Customer Reviews

The Lucy Show: The Official First Season

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Finally, one TV's most beloved sitcoms from the 1960's arrives on DVD July 21, 2009. After releasing Lucille Ball's first series in its entirety, "I Love Lucy", CBS Home Video is bringing out, what I consider, one of the best television shows of all-time.
"The Lucy Show" was Lucille Ball's follow-up to her immensely popular 1950's TV program, and at first she was hesitant to do another weekly series for a variety of reasons: first, she knew the work involved in doing a TV show week after week, and secondly she also didn't know if the audience would accept her playing a widow, as she and Desi Arnaz were so closely identified as America's first TV couple. Since she and Desi were now divorced, having them star in a television show together was virtually impossible. One of the stipulations she had with the new CBS show was that she wanted Desi to be its executive producer, (which he was that first season), as Lucy knew Desi had the mind and ability to produce a top-rated show, and she wanted her best friend, Vivian Vance, to star along with her. Lucy's demands were met.
"The Lucy Show", originally titled "The Lucille Ball Show" in its inception, aired its first episode on October 1, 1962. Lucy played Lucy Carmichael, a widow raising 2 children, a daughter Chris, played by Candy Moore, and a son Jerry, played by Jimmy Garrett. Lucy shared her home with her best friend Vivian, played superbly by Vance, who had a son Sherman, portrayed by Ralph Hart. Although many TV historians state that it was Ann Romano, from "One Day at a Time", who played TV's first divorced woman, that distiction, however, belongs to Vivian Vance, who was the medium's first divorcee in this series. "The Lucy Show" followed the adventures of Lucy and Vivian, as they raised their children alone, and encountered various mishaps while living without men. The series explored what it was like for two women maintaining a household all alone, and the series depicted the problems each had with their personal lives, such as finding Mr. Right.
"The Lucy Show" is one of my favorite shows ever, and I actually love it even more than "I Love Lucy". This long awaited boxset of the series' first season, features 30 episodes, that have been rarely seen over the years. This first season is filmed in glorious black and white, but subsequent seasons were filmed in color as Lucille Ball knew they could be more easily sold in syndication than the black and white ones. The show continued to be broadcast in black and white until the 1965 season, but at the beginning of the 1963 season filming in B&W was discontinued. These 30 shows are some of the best work Lucille Ball ever did in her career, albeit they have hardly been seen by newer audiences. Many of the writers from "I Love Lucy" wrote many of these 30 shows, and their originality and creativity is evident. The best episodes from this season are: "Lucy and Viv Put in a TV Antenna", in which Lucy and Vivian go to extremes to go up on the roof to install a new antenna, as their signal is gone. This episode is hilarious, especially when one watches it during this day in time as many of us have cable and satellite, but the writing is dead on, and the performances, along with Lucy and Viv's physical comedy, are at its zenith. Another great show is "Lucy and Viv Put In A Shower", where the roomates install a new shower, as they realize having one bathroom doesn't cut it for a home housing 5 people. While doing the shower scene Lucille Ball almost drowned, and thanks to Vivian Vance, she was saved. One of my favorite Christmas shows from any series is in this set and is entitled "Together For Christmas", as Lucy and Vivian argue over a tree. Each wants to have a tree decorated to each other's taste, so to make a compromise, they each put up a tree in the living room. They eventually have a fight and destroy the other's tree, with Lucy going so far as sawing Viv's!
"The Lucy Show" is one of those rare network TV shows that never left the top 10 during its six year run on CBS. It actually finished its final season on the network in the early spring of 1968 at at whopping #2 in the Nielsens. The series would return that fall under a new title, "Here's Lucy", with a completey new format. "The Lucy Show" finished its first season at number 5, a solid hit, as the audience welcomed Lucille Ball and her co-horts into their home week after week. Important to note too is that Gale Gordon wouldn't start appearing until the following season. In the first year, a banker named My. Barnsdahl, played by character actor Charles Lane, supervised Lucy's trust fund left to her by her husband.
The series' theme music was created and performed by Wilbur Hatch, who did the music for "I Love Lucy".
Lucille Ball would go on to win two Emmy's for her role in this series in subsequent seasons, and various guest stars would pop up over the years, like Joan Crawford, Milton Berle, Carol Burnett, and Ann Southern.
There have been a handful of "Lucy Show" episodes that have been put out on home video and DVD over the years, but these are the public domain shows that were never cleaned up, and they were the edited and syndicated broadcast shows that were jumpy and scratchy. These 30 shows in this boxset have been beautifully restored from the studio's 35 mm prints and come with renewed sound, and according to studio reps, they look amazing. They are also uncut.
This boxset also comes with a new interview with Lucille Ball's daughter Lucy Arnaz, and for the first time in years Jimmy Garrett is interviewed , discussing the show and his TV mom. There are also rare commercials featuring "The Lucy Show's" network promos.
If having "The Lucy Show" on DVD isn't enough for you, talk is "Here's Lucy", Lucy's 3rd series, is coming to DVD this summer too with the complete first season. "Here's Lucy" had a DVD release in 2004 featuring some of the best episodes during it's run, but like "The Lucy Show", it will be the first time that complete season boxsets will be released. I am in Heaven!
Don't forget too that "I Love Lucy-The Complete Series" , is also available.
UPDATE!!!! LUCY'S THIRD SERIES "HERE'S LUCY" WILL BE AVAILABLE ON DVD WITH THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON ON AUGUST 25TH, 2009!!!

