Blu-ray Review I Love Lucy: Ultimate Season 1 Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Rob_Ray]

I thought the picture quality was fine. And I was thrilled to have the choice to play each and every episode with the traditional syndication opening or as originally shown in its original network airing, with all those wonderfully dated commercials intact -- something I thought I'd never see!

Now, I can't really justify the huge price CBS is asking for anyone but the most hard-core Lucy fan, as the original DVD release was an excellent one and can still be had for a tiny fraction of what they're asking for the blurays.

But no disappointment here on the quality.

 

[Gary16]

I bought the blu ray version of I Love Lucy and was so disappointed in the DVDs. The picture quality was awful. I wish I had not bought it. I should have just stayed with my original dvd release.

I am wanting to buy The Honeymooners on Blu Ray but I am afraid the picture quality will be just as bad as the Lucy DVD. I could save 35 dollars if I go just the regular DVD route on The Honeymooners.[/quot

The blurays of Lucy, Andy, and the Honeymooners all look beautiful. If you're seeing otherwise then something in your system is not set properly. I watch a five foot wide picture.

 

[KPmusmag]

I have to say that watching the Lucy blu-rays on my projector (110") it looks like film to me, just awesome. I love the S1 blu-ray and want the remaining seasons. Yes, expensive, but it takes a lot of effort to get all those components together.

 

[KPmusmag]

Having this thread pop again yesterday reminded me that I had not watched some of the new extras provided in this set. Today I watched the 1990 TV special which was the first broadcast of the pilot episode. I mention this because I noticed that in the clip portion after the episode, moments from the other seasons, all the way through S6, were presented in high-def (for example, the eggs in the shirt sequence) which seems to in indicate that the entire series has been scanned in high def. Hopefully, since the heavy lifting is done, this means the remaining seasons will eventually appear in blu-ray.

 

[Mark Collins]

I have stated before that I really want the show. I have been hesitant from just what I have read here. I want to support the releases but what I have spent on Lucy from the Columbia House editions on VHS THE ENTIRE SHOW through Lucy Desi Comedy hour which I have now of course on DVD is in my basement.I think Lucy I have spent the most money on of any other series.CH really advertised those VHS tapes and at the end I was spending 20 dollars for 4 episodes and LD comedy hour 20 bucks per episode.

 

[KPmusmag]

I just watched a really great special on PBS called "Michael Feinstein at The Rainbow Room". I mention it in this thread because Michael sings a tribute to Lucy and Desi, which includes "Cuban Pete" and the theme song. But what is really of interest is that he sings an unknown (at least to me) alternate, unused theme song that was written by none other than Johnny Mercer! Who knew? It's a charming song, and who knows, maybe if I had grown up with it rather than the theme song we know I would have the same affection for it. The entire show is worthwhile, but for Lucy fans, that un-used theme song is really a treasure. (The segment starts at about 32 minutes into the show.)

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365355578/

 

[bmasters9]

However, from the consumer's point of you, it's not feasible to spend that type of money for ONE season on Blu-ray, when you can buy the whole series on DVD for about $100.00 or less (that's 7 seasons if you count the "Lucy Desi Comedy hours).

That's around how much I paid (more or less) for Shout!'s full-series release of Barney Miller, and it's been worth every penny (outside of the bonus of No. 1 of the Fish spinoff, which I haven't really gotten into).

 

[LeoA]

They should look towards Image and what they did with The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone and just copy that formula.

There was nothing substandard with those releases on Blu-Ray.

 

[Mark Booth]

Dredging up an old topic... Costco has the complete I Love Lucy set on DVD for something like $49. This is the set that was released in November 2015. I believe it is the same transfers that were used for the 2007 DVD release.


I'm just curious if there is anyone that has actually COMPARED the DVD image quality to the Blu-ray image quality. Are there any screen grab comparisons? That $50 price for the ENTIRE series is tempting, and I haven't purchased a DVD in more than 5 years!


Mark

 

[LeoA]

While I realize that you're looking for comparisons, I'd like to state that the complete DVD series at that price point is an easy purchase decision as I see it. Even with the presence of Blu-Ray versions of the first two seasons, it's a great deal.


We're years away from the series reaching completion on Blu-Ray and the odds of it happening are fairly slim. We're over 18 months into Blu-Ray releases for I Love Lucy at this point and season 3 remains to be announced, making it obvious that the best that we can hope for is one season a year with season 3 hopefully due sometime next summer.


