Customer Reviews

I Love Lucy - Season One (Vol. 5)

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'I Love Lucy' is one of my favorite shows and I want to someday collect every episode but, the way these episodes are being distributed is just terrible. There are so many other television shows being released as complete seasons. Why can't Lucy be that way too? I am dying to get Lucy on dvd but, I will not buy any episodes until they are released as complete seasons on as few dics as possible.

The bad news is that to continue to parcel out the first season of "I Love Lucy" four episodes at a time on DVD. The good news is that this is the first volume in the collection that merits the top rating we commonly associate with the classic television situation comedy which was just starting to hit is stride at this point. During that first season of "I Love Lucy" the show had a 50.9 Nielsen rating, which meant that half of the television sets in the country were tuned to CBS on Monday nights at 9:00. Here are four examples why, most of which focus on Lucy's eternal effort to break into show business:

Episode 16, "Lucy Fakes Illness" (January 28, 1952) has Lucy pretending to suffer a nervous breakdown because Ricky has (once again) refused to hire her for his nightclub act. Since he knows Lucy is faking, Ricky gets a fake psychiatrist (Hal March) to check her out.

Episode 17, "Lucy Writes a Play" (February 4, 1952) has Lucy writing a play entitled "A Tree Grows in Havana" for an amateur playwriting competition. Ricky ends up playing the lead, which really does not help the play.

Episode 18, "Breaking the Lease" (February 11, 1952) is the best of the four episodes, with the Ricardos and the Mertzes having a fight which develops into an all-out war in at attempt to, well, break the lease. When you see Lucy smoking a cigarette, remember that the sponsor for "I Love Lucy" during that first season was the Phillip Morris Tobacco Company.

Episode 19, "The Ballet" (February 18, 1952) features the physical comedy of Lucille Ball. Once again Lucy is trying to get into the act at Ricky's club. Ricky has an opening for a burlesque comic and a ballet dancer, so Lucy tries out for both parts (giving a whole new meaning to the word "tutu"). Mary Wickes, always a delight in anything she did, has a nice part in this one.

All of these episodes were written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Caroll, Jr., who wrote all the episodes for the show's first four seasons. Marc Daniels was the director for all of the episodes that first season, except one (which is on the next DVD). Volume 5 is the second best in the Season One collection; the best is Volume 8 with both "The Freezer" and "Lucy Does a TV Commercial." So hang in there; the best is yet to come.

I LOVE LUCY continues on DVD with the 5th volume of episodes from the historic first season.

"Lucy Fakes Illness" - Lucy decides to feign a multiple-personality disorder in order to force Ricky to cast her in his new show. Lucille Ball does a fantastic impersonation of Katharine Hepburn/Bette Davis!

"Lucy Writes a Play" - Lucy and Ethel decide to enter a local dramatics society contest with a play that Lucy has penned, entitled "A Tree Grows in Havana". However, Lucy decides to scrap the idea and writes an English period-piece called "The Perils of Pamela". But on the night of the performance, Lucy and her cast can't decide which one they are ACTUALLY performing!

"Breaking the Lease" - Following a huge fight with the Mertzes, Lucy and Ricky decide to move, but can't until they pay their entire lease. Lucy decides to break the lease by being as noisy and unco-operative a neighbor as she can!

"The Ballet" - Ricky needs both a ballet dancer and a burlesque comic in his new show, so Lucy decides to train for both of them - with hilarious results!

Starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The DVD includes flubs, a bonus episode of the "My Favorite Husband" radio show, guest-cast information and restored elements. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

All "I Love Lucy" episodes on this DVD are in the same order filmed. "Lucy Fakes Illness", episode 16, filmed December 18, 1951, broadcast January 28, 1952. Newly-discovered footage has been restored to the first scene. Hal March was also in "Lucy Is Matchmaker" (episode 62, 1953). "Lucy Writes A Play", episode 17, filmed December 22, 1951, broadcast February 4, 1952. "Breaking The Lease", episode 18, filmed January 5, 1952, broadcast February 11, 1952. Barbara Pepper met Lucille Ball early in their careers. Mrs. Pepper appeared in 9 "I Love Lucy" episodes. Bennett Green has appeared in a total of 16 "I Love Lucy" episodes. The most of any extra or bit player. "The Ballet", episode 19, filmed January 11, 1952, broadcast February 18, 1952. Mary Wickes guest stars.

This is my all time favorite episode. Depending on the day and the mood, all I Love Lucy episodes are good. There is enough variety in their comedy for everyone. I Love Lucy is timeless in its appeal. Everyone should enjoy "Breaking the Lease" at least once.

There was much enjoyment in getting barrel laughs out of the Mertzes trying to kick the Ricardos out of their apartment. The Mertzes fumed at each little noise the Ricardos made above them. The retaliation got more heated and hilarious. The more the Mertzes told the Ricardos to get quiet, the more they found obnoxious ways to be loud.

When Ricky brought his whole band home for practice, it was a riot. Priceless, was the face of Fred Mertz, who wore the chandalier that dropped on his head, as a result of the loud chaos in the apartment above him.

Does it get any funnier than this?

Part way through season 1, I LOVE LUCY began to become the show we know and love with wonderful wit and hilarious physical humor. This DVD marks the beginning of the great episodes.

First up, when "Lucy Fakes Illness" to try to get into Ricky's new act, she is diagnosed with the "Go-bloots."

"Lucy Writes a Play" for her women's club, and tries to get Ricky to play the lead. When he refuses, they change settings, only to have some hilarious confusion at the end. This is the weakest of the episodes, but still quite good.

"Breaking the Lease" finds the Ricardos and Mertzes fighting after the Ricardos make some noise late at night. Will the Ricardos really leave the building? (I'll give you one guess.)

Finally, the first of many personal favorites over the course of the show. "The Ballet" finds Lucy once again trying to get into one of Ricky's new acts. (How often do they change anyway?) He needs both a ballet dancer, and a burlesque comic. While most of this show is Lucy without the other regulars, it's really gives her a chance to show off her impressive physical comedy skills and always makes me die laughing.

This DVD is a collector's dream. The episodes are presented in their entirety, and they look and sound sharp. There are occasional flaws in the picture, but considering the source material is 50 years old, it really isn't bad at all. The sound is presented in mono. While it won't challenge your sound system at all, it serves the purpose well and is faithful to the original audio recording. I thought it sounded a bit off at times on this disc, but going back again, I didn't notice it. Maybe that was just me. The extras feature the original opening and cuts to commercials plugging the show's sponsor (the episodes themselves use the heart we're used to from reruns), info on the guest cast, some mistakes that made it into the episode, footage restored to the first episode, a couple trivia type notes on the last episode, and one episode of Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband."

This DVD shows why the show has become such a classic - absolutely brilliant comedy. Even casual Lucy fans will want to have this disc in their collection.

Season 1, Volume 4 includes the following episodes: Lucy Fakes Illness , Lucy Writes A Play , Breaking The Lease and The Ballet! Lucy on DVD is great! You can watch your favorite episodes whenever you want to and the quality if great!

In this decade, every episode of "I Love Lucy" will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Every episode is still funny as funny as when they first aired. The shows are good. The shows are wholesome. They are healing and warm and will make you feel good. And the DVD is for keeps. Play them when you want to. And they are good forever. Buy them on DVD today.