

[PaulP]

I really doubt we'd be let down after the previous great and complete season sets.

By the way, which discs are being replaced by Paramount? I bought all the seasons in bulk but am slow in watching them through, and I'm just now on the 3rd season. Just want to make sure I have the corrected discs, or if I need to get them.

 

[JeffT.]

I'm sorry but I can't answer either Chad's or Paul's inquiries but there (surely) must be someone here who can.

All I can hope is that my I LOVE LUCY seasonal box sets were purchased at a time when all these defective disc problems had long been resolved.

One aspect of the hour long episodes is that in addition to just concentrating on expanded production budgets (for the period) and longer individual running time per presentation they all should have been filmed in colour as well.

These 13 LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR segments would have endured much better in latter years if they had been. But the already exorbitant production costs would have likely prohibitive to include colour filming as well.

One should look (well) beyond the immediate moment.

Jeff T.

 

[MatthewA]

I purchased seasons 1 (reissue), 4, 5, and 6 recently and the discs appear to be the uncorrected versions.

 

[PaulP]

How to tell if you have a correct or an incorrect disc? And which ones are affected exactly?

 

[Joe Lugoff]

All I can say for sure is Season Four had problems. The ones I remember having problems are:

"The Fashion Show." I don't know the technical term for it, but you could see it was slightly off speed and if you froze it, the picture broke up into pieces.

"First Stop" I remember there was one short missing scene, and maybe some lines of dialogue here and there.

 

[MatthewA]

Most likely interlace problems caused by a poorly done inverse telecine.

 

[David Rain]

I do hope the upcoming final "seasons" of the show are up to the usual excellent standard. Because after that I'm anticipating a complete series box set which is when I'll be getting everything all at once.

 

[ScottR]

Season 5 had two glitches...the first and worst is during "Lucy's Italian Movie." Subtitles randomly pop up during the episode. The second, is during "Lucy Meets the Queen." There is a moment when Lucy and Ethel are trying to get around autograph hounds that there is a frame overlap glitch.

 

[Larry.P]

Listing on Amazon.com says the following:

DVD Features:
Rare home movie footage of the set in color
13 digitally remastered episodes
Full lengh Havana episodes (hasn't been seen since original broadcast)
Deleted scenes
Flubs
3 original Ford Motor Co. Commercials


This should end the speculation over episode #1.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

It should -- but I wish it didn't say episodeS. It's just one episode we've been talking about. But I guess that's just a typo.

 

[JeffT.]

Well, at least some things in life can go right on occasion.

Some of the information (or misinformation) that were being reported in this discussion thread was proving to be a real nightmare...to say the least!

That should (also) mean that the the other 12 LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR segments will be the complete 50 minute versions as well.

That's very good news indeed. I'm (completely) sold on it now and am really looking forward to this particular DVD release.

Thanks for everything it turned out to be an exciting and enjoyable discussion thread after all.

Jeff T.

 

[JohnMor]

Well, Jeff I hope your optimism is rewarded. However, Amazon is probably the LEAST reliable site on the internet from which to get this kind of info. And if all the episodes are going to be complete, then there would be no "deleted scenes" which they refer to as extras.

No sense in getting either upset or excited based on the info in this thread or on Amazon. I hope it all works out, but we're not going to really know anything until closer to the release.

 

[Garysb]

Odd they would include the Ford commercials from season 7 but not the Westinghouse commercials from seasons 8 and 9 when the shows were a part of the Desilu Westinghouse Playhouse. I hope they include the originial cartoon Lucy Desi stick figure openings instead of the Lucy Desi comedy hour opening.

I also remember reading that at the end of the non Lucy Desi Westinghouse shows Desi as host would call Lucy and they would talk about how great the show was and what was coming next week. If true it would be nice if some of those would be included as an Extra.

 

[Brandy681]

I think that Season 7-9 will be just as good, if not better than the rest of the seasons of "I Love Lucy. I mean seriously Season 1-6 were in exellent quality and even had some bonuses that were included, though not a lot I was very satisfied and I am sure Paramount will not let everyone down on this one either. What more can you ask for on this set! We are going to get the "I Love Lucy" movie version, some color clips and of course the discs will be restored people it is Paramount and not a boot leg copy. I think Paramount will do the best job on this one being that it is the last in the series and frankly I have been waiting to add this to my collection for a long time and am very satisfied that it is finally coming out. Thankfully I am very pleased about the bonuses as well! I actually was hoping from a long time ago that they would change the name of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour to I Love Lucy Seasons 7 and up because it just makes more since to me. I mean it is just the same as "I Love Lucy" just as an hour long programming and it looks better to the collection as well. Paramount might have done this because they knew that it would sell better being named "I Love Lucy" Season 7-9, instead of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. I am not sure the reason and I know there is controversy on this issue but I really like the name switch. Anyway there is just too much non-since on this site about the discs being restored and it not being mentioned on the box. Paramount probably figured by now it is common since that (of course) the discs are being restored and didn't feel the need to mention it. Actually with all the controversy that's out they probably will add it to the cover before the release date to the public on March 13.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

There is absolutely no question that these hour episodes are a continuation of "I Love Lucy," and they should have been called "I Love Lucy" specials from the beginning, when they were new --- not, as they were called for mysterious reasons, "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show" or, later, "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour."

I have actually talked to people who love "I Love Lucy" and think "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" is a different show altogether, and they'll have nothing to do with it. It's their loss. I still say "The Celebrity Next Door" and "Lucy Makes Room for Danny" are the two best "I Love Lucy" scripts of all time.

 

[Garysb]

Actually the announcer in the original openings of I Love Lucy called I Love Lucy the The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Show, I Love Lucy . The announcer as well as the stick figures of Lucy and Desi were dropped when the heart on satin opening was used. So calling the one hour shows the Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz Show is not so mysterious .

From Youtube here is a clip of the original I Love Lucy opening credits complete with commercial for Philip Morris.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_6_3gjjA8...elated&search=

Interesting how Fred and Ethel were not credited in the opening.