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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HERE'S LUCY, SEASON 1 IS HERE!, May 28, 2009
This Summer of 2009 is a Lucy Summer! In July we are getting the first season of The Lucy Show, thanks to CBS/Paramount and on August 25th, we are getting the first season of Here's Lucy, thanks to MPI Home Video. Some of the great shows of Here's Lucy have already been on dvd by Shout!Factory, and it is a great set, but now we finally get to have all of it complete!
When I heard Here's Lucy Season 1 is being put out by MPI Home Video, I immediately contacted MPI for more information- especially about the quality of the video! For anyone who is familiar with MPI Home Video's quality of their dvd's, you know they can be horrible or superb. MPI put out the first season of The Beverly Hillbillies, The Honeymooners 6 sets and Hullabaloo's- all very poor quality, loaded with graininess and scratches. MPI also put out The Doris Day Show- all 5 seasons and Family Affair's all 5 seasons, and the quality is superb, very clean and crystal clear! MPI is also known for putting out all of a show's seasons separately and then in a complete set later on. I spoke to MPI directly to find out the quality they are putting into Here's Lucy Season 1, and they assured me that they are remastering the original 35 mm film, in exactly the same way they did for Doris Day and Family Affair. This means the dvd's will be absolutely superb in color, crystal clear sharp picture and a clean film! As a huge Lucy fan, this was great news for me! They also stated, that on June 30th, 2009, they are putting out the first of The Lucille Ball Specials dvd. These are two specials that Lucy made after Here's Lucy, starring with Dean Martin and Jackie Gleason. Both Here's Lucy and The Lucille Ball Specials will have extra's included. I was really happy to see that the film quality is absolutely superb on this first season! The perfect picture, gorgeous color and detailed sharpness are beyond my expectations!
Here's Lucy was Lucille Ball's third television show, that premiered on CBS on September 23,1968. The show started out with weaker than expected ratings, but gradually picked up during it's 6 season run, from 1968 to 1974. Lucy played a widower, Lucy Carter with 2 teenage children Kim and Craig Carter. The children were played by her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.. Their Uncle Harry was played by Gale Gordon and Vivian Vance also made guest star appearances in this show. Lucy, as a single mom, worked at the Unique Employment Agency, which allowed her to sing, dance and act with the many wonderful special guest stars she featured on this show. In this first season alone, some of the guest stars were Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Shelly Winters, Eva Gabor, Wayne Newton, Van Johnson, Wally Cox, Carol Burnett, Cesar Romero, Victor Buono, Howard Keel and Tennessee Ernie Ford. This show never got the number 1 ratings that I Love Lucy received, or even the number 2 position that The Lucy Show finished with, so it was rarely syndicated on tv, making many of these great shows rarely seen for decades. For Lucy fans, the summer of 2009 is one we will never forget, as we will finally have The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and the first of The Lucille Ball Specials dvd, to watch whenever we want after so many years of wishing!
Here are the 24 Episodes of Here's Lucy Season 1:
You can choose to play each episode with or without introductions by Lucie Arnaz and her brother Desi Arnaz Jr.! These new introductions to the episodes are GREAT!
