Customer Reviews

Lucy Show [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As I am the first reviewer for these discs I will try to give as many details as I can to help you decide whether to purchase or not.

There are 30 episodes on 3discs of The Lucy Show, Lucille Ball's second major series. They are divided into Disc 1 - Lucy The Troublemaker, Disc 2 - Lucy And Friends, and Disc 3 Lucy's Wacky Adventures. The box says that the episodes has been "Re-Mastered For Best Possible Picture Quality" but I don't know about that. The picture quality is OK. It seems like it is just as it was in the '60s only being watched on a better TV set than at that time. It is very bright at times! But it is certainly watchable so this shouldn't put you off. The sound is fine.

All but two of the episodes are from season 5 and 6 (1966/1967). The other two being from the first season meaning we don't really get a good overview of the whole series and how it progressed, including not seeing Lucy's first boss Mr. Barnsdhal (Charles Lane) or Candy Moore which was disappointing.

The Episodes -

Disc 1

Lucy the Starmaker - season 6, episode 4 - 02 Oct. '67

Lucy Meets Robert Goulet - #6.8 - 30 Oct. '67

Lucy Gets a Roommate - #5.7 - 31 Oct. '66

Lucy and Carol in Palm Springs - #07 Nov. '66

Main Street USA - #5.17 - 23 Jan. '66

Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account - #6.6 - 16 Oct. '67

Lucy's Barbershop Quartet - #1.9 - 04 Feb. '63

Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower - #1.8 - 28 Jan. '63

Lucy and the Substitute Secretary - #5.14 - 02 Jan. '67

Lucy and the French Movie Star - #6.3 - 25 Sep. '67

Disc 2

Lucy Meets John Wayne - #5.10 - 21 Nov. '66

Lucy and the Flight Manager - #5.20 - 20 Feb. '67

Lucy and Paul Winchell - #5.4 - 30 Oct. '66

Lucy Flies to London - #5.6 - 17 Oct. '66

Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard - #5.22 - 06 Mar. '67

Lucy and the Efficiency Expert - #5.13 - 12 Dec. '67 (also know as Lucy and Phil Silvers)

Mooney the Monkey - #5.12 - 05 Dec. '66 (also known as Lucy and the Monkey)

Lucy and the Ring-A-Ding Ring - #5.6 - 17 Oct. '66

Lucy Meets Tennessee Ernie Ford - #5.21 - 27 Feb. '67

Lucy Gets Caught in the Draft - #5.9 - 14 Feb. '66

Disc 3

Lucy and George Burns - #5.1 - 12 Sep. '66

Lucy Meets the Berles - #6.1 - 11.Sep. '67

Lucy, the Bean Queen - #5.7 - 26 Sep. '66

Lucy Meets the Law - #5.19 - 13 Sep. '67

Lucy Gets Trapped - #6.2 - 18 Sep. '67

Lucy the Babysitter - #5.16 - 16 Jan. '67

Lucy Metts Pat Collins - #5.11 - 28 Nov. '66

Little Old Lady - #6.7 - 23 Oct. '67 (also known as Little Old Lucy)

Viv Visits Lucy - #5.15- 09 Jan. .67

Lucy and the Submarine - #5.2 - 19 Sep. '66

Each disc also contains Radio Highlights of Lucy in 'My Favorite Husband' together with lots of Photos.

In my opinion, a 'must buy' for all Lucy lovers (especially considering the incredibly low price for what it is!). My only disappointment, together with the fact that they were nearly all from the same period, is that there were too many special guests. Too often Lucy takes a secondary and often straight-man role when a special guest takes centre stage (this was definately the case with the 'Here's Lucy' box set which had a very poor episode selection). The best episodes are the ones that pretty much just contain Lucy and the regulars and concentrate on them alone. (For example, the one with George Burns was totally boring as the scripts are often limited in such cases, but when Viv and Lucy put in a shower it is a laugh a second!).

Hope this has helped you decide!

Personally, I felt that the old b/w pre-California shows were the best in this series (the ones with Viv), so I was disappointed that every one of these shows were from the later years. But being the fan that I am, I'm still glad to own them (but hoping they bring out the older ones on video!)

