HTF REVIEW: "I Love Lucy" Season One: Volumes 1&2 (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

I got DVD #2 today, and the episodes are not uncut by a long shot. They are under 24 minutes, and they originally aired at 26 minutes (sans commercials)!

It is true; some of the episodes on the old CBS/Fox videotapes ran 26 minutes.

Until 1982, TV networks were only allotted a certain amount of commercial time by the Television Code imposed by the National Association of Broadcasters. During the original run of "I Love Lucy," the limit was 8 minutes per hour.

This is not acceptable under any circumstances. I think I have changed my mind and will buy no discs of non-uncut TV series, no matter how they are sorted. It is time for Paramount to rethink their release platform for this classic series, restore the original negatives, and give this show the treatment it deserves.

If I'm a fanatic, so be it.

 

[Scott_J]

I wish they had the original openings on each episode

CH/Paramount didn't include the original openings on each episode, but you can if your player allows you to program the titles/chapters in the order you want. I did it with disc 1, episode 2 ("The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub") after I got the disc in the mail today. I watched the first couple of chapters to see what kind of a pause there was and found there was a couple second pause (black screen) after the opening (probably because it had to switch chapters) but the pause after the first chapter of the show was about a split-second. Not bad at all to be able to include the original opening with the episodes. For that episode, the ordering I used was: title 11, chapter 2; title 2, chapter 3; title 2, chapter 4 ... ending with title 2 chapter 8.

Yes, CH and/or Paramount could have included the opening themselves, but since they didn't, this DIY technique, although taking more time/work than some would like, is the best alternative for people who would like to see the original openings included with the episodes. For those of you with players which don't allow you to program the chapters in the order you want to view them, unfortunately, this post doesn't help you much.

 

[Kajs]

Well according to DVDfile's announcement, Oct. 1st for Vol. 3 and 4, but this time they are listed at $19.99! I hope this is a misprint...

 

[Brian W.]

That's a really good idea, Scott. I never thought of that. It's not quite the same -- I think with the original openings the animated characters may have drawn a curtain up on Act I (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but, like you said, it's a great alternative.

 

[Brian W.]

I got DVD #2 today, and the episodes are not uncut by a long shot

I think you're mistaken about that, Matthew. You could be right, but can you tell us exactly what was cut from which episode?

 

[Will K]

Well according to DVDfile's announcement, Oct. 1st for Vol. 3 and 4, but this time they are listed at $19.99! I hope this is a misprint...

If that is true, I hope they're giving us more episodes at that price!

 

[MatthewA]

I don't know exactly what was cut, seeing how the uncut versions haven't been seen in 50 years, but I'm still quite skeptical about the running time.

 

[Steve Phillips]

The shows are uncut save for the Philip Morris material.

 

[MatthewA]

The shows are uncut save for the Philip Morris material.

If I can obtain access to view any video or film copies of CBS network prints back in the day, I will time the episodes without the PM material.

The disc #1 episodes (save for the pilot) have similar running times.

The release platform I could learn to live with if I was sure the episodes had all the material in it meant to be in the body of the episode.

 

[David Lambert]

I've been informed that there are no cuts to the actual Lucy program unless you are referring to the original Philip Morris ads, which indeed are cut back.

These discs were created with the involvement of Gregg Oppenheimer, and if something crucial were missing, I feel certain he would have objected, or spoken out by now.
I'm satisfied.

 

[Scott_J]

They're $14.99 SRP.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...12#post2589212

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Fantastic Scott. You know, I said I'd never buy TV on DVD unless it was season box sets, but this is Lucy, I bought vol. 1 & 2 two days ago.

 

[Crosley Carpenter]

Something that has hardly been commented on in this thread: these shows are still very funny.
I've only watched the Pilot and Girls..Nightclub episodes so far and they are laugh out loud funny, in a way that very few shows are today. The scene where the girls disguise themselves as yokels to fool the boys had my wife and I hysterical/convulsing with laughter.
I think we need to be grateful that these DVD's are available, that the quality is(so far) so good and the price is reasonable. There are a lot of old shows from the 50's and later times that are either not available or are lost forever.

 

[Jefferson]

Good point,
they *are* still funny.

Now, as to the "cut" thing....this is just a theory....but...
There is a book out now called THE LUCY BOOK,
thoroughly researched about the episodes as originally aired. It will even tell you which animated opening corresponded to which episode..."In this episode, Lucy and Ricky cartoons are riding in an elevator", etc.
The thing i got from reading this in depth
look, is that *not every episode has a consistant running time*........some episodes researched were reported to have had public service announcements, at times, done by the Lucy cast....and long or short commercials, depending on the length of that weeks script.
So, without that "padding", some of these eps might not all clock out the same.