Lucy Show DVD Box Sets? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff#]

Exactly the point I made earlier, Matt.

 

[German Ramirez]

I first learned about The Lucy Show a few years ago while channel surfing. I love I Love Lucy and tried watching The Lucy Show convinced that I would like anything with Ball in it but I couldn't stand watching it after a couple episodes. Even my mother warned me that the show was bad. It was kind of sad for me seeing Ball like that, like she didn't know she was past her prime and should call it quits already.

 

[Steve...O]

Regarding the HERE'S LUCY sales being poor and that it was a one and done release, Paul Brownstein himself made some comments alluding to that in a fairly recent interview with SHOKUS radio.

 

[Jeff#]

Ah....but Ms.Ball was already past her prime (40 to be exact) when I Love Lucy started, so she was never young working in television.

I think it's cooler seeing her in middle age acting goofy in her later series. Her voice gets deeper and raspier, which is good because it's harder for her to make that whine (which is what made Lucy Ricardo so ingratiating). The slapstick situations in the later years are more bizarre and better constructed (Lucy & Viv installing a shower stall after Lucy shrugs off the plumber is a riot), and that adds to the comedy!

Some people put down her last series Life With Lucy, and I agree that it was going to far for the woman to come out of "retirement" at 75 and to bring Gale Gordon back too to prove the wackiness could continue even into old age. The disasterous ratings and Lucy's failing health offscreen didn't help matters and neither did a weak supporting cast as Lucy Barker's children and grandkids. When Curtis gets a computer for his hardware store, Lucy enters a modern era. Some good guest stars though, including Peter Graves and the late John Ritter....but it was too little in only 8 episodes.

 

[David Rain]

I too watched the very brief run of Life With Lucy and it was not a good show for several reasons. I prefer to remember Lucy at her best. I do recall Carol Burnett saying in an interview that Lucy was very upset when the last series failed.

 

[Robert13]

What made me think that sales were actually successful was this post that I read on the Sitcoms Online Message Board:

Here's a message someone posted at the Lucy Lounge a while back about how the set sold. And he got this info. from a friend who worked at Shout!, so this info. is very accurrate:

Sales of the HERE'S LUCY set exceeded expectations.

There was concern whether the set would be successful (that's why they went with a "Best of..." theme), and Shout Factory did not want to be locked into a long-term obligation in case the first set's sales were low. Subsequently, a license fee was negotitated only for the first volume.

It sold better than expected, and Shout Factory has interest in doing another set. But due to the favorable sales level, the show's licensors have asked for a higher license fee, higher than Shout Factory feels it can profitably handle.

So, HL Vol. 2 sits in limbo for the time being.

Personally, I am very happy with the Here's Lucy set because it really was put together very nicely. There are lots of extras and the transfer is excellent. It had a great range of episodes on it. If a second volume was released, I would be sure to buy it. Steve...O is right. I also read that comment that was made on SHOKUS.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I'm sure one can find individuals who hold the opinion that "The Lucy Show" and even "Here's Lucy" were better shows than "I Love Lucy" --- but there is no doubt that the vast majority of critics and everyday people are firmly convinced that "I Love Lucy" was a super classic (often voted the greatest sitcom of all time) and Lucille Ball's subsequent series were inferior (even vastly inferior.)

However, the first season of "The Lucy Show" is very much like the last season of "I Love Lucy," quality wise, and I think many people who like ILL will like that first season. After that, things start to deteriorate, and some episodes from the last three seasons are mind numbingly awful. Don't get me started on that Wayne Newton episode!

 

[PaulP]

I for one have never seen an episode of Lucy's other shows, but I love "I Love Lucy", and I would buy the season sets of the other shows as well. As long as they come out in logical order, so the next release should be the first season of "The Lucy Show", right? With the same care as the previous sets of ILL. I think, if promoted right, the sales can justify releasing every season of all of Lucy's other shows, and collectors can then have her entire television career on DVD.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Desi Arnaz was involved with the first season of The Lucy Show and I can't help but think that's why season one is by far the strongest season of the show. It really went further downhill when Bob Carroll and Madelyn Davis left followed shortly by Vivian Vance. The new writers, such as Milt Josefsberg, didn't know how to write for Lucy. She was no longer cleverly scheming to reach her zany goals, but just increasingly stupid beyond belief. Lucy Ricardo was an Einstein compared to later Lucy Carmichael.

And Dick Martin was very astute when he says in Geoffrey Fidelman's "The Lucy Book" that they made a major mistake eliminating his character late in season one. He says that they should not necessariy have kept HIM per se, but they should have kept a ongoing character around to be a romantic interest for Lucy. Without a man in the "Ricky" mold for Lucy to play off of, she became far less real and identifiable. As wonderful as Gale Gordon was as an actor, his character was a one-dimensional, one-joke hothead with no romantic tension in sight. It's a credit to Gale Gordon's vast talent that he didn't become more tiresome.

Here's Lucy is actually better than later seasons of The Lucy Show, partly because she has a family, which humanizes her, and partly because in the later seasons Bob and Madelyn returned.

 

[Steve...O]

Ah...age does not correlate with prime at least from a performance/creative stantpoint. Raymond Burr was 40 when he started Perry Mason and most would say he was in his prime during those years as opposed to when he played supporting parts on the big screen. Also, Jack Lord was in his late 40s when Hawaii 5-0 started. Would anyone say Sean Connery was past his prime playing James Bond? Not many.

I just thought I'd put a defense out there for those 40 year olds who are definitely not past their prime


Robert - very interesting info you posted about the license fees. It does make some sense but it still doesn't explain why this set is being remaindered at $10 or so now. One doesn't see this happen to successful releases on a normal basis.