The Lucy Show has been available on DVD for years. You can usually find the DVDs in Dollar Stores or bargain bins. Generally, there are 2 to 8 episodes on each disc. I have spent years trying to collect as many episodes of this show on DVD as I could. Scouring these terrible quality DVDs, trying to figure out which episodes I had and which ones I needed, I came to the conclusion that there seemed to be just a small number of Lucy Shows available. From that small amount, these independently owned, far from perfect DVD companies just seem to pick episodes at random to release.

Finally, I stumbled upon this collection and realized that these 30 episodes are all that is available of The Lucy Show on DVD at this point. I purchased this set, hoping that the quality was good enough that I could get rid of my old scattershot Lucy Show DVDs and replace them with this small, comprehensive 3-disc set. Lo and behold, I was right! Out of all the different DVD releases I have found of the Lucy Show, this one is by far the best. Not only does it offer EVERY EPISODE that is available to the public (as of this writing), but it is also by FAR the best in terms of picture and sound quality. Now, don't get me wrong, the picture and sound are FAR from perfect; these public domain episodes will probably never look as good as the official I Love Lucy and Here's Lucy releases, which are pristine. Quality is perfectly acceptable, however, and definitely watchable. Until Paramount, or whoever owns the rights to this series, officially releases it season by season on DVD, this is the best we Lucy fans can get. Check out some of the other reviews for lists of the episodes; I see no need to take up space with that here since previous reviewers have already done it. Just know that the HILARIOUS episode Viv Visits Lucy is here on disc 3 and it is worth the price of the set by itself!!!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ANY REAL COLLECTOR OF LUCY TV SHOWS AND MEMORABILIA. IT IS THE BEST WE HAVE FOR NOW!

The Lucy Show will probably be released on DVD in season packages someday. At this time what is available is a ridiculous number of `best of' collections. This dirt-cheap collection is one option, if you want a large dose of the wacky redhead. Unfortunately the video quality is very poor, comparable to bad VHS. Images are blurry, flat and oversaturated. While the quality is horrible, you do get 30 episodes on 3 DVD's for a low price.

For fans, the episodes should bring back some warm memories. Lucy had wonderful chemistry with her costars, having worked with them before. Spunky Vivian Vance was a comic genius in her own right. Though sometimes a reluctant participant, Viv still found herself taking part in Lucy's nuttiest schemes. Gale Gordon was wonderful as Lucy's boss, Mr. Mooney. Beneath the vanity and gruff bluster, you always knew was a pretty good guy. Gordon seemed to really enjoy over the top, physical comedy. Later, quirky Mary Jane Croft replaced Viv as Lucy's sidekick.

Though no `best of' collection will satisfy every fan, most of these episodes are among the more memorable ones. The problem here is that the emphasis is a bit too heavy towards the later episodes in the series. Just two are from the period when Viv and Lucy's kids were on the show. The episodes from the early years are almost entirely omitted. A little more balance would have been nice. The standout episodes are:

Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower. Always a `do it yourselfer', Lucy and Viv attempt to save money by installing a shower. Needless to say, the project is an overflowing disaster. A truly classic Lucy and Viv misadventure.

Lucy meets John Wayne - Few but Lucy could get `The Duke' to appear on a TV sitcom. Lucy disrupts production on movie set, contributing the immortal line `Pushing up daisies', before being asked to leave.

Main Street USA - A celebration of America's small towns, Lucy leads the fight to preserve a way of life.

Lucy Gets Caught in the Draft - Victim of a draft board mix up, `Lou C Carmichael' is told to report for Army induction.

Lucy Meets Robert Goulet - Lucy enters a friend in a Robert Goulet look alike contest, submitting a life-sized cowboy photo.

Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account: The famous funny man was a close friend and frequent guest on Lucy's various projects. This episode plays up Benny's reputation as a compulsive tightwad.

Lucy Meets the Berles: In this classic, Lucy gets hired as Uncle Miltie's housekeeper. Overhearing Berle rehearsing a script with lovely Ruta Lee, Lucy believes that he is cheating on his wife, and takes action.

Lucy the Bean Queen - Never one to pass up a good deal, Lucy takes advantage of a double your money back refund offer on canned beans, to raise cash to buy furniture. Aided by Mary Jane, Lucy corners the local canned bean market.