1. 9/23/1968 MOD, MOD LUCY
2. 9/30/1968 LUCY VISITS JACK BENNY (with cameo by Jackie Gleason)
3. 10/7/1968 LUCY THE PROCESS SERVER
4. 10/14/1968 LUCY AND MISS SHELLY WINTERS
5. 10/21/1968 LUCY THE CONCLUSION JUMPER
6. 10/28/1968 LUCY'S IMPOSSIBLE MISSION
7. 11/11/1968 LUCY AND EVA GABOR
8. 11/18/1968 LUCY'S BIRTHDAY
9. 11/25/1968 LUCY SELLS CRAIG TO WAYNE NEWTON
10. 12/2/1968 LUCY'S WORKING DAUGHTER
11. 12/9/1968 GUESS WHO OWES LUCY $23.50? (Van Johnson guest stars)
12. 12/16/1968 LUCY THE MATCHMAKER (Vivian Vance guest stars)
13. 12/30/1968 LUCY AND THE GOLD RUSH
14. 1/6/1969 LUCY THE FIXER
15. 1/13/1969 LUCY AND THE EX-CON (Wally Cox guest stars)
16. 1/20/1969 LUCY GOES ON STRIKE
17. 1/27/1969 LUCY AND CAROL BURNETT
18. 2/3/1969 LUCY AND THE GREAT AIRPORT CHASE
19. 2/10/1969 A DATE FOR LUCY (Cesar Romero guest stars)
20. 2/17/1969 LUCY THE SHOPPING EXPERT
21. 2/24/1969 LUCY GETS HER MAN (Victor Buono guest stars)
22. 3/3/1969 LUCY'S SAFARI (Howard Keel guest stars)
23. 3/10/1969 LUCY AND TENNESSEE ERNIE'S FUN FARM
24. 3/17/1969 LUCY HELPS CRAIG GET A DRIVER'S LICENSE
Also Included are all these wonderful BONUS FEATURES:
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Meet The Carters-Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. talk about how the show came about.
Let's Talk To Lucy-From Lucy's Radio Show, Lucy interviews Gale Gordon on November 3, 1964 while he was playing Mr. Mooney on The Lucy Show. Wonderful Audio Interview with wonderful photos as you hear them talk!
Making The Main Title-Silent footage of how the main title was being made.
Lucy At LAX-Silent footage from the 1968 LUCY AND THE GREAT AIRPORT CHASE.
Lucie And Desi Jr. Screen Tests-Lucy's children's screen tests for the 1968 movie YOURS, MINE AND OURS!
HOME MOVIES:
The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show-1957 and 1958 silent home movies taken at the end of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
Lucy The Model-Silent home movies of Lucy modeling fur coats.
Golfing With Gleason-Silent home movies of Lucy, husband Gary Morton with Jackie Gleason and wife golfing in the 1960's.
The Chase-Lucy and husband Gary Morton make their own home movie while on vacation in beautiful Monte Carlo in 1968.
Slide Show-Photo's.
Production Files- Lots of interesting Lucy information and biographies of the cast.
Here's Lucy Promo's-Promo's from the Here's Lucy Season One Shows.
Other Promo's-The Lucy Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three For Two, Lucy Calls The President, Lucy Moves To NBC, Happy Anniversary And Goodbye/ What's New Catherine Curtis?, The Mothers-In-Laws, Lucy And Desi:A Home Movie and The Doris Day Show.
For this complete and perfectly restored Here's Lucy Set with so many GREAT Bonus Features, THANK YOU MPI!
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26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"At Last! Lucy's Best TV Series on DVD!!!", May 21, 2009
Lucille Ball began her third weekly series on CBS on September 23rd, 1968. After selling "The Lucy Show" to Paramount, Lucy wanted to own her own show, so she created "Lucille Ball Productions" to produce her new sitcom. Lucy had already finished an amazing run on CBS with her "I Love Lucy" show in the '50's, and her 1962-1968 series "The Lucy Show" never went out of the top 10. It was very important for CBS to keep her as the network knew Lucy had a loyal fan base that wanted to watch her week after week. "The Lucy Show" finished its final season in 1968 at #2 in the national Nielsen numbers, so expectations were high that "Here's Lucy" would be an even bigger hit. Lucy had nothing to worry about: both the fans and critics loved her new show, with "Here's Lucy" staying in the top 10 in its first three years.
"Here's Lucy" was different than Lucy's other two series in that she cast her real-life children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., as her on-screen kids Kim and Craig. Lucy also brought back the marvelous Gale Gordon as her brother-in-law Harry and boss at the Unique Employment Agency in Los Angeles, which was the setting of the series. Lucy played Gale's crazy secretary. The wacky redhead continued to make viewers laugh for six more years on CBS, and many fans, including this one, believe "Here's Lucy" was Lucille Ball's best television work. Lucy has even admitted that out of all her shows, this one was her favorite.