Steve

 

[Jeff#]

Well, Mr. Mooney was married, but I think his wife only showed up once or twice in 6 years. In Sitcom-land where the emphasis is on slapstick there isn't supposed to be much in the way of romance between married couples anyway. Mooney was the straight man to Lucy's antics, as her blustery banker. He was supposed to be a parsimonius tightwad, in some ways an extension of Jack Benny's fictional persona.

Gale had a history on radio and TV playing similar characters (Osgood Conkin on Our Miss Brooks, and by the way....did you know that for almost 3 years he portrayed bank president Rudolph Atterbury on CBS Radio's "My Favorite Husband"? That was the first time he worked with Lucille Ball as a frequent cast member on that show, and Atterbury wasn't much different than his future characters. He also appeared as a court judge on a Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode. So reuniting with Ball for 11 consecutive years plus Life with Lucy as well made perfect sense. The only reason he wasn't cast in The Lucy Show's first season (1962-1963) is because he was playing John Wilson in the final year of Dennis the Menace.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Desi was executive producer of a portion of the first season of "The Lucy Show."

Milt Josefsberg was a brilliant writer from the radio days of Jack Benny through the All in the Family years. But he wasn't a good fit for Lucy. One of his scripts for an early "Here's Lucy" where Viv dates Harry smells like an old Jack Benny/Mary Livingstone script with only the names changed. One scene has that "set up line/punch line/set up line/punch line" rhythm of an old radio show:

Viv: "I had a date with Harry once. He took me to his apartment."
Lucy: "To show you his etchings?"
Viv: "No, to do his laundry."

Dick Martin's final episode to air was the first season's "Lucy and Viv Learn Judo" (#22).

Mr. Mooney was a tiresome straight man. (Note: I'm not referring to Gale Gordon, but to Mr. Mooney.) It would have been much warmer and endearing to have Lucy and the male lead end in an embrace at episode's end, a la "I Love Lucy." As it is, one is left to wonder why Mr. Mooney puts up with Lucy, especially in the years when she works for him.

And by the way, Gale Gordon's career goes back farther than My Favorite Husband and Our Miss Brooks. He was also Mayor LaTrivia on "Fibber McGee and Molly" long before Lucy and Eve Arden ever thought about going to radio, much less television.

The weak writing, the lack of realistic characterizations, Lucy's increasing reliance on cue-cards and her tough demeanor which became more pronounced as she aged all made her later serieses pale imitations of the classic "I Love Lucy." Still, I would love to collect the Danfield seasons of "The Lucy Show" and another volume of "Here's Lucy" where an emphasis is placed on the better episodes rather than the ones with guest stars.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I totally agree with Rob Ray's analysis of the situation.

Even though Lucille Ball had some of the top writers in the business, who wrote good episodes for other series before and after, those post-Carroll/Davis writers just didn't get the Lucy character. They thought she was just a clumsy, stupid oaf who dropped things on Gale Gordon's foot. They actually wrote much better for Mr. Mooney/Uncle Harry than they did for Lucy Carmichael/Carter.

On "Here's Lucy," her kids display minimal talent and they were given non-characters to play. The girl is interested in boys, makeup and clothes, and the boy is interested in girls, rock music and football. How original!

Desi Arnaz, Jr. couldn't wait to get out of it, and the show improved after he left. His scenes always make me feel as if I'm watching a high school play, and a badly done one at that.

I have a feeling their father would watch "Here's Lucy" and shake his head in dismay. It's true Lucy had a tough act to follow after "I Love Lucy," but things didn't have to get as bad as they got. The episode where they move to Africa and have a gorilla for a butler is television at its absolute worst.

 

[Ron Lee Green]

I really hope Paramount releases "The Lucy Show" season 1.

I like the chemistry between Lucy and Mr. Mooney, and I thought she looked attractive. I own all 30 of the public domain shows, and it has made me crave more. Sure, it may not be as funny as "I Love Lucy," but it does has its moments and the later seasons are in color. Plus, it hasn't been rerun to death like "I Love Lucy." I've seen every episode of "I Love Lucy" a dozen times, but I haven't seen "The Lucy Show" that much. I don't care if they give it the deluxe treatment like "I Love Lucy", but I would be satisfied with a good quality bare-bones set.

 

[Jeff#]

That's the last one listed in the IMDB site, but I could have sworn I saw him in some second season episodes.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

No, he's not in any second season episodes -- he went away with Mr. Barnsdahl, played by Charles Lane -- who's still alive at the age of 102! (Maybe he could do some commentary tracks.)

 

[Rob_Ray]

I'm told that though he's now wheelchair-bound and not up to any more personal appearances, Charles Lane's mind is intact. It would be nice if the commentary-track producers could go to him and get his thoughts on working with Lucy in both The Lucy Show and I Love Lucy, along with Petticoat Junction and oh, the hundreds of films he made going back to the precode days.

 

[Garysb]

Desi did get credit for the first few Lucy Shows as Executive Producer.
He left the show when he sold Desilu to Lucy. It was Desi who obtained the rights to the book. "Life Without George" which was the supposed basis of the Lucy Show. It was the story of 2 women after they divorced their husbands. Lucy's character was made a widow but Viv's character was divorced

 

[Joe Lugoff]

All the books say he was forced to sell his half to Lucy, due to his erratic behavior (i.e., drunkenness.)

 

[Jeff#]

Didn't Desi cheat on Lucy with other women too? Wow, what a guy!