I can't remember how many years ago it was when I wrote, emailed and called CBS Home Entertainment to beg for them to release THE LUCY SHOW on DVD. I will tell you that I will always remember how shocked I was when I just received an email from CBS telling me they are releasing The Lucy Show's First Season on July 21, 2009! I found that begging CBS does pay, when it comes to wanting the BEST classic television shows released, and THE LUCY SHOW is THE BEST! The personal letter CBS wrote me stated that they have remastered The Lucy Show using the original 35 mm negative for a virtually flawless reproduction on dvd!!! I am so happy- FLAWLESS! I've been watching those horrible, blurred and faded versions on dvd for years! CBS said that if sales are good for this set, they will be remastering THE LUCY SHOW SEASON 2 IN FLAWLESS COLOR!!! So, to everyone who loves THE LUCY SHOW- order now!! THE LUCY SHOW ran for 6 seasons, so we only need 5 more! HERE'S LUCY SEASON ONE is also in the making from MPI Home Video and that show ran for 6 Seasons as well. After so many years of waiting, this is just like a dream come true for LUCY fans like me!

THE LUCY SHOW premiered on October 1, 1962 on CBS. The show began with Lucille Ball as Lucy Carmichael, a widow with two children, Chris (Candy Moore), and Jerry (Jimmy Garrett), living in Danfield, Connecticut, sharing her home with divorced friend Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance) and her son, Sherman (Ralph Hart). Lucy had been left with a substantial trust fund by her late husband, which was managed during this first season by local banker Mr. Barnsdahl (Charles Lane). At the beginning of the 1963-64 season, the character was replaced by Theodore J. Mooney (Gale Gordon, who would remain with the series for the remainder of its run, despite the format change).

This First Season also featured in recurring roles, Harry Connors (Dick Martin), Audrey Simmons (Mary Jane Croft), Eddie Collins (Don Briggs), Thelma Green (Carole Cook) and Dorothy Boyer (Dorothy Konrad). Lucy's little, adorable real life children, Lucie Arnaz age 11 and Desi Arnaz Jr. age 9 make their first television appearances in a few of these first season's episodes.

Lucie Arnaz talks about these first appearances in the wonderful Bonus interview she does for this dvd set. I never knew that when watching the episode, LUCY AND VIV PUT IN A SHOWER when I was a little girl back in the 60's, that Lucy was actually drowning when she was down under the water, and couldn't pull herself up. Vivian thought Lucy was under water way too long and reached down to pull her up- literally saving Lucy's life. The cameras kept rolling and no one in the studio or audience knew what was really going on! It is just so fitting that CBS took the time to make this show flawless, just as Lucy and Vivian's performances were for all the years they worked together!

