Digital Digest: Lucy Calls the President DVD Review; A Look at International DVDs

Welcome to the very first edition of Sitcoms Online Digital Digest, our new weekly feature where we will discuss all thing related to our sitcoms in the digital world! This will be a feature of our website every Saturday from now on. Our main focus will be on home media releases (that includes both DVD and Blu-ray) of sitcoms, including news of recently announced home media releases and a reminder of home media releases for the upcoming week. Digital, though, implies much more than just home media formats. We will also talk about things on the internet that are sitcom relevant, particularly relating to watching sitcoms on the internet as well as some discussion of internet video features relating to sitcoms. But that's not all! Each week, we will conclude with one or two "feature stories," where we will go in-depth on a DVD topic. But if you are a fan of blog reviews, there is no need to worry--they aren't going anywhere! Most weeks, at least one of our "feature stories" will be a blog review. This week, we are going to review The Lucille Ball Specials -- Lucy Calls the President. We are also going to take a look at some of our favorite American sitcoms on DVD, but with a twist. We are going to look at foreign releases of American sitcoms, which sometimes can be different from the versions released in the United States. We are simply trying to make the blog a much more interesting destination for your Saturday routine, just like your routine on Sunday of reading the Sunday newspaper with a cup of coffee in your hand! So enough of the introduction... time to get down to business with the inaugural edition of Sitcoms Online Digital Digest!


DIGITAL NEWS

Rhoda Morgenstern (and Shout! Factory) gives New York a third "last chance" in Rhoda -- Season Three, set for release on July 6. It comes at a $29.98 MSRP and is expected to include all unedited episodes. But Shout! Factory has yet another release of another classic sitcom set for a release on April 20. The Bill Cosby Show -- Season Two contains the second (and final) season of Bill Cosby's early 1970s sitcom on a four disc set. It is available for $39.99, but it is being sold exclusively through Shout! Factory's direct-to-consumer program.

Two of Sunday night's animated sitcoms will have new releases on June 15. Family Guy - Volume 8 will include 15 episodes from seasons seven and eight of the series, and will include deleted scenes and a Family Guy Karaoke featurette. No commentaries have been announced yet, but it is expected that the set will have them, probably on every episode. It comes at a $49.98 MSRP. American Dad -- Volume 5 contains 14 episodes, with commentaries for most episodes, deleted scenes, and a "Power Hour Drinking Game" featurette (we aren't quite sure what that is yet). It comes at a $39.98 MSRP. Both sets are being released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

MPI Home Video has been on a roll lately with their recent announcements of The Honeymooners -- Second Honeymoon and The Honeymooners -- Valentine Special, both being specials from the 1970s and set for a May 4 release. Coming up in just a little over a week, on April 6 (and we will even have a review of it today), is The Lucille Ball Specials -- Lucy Calls the President, a 1970s Lucille Ball special featuring both Gale Gordon and Vivian Vance. But there is even bigger news for Lucille Ball fans with the announcement of Here's Lucy -- Season Three, set for release on June 15. It will include a plethora of special features, including introductions on every episode (from Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr.), home movies, syndication promos, photos, and even a crossover episode from Danny Thomas' series, Make Room for Granddaddy. And the best part? It comes at a low $29.98 MSRP.

MGM has announced some new titles that will be available exclusively through CreateSpace, a DVD-R format where DVDs are created on-demand for customers at Amazon.com. While there are no sitcoms in this batch (which is already available for preorder), Flipper -- Season Two, The New Adventures of Flipper -- Season One, and Highway Patrol -- Season One are among the TV series being included. MGM has very few sitcoms in their library, and much of what they do have aside from The Addams Family (which has been released in its entirety) has been licensed out to Shout! Factory. Hopefully the abandoned series Green Acres could be a potential future release through CreateSpace, but considering that MGM will likely be under new ownership in the near future, it is entirely possible that DVD releases from MGM could go in an entirely different direction.

A&E Home Video has two releases coming up for sitcoms airing on A&E's sister network, Lifetime. Sherri -- The Complete Season One contains all 14 episodes of the first season, along with some special features on a two disc set at a $19.95 MSRP. Rita Rocks -- The Complete First Season contains 20 episodes and special features on a three disc set. Both sets will be released on April 27.

Mill Creek Entertainment has announced several re-releases of action dramas previously released by Anchor Bay, including Hunter -- The Complete Second Season, 21 Jump Street -- The Complete Second Season, The Greatest American Hero -- The Complete First Season, and The Greatest American Hero -- The Complete Series. All are scheduled to be released on May 18, with the season sets having a $14.98 MSRP and The Greatest American Hero -- The Complete Series having a $29.98 MSRP. But if you just can't wait, you may already be able to find some of these releases at some stores at a nice discount! Target has been selling multi-season packs of all of the series mentioned for $15.00 since January (stock seems to be dwindling down now, though), and Best Buy has recently started selling (within the past week or so) The Greatest American Hero -- The Complete Series at the very low price of $19.99. These appear to be available only in stores, and not online.

