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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfection, July 14, 2002
People incensed that we are not getting these a season at a time are neglecting to review the product itself. This DVD is SPLENDIFEROUS.The picture quality is gorgeous -- the lighting looks as good as movie stills. And these are complete episodes -- remember that in syndication we have always seen them with bits chopped off except on Nickelodeon (did you ever wonder why the audience was often already laughing when the show started? It was because the syndicated version cut in AFTER the original beginning). We get a whole episode of the radio show MY FAVORITE HUSBAND -- one of the few old radio shows that still holds up for us moderns with minor adjustment. One cannot really understand what I LOVE LUCY "was" historically without starting with MY FAVORITE HUSBAND; what a great idea to put episodes on these DVDs. (Maybe it will help turn LUCY fans on to old radio -- if you love Lucy, there is a lot of, particularly, late 40s radio comedy that you will love as well, and old radio is now cheaper and more available than it has ever been before in this era of MP3 files.) We get the pilot -- complete with the original announcer restoring the lost first few seconds of the voice-over 50 years later! (Why, though, is it listed as 45 minutes but takes up ten minutes less time?) And then also bonuses like an alternate laughtrack over an ending, a clip used for a rerun not seen since 1953, etc. This is the definitive presentation of this show, in a medium that does not turn to dust on the shelf after 20 years. This is very, very special. The truth is that like all shows, I LOVE LUCY took a little while to get its sea legs; I do not consider these first three to be the best of the run by any means. But their historical value is obvious, and here they are for us to possess forever. As for the piecemeal release schedule, honestly, I find getting 20-odd episodes at a time a little overwhelming. I guess it depends on your lifestyle, but for me sets like that are an instant huge backlog waiting to be taken in bit by bit, kind of like a massive book you never seem to finish. I LIKE getting to sample the whole run of this show four shows at a time -- you can see them all at your leisure and maybe even repeat them. It's kind of like belonging to a book-of-the-month club. And as one reviewer said, a whole season set with all the little extras would be a REAL monster. I do have one complaint, though. It WOULD be better if we could see the episodes with their original credits every time, rather than just having the original opening as a separate bonus. (Is it that clean negatives of that opening no longer exist?) And also, what about the original commercials, often done on set, and often by Lucy and Desi? I hope we can see these in later editions. But overall, this is a milestone achievement. One thing, though -- the people who are eating this up would surely relish a similar release of the first three seasons of THE LUCY SHOW. What is available of this show concentrates on the later seasons that hinged on tacky star guests. But these were not good television; the plots are boneheaded, the performances are kindergarten-broad, and the whole show was resting on its laurels by then. The earlier LUCY SHOWS were as good as I LOVE LUCY, especially the first season in crisp black-and-white with lots of Vivian Vance. Paramount and CBS Video take note -- a nice box set of the first season of the LUCY SHOW would sell big.
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DVD ~ Lucille Ball
DVD ~ Lucille Ball
DVD ~ Lucille Ball
DVD ~ Lucille Ball
DVD ~ Lucille Ball