With four seasons left to be released along with 13 hour long episodes in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour follow-up, the odds are stacked against it ever being completed. Yet $50 is a price that many of us have paid in the past just for a single season set, including I Love Lucy.


At worst (Or perhaps I should say best case, since it means the entire series saw a Blu-Ray upgrade), you'll get access to quality versions of the entire series years earlier than you otherwise would've. The only significant complaints that anyone has with the series on DVD today are the apparently heavily cut nature of the hour long episodes.


It's a shame that they didn't start out there first, since it has the most room for improvements.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don't know of any site that has a comparison of screen caps, but I've got both the Complete Series DVD set and the Season 1 Blu-ray set. For the past year or so, my fiancé and I have been watching one before bed a few nights a week. (She had already owned the series DVD set, and I had the BD.)

The Blu-ray looks great, and the night-of-broadcast presentations with original commercials are undeniably special. But the DVDs are very high quality in my opinion. We're not watching these on the projector or the larger TV in the living room, but on a 40" tv in the bedroom, I'm very happy with the DVDs. At the very least, they look far better than the reruns on my local station looked when I was growing up.

If you enjoy the show, I think it's worth it for $50 on DVD (and I say that as someone who basically is BD only at this point). You can get the complete series for less than what a single season on BD costs.

LeoA made some excellent points about the slowness of the BD releases and how there's no guarantee the rest will come, and if they do, that it likely will take years to get the remaining seasons.

 

[LeoA]

Is the unaired radio pilot here?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Lucy#Radio


I scanned the Blu-Ray.com review and see that several episodes of My Favorite Husband, the radio prototype of I Love Lucy, are included here. But didn't notice anything about this attempt to repurpose a season 1 episode of I Love Lucy being included.

 

[Mark Collins]

Well I dumped all of my complete I Love Lucy and Lucy Desi Comedy Hour The Flintstones and the Time Tunnel VHS from Columbia house and gave them to my Library Book sale as I believe Glen suggested at one time. I am glad of it. Then I just now bought the two Blu-ray sets from Amazon since the price is very low and in honor of CBS airing the Super I Love Lucy special tonight at 7 central time. I thought what the heck if they never put out the 3rd season I will have two blues to enjoy. Nice suggestion Glen. They were very happy at the library and boxes of books and some dvds that I no longer needed.

 

[KPmusmag]

Not sure where best to post this, but Fathom is going to show 5 colorized episodes in theaters Aug 6, 2019 (Lucy's birthday). I feel conflicted about them showing the colorized versions, would love to see crisp B&W on the big screen. But seeing I Love Lucy in a theater with an audience should be an interesting experience, and anything that makes her legacy more enduring is a good thing I suppose.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment...s-130054099.html?soc_src=community&soc_trk=fb

 

[MartinP.]

^^^

"Fans can visit participating movie theaters for the chance to view five colorized episodes of the sitcom I Love Lucy, as well as an accompanying featurette, Redhead Tales, Colorizing I Love Lucy, "

Not that I mind particularly, but this is publicity for the DVD coming out a week later of all the color Lucy episodes, including this documentary. Depending what theatres are showing this in my area, I might like to attend.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[KPmusmag]

^^^

"Fans can visit participating movie theaters for the chance to view five colorized episodes of the sitcom I Love Lucy, as well as an accompanying featurette, Redhead Tales, Colorizing I Love Lucy, "

Not that I mind particularly, but this is publicity for the DVD coming out a week later of all the color Lucy episodes, including this documentary. Depending what theatres are showing this in my area, I might like to attend.

Thanks for the heads up.

I am not interested in the colorized episodes so will not buy the DVD, that being said, I WOULD buy a blu-ray if they released them in that format. Obviously, they have them in HD format to show in the theater and when they show them on CBS.

 

[JohnMor]

I’ll probably go, but 5 uncut episodes is over 2 hours. That’s long for any comedy program. Plus the documentary.

I am not interested in the colorized episodes so will not buy the DVD, that being said, I WOULD buy a blu-ray if they released them in that format. Obviously, they have them in HD format to show in the theater and when they show them on CBS.

I’m sure I’ll buy the dvd but would prefer a blu-ray. They put out the first Dick Van Dyke Show colorized special on blu-ray, but none of the Lucy ones. And none of the subsequent DVDS colorized episodes. So I’m not holding my breath. Sigh.