The numerous `best of' collections for The Lucy Show often feature the same episodes, so compare them carefully before you buy. In this case, weigh the poor quality against the low price for 30 episodes. Lucy's fans might also want to look at the compilation for Here's Lucy, which features 24 remastered episodes, bonus material, and extensive commentaries by Lucy's kids, Lucille Arnaz Luckinbill and Desi Arnaz Jr. Very well done, this set is fabulous. Hopefully both The Lucy Show, and Here's Lucy will be available in full season sets of similar quality someday, and make the current best of collections superfluous.

Deciding which Lucy Show set is the best set on Amazon at the best price, look no further this is the set to buy because you get it all. This set is the cheapest and you get more episodes! Why? I don't know.

This set contains all 30 epiodes that have been released on dvd, because there has only been 30 episodes that have been put out on dvd so far and that is what you get here is the complete shows. I wish they would start making them by the Season's and hopefully they will soon, so that we can own all of the shows in a digitally remastered version.

The quality of these dvd's are ok and they are not the worse that I have seen of "The Lucy Show" but they are no where near remastered. Amazon has several sets of "The Lucy Show" dvd's but this one is defintely the best set to buy, as some dvd's on here you only get 8 episodes for more than this costs and the quality is not better than this set. Don't get ripped off! Again you get every episode that is out on the market of "The Lucy Show" for a very low cost at a pretty good quality. I was very impressed with these shows when I got them home!! I almost didn't pay attention while ordering online and I would have bought the 8 episodes for fifeteen bucks which costs more than this set and you get less episodes, it is also for sale on Amazon as others that are not as good as this set.

This collection also has my favorite episode where Lucy and Viv put in a shower and get locked in and the water fills up, this is a laugh out loud fun episode! You will get some of both The Lucy and the kids episodes and the Lucy and Mr.Mooney episodes! Here are all the great episodes that come in this set, I am still amazed at this great price on Amazon for all the episodes that are included.

Disc 1

1.) Lucy The Starmaker

2.) Lucy Meets Robert Goulet

3.) Lucy Gets A Roomate

4.) Lucy And Carol Burnett In Palm Springs

5.) Main Street U.S.A

6.) Lucy Gets Jack Benny Account

7.) Lucys Barbershop Quartet

8.) Lucy And Viv Put In A Shower

9.) Lucy And The Substitute Secretary

10.) Lucy And The French Movie Star

Disc 2

11.) Lucy Meets John Wayne

12.) Lucy And The Flight Manager

13.) Lucy And Paul Winchell

14.) Lucy Flies To London

15.) Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard

16.) Lucy And The Efficiency Expert

17.) Mooney The Monkey

18.) Lucy And The Ring-A-Ding Ding

19.) Lucy Meets Tennesse Ernie Ford

20.) Lucy Gets Caught In The Draft

Disc 3

21.) Lucy And George Burns

22.) Lucy Meets The Berles

23.) Lucy, The Bean Queen

24.) Lucy Meets The Law

25.) Lucy Gets Trapped

26.) Lucy, The Babysitter

27.) Lucy Meets Pat Collins

28.) Little Old Lady

29.) Viv Visits Lucy

30.) Lucy And The Submarine

This collection was great! I really thought I was going to end up with a terrible collection. However, the picture and sound quality was awesome! The reason I thought this was going to be a terrible collection is because I have purchased other collections from this company and the picture and sound was distorted. Anyway, if you love Lucy, and we all do, then this collection is definitely for you.

After "I Love Lucy," and the subsequent 13 hour long specials featuring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball returned to television in "The Lucy Show." The first season of this program, with Desi Arnaz serving as Executive Producer, explored the theme of what it would be like in 1960 for two women to share a house, without a man around to do what was at the time considered the manly things (watching the money, putting up a TV antenna, etc.) At the end of that first season, Lucille Ball bought out Desi Arnaz' stake in Desilu, and this program, as a result suffered. By the time these episodes were done, not only was Desi gone, so too were Lucy's best writers: Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis, Bob Schiller, and Bob Weiskopf. So as the writers who knew Lucy best were gone, so too was the Lucy persona of "I Love Lucy." No longer was Lucy a conniver who'd do things like swindle her way into a weekend at a British estate, or who'd break into Richard Widmark's house to get a grapefruit. Now instead, Lucy Carmichael is devoid of everything that made Lucy Ricardo funny. Now she has become a total idiot. A total idiot, that is, who is somehow able to just walk into the homes of celebrities like Paul Winchell or Jack Benny, to get them to do favors for her. These scripts are just plain awful. They do give you a chance to see some of the celebrities of the 1960s, but if you're a true fan of Lucille Ball's, you know that her best work ever was that done between 1951 and 1957 on "I Love Lucy." Watch one of those shows for 18,995,876 time before you watch these. Unless you don't mind, of course, seeing a genius work with lackluster material, usuually getting lackluster results. Someday, hopefully, the Desi Arnaz-produced first season of this program will become more widely available. Those episodes are true classics. These are not.