Finally, CBS DVD is preparing My Three Sons -- The Second Season, Volume Two for a June 15 release. The set will contain the final 18 episodes of the sophomore season of the series.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Next week (March 30) brings us a couple of DVD releases of interest to sitcom fans. The Abbott and Costello Show -- The Complete Series Collector's Edition from E1 Entertainment contains every episode of a series that often ranks as one of the greatest series of all-time. Shout! Factory has two sitcom releases, including Sports Night -- Season One (which has actually already been released as part of their previous Complete Series compilation) and Rhoda -- Season Two. The best part about the Rhoda set is that every episode is unedited and presented in much higher quality than the release of Rhoda -- Season One. You can read our review of Rhoda -- Season Two by clicking here. At the time of this edition of Digital Digest, we had not yet received review copies of the other two releases, but you can read our review of Sports Night -- The Complete Series by clicking here. Check back on our DVD Reviews page for reviews of these two sets coming shortly.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW:

This week, we are going to take a look at another DVD of The Lucille Ball Specials. After Here's Lucy left the air in 1974, Lucille Ball began a series of specials for CBS where she played characters similar to her roles in her previous series. In July, we took a look at the first release by MPI Home Video, The Lucille Ball Specials -- Lucy Gets Lucky/Three for Two. Now, we are going to take a look at Lucy Calls the President, a special from 1977 co-starring Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, and Ed McMahon.

DVD Review: The Lucille Ball Specials -- Lucy Calls the President
by skees53

The Lucille Ball Specials -- Lucy Calls the President (MPI, $14.98) is one of Lucille Ball's specials from CBS that aired following the conclusion of Here's Lucy. Airing in 1977, Ball plays Lucy Whittaker, a housewife from a small town named Bundy in Indiana, who calls President Jimmy Carter, and before she knows it, she finds herself planning for him to have dinner at the Whittaker house.

This special is one of the best of the series of specials, featuring a cast that reunites several of her former co-stars from previous series, as well as Ed McMahon and Steve Allen. Ed McMahon plays Floyd Whittaker, Lucy's husband, while Gale Gordon plays his father, Omar Whittaker, a staunch Republican who is less than pleased with the idea of a Democrat coming to dinner at the Whittaker house. Vivian Vance plays Lucy's best friend and neighbor Viv, who insists upon coming to dinner. Rounding out the cast is Mary Wickes as Lucy's Aunt Millie, and James Broadhead and Mary Jane Croft as the mayor and his wife. Steve Allen appears as himself, taping an interview with Lucy as she prepares for the visit from President Carter. Unlike the previous release of The Lucille Ball Specials, this one is more like a standard sitcom, being shot with multiple cameras and containing a live studio audience. It was also shot on videotape as opposed to film, and has the distinction of being the only thing that Lucille Ball ever starred in on tape.

The special begins with Lucy making a call to the White House to speak to the president, none other than Jimmy Carter. During the phone call, however, one thing leads to another, and before she knows it, President Carter decides that he will personally come to Bundy and have dinner at the Whittaker house. Of course, in the typical style of any Lucille Ball comedy, chaos and hilarity ensues as Bundy prepares for Mr. Carter's visit. Word spreads in Bundy like wildfire, and Viv insists upon coming over, using her friendship with Lucy as a reason to be invited. When Lucy's Aunt Millie wants to come, Viv tries to tell her that she isn't invited, which backfires when Millie threatens to have Viv's home foreclosed upon (and thus Millie is invited). The mayor insists upon being invited as well, and before Lucy knows it, everybody has invited every single person in town to dinner.

Now planning a dinner for 42 people (as opposed to the ten that she had initially planned to have), Lucy has her hands full preparing for the visit. Steve Allen drops by for an interview where everything goes wrong (including the sprinkler system going off in the lawn while taping the interview). The Secret Service makes a visit to the Whittaker house to make sure that everything is fine at the Whittaker house while Lucy and Floyd are at the grocery, which creates a serious problem when they return home and see the "prowler" roaming their living room. More shenanigans ensue, leading up to the big moment, which actually turns out to be a major disappointment at first, at least until Lucy gets a very special phone call from President Carter's mother, playing herself. The special appears to be completely unedited, running at 51 minutes and 3 seconds.

The DVD is packaged in a standard DVD case, as would be expected for a single special such as this one. The cover art has a photograph of Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon, and Ed McMahon from the special. The back of the case has two photos, one showing Lucy on the telephone and the other showing a photo of Lucy and Viv. The disc artwork has the same photo as shown on the front cover of the DVD.

The menus are pretty straightforward, with the main menu having the theme music from the special and options of Play with Introduction, Play without Introduction, Special Features, and Subtitles On/Off. These are all pretty straightforward. Special Features takes you to another menu that simply lists the special features. Chapters are placed all throughout the special at all of the usual places.

The video and audio quality of this DVD is excellent, with no real problems to report. There aren't any defects in the video other than some slight aging, and the audio, presented in mono, is loud and clear. English subtitles are available on the main feature.

The DVD includes special features, and plenty of them at that. James Broadhead, who played the mayor, gives a brief introduction (1:42) that can optionally be played right before the beginning of the special. "From Rehearsal to Broadcast" (37:05) is a very lengthy featurette that contains a ton of lost footage from rehearsal of the special. It compares the rehearsal scenes to what we actually see in the special, and is very fun to watch. We even get to see shots from the different cameras used in the multiple camera setup here. "Working with Lucy" (18:39) is an all-new interview with James Broadhead, where he talks about his experiences of working with Lucille Ball. This featurette appears to be something that was intended to be included on one of the Here's Lucy DVD sets, but it is probably more appropriate for this set anyway. He talks a lot about his experiences of working with Lucy, with a lot of attention to her personality on the set. It was very interesting to watch. Perhaps the best feature, though, is "Lucy on The Tonight Show" (12:12), where we get to see a clip of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson from the late 1960s where Carson interviews Lucy. It even includes some rehearsal footage from a Here's Lucy episode that Carson and Ed McMahon guest starred on. This is presented in black and white. "Let's Talk to Lucy" (18:22) is another edition of Lucille Ball's radio show, in a 1965 interview where she interviews Steve Allen. She seems to be very honored to have the opportunity to interview him, which is very much a change from how others would be honored to interview Lucy.

