MPI does masterful job on 6/30/09 "Lucille Ball Specials" DVD release!!

[TeeVeeCloset]

Thought I would put this on the "Here's Lucy" board, since the specials were produced following the end of the series. MPI has done a fantastic masterful job on the upcoming 6/30/09 release entitled "The Lucille Ball Specials" featuring two 1975 specials not seen since their original broadcasts 34 years ago! I'm not even going to get into the scripts, acting, no laugh-track part of these specials.....for no matter how you look at it, these are historical lost treasures of television and for these to be released is an amazing almost shocking treat. I will start my comments with the incredible special features which include an interview with legendary character actor Gino Conforti, if you don't know his name, you will recognize him in seconds! Gino appears in both specials and talks of his "Here's Lucy" episode as well. Other special features include a teaser for "Here's Lucy" coming in August 2009, an original network promo introduced by Kaye Ballard & Eve Arden promoting "The Mothers-In-Law", listed as coming soon by MPI. Bloopers and outtakes from the two "Lucy Specials, two episodes from Lucy's long lost radio series with Dean Martin as her guest and Lucy's appearance on Art Linkletter's House Party, which is silly, but is very rare and enjoyable to see. The disc has beautiful silkscreened full color pictures from both specials.

Now to the specials......First up is the March 1, 1975 "Lucy Gets Lucky" with guest star Dean Martin.......The special is introduced by comedic actor Paul Picerni, who has a small role in the special. The special includes the original Timex commercial sponsor bumpers at beginning and end. Original commercials have been deleted. The quality of the specials are in pristine, beautiful vivid color. Again yes the scripts are a bit weak, but it doesn't matter, for hard core Lucy fans these are precious gems that we thought would never see the light of day again. On a very interesting side note, Dean performs his signature song "Everybody Loves Somebody" as well as "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" a big hit from 1974...as I watching I thought how if CBS/Paramount had released this, the songs would have been cut, but somehow MPI has cleared the rights. The title of the special has two meanings as "Lucy Gets Lucky" in Las Vegas in her quest to see Dean in concert and (SPOILER ALERT) ........then appears to literally "get lucky" with Dean at the end!

I will be adding to this post hopefully within a week to give my thoughts on the other highly anticipated second special on this single disc "Three For Two" with guest star Jackie Gleason....a three story dramedy which centers on different aspects of marriage.

But the purpose of this post is to say, pre-order this incredible DVD release from MPI scheduled for release on June 30, 2009. Hopefully this is only the beginning of opening up the Lucy cannon of rare one time specials that she starred in through her incredible career.

Almost forgot to mention that during the Gino Conforti interview, there are clips of a pilot about a bunch of monks that Lucy directed starring Gale Gordon, Charlie Callas, Graham Jarvis (Mary Hartman) and Gino in pristine quality. So maybe the entire pilot will be an extra on one of the upcoming "Here's Lucy" seasons from MPI.

I write this as a fan and contributor and am not affliated with MPI in anyway.

[LittleRickyII]

Thanks for the detailed synopsis! I'm looking forward to seeing this and all the releases during this grand Lucy summer.

[Jude The Obscure]

The bonus features alone make this DVD worth the bargain it is at Amazon!!

Lucy Gets Lucky to me was like a lost Lucy Show episode--because this Lucy was very much Lucy Carmichael.

Three for Two was a very interesting experiment--Lucy was definitely trying to show that she could play other things besides her Lucy character. I have to admit, I was slightly bored with some of it.

[McGillicuddy]

I hope they release "Lucy in London" (or Lucy Goes to London) Especially since she's in the character of Lucy Carmichael in this.

[Pavan]

Here is our review by Skees:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2009/07/blog-dvd-review-special-lucille-ball.html

[catlover79]

Sounds awesome!! :cool: :D

[Jude The Obscure]

The review is spot on! I agree with just about everything skees53 said.

I too am wondering about the specials Lucy made in the '60s such as Lucy in London and The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour (which had Lucy truly wanted, she would have given up The Lucy Show to focus on a comedy-variety series, esp after Viv left).

[Benno123]

I agree with the reviews, the quality of the disc and the bonus features were great! I do agree about Three For Two and what Jude said, it is kind of boring. Still, it is interesting to see Gleason and Ball work together.

I wonder what the releases of specials will be, and if the 1960s specials will be released. I also wonder if "Lucy Goes To Nashville" will be included as well!

[Jude The Obscure]

MPI plans to release all 8 of her post HL specials that ended with "Lucy Moves to NBC". I haven't heard anything about the ones done in the '60s....maybe CBS owns those?

I personally can't wait for "Lucy Calls the President"--it is the one (along with the NBC one) that I have the most memories from.

[Robert 13]

In that review, it says that MPI will be releasing 4 sets each with 2 specials on them except for the last 2 which will have 1 each. That makes up about 6 specials. Is this in addition to the one already released?