As the 1970's arrived CBS wanted to change its image as the "rural network" by canning shows that featured longtime tv personalities like Ed Sullivan. Lucille Ball was a different story however. "Here's Lucy" would continue well into the '70's as CBS' top-rated show. In 1970-1971 "Here's Lucy" finished the year as CBS' #1 program!
In 2004 "Here's Lucy" made its debut on DVD with a 24 episode boxset featuring the best episodes of the series. That boxset has a ton of special bonuses including commentary by Lucy's kids, rare network TV promos for the show, a much more. In this new "Here's Lucy" Season One Boxset special features will include new videotaped interviews never seen before and new introductions by both Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.. Other rare gems are Featurettes, Screen Tests, home movies, making of the main title, and a rare interview with Gale Gordon. It is wonderful to see MPI bringing back this beloved show that has been rarely seen on television in the past two decades. The series had a CBS daytime run from May-November 1977, and in 1982 "Here's Lucy" went into national syndication. The sitcom has rarely been seen on cable stations as it surprisingly does not bring in good ratings. In the late '90's PAX TV aired the show for awhile then it disappeared. The studio also promises to release every season in individual boxsets so that is something to applaud.
This boxset contains all 24 shows of the first year uncut and digitally remastered from the studio's 35 mm negatives for excellent video and audio clarity. A total of 144 episodes of "Here's Lucy" were produced. The first three seasons were fimed at Paramount studios in Hollywood, but the last three years were shot at Universal. The most famous episode was the season premiere of the third season in 1970 featuring Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. That episode catapulted "Here's Lucy" to the top of the ratings and put Lucy and the Burtons on the cover of TV Guide that week.
In the show's first season boxset many stars are featured including Jackie Gleason, Shelley Winters, Jack Benny, Wayne Newton, and more. The pilot of "Here's Lucy" is included called "Mod, Mod Lucy", where Lucy has to perform in the place of her daughter in a band. Lucy tries to sing, albeit with her mouthing the words to a record, and she proves she is quite a dancer. You will laugh hysterically when Lucy comes out donning a black wig, trying to be a teenager. She really fits in with the younger generation!
Many other celebrities graced "Here's Lucy" over its run including Eva Gabor, Carol Burnett, Ann-Margret, Johnny Carson, and more. Vivian Vance also made many guest-star appearances over the years as Aunt Viv to the delight of fans everywhere.
Don't forget too that "The Lucy Show" makes it first-time debut on DVD in July with the Complete First Season boxset. That series too is excellent.
UPDATE: "HERE'S LUCY-THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON" ARRIVES IN STORES NOVEMBER 3rd, 2009!!!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must See DVD, August 26, 2009
If you're reading this review you're probably already familiar with the show, and most likely a fan. However, you may not be familiar with how "Here's Lucy: Season One" has been packaged and presented in this new release, so I'll use this review to provide my opinion in that regard. Let me say right off the top, if you are a Lucy fan, I highly recommend that you purchase "Here's Lucy: Season One". I received my copy in the mail yesterday. I'll first address the packaging. The outer package is the familiar, clear, plastic, clam-like box, with the artwork inserted. The discs are stored inside on a spindle, which is hinged to the spine of the box. Because of this design, when you open the box, you can see the episode titles listed for each disc, appearing on both inside panels. Specifically, this means that you do not have to remove the discs to read the titles listed on the inside panels. The discs are one-sided with colorful labels featuring the "Here's Lucy" logo and the familiar marionette. The menus are very easy to navigate, and the discs are void of other product promotions. You can select to watch the episodes with or without a filmed introduction by Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz, Jr. or the episode's guest star. The quality of the video is absolutely sensational. The images are crystal clear, and the colors are probably more vivid than they appeared when originally broadcast. The extras alone are worth the money. I don't want to give away too much but they include: Desi Arnaz, Jr.'s screen test for his mom's 1968 theatrical film, "Yours, Mines, and Ours"; creation of the opening credits; and film of the Queen of Comedy golfing with The Great One himself, Jackie Gleason. If you are a Lucy fan, buy this dvd set, you'll not be disappointed.
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