Lotsa Luck (1 Viewer)

[Michael Alden]

One week away from this release. This would be a great choice for people who are looking for vintage 70s show that hasn't been rerun to death and where they haven't seen each episode a hundred times. This one season show ran in 1972-73 and hasn't been aired anywhere since. While every raves about Zone, Star Trek, Brady Bunch, etc., and while it's nice to get these things complete (some of the time anyway), the real promise of DVD is to see releases of shows that never made it to syndication and that have been buried away from decades. To me, this is what DVD should be about, releasing shows that are not marketable enough for a mass entity like TV Land but can find an audience in the home market. These are the types of shows we need to see more of. Unfortunately, anything in the hands of the majors is going to stay locked away for the foreseable future and it's only the shows that are in independent hands that have a chance at seeing the light of day.

 

[Bob Hug]

I'd pretty much have to agree with you on this. S'more Entertainment is releasing this and I picked up "Mister Peepers" from them. Pretty well done for a series that is over 50 years old and was recorded on kinescopes. From what I understand, there are several Dom Deluise interviews on the "Lotsa Luck" set but, strangely, no episode commentaries. I'm looking forward to this and "Good Morning World," which S'more is releasing in January. Thank goodness that the independents are around to release these long unseen series, otherwise they would still be sitting dormant in the film vaults.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Um...okay.
Nice press releases. But seriously, Dom DeLuise rocks and from what I understand, the show was well-considered by his peers back in the day. And yes, it's a shame it hasn't been seen in all these years. But to Michael's comments, I'd have to say that if the indies are interested in putting out vintage and/or forgotten shows, I could give them a list of the best of obscure tv shows for them to get their hands on and re-release...there's tons of stuff that deserves to be seen again.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Wow. I recall this show from my childhood and can't believe it's being released. That's a great thing, but it also makes me wonder why more common shows are still missing (like THE ODD COUPLE, which I believe may come out next year)...

 

[Michael Alden]

I could make a list myself but the key is ownership. If it's Paramount, Sony, Warner, Fox or Universal, forget it. They aren't making deals and they have plenty of very popular shows they haven't touched yet. The only way you are going to see an obscure show at this time if it's owned by an estate or an independent producer as Lotsa Luck and Good Morning World are.

 

[Gregory V]

I got both Lotsa Luck and Good Morning World. I have enjoyed both very much. Maybe there is hope for other short run series....Pistols n Petticoats, The Mothers in Law, He & She, The Governor and JJ, Glynis, Mona McCluskey just to name a few.

 

[Michael Alden]

One of those 6 titles that you mentioned is being negotiated as we speak. In Dave fashion, I don't want to say anything until it becomes official.

 

[Lecagr]

I've had the DVD set of Lotsa Luck for some time now and recently began to re-visit the episodes, it's a pretty funny show and too bad that NBC didn't give the series a 2nd season in attempt to try and find it's audience. I would describe the show as being somewhat similar to All In The Family without all the politics. Lotsa Luck has a catchy theme song and is based on a British sitcom titled On The Buses.

Back in 2007, Paul Mavis did a review of the Lotsa Luck DVD's for the DVD Talk website and while the review overall is positive, he didn't have anything good to say about the pilot episode (this is the episode where the family goes out to buy a new toilet) and I disagree with that assessment, I think the pilot episode is quite good with the jokes and one liners coming fast and funny, a good show to start off the series with. In the pilot episode, the toilet that the family ends up buying is a gaudy orange color with a purple lid and seat that looks like it's straight out of the 1970's.

Lotsa Luck was originally scheduled on Monday nights where it was up against Gunsmoke on CBS and The Rookies on ABC. Then later it was moved to Friday night where it was up against Good Times on CBS and The Six Million Dollar Man on ABC.

 

[BobO'Link]

I own copies of both Lotsa Luck and On the Buses. As is typical for me, I prefer On the Buses. Lotsa Luck is one of the better adaptations of a UK comedy series I've seen but it's just a bit lacking when you've seen the original.

 

[Lecagr]

I own copies of both Lotsa Luck and On the Buses. As is typical for me, I prefer On the Buses. Lotsa Luck is one of the better adaptations of a UK comedy series I've seen but it's just a bit lacking when you've seen the original.

I haven't seen episodes of On The Buses but I did a little research and it seems that at least two episodes of Lotsa Luck are borrowed from On The Buses episodes.

For example, the Lotsa Luck pilot episode which I previously described seems to be borrowed from an On The Buses episode titled The Cistern. There's also a Lotsa Luck episode where the flu virus is going around in the family, and this episode seems to be borrowed from an On The Buses episode titled Family Flu.

Also, the first names of main characters in Lotsa Luck are the same as main characters in On The Buses. Stanley, Arthur, Olive.

 

[Wiseguy]

I haven't seen episodes of On The Buses but I did a little research and it seems that at least two episodes of Lotsa Luck are borrowed from On The Buses episodes.

For example, the Lotsa Luck pilot episode which I previously described seems to be borrowed from an On The Buses episode titled The Cistern. There's also a Lotsa Luck episode where the flu virus is going around in the family, and this episode seems to be borrowed from an On The Buses episode titled Family Flu.

Also, the first names of mainAA characters in Lotsa Luck are the same as main characters in On The Buses. Stanley, Arthur, Olive.

When Antenna TV aired the series a few years ago they showed the flu episode but not the toilet episode. However, many episode list sources only list 22 episodes showing the toilet episode as the premiere (not necessarily the pilot) but not even listing the flu episode. This led me to think the flu episode was the pilot and wasn't aired by Antenna TV for some reason (don't know why). Was the flu episode aired on NBC and if so what date? And why isn't it included in some episode lists?

 

[Lecagr]

When Antenna TV aired the series a few years ago they showed the flu episode but not the toilet episode. However, many episode list sources only list 22 episodes showing the toilet episode as the premiere (not necessarily the pilot) but not even listing the flu episode. This led me to think the flu episode was the pilot and wasn't aired by Antenna TV for some reason (don't know why). Was the flu episode aired on NBC and if so what date? And why isn't it included in some episode lists?

There are actually 23 episodes of Lotsa Luck. In 1973 Dom DeLuise appeared in an episode of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and he discusses/describes the premiere episode which is the toilet episode, titled Olive's Present, which aired on September 10th, 1973. As far as I can tell, the flu episode was skipped over and unaired by NBC as there seems to be no airdate history for this episode.