This is an excellent DVD that is a must-own for any Lucille Ball fan. This is the best special that I have seen from this so far, and many fans agree with that, particularly as it includes a final reunion of most of the cast of The Lucy Show. Specials like this wouldn't air on TV these days, but Lucille Ball was clearly such a powerful television star that she was able to get these on the air. It is too bad that more of the specials couldn't be as great as this one. Still, I look forward to seeing the other releases, and hope that MPI continues to do as good of a job on them as they did on this one.

(4.5/5 stars)

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BLOG FEATURE STORY:

American Sitcoms on DVD Around the World
by skees53

Take any DVD that you have out of your collection and look at the packaging. Chances are, if it is a release from any prominent studio, you'll see a little globe somewhere on the package that has the number "1" inside of it. If you are DVD savvy, then you already know what that means. But if not, I'll briefly explain it. It means that the DVD is manufactured such that it can only be viewed on DVD players manufactured to be used in Region 1, which includes the United States and Canada. A detailed explanation of regional coding can be found on Wikipedia.

We all know, however, that many of our favorite American series are popular in other countries besides our own, particularly in Europe. So one might suspect that the DVDs are encoded slightly different and that number "1" on the globe is replaced with another number. That is the case sometimes, but sometimes, the releases are much different than the United States releases, containing different edits of episodes, different special features, different audio tracks, and sometimes even different studios.

One Region 2 (that includes much of western Europe) DVD set that is drastically different from it's Region 1 counterpart is the first season of ALF. In the United States, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released ALF -- Season One in a highly disappointing set that included severely butchered episodes, some even running under 20 minutes. But in Region 2, Warner Home Video Germany released ALF -- Die Komplette Erste Staffel, containing episodes that are all unedited with the exception of one minor edit made for music copyright reasons. Lionsgate claimed that there were video quality issues with the first season episodes of ALF, but in watching the German release from Warner, there didn't appear to be any areas of concern at all.

Fans were disappointed with the releases of Roseanne -- The Complete First Season and The Cosby Show -- Season One in the United States, as they included all edited episodes. First Look Studios somewhat rectified the situation with The Cosby Show by releasing the first season unedited on The Cosby Show -- 25th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Edition, but that set is now out-of-print, leaving only the edited first season available for purchase. In the United Kingdom, however, Universal Pictures UK has the rights to release both series, and has been steadily releasing both series on DVD with unedited episodes. Other companies have the rights to the series in other countries, and it appears that only the first season of the Region 1 versions have suffered from edits.

Still, it doesn't take a whole other company to produce a better quality DVD set for another country. While Paramount's release of Happy Days -- The Complete First Season was a very nice set, subsequent releases from CBS DVD (Paramount's successor) have been a complete disappointment with music replacements all over the place. However, if you take a look at the later seasons as they were released in Region 2, you'll find the episodes unedited as they were intended to be. The Region 1 release of Married... With Children -- The Complete Fourth Season was a disaster, with more than 1/3 of the episodes being edited episodes. However, in Germany, the series was released by Sony without any edits. There is even a special DVD release for the series in the United Kingdom that includes every episode and a special bonus features disc not available in the United States. There are also Complete Series sets available for Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie in the United Kingdom and Japan.

We have even reviewed a few Canadian titles from the studio VEI, which has released Kate & Allie, Gimme a Break!, Hardcastle and McCormick, and Riptide. The best part about the VEI titles is that their titles are encoded for Region 1, as Canada and the United States are in Region 1. All of these titles were abandoned (or, in the case of Hardcastle and McCormick, never even started) in the United States. The Canadian releases give viewers a chance to see their favorite series on DVD. My Favorite Martian -- The Complete Third Season was even released in Australia (with Region 1 encoding for fans in the United States) after Rhino abandoned the TV-on-DVD business, although MPI is now planning a new Region 1 release for the third season.

All of these series include multiple audio tracks, with English being included on virtually every single international DVD release of an American sitcom that I have researched. The menus are typically in English, but in some cases, the packaging and episode information may be in a foreign language. Still, most viewers can usually figure things out with a little research. In general, it seems that there are fewer special features available on the international DVDs, likely a result of the original series cast and crew being based in the United States and having no deep interest in the international releases. Still, there are many cases where the international releases are better than the Region 1 release.

Due to the regional encoding, you can't just put one of these DVDs in your player and expect it to play. But it is relatively easy to modify your DVD player to make foreign DVDs work on your DVD player. VideoHelp.com has an excellent resource that can be found here that will help you modify your DVD player to play these DVDs (although you have to do this at your own risk, as any errors or mistakes could potentially render your DVD player useless). There are countless other resources available around the internet that can help you modify your DVD player to play DVDs from other regions. You can even look on Amazon.com or eBay to find DVD players that are already modified to be region-free, although you will likely pay quite a bit of money to get something that you can do yourself. There is also a secret that some DVD manufacturers won't advertise on some generic brand DVD players that just cost a few bucks. Many of these are region-free out of the box. They do not advertise this due to legal constraints (it is not illegal to own a modified DVD player or DVDs from another region, but it is illegal to ADVERTISE a DVD player as being modified), so you would have to do your own research to find out which ones are indeed region free.