I, too, am looking forward to "Lucy Calls The President". Can't wait. Hope to see another one released before the end of the year. It will be a huge Lucy Christmas Shopping season if they release another "Here's Lucy" season and another "Lucy Show" season. It would be smart. I know a lot of fans who will snap these up for themselves and for others as gifts. :)

[Benno123]

Do you think they will release "CBS Salutes Lucy?" That special has already been released once before on DVD. Granted some more bonus features would be nice, but I just wonder if that will be one of the releases.

I agree, "Lucy Calls The President" is THE ONE I am waiting for, to finally see and have in good video quality! Well, that special and "Happy Anniversary and Goodbye" which I always have enjoyed watching.

[Robert 13]

If anyone wants any advice on where NOT to pre-order the upcoming Lucy dvds, then be sure to avoid DeepDiscount.com. They have horrible customer service. They have lost my package and refuse to do anything about it. So I have had to order elsewhere and pay for another copy of this dvd. They have always had very slow shipping time but this is the worst it has ever been. So, be forewarned. Deepdiscount.com is not a reliable source for buying dvds.

[skees53]

In that review, it says that MPI will be releasing 4 sets each with 2 specials on them except for the last 2 which will have 1 each. That makes up about 6 specials. Is this in addition to the one already released?

I, too, am looking forward to "Lucy Calls The President". Can't wait. Hope to see another one released before the end of the year. It will be a huge Lucy Christmas Shopping season if they release another "Here's Lucy" season and another "Lucy Show" season. It would be smart. I know a lot of fans who will snap these up for themselves and for others as gifts. :)

That is including the one already released. The next one will include "Happy Anniversary & Goodbye" and "What Now, Catherine Curtis?" "Lucy Calls the President" and "Lucy Moves to NBC" will be released by themselves. I really don't know much about these specials, but it appears that there was some Nashville one as well, and it doesn't look like MPI will be releasing that.

I have no idea when any of these will be released, in fact, I only found out about these other specials because inside of my DVD set for The Lucy Show S1 (by the way, I am putting the finishing touches on that review, and it should be posted either tonight or tomorrow night, and I think fans will be pleased with the set), there was an MPI advertisement for all of their Lucy related items that they have or are on the way. There isn't really anything else "new" mentioned here though... just the specials, Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie (which was released a few months ago), Here's Lucy (it says all six seasons are now available on DVD, but obviously that isn't true yet), and The Mothers-in-Law (which definitely isn't Lucy, but it does connect since it was produced and directed by Desi Arnaz).

[McGillicuddy]

MPI plans to release all 8 of her post HL specials that ended with "Lucy Moves to NBC". I haven't heard anything about the ones done in the '60s....maybe CBS owns those?

I personally can't wait for "Lucy Calls the President"--it is the one (along with the NBC one) that I have the most memories from.


Not to mention that Vivian, Gale, Mary Jane, and Mary Wickes are all in "Lucy Calls The President"! Vivian Vance would pass away about a year later.

[Jude The Obscure]

Hey skees......how come an MPI ad was in a CBS DVD product?? :lol: Are the two co-operating hoping to use synergy to get sales for all Lucy product?

[skees53]

Hey skees......how come an MPI ad was in a CBS DVD product?? :lol: Are the two co-operating hoping to use synergy to get sales for all Lucy product?

I thought that was unusual too... you'll also see during the Lucie Arnaz interview on the Lucy Show set, there are short clips from Here's Lucy that say "Courtesy of MPI Home Video" on the bottom of the screen.

[LittleRickyII]

I thought that was unusual too... you'll also see during the Lucie Arnaz interview on the Lucy Show set, there are short clips from Here's Lucy that say "Courtesy of MPI Home Video" on the bottom of the screen.

Sure, this is just good business. As with I Love Lucy, there's not a great wealth of bonus material available from the TLS era (like there is for HL -- material that belong to the Lucille Ball estate). So you know it's a huge plus for CBS to have Lucie Arnaz agree to be interviewed for this TLS DVD set. And I doubt she would have agreed to the interview had CBS not promised to include a plug for the MPI Here's Lucy Season One DVD set. Lucie Arnaz doesn't have any direct benefit from sales of The Lucy Show, due to her mother's sale of that company back in '67, though Lucille Ball did continue to hold onto Paramount stock (But this DVD is just a drop in the bucket for Paramount and would have no notable impact on Paramount stock (which I assume Lucie may have inherited from her mother, unless it was sold off at some point). However, Lucie Arnaz and her brother did inherit their parents' estates, which included everything produced by Desi Arnaz Productions (The Mother's-in-Law) and Lucille Ball Productions (Here's Lucy and the subsequent Lucille Ball specials and, I think, the Tom Cruise film All the Right Moves). So they will benefit anything related to those products.

[McGillicuddy]

It makes sense to me! Both companies are benefitting from this. I'm so glad all the "Lucy" programming is being released! Only thing left, Life With Lucy:)

[LittleRickyII]

It makes sense to me! Both companies are benefitting from this. I'm so glad all the "Lucy" programming is being released! Only thing left, Life With Lucy:)

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. I guess Lucie and Desi Jr. own that one, too? Or does it belong to Aaron Spelling's estate?