This boxed set from St. Clair Vision includes 30 episodes from the long-running comedy series Ms. Ball made after marriage to Desi Arnaz dissolved. The series' premise evolved over at the years. At first, Lucy Carmichael (Ball) was a widowed mother of two sharing a house in Connecticut with her divorced friend Viv Bagley (Vivian Vance) and her children. In the second season, Lucy took a job as the secretary for stuffed shirt bank manager Theodore Mooney (Gale Gordon) and, two years later, she moved to California with Mr. Mooney, shucking her kids and the rest of the cast in the process. The emphasis was on Lucy's own brand of slapstick humor and frequently featured bizarre situations or first-rate co-stars - and frequently both. These shows include two black-and-white episodes from the first season, but most of the episodes come from Season Five and Six when the show was produced in color.

Episodes included in this three-disk boxed set are:

Lucy the Starmaker (Season 6, Episode 4)

Lucy Meets Robert Goulet (6.8)

Lucy Gets a Roommate (5.7)

Lucy and Carol Burnett in Palm Springs (5.8)

Main Street U.S.A. (5.17)

Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account (6.6)

Lucy's Barbershop Quartet (1.19)

Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower (1.18)

Lucy and the Substitute Secretary (5.14)

Lucy and the French Movie Star (6.3)

Lucy Meets John Wayne (5.10)

Lucy and the Fight Manager (5.20)

Lucy and Paul Winchell (5.4)

Lucy Flies to London (5.6)

Lucy Meets Sheldon Leonard (5.22)

Lucy and the Efficiency Expert (5.13)

Lucy and the Monkey (aka Mooney the Monkey) (5.12)

Lucy and the Ring-a-Ding Ring (5.5)

Lucy Meets Tennessee Ernie Ford (5.21)

Lucy Gets Caught in the Draft (5.9)

Lucy and George Burns (5.1)

Lucy Meets the Berles (6.2)

Lucy the Bean Queen (5.3)

Lucy Meets the Law (5.19)

Lucy Gets Trapped (6.2)

Lucy, the Babysitter (5.16)

Lucy Meets Pat Collins (5.11)

Little Old Lucy (6.7)

Viv Visits Lucy (5.15)

Lucy and the Submarine (5.2)

Most of the episodes can be found in other budget offerings, but St. Claire Vision offers the most programs from this series in one spot that I've ever seen - and for a very reasonable price. The audio and video ranges in quality from very good to excellent.

As a bonus, clips of three radio programs starring Lucille Ball are included: episodes from "My Favorite Husband (6/4/1950 and 6/11/1950) and Lux Radio Theater (9/10/1951)

Like everyone else who has reviewed this set, I have to agree that it is the best so far of what is available out there, but the quality is terrible. The episode selection is really quite good, with most episodes being from 1966-67, but would like to see more of the early ones as well as more from the 1965-66 season. I simply don't understand why they put so much emphasis on I Love Lucy and Here's Lucy, making available the best remastered versions of these, while ignoring The Lucy Show. This is the best and funniest series of all the Lucy series, in my humble opinion. I would like to see The Lucy Show released season-by-season and in beautifully remastered versions, like "That Girl", which was also made by Desilu studios. In the meantime enjoy this set, which for the price is the best choice for us Lucy Show fans.

Nothing can compare to the original "I love Lucy" shows. But I've got all those, so this is the next best thing. Lucy is still quite funny. This DVD is nice because you have all the Lucy shows together on 1 dvd. So, if you haven't purchased all the "I Love Lucy" DVD's, I would suggest buying them first. If you're still hooked on Lucy, then this is definitely a good buy.