You can find some of these DVDs for sale on various websites around the internet, but the best places to look are the various websites owned by Amazon.com, particularly Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.de. Note that Amazon.de is completely in German, so you might need to use a translation site such as Yahoo! Babel Fish to translate for you. Before you finalize your order, the total amount of the order will be converted into US dollars, so that you know exactly how much you are spending.


LOOKING AHEAD

We'll be back next Saturday for Sitcoms Online Digital Digest, where we will have more news for you (as we will each and every week!), a review of Battlestar Galactica -- The Complete Series, and a very special review of the international release of ALF -- Die Komplette Erste Staffel (that is The Complete First Season for those who don't know German). You won't want to miss it! In the meantime, we would like to hear your thoughts about this new blog feature. Let us know what you think by posting comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us. We are definitely interest in hearing what you think!

Happy Labor Day; TV Rebels: Desi Arnaz - More Than Just a Bongo Player

Happy Labor Day everyone! Most of you are probably outdoors spending this last "unofficial" last day of summer with your family & friends, but for those of you who are in needs of some TV marathons...you've come to the right place as usual!
We have mentioned many of these already, but it's a good reminder if you have forgotten! The Golden Girls will get the most play this holiday! Hallmark Channel will air a marathon from 8am-12am, while WE tv will air a marathon also from 1pm-7pm. BET is airing a marathon of The Game all-day today, while TBS goes to The Office this Labor Day from 4pm-8pm.
Other notable marathons are for dramas...Criminal Minds on A&E, NCIS on USA Network, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family. Both TNT and SOAPnet have short stunts of Law & Order and One Tree Hill from 11am-5pm, while The N has what else...Degrassi all-day. And on network TV, ABC has a three episode block of Castle from 8-11pm, as the season premiere is two weeks from tonight. TV Land has a movie marathon from 9am-6:30pm.
Reality wise we have Supernanny on style, 16 and Pregnant on MTV, Cops on G4, Catch 21 on GSN, and Dirty Jobs on Discovery. Hope you all find something!

It's time for the return of TV Rebels. We originally had special permission to publish the first 6 essays on TV shows and actors that will be featured in the upcoming book TV Rebels: 100 People and Programs That Shaped the Medium by authors Lou Orfanella and Oscar De Los Santos...and then last year we got rights to 6 additional essays (for a total of 12!), so including today's three essays are left. Upcoming TV Rebel columns will be about Rod Serling and TV Dinners. The book is in the works and will be released in 2010...so stay tuned for that and look for a review of the book right here before it comes out!

So without further adieu, we bring you the tenth essay of TV Rebels:

Desi Arnaz: More Than Just a Bongo Player
by Lou Orfanella

In 1950 when CBS was interested in bringing Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband radio program to television Ball demanded that her real life husband Desi Arnaz play her husband. The network turned her down feeling that the viewing public would not accept Arnaz with his heavy accent as her husband. She held out, the network acquiesced and Mr. and Mrs. Desi Arnaz forever became Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in popular culture history.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had been married since 1940. By 1950 she was doing her radio show and periodic big screen projects in a mostly unnoticed film career. Arnaz was travelling the country with his band and their marriage was strained. By insisting they do what would become I Love Lucy together Ball hoped to solidify their domestic life. "Richard Denning, Lucy's radio hubby, comments: 'She said it would help her marriage. Also the show. And, of course, she was right'" (Andrews 22).

Ball was determined that Arnaz not be seen as playing second fiddle to her. The title, I Love Lucy, in fact was an effort to include Desi in the title and indeed since he is the "I" give him top billing. "The general impression seems to be that he was a lucky Cuban who was handsome, charming, played the bongo, and happened to be married to the funniest lady in the whole world. Well, this was all true, but there was a lot more to Desi than that. He may have only been that when he started, but he had an amazing ability for learning things and he was an astute businessman" (Davis 55).

It was Arnaz' business acumen that changed the traditional method of producing situation comedies. Traditionally shows were broadcast live and "preserved" on low quality kinescopes, which were essentially copies made by aiming a movie camera at a television monitor and which were used to broadcast programs outside of the eastern time zone where sponsors were less likely to view them and challenge the quality. When production was set to begin on I Love Lucy for its premier season, Lucy and Desi lived on the west coast and had no intention of moving to New York where the show could be done live for what was then the largest audience, and the sponsors as well. Desi's solution was to film the show like a motion picture resulting in high quality prints. It would be an expensive proposition requiring three or four cameras, special sound and lighting techniques, and potentially multiple sets which would increase the costs. The network only agreed after the Arnazs agreed to a pay cut to help defray the production costs. "The burden of planning this new method fell heavily on Desi's shoulders. No one had attempted a situation comedy on film, shot before a live studio audience: he was plowing virginal fields" (Andrews 32).

Arnaz was not only successful in changing the way sitcoms were filmed and preserved for the lucrative rerun syndication market, but was shrewd enough to acquire an ownership percentage in the series which he and Lucy parlayed into Desilu Production, at one time, the most successful in the business.