[Jude The Obscure]

^It belongs to CBS/Paramount, since they own Aaron Spelling Television.

[Robert 13]

I hope they make that series available too. It's her final tv series. It is definitely worthy of a dvd release, especially considering it is only 1 season. I heard it actually wasn't that bad. The public, at the time, just wasn't embracing a new series with Lucy. Hope to see it come out. :)

[LittleRickyII]

I hope they make that series available too. It's her final tv series. It is definitely worthy of a dvd release, especially considering it is only 1 season. I heard it actually wasn't that bad. The public, at the time, just wasn't embracing a new series with Lucy. Hope to see it come out. :)

It was just okay. If you compare those eight episodes that aired to the first eight I Love Lucys, or the first eight The Lucy Shows, or the first eight Here's Lucys, it falls far short. But they were still better than some of the things she did through the years. And frankly, they were better than a lot of what was on television at the time. But I think people had really high expectations because it was Lucille Ball. That was the first problem: it fell short of expectations. Also, it had a lot of competition from Lucille Ball herself. I Love Lucy was syndicated widely, seen in almost every TV market. And anybody who had cable TV could see I Love Lucy every day on TBS. I Love Lucy was also out on video by that point. TBS also had The Lucy Show. And Here's Lucy was still airing in syndication in some areas. So there was enough Lucy on television already for fans to get their Lucy fix. It was also a bit jarring to see an elderly Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon, compared to the more youthful versions seen in daily reruns. The other problem was this show aired on Saturday nights. Saturday nights tend to have the lowest viewership as that's the night most people like to go out. Through the years, only very exceptional shows have done well that night (e.g., The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family and The Carol Burnett Show in the seventies), or shows that appeal to very young viewers (The Facts of Life) or older viewers (The Golden Girls) who are more inclined to be at home on a Saturday night. There was nothing exceptional about Life with Lucy that would lure people home for the evening, especially given that viewers could see better Lucy shows any other day of the week. And for the young kids, it was scheduled against The Facts of Life, an established show already popular with that age group. I think if the show had been on a different night, it might have done better.

[TeeVeeCloset]

I LOVE LUCY as everyone knows, but lets call a spade a spade....Life With Lucy should be released on DVD for historical reasons...BUT....I agree with all you said in addition though, it had a very poor unknown cast with unproven acting skills, extremely poorly written scripts and it was just sad seeing Lucy upsetting Gale like the old days, you can't go home again and this series proved it.....if Lucy was cast as a golden girl with a brillant known supporting cast and writing, history would have been different.

[LittleRickyII]

I LOVE LUCY as everyone knows, but lets call a spade a spade....Life With Lucy should be released on DVD for historical reasons...BUT....I agree with all you said in addition though, it had a very poor unknown cast with unproven acting skills, extremely poorly written scripts and it was just sad seeing Lucy upsetting Gale like the old days, you can't go home again and this series proved it.....if Lucy was cast as a golden girl with a brillant known supporting cast and writing, history would have been different.

And I agree with everything you say here. ;) I think Life with Lucy might have done better on another night, but for the reasons you state, under no circumstance do I think it could have been a huge hit. From the night of the premiere, I remember thinking, where did she find these terrible actors? However, the boy who played the grandson had his charm. But let's face it, at that age, and with the change in her voice, Lucille Ball had really outgrown that Lucy character. I think she was absolutely superb in Stone Pillow and that she could have had a nice career in dramatic roles. She always said viewers didn't want to accept her as anything but "Lucy," but I'm not so sure.

[McGillicuddy]

And I agree with everything you say here. ;) I think Life with Lucy might have done better on another night, but for the reasons you state, under no circumstance do I think it could have been a huge hit. From the night of the premiere, I remember thinking, where did she find these terrible actors? However, the boy who played the grandson had his charm. But let's face it, at that age, and with the change in her voice, Lucille Ball had really outgrown that Lucy character. I think she was absolutely superb in Stone Pillow and that she could have had a nice career in dramatic roles. She always said viewers didn't want to accept her as anything but "Lucy," but I'm not so sure.


It seems many loved her in Mame also.

[Jude The Obscure]

Lucy should have been one of the Golden Girls....her and Bea Arthur already proved that they had chemistry with Mame.

[dawsongirl]

and The Mothers-in-Law (which definitely isn't Lucy, but it does connect since it was produced and directed by Desi Arnaz).

That's on DVD?!

[dawsongirl]

I hope they make that series available too. It's her final tv series. It is definitely worthy of a dvd release, especially considering it is only 1 season. I heard it actually wasn't that bad. The public, at the time, just wasn't embracing a new series with Lucy. Hope to see it come out. :)
The problem was the rest of the cast. And some of the plots were dumb.

[McGillicuddy]

MPI announced they were releasing this when they first announced Here's Lucy. ( Not out yet)

[Jude The Obscure]

Life with Lucy is worth getting......just because it is Lucy and there's the episode with John Ritter that is actually pretty good....you get to see one physical comedian relishing the chance to work with his idol!

[TeeVeeCloset]

Life with Lucy is worth getting......just because it