Here are the 30 Episodes from Season One, which also include in this long awaited set many fabulous special features:
1. (1 Oct 62) LUCY WAITS UP FOR CHRIS
2. (8 Oct 62) LUCY DIGS UP A DATE
3. (15 Oct 62) LUCY IS A REFEREE (Desi Arnaz Jr. guest stars and watch for Lucie Arnaz sitting on the back bench in between Viv and Candy Moore)
4. (22 Oct 62) LUCY MISPLACES $2,000.00
5. (29 Oct 62) LUCY BUYS A SHEEP
6. (5 Nov 62) LUCY BECOMES AN ASTRONAUT (Nancy Kulp guest stars)
7. (12 Nov 62) LUCY IS A KANGAROO FOR A DAY
8. (19 Nov 62) LUCY, THE MUSIC LOVER
9. (26 Nov 62) LUCY PUTS UP AN ANTENNA
10.(3 Dec 62) VIVIAN SUES LUCY
11.(10 Dec 62) LUCY BUILDS A RUMPUS ROOM
12.(17 Dec 62) LUCY AND HER ELECTRIC MATTRESS
13.(24 Dec 62) TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS (Mitchell Boys Choir guest star)
14.(31 Dec 62) CHRIS' NEW YEARS EVE PARTY
15.(7 Jan 63) LUCY'S SISTER PAYS A VISIT (Peter Marshall guest stars)
16.(14 Jan 63) LUCY AND VIV ARE VOLUNTEER FIREMEN
17.(21 Jan 63) LUCY BECOMES A REPORTER
18.(28 Jan 63) LUCY AND VIV PUT IN A SHOWER
19.(4 Feb 63) LUCY'S BARBERSHOP QUARTET
20.(11 Feb 63) LUCY AND VIV BECOME TYCOONS
21.(18 Feb 63) NO MORE DOUBLE DATES
22.(25 Feb 63) LUCY AND VIV LEARN JUDO
23.(4 Mar 63) LUCY IS A SODA JERK (Lucie Arnaz guest stars)
24.(11 Mar 63) LUCY DRIVES A DUMPTRUCK
25.(25 Mar 63) LUCY VISITS THE WHITE HOUSE (Elliot Reed is the voice of JFK and Desi Arnaz Jr. guest stars)
26.(1 Apr 63) LUCY AND VIV TAKE UP CHEMISTRY
27.(8 Apr 63) LUCY IS A CHAPERONE (Lucie Arnaz guest stars)
28.(15 Apr 63) LUCY AND THE LITTLE LEAGUE (William Schallert and Desi Arnaz Jr.guest star)
29.(22 Apr 63) LUCY AND THE RUNAWAY BUTTERFLY
30.(29 Apr 63) LUCY BUYS A BOAT

This DVD Set is Jam-Packed with these Special Features:

Newly Recorded Interview with Lucie Arnaz
Newly Recorded Interview with Jimmy Garrett
1962 "Opening Night" Special
Clip featuring the long-lost headdress scene recreated from "I Love Lucy"
Clip of Lucy introducing her new series and dancing with stars Jack Benny, Andy Griffith, Gary Moore & Danny Thomas
Original Network Sponsor Openings
Original Network Sponsor Closing
Original Cast Commercials
Vintage Network Promos
Segment on merchandise from "The Lucy Show" with Jimmy Garrett talking about the Lucy merchandise he remembers from 1963.
Cast Biographies
Production Notes
Additionally, the episodes included on this DVD release are completely unedited with run-times of just slightly under 26 minutes per episode. There is even a feature to play the episodes as originally broadcast with vintage network openings, closings and cast commercials!

Lastly, THANK YOU CBS for making all of our LUCY dreams come true!!!!

OK, fans... We were successful in our letter writings, emails, and phone calls to get CBS/Paramount executives to put THE LUCY SHOW - THE OFFICIAL FIRST SEASON on DVD. Now we need to put our money where our mouth is. It's time to pre-order this series to get it to climb the Amazon charts in hopes that we can get a TOP 25 rating by the release date of July 21, 2009. I think this would virtually assure us that CBS will release the rest of the seasons on DVD. Pre-order today!

I have the entire series on VHS from the last time it was on commercial TV...1992 to 1996 on Nick at Nite. This series is a gem...Lucy and Viv for the first three seasons are at their best. Granted Seasons 4 through 6 without Viv are not as good but it was in the Top 10 each of those seasons.