Works Cited
Andrews, Bart. "Lucy&Ricky&Fred&Ethel: The Story of I Love Lucy." New York: Dutton, 1976.
Davis, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr. "Laughing with Lucy." Cincinnati Emmis, 2005.

Blog DVD Review Special: The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three For Two

Our summer weekly report will not be posted today due to the holiday weekend. Instead we bring you a special Blog DVD Review on a special day with The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three For Two.

Today we take a look at MPI's The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three For Two. These were two hour-long CBS specials that aired in the '70s. See skees53's Blog DVD Review of The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three For Two:

The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/Three For Two (MPI, $19.98) features two hour long specials from CBS starring Lucille Ball. After nearly a quarter century of starring in three different top-rated CBS sitcoms, Lucille Ball was ready to leave the weekly grind of producing and starring in new episodes, so after the 1973-1974 season, her third series, Here's Lucy, left the CBS lineup. But she wasn't quite ready to leave CBS, which brings us the Lucille Ball specials. These specials were much like a movie-of-the-week featuring Lucille Ball, and she was given a creative license to do pretty much whatever she desired on them. They began in 1974 with Happy Anniversary and Goodbye, which is not featured on this disc, but will be on the next disc. On this disc, we have the second and third special, Lucy Gets Lucky featuring Dean Martin and Three for Two featuring Jackie Gleason. There were ultimately eight specials total, ending with the 1980 special, Lucy Moves to NBC, which will also be featured on a future release from MPI.

The first of the two features on this DVD is Lucy Gets Lucky, an hour-long special from 1975 featuring Dean Martin. In this special, we have Lucy taking a trip to the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas to see Dean Martin perform, a show that everybody in "sin city" wants to see, but is forced to make reservations for eight since they won't take her reservation for one. When she shows up to claim her reservations, however, she finds that her scheme to get just one seat has failed, and she loses all eight of her seats. Determined to do anything to see Dean Martin, she discovers that employees of the hotel will have an opportunity to see him perform in a special employee show, and decides to turn her little vacation into a career as a blackjack dealer! Will she make it big in this job, or will typical Lucy antics cause her to fail? Jackie Coogan is also featured in this special, and Gary Morton (Lucille Ball's husband) plays a minor role.

The second feature is Three for Two, another hour-long special from 1975, where Lucille Ball stars with comedic legend Jackie Gleason. Here, we see what we get when two comedic legends come together: a comedy-drama (which leans heavily on the drama side) reminiscent of the TV series Love, American Style. There are three stories presented here about three different couples (all played by Ball and Gleason), beginning with "Herb & Sally." In this story, the couple is on a vacation in Rome to escape their problems at home, but Herb isn't prepared to escape them. This causes more marital unhappiness with the couple. "Fred & Rita" presents a story that resembles a plot that would be found on a soap opera. Fred is married, and so is Rita, and they are in love with each other. But they aren't married to each other, and must go to great lengths to cheat on their respective spouses. In the third installment, "Mike & Pauline," Ball and Gleason play parents of adult children that want to spend New Years' Eve out celebrating, instead of the usual family tradition of spending it. Mike has a man-to-man talk with his son about his relationship, and Pauline has a woman-to-woman talk with her daughter about her relationship.

Lucy Gets Lucky is enjoyable and has some great moments that will remind Lucille Ball fans of the slapstick routines that made her the biggest name on television in the '50s and '60s. Three For Two, in all honesty, proves that Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason weren't quite made for the TV drama genre. There are many great moments in these, and the stories aren't bad, but one would tend to expect something hilarious with these two comic geniuses on one set. Instead, we have a sappy romantic drama that is reminiscent of an episode of Love, American Style, and a bad one at that. Still, die-hard fans of Lucille Ball will enjoy Three For Two, and it is also a rare opportunity to see these comedic legends on the same set.

The video and audio quality of the specials is not exactly spectacular, but that can somewhat be expected, as these have remained largely unseen since their original airings. Lucy Gets Lucky looks decent, but Three For Two does not look quite so good, with some significant grain and very dull colors. The audio is rather low on both specials (presented in mono, of course). There are English subtitles for both specials. Each special is unedited, running around 52 minutes each. In fact, Lucy Gets Lucky even has the original sponsor tags from Timex.

As we all know by now, of course, nothing related to Lucy can be released on DVD without a plethora of special features, and of course, we have that on this set! First, we have a short clip (10:51) from Art Linkletter's House Party dated February 24, 1965. On this, we get to see Lucy doing some special sound effects for a fake radio program. Next, we have two segments of a talk radio program that Lucy did in the mid-60s called Let's Talk to Lucy, both featuring Dean Martin as her guest. Basically, these were 10 minute shows where she would interview famous celebrities without playing any character actress herself, but instead simply being Lucille Ball. It is said that she wanted to do this as a change of pace from the ordinary and routine. In "Working With Lucy" (14:40), Gino Conforti (a frequent guest star on Lucille Ball's programs, particularly Here's Lucy) talks about his experiences of working with Lucille Ball. He talks about Here's Lucy, the specials on this set, and even talks about Bungle Abbey, a sitcom pilot about monks living in a monastery, which was directed by Lucille Ball. A series that never materialized from the pilot, of course, but perhaps this will be included as a bonus feature on one of the future Lucille Ball Specials DVDs. Finally, we see that nobody is perfect, as there are bloopers from Lucy Gets Lucky (5:43) featuring Dean Martin. Unfortunately, there are no bloopers featured from Three for Two.

This was a very interesting DVD to watch, and even though one of the specials was not as great as I expected, I still enjoyed watching it. It is interesting to see how much television evolved over a quarter century from the first episode of I Love Lucy on CBS (where Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds) to where Lucy plays a woman that is cheating on her own husband. Lucy Gets Lucky is very reminiscent of classic Lucy in a more modern era, and I really enjoyed that one. According to an insert that I found on CBS DVD's The Official First Season of The Lucy Show (a full review of that set is coming very soon, Lucy fans!) MPI will be releasing a total of six specials on four releases, with the first two containing two specials each and the last two containing one special each. The most loyal fans of Lucille Ball, of course, are going to love everything on this DVD, but other fans will enjoy this DVD as well.

-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)

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Related links:
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The Lucy Show TV.com Page
Here's Lucy TV.com Page

SitcomsOnline.com Exclusive: Interview with Retro Television Network and a RTN T-Shirt Contest; TV Land's The 50 Greatest TV Icons

It is now day 10 of the writers' strike. Nothing really new to report as of now, so I won't talk much about it today because we have a very exciting interview for you today. As always with our interviews, it is in Seven Questions form! In addition to today's interview, stay tuned in the coming days, as we might have a "Seven Questions" interview with Willie Aames (Buddy from Charles in Charge), just in time for the Charles in Charge second season DVD out next week. Look for our review of that set later this week and don't forget to enter our contest by clicking HERE. And now to today's interview...

We have had the pleasure to interview Neal Ardman and Mark Dvornik of Retro Television Network (RTN)! RTN is a new television network that provides each affiliate a customized feed with classic hit shows, in addition to local programming including news, weather and sports. RTN is specifically designed to go on a broadcast digital channel and provides local broadcasters with a way to get ratings and successfully monetize their digital spectrum.

Mark Dvornik has been very good and helpful to us, so we thank him in making this happen. Neal Ardman and Mark Dvornik sat down with me with their TV Dinners watching RTN (Retro Television Network) in another installment of SitcomsOnline's Seven Questions Series.

"Seven Questions with Retro Television Network's Neal Ardman and Mark Dvornik"

SitcomsOnline: Hi Neal and Mark, this is Pavan from SitcomsOnline.com. Thanks for this opportunity. We are loving what Retro Television Network (RTN) is doing. We know what the network is and have promoted the news and details to our readers, but maybe you can explain how you guys work a bit better. So, what is RTN and how can we get it? How did it start?
RTN: Mark turns to Neal and says, "Tell the folks that story of how RTN came to be." Neal says, Well Mark, I was out hunting near my cabin when I missed fired a shot, it hit the ground, and all of a sudden a crude format of a network came out of the ground! (They both laugh at the TV reference to an opening of a classic hit show.) That was 2005, and the first RTN was born on KKYK-TV in Little Rock, AR. Mark adds, Call your favorite local television station, ask for the program director, and tell them you would like for them to put RTN on their digital channel.

SitcomsOnline: So RTN has gone national, right? We read it was going to in July, but we didn't start to see any news until late August. We got lots of e-mails asking when RTN was going national and if their cities would get it.
RTN: Mark says, RTN is the first customized local network, and we are signing on markets one city at a time. Neal adds, RTN is one of the most cutting edge broadcaster out there. We are broadcasting now in MPEG4!

SitcomsOnline: What is the coverage goal for the network? I don't think there were any announcements for RTN stations in the top markets, like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Are we close to having RTN's in those markets? WPIX-DT would be good in NY I think, since the Tube Music Network is now gone. That would be a major step!
RTN: Mark says, The coverage goal is National. We will not comment on any discussions going on in any markets. However, as I stated earlier that if you would like to see RTN on your market, you should contact your local station and request that they pick up RTN on their local digital channel.

SitcomsOnline: Right now we see classics from the CBS/Paramount and Universal libraries. Can we expect shows from other studios soon? And for the CBS/Paramount and Universal libraries, are you able to choose any TV show or is there some sort of system? Personally, I've been missing shows like Webster, Dear John (both Paramount), and Out of this World (Universal) and would love to see those on RTNs. But I still like the shows you already air like Happy Days, Family Ties and The A-Team!
RTN: Neal says, We love all the shows that you listed, too. As they say, stay tuned...

SitcomsOnline: So does the local affiliate get full rights to choose what shows they want to air, or does RTN help as well?
RTN: Neal is chuckling as he says, We can not answer any questions of a legal nature, without consulting our attorney Perry Mason. We will have to get back to you...

SitcomsOnline: Where can fans call or e-mail the network? Does RTN have a website that is live? I know there used to be one, but that doesn't seem to be working right now.
RTN: Mark says, The fans of RTN in each local market should let the local station know via e-mail how much they like that they have RTN on the air. Neal adds, Our new wonderful website is under construction. We did a focus group and found that our Etch-A-Sketch was not refreshing the page quick enough!

SitcomsOnline: So, we heard that your network has a mascot?
RTN: Neal says, His name is Beau, and he is a chocolate lab. He can be seen in promos with SIT, STAY, WATCH, which we also have on t-shirts. Mark adds, Pavan has secured some t-shirts for a lucky few. He will unveil how you can win one later in this interview. Neal concludes with, Beau is everything you want in a network mascot. First he is loyal to RTN. He only wags his tail at our shows. He brings us the morning trades so we can stay up on the goings on. And he has not accidents like the other network mascots.

SitcomsOnline: Well, thanks once again for taking some time out for us in your busy schedules! And much success to RTN!
RTN: Mark says, We are honored that you asked for us to speak to your readers, we love television and bringing these great shows to you. Thanks for watching us, and contact your local station if we are not on in your market yet. RTN is adding markets each week, and Pavan is doing an excellent job keeping you all informed on the progress.

Our thanks to to Neal and Mark of RTN, and best wishes to them in making RTN a big success! Some great humor even in their responses! Our apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time. For more information on Retro Television Network, continue to stay with us for info and don't forget to log-on to their website when it goes up at http://www.retrotelevision.net. So, stay tuned right here on the blog for news updates for this wonderful network! We seem to be getting new affiliates each week! Fast growing indeed!

And as Mark mentioned in the interview we have a contest for you RTN fans! We have 10 RTN T-shirts to give away with Beau the mascot. The contest starts today (Nov. 14) and ends Dec. 13...so hopefully you'll get your RTN T-Shirt in time for Christmas! That is our gift to you! Before you enter, please make sure you read the rules and regulations. So, without further adieu click HERE to enter our RTN T-Shirt Contest!

Legendary Johnny Carson -- the "King of Late Night TV" -- is ranked the number one TV icon in Entertainment Weekly and TV Land Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons, premiering on Friday, November 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The two-hour TV Land special looks at individuals like Carson in addition to the great Lucille Ball and the hilarious Jerry Seinfeld, who have all made their indelible mark in TV history. The complete list will be revealed in the TV Land Original special and in Entertainment Weekly's annual DVD issue on stands that day. The magazine feature celebrates each icon's contribution to television along with DVD recommendations from each of the icons' work. The TV special is produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions.
For more info on this two-hour special and the complete top 50 list, click HERE (if you want to be spoiled).
The list they made is actually a top 100 list, but the TV special will only cover the top 50. 100-51 is listed on the TV Land website, if you want to take a look at that.

TV Alert!; Mini-DVD Review: Perry Mason S2, Part 2 (Nov. 13); Solomon's Weekly Rant: Why No Jay in 2009?; Morning SportsCenter So Special?

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for mini-DVD reviews and Solomon's Weekly Rant! But first we have a TV alert for this weekend that is worth breaking in for from our regular Saturday blog programming!

Starting this weekend, Entertainment Tonight Weekend will count down its top 20 TV stars of all time, accompanied by material from 27 years of interviews and other footage.
The list includes Don Knotts, Andy Griffith, Johnny Carson, Michael J. Fox, Carol Burnett, Annette Funiccello, Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett and John Ritter. The No. 1 star will be revealed by Donny Osmond on Nov. 10.
Tune in the weekend of Nov 3 and Nov. 10 on ET Weekend! Check www.etonline.com for weekend show times in your area. In NYC? This weekend it will air Sunday at 3PM and Monday morning at 2:35am on WCBS and next weekend Saturday at 7pm and Monday morning at 2:35am. Check for your area's listings on their website or TV listings sites, such as TitanTV.com. Discuss the special with other fans HERE.
Now back to our regularly scheduled Saturday blog programming.
Today we take a look at CBS DVD's Perry Mason: The Second Season, Volume 2. Perry Mason of course is the very popular law series. The series stars the great Raymond Burr. See skees53's mini-DVD review of Perry Mason: The Second Season, Volume 2:

Perry Mason: The Second Season, Volume 2 (CBS DVD, $39.98) brings Perry Mason back to defend those that don't have a chance in court... yet they win anyway because Perry is just that amazing! Volume 2 brings the second half of the second season (15 episodes) together in a four-disc DVD set. This means Perry has 15 new cases that he has to do the impossible with--prove that his client that everybody thinks is guilty is actually innocent. Fortunately, he is pretty much always up against Hamilton Burger, a man that isn't quite as powerful as, say, Nancy Grace. We see Perry have to defend a woman that is accused of murdering the woman that was blackmailing her new husband in "The Case of the Romantic Rogue." It's all fun and games... until a comedian's friend is a accused of killing the advertising man that cut the comedian out of a lucrative deal in "The Case of the Jaded Joker." A woman is accused of killing her grandfather that she has never even met in "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop." In "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager," a woman makes promises to her kids in her will... which her granddaughter counts on when she gives IOUs to a poker parlor boss that suddenly turns up dead. We find out why kids and guns don't exactly mix in "The Case of the Deadly Toy." Bruises and an injured foot on a bird may help Perry solve a murder in "The Case of the Deadly Toy."
The four-disc set is presented in packaging that is very similar to all of the previous sets, and once again, CBS DVD has for some reason chosen to continue with the double slimcases on this set (a good choice in my opinion) as opposed to the regular cases that they have been using on many other sets lately. As has been the case with the previous sets, the video and audio quality of each episode is almost perfectly flawless, which is amazing for a series as old as this one. Of course, there is the occasional grain and such, but there is VERY little of that, and the quality is generally perfect. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital Mono (hopefully nobody seriously expected stereo) with closed-captioning available for those that require it for each episode. The episodes all appear to be unedited, running around 50 minutes each, and there isn't even a disclaimer stating that some episodes may be changed from their original versions as there is on some CBS DVD sets, although in all fairness, this show never used popular music in the first place. The set is very disappointing on the special features front (as in there are no special features at all), but then again, this isn't the first time this show has gone without special features. It doesn't help that many of the people that were involved with the show have passed on already (after all, the show is fifty years old), but certainly there are fans out there that can help. There has to be a reason that this show is a top seller on DVD! The verdict on this set: buy it now!
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Perry Mason TV.com Page


