Customer Reviews

Lucille Ball (The Best of Old Time Radio/Legendary Performers)

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That Lucille Ball is a genius is undoubted. Who else would leave a secure contract at one studio to go to Columbia Pictures for a role in a single Three Stooges short? Who else could play low comedy and do a very creditable role on a dramatic radio show? It is a Very Good Thing that Radio Spirits has chosen to release a collection of 10 radio shows that starred or had as a guest star the Redhead herself.

<The Best of Old Time Radio Starring Lucille Ball> is available on 6 CDs or 4 cassettes. I have both formats. I find it very pleasant hearing the tapes in my car and the CDs for my classes or easier access to a program I want to hear again. In this collection we have 4 episodes of "My Favorite Husband," 2 of "Suspense," and one each of "Lux Radio Theatre" ("Fancy Pants"), "The Abbott & Costello Show," ""The Lux Radio Theatre" ("The Dark Corner"), "The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre" ("Tight Shoes").

Personally I wish they did not have quite so many of "My Favorite Husband," when the single radio episode of "I Love Lucy" is available and is indeed included in another Radio Spirits collection. However I do thank the publishers for avoiding undue duplication in their huge inventory of "sets."

It is amazing how well she handles her dramatic assignments and then can turn around to create comic cartoon characters as she does at the end of each "Husband" episode to plug the sponsor's product. And while Bob Hope is allowed all sorts of anachronistic references in the "Fancy Pants" feature, Lucy plays her part straight and to far better effect.

As is always true with Radio Spirit sets, the accompanying booklet is a treasure of information and excellent photos, first about Lucy's career and then about each individual show.

This CD set is a must for all fans of Lucille Ball. It not only has wonderfully suspenseful episodes of "Suspence" (How would you ever have guessed?), but it has radio plays of Lucille Ball's classic movies such as Fancy Pants with the late, great Bob Hope. Perhaps best of all, this set contains episodes of Ball's 1947-51 radio show "My Favorite Husband." Ball stars as Liz Cugat/Cooper in this series and Liz was the prototype for Lucy Ricardo/Carmichael/Carter/Barker. In fact, many of the episodes of My Favorite Husband were reworked into episodes of I Love Lucy. If you haven't heard My Favourite Husband, or had the pleasure of listening to an installment of Lux Radio Theatre, buy this set today.