PREORDER!! :-)

This is Carol Butler's son writing this review, and I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with this collection. I'm only on the 3rd disc, but I don't think I'll have to wait to get to the 4th disc to write a review. The quality is awesome and the features are wonderful. My favorite feature is that you can either see the show as it was broadcast with the original commercials, or you can watch the new openings and closings for the DVD version. If you love Lucy, and I don;t know anyone who doesn't, then this set is definitely for you!

Being Forty-Something gives me the priviledge of having witnessed all of the Lucy Series on regular tv; the only thing, is that I watched them all in reverse so I have a special love for the QUEEN of comedy. Being born in the late sixties and growing up in the early seventies and eighties, the first Lucy series I ever watched was Here's Lucy because it was currently being produced and airing at that time and I immediately fell in love with the theme song and the way it came on with an animated Lucy in a top hat and tails opening the curtain to the show. I couldn't have been more than five or six years old at the time. I was sure not to miss an episode!! In my pre-teen years, there were reruns of The Lucy Show, and I was captivated once again! I was in seventh heaven and every night after the news went off at 11:30p.m. I was in front of the tv watching The Lucy Show whether I was tired in school the next day or not!! Later in my teen years I happened to stumble across an I Love Lucy rerun, and I was on cloud nine to have another Lucy show to fall in love with. I told my mom about it and she laughed at me and told me she already knew about I Love Lucy, so I asked her why she never told me about it knowing how much I adored Lucy. Silly woman told me she thought I already knew about it. After watching I Love Lucy, I opted to take Spanish in seventh grade because I wanted to know what Ricky was saying to Lucy. Needless to say when I told my mom she looked at me like I had three heads and told me my simple uncle took it in school for the same reason! I laughed until I cried!! That is the love I had and still have for the Queen of Comedy! She is by far my favorite comedianne dead or alive! There is no one like her anywhere!!!!! Hers is a talent that many have mimicked, but have never quite attained. No one out there has ever been able to ascend to her level no matter how hard they've tried! I love everything she ever played in including several old movies that she starred in, particularly "The Long Trail" and "Yours, Mine and Ours" (which I own). Unfortunately, because I never believed in paying for television (cable tv and the like), I haven't been able to see these shows since I was a child (under 21), so I bought the Best of Here's Lucy when it came out on DVD and some of The Lucy Show collections (mostly color episodes with celebrity stars, eventhough I like the ones with Vivan Vance best) just to get a glimpse of some of the shows I remembered as a child. I bought I Love Lucy in its entirety and I will also buy Here's Lucy and The Lucy Show in its entirety! I have my favorite episodes, but I love them all! It's a no-brainer for me and I am an African-American woman! I even have my 22 year old and 9 year old daughters addicted to Lucy!! If you want to see comedy at its best, just remember that funny has no timeline!! You will enjoy them as much as I and other Lucy fans do!! I just wish my mom was alive to enjoy them with me and my children! She would be rolling on the floor laughing herself into a frenzy! Get them! You won't be sorry!! If you are not a Lucy fan already, you will become one; trust me! These shows are timeless, simply timeless and oh...so,so funny!!!

What can I say about The Lucy Show: The Offical First Season, it is Oustanding! This indeed is a great wonderful series that should not be overlooked. It is still very funny as I remember it.

There is something so amazing about this first season that I cannot stop watching it. Each episode has been Digitally Remasterd to its best! The quality is very Super Excellent! I like how the DVD artwork looks too.

All of the extra bonus material featured on this set is incredible! Seeing Lucille Ball and Vivan Vance together again is great! You can see how their friendship grows more closer than it ever could on this show.

When I was little this was the very first show I had seen that introduced me to the great Lucille Ball! I Love Lucy show was good, but The Lucy Show just had something special to it that made it always stick out in my mind. Glad its finally released officially and hoping for the second season very soon!

"The Lucy Show: the First Official Season" comes in a plastic case. The plastic case has exactly the same cover art as the paper sleeve which fits over the plastic case. Each of the four discs are listed on the inside panel of the case, along with the titles of each episode. The episodes are distributed across four discs. The discs are one-sided, and the front side is gray with "The Lucy Show" logo at the top. Stylisticly, the menus on each disc are quite similar to the design found on the "I Love Lucy" discs. Also inside is an insert advertising the season one release of "Here's Lucy", as well as "The Lucille Ball Specials". "The Lucy Show" was based on Irene Kampen's novel, "Life Without George". Kampen's novel was about her recent divorce, but in "The Lucy Show", Lucille Ball plays Lucy Carmichael, a widow; and her housemate and sidekick, Vivian Vance plays the divorcee, Vivian Bagley. The stories, particularly in the first seasons, revolve around two single women, living together, raising their families without a man---pretty unconventional for an early 60's sitcom, and especially daring for Lucille Ball since she and Desi Arnaz were the epitome of marital bliss in the 1950's. In its freshman season, "The Lucy Show" reunites many from the crew of "I Love Lucy", and its quickly evident that the team had not lost its touch. Veteran Lucy writers, Bob Carroll, Jr. Madelyn Pugh, and Jess Oppenheimer often said that in writing for "I Love Lucy" each script had to start with a logical premise; in other words the audience had to believe that the beginning concept was plausible. From there, the writers argued that you could take the audience wherever you wanted to go. "The Lucy Show", particularly during the early seasons, carries that concept forward, and the result was strong scripts, exceptional performances, and many, many laughs.

Can't tell you how excited I am about this release. I have only seen a handful of the episodes from TLS. With this and Here's Lucy coming out, I won't be watching regular TV much this summer!!! Let's hope Paramount moves at a steady pace with releasing TLS. Keeping my fingers crossed for news on Life With Lucy!!

In the words of Ethel Mertz, "What a treasure trove". However, we aren't talking about Ethel here. It's all VIV, and it's all LUCY. I've been waiting for weeks for this set, and agree with all the other marvelous reviews. This set of Season 1 is superb!! I've only been through the Bonus Features on Disc 1 thru 3, and the episodes on Disc 1 (personal favorite is the Kangaroo costume). Loved the Lucie Arnaz interview, and still waiting to see the Jimmy Garrett interview. This set was made with literal "tender loving care". Options to view with original broadcast openings, closings & cast commercials, or in a regular rerun format with restore titles for DVD. Great bonus features!! The picture quality is superb for black & white, the last "Lucy" programs in this format. Granted, CBS ran The Lucy Show in Black & White until the fall season of 1965 when the locale moved to California. However, Seasons 2 and on were filmed in color. Tom Watson and crew who worked on this deserve large pats on the back for their excellent work. With all this positive feedback being received, I hope Paramount has Season 2 ready to roll. Bravo!! Get yours now.

By the way, check your history. According to official records, 2009 marks Vivian Vance's 100th Birthday. This is a nice way to celebrate.

After YEARS of waiting and hoping that a COMPLETE, WELL RESTORED collection of The Lucy Show season one would come out on dvd - IT IS FINALLY HERE!!!! THIS IS THE SET YOU WANT.

Forget the chopped up, poor quality dvd (and vhs) sets of the same six or seven episodes of this series that have been floating around for years. If you are a real fan of The Lucy Show (like ME!) you will enjoy the originality of this dvd release (I have LOVED The Lucy Show since I first watched it in local reruns when I was growing up in the 1970s).

In The Lucy Show tv series, Lucy is Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Vance is Vivian ("Viv") Bagley. They are two single mothers (Lucy a widow and Viv a divorcee) raising three kids between them. The situations are truly funny and the exchange of lines between Lucy and Viv are just as funny as they were in the previous old I Love Lucy series - but now it's the 1960s and they are NOT Ricardo and Mertz anymore - the ladies are now living in suburban Danfield, with new names, new personas, new hair dos and no husbands! I have always loved the transition that Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance made into Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Bagley. The Lucy Show was based on the wonderful book "Life Without George" by Irene Kampen and if you've read the book, as I have, you will see a marvelous adaption of it on The Lucy Show (and of course Lucy's expert physical comedy is a treat that you will not find in the book!). The great character actress, Mary Jane Croft, is in several episodes. She is really lovely and her character fits in so well with Lucy and Viv.

All the episodes in season one, 1962-63, are in classic, glorious black & white, the video quality is excellent and the audio is really quite perfect. Lucille Ball was a perfectionist and I bet she'd be happy to know that this dvd set was obviously lovingly restored and there are many extra features not previuosly seen since they first aired.

NEXT...PLEASE release the second season of The Lucy Show soon! There are many great episodes from the second season as well. And in the second season, 1963-64, we will get to see Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Bagley and the rest of the gang from Danfield in COLOR!!