Solomon's Weekly Rant
Saturday, November 3, 2007
"Why No Jay in 2009?; Why Is The Morning SportsCenter So Special?"
By Solomon Davis

NBC president Jeff Zucker has confirmed this week that NBC is removing Jay Leno from The Tonight Show in 2009 to make room for unfunny man Conan O'Brien which will makes my blood boil because Jay has been the funniest man on late night TV since 1992. Also when Jay is making people laugh he is not jumping up and down like a fool, he is standing there in one spot delivering jokes which is how comedy is supposed to be done. But Conan O'Brien who is unable to make people laugh by standing in one spot has to jump up and down like a monkey and make crazy facial expressions every night for someone to laugh. I just want NBC to know that they are making the biggest mistake in the history of their network by getting rid of the "King of Late Night TV" from The Tonight Show just so everyone can watch Conan do his clown act an hour earlier. A new title of the show can be "Late Night Clown" since his act will still be the same when he takes over as the new host of The Tonight Show. I hope Jay is on late night TV in 2009, even if it is an hour later in Conan's slot?

ESPN's SportsCenter that comes on weekday mornings has a rundown of topics on the right side of the TV screen of all the sports stories that will be talked about during the entire show. But you don't see this rundown on the SportsCenter's that air at 6pm and 11pm. Why can't there be an outline of sports topics on all the SportsCenters since some people might not be interested in in the sports they are talking about on the main screen. Can't believe no one at ESPN has the thought process of making the rundown on all SportsCenter episodes. It doesn't make sense having it on just mornings and not the evenings and late night...what if I'm not a morning person or am at work in the mornings? If you have it one, you should have them on all of them, I say.

My Weird TV Moments of the Week:
Monday, October 29, 2007: On The View, at the start of the show the ladies noticed a fly on the table and all of them started running away from the table like it was a mouse or a rat. Ladies it wasn't that serious!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007: During the ESPN NBA telecast of Dallas Mavericks at Cleveland Cavaliers, for some reason play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico felt the need to bring up "Tony Kornheiser." Since Jimmy Kimmel got banned from the MNF booth for talking about him, should Tirico be banned now from NBA telecasts?

Agree or disagree with Solomon? Discuss it here.

DISCLAIMER: Remember, Solomon is not the voice of SitcomsOnline. He is just stating his opinions and does not reflect what SitcomsOnline says or thinks. It is just his 'View' but it is always quite entertaining.

Nick at Nite Sked Change; More TV Land Awards Details; WGN Adds 'Chappelle's', More for Fall 2007

Once again Nick at Nite will not air their regular schedule this Saturday and Sunday. The last few weeks they have aired nothing but Fresh Prince. This week it will be a mix of Roseanne and Fresh Prince all night long. Roseanne from 10p-1a & 4-6a on Saturday and 9p-1a & 4-6a on Sunday and Fresh Prince 1-4a on both nights. It is likely they will do this each weekend, but for now it is just for this weekend.
They have also schedule Designing Women to the late Thursday (early Friday) 5:30 a.m. slot starting April 12. Murphy Brown will air at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday nights (early Sundays), as well. Since Nick at Nite likes to change their weekend schedule to all Fresh/Roseanne, Murphy will probably never air. As always, this is subject to change, especially with this network. View it in list form if you prefer that.

TV Land announced today that it will salute Lucille Ball, Roots, The Brady Bunch, Taxi and Hee Haw among others at the Fifth Annual TV Land Awards hosted by Kelly Ripa (taping on Saturday, April 14). The gala premieres on TV Land on Sunday, April 22nd at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be rebroadcast on TV Land's sister network, Nick at Nite that same night beginning at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
Legendary comedienne Carol Burnett will bestow the Legacy of Laughter Award on Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. on behalf of their mother, Lucille Ball for her groundbreaking career and body of work including her enduring sitcom I Love Lucy. The cast of The Brady Bunch will be reunited on stage to accept the Pop Culture Award. The landmark mini-series Roots, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, will be honored for its place in television history. The Entertainer Award will be given to Hee Haw, one of television's longest running country music series. Taxi, which launched and furthered the careers of several Hollywood notables, will be awarded the Medallion Award for keeping the meter running for all these years.
TV Land will also present awards in several other categories, including the 2006 Future Classic Award - which TV Land unveiled in 1998 and is presented annually to the one new show from the previous calendar year that best exemplifies the qualities of an emerging television classic.
To view the full release with more information, including a list of attendees thus far, click HERE.

Beginning this fall, Chapelle's Show, will join Superstation WGN. Chapelle's Show features comedian Dave Chappelle as the host of this cutting-edge sketch-comedy. The first three seasons of the half-hour show have been acquired for a two-year run.
It will begin airing nationally on Superstation in Late Fringe, where it will run as part of a late night comedy block that includes new addition Reno 911, successful comedies like Scrubs and Becker, and newcomer Corner Gas, Canada's #1 sitcom premiering on Superstation WGN this fall.