DVD Review I Love Lucy Colorized Collection DVD Review (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bensley]

I was surprised as well when somebody claimed The Absent Minded Professor was in color. I believe it was done specifically in b and w because this would conceal the special effects better, I assume such as the wires used in the basketball game.

I had long assumed it was for budgetary reasons. If I recall correctly, I had even read somewhere something to the effect that to meet their budget for whatever fiscal period, Disney had to cut color from one of their productions, and THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (1961) ended up being it.

However, this article bears out Roxy's explanation:
https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/absent-minded-professor-and-goo-flew

It now occurs to me it might have been THE SHAGGY DOG (1959) that was shot in Black and White due to budgetary constraints.

CHEERS!

 

[Matt Hough]

Sleeping Beauty underperformed at the box-office, so Disney had to tighten its belts during that period.

 

[MatthewA]

How many cels of the original stick figure animated credits ever turned up?

 

[KPmusmag]

Well, this is a surprise.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...b6CyNqnMBQSNBhz0dZrNBu-_5e6a5es4GhTDpe2JWPfL8

 

[Waldo Lydecker]

Almost any new addition to this classic series is something to celebrate...Form usually follow function and if this colorized set draws in and enchants a new audience...so be it. Pealing an interest, perhaps they’ll delve further into the series history and discover black and white origins...???

 

[Matt Hough]

Well, this is a surprise.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...b6CyNqnMBQSNBhz0dZrNBu-_5e6a5es4GhTDpe2JWPfL8

Not to me. I got a review solicitation from CBS/Paramount a month or two ago for this set but passed on it. I had watched its original broadcasts and was disheartened by its lack of laughs and signs that the old chemistry and timing weren't there any more. I just didn't feel like experiencing that disappointment again.

 

[rmw650]

Well, this is a surprise.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...b6CyNqnMBQSNBhz0dZrNBu-_5e6a5es4GhTDpe2JWPfL8

A little too steep in price for just 13 episodes though, so I'll wait until the price comes down some and then I'll pull the trigger on getting it.

 

[bmasters9]

I didn't know until now that CBS was releasing Lucy's abortive '86 ABC effort-- it seems now that we'll have practically all of Lucy's major comedies on DVD (I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and very soon, Life with Lucy)!

 

[sjbradford]

Yep. You said “practically all”. When LWL is released, what will still be missing?

 

[sjbradford]

Not to me. I got a review solicitation from CBS/Paramount a month or two ago for this set but passed on it. I had watched its original broadcasts and was disheartened by its lack of laughs and signs that the old chemistry and timing weren't there any more. I just didn't feel like experiencing that disappointment again.

I felt the same way when I watched “Lucy Calls the President”, after having not seen it since its original broadcast. She had a lot of her “Lucy Show/Here’s Lucy” cast with her, along with her original writers. But it was a real letdown from a creative standpoint. It seemed dated and corny and cheap-looking.

But I’m happy for the die-hard Lucy fans that they’ll have these episodes. I’ll stick with “I Love Lucy” and selected “Lucy Show” episodes.

 

[bmasters9]

Yep. You said “practically all”. When LWL is released, what will still be missing?

Good question-- poor choice of words on my part; we will have all of her comedies on DVD (unfortunately, too late to edit original post).

 

[MatthewA]

Not to me. I got a review solicitation from CBS/Paramount a month or two ago for this set but passed on it. I had watched its original broadcasts and was disheartened by its lack of laughs and signs that the old chemistry and timing weren't there any more. I just didn't feel like experiencing that disappointment again.

I feel like Lucy was caught in a trap with that show. Three hit shows in a row (Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart could only muster two), and she thought she could do the same thing again and be successful again. Stone Pillow was one thing since that was just a one-off TV movie; doing a downbeat hour-long drama might have been even less successful. When I finally saw the show on Nick@Nite's mid-1990s marathon inclusive of all five Lucy shows, the sameness is the one thing I noticed most of all, both compared to Lucy's earlier CBS shows and its 1980s contemporaries. I don't regret watching the one episode I saw, but it felt like a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox except that now it was printed on 100% recycled paper. Falling on your face is funny in your 40s or even in your 50s, but at 75 it evokes fear of injury, not laughter. A more age-appropriate role might have made the show less of a failure, but it still would have ended with her death anyway.

But it is ironic that this is a CBS release when the actual CBS network, the home of the first four Lucy shows*, didn't want it the first time and NBC didn't need it when they were riding high with hit after hit.**

*If you count The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour as a separate series.
**Even though some of them now play like D.A.R.E. rallies with jokes.

 

[Matt Hough]

Not to me. I got a review solicitation from CBS/Paramount a month or two ago for this set but passed on it. I had watched its original broadcasts and was disheartened by its lack of laughs and signs that the old chemistry and timing weren't there any more. I just didn't feel like experiencing that disappointment again.

Well, the fates are conspiring against me! Despite not requesting the Life with Lucy set for review, CBS/Paramount sent it to me anyway with it arriving today. I started to send it right back, but I had second thoughts and have decided to bite the bullet and watch the thirteen episodes (and some bonuses) and review it. So, look for a review in a few days.

 

[bmasters9]

Well, the fates are conspiring against me! Despite not requesting the Life with Lucy set for review, CBS/Paramount sent it to me anyway with it arriving today. I started to send it right back, but I had second thoughts and have decided to bite the bullet and watch the thirteen episodes (and some bonuses) and review it. So, look for a review in a few days.

Will be looking forward to hearing what you have to say-- not just the show and bonuses, but menus, packaging, the works!

 

[JohnMor]

Well, the fates are conspiring against me! Despite not requesting the Life with Lucy set for review, CBS/Paramount sent it to me anyway with it arriving today. I started to send it right back, but I had second thoughts and have decided to bite the bullet and watch the thirteen episodes (and some bonuses) and review it. So, look for a review in a few days.

Speaking as one of Lucy’s biggest fans, you are a better man than I! I couldn’t make it through the first ep.

 

[MatthewA]

Speaking as one of Lucy’s biggest fans, you are a better man than I! I couldn’t make it through the first ep.

I could when Nick at Nite had its marathon of all things Lucy. For a career-damaging misfire, it was not worse than some of ABC's other sitcom hits at the time. The one time ABC was justified in intervening they didn't until it was too late to save the show. Her dying so soon after it sealed its fate as a flop.

Bea Arthur, her Mame co-star, also flopped on ABC three years earlier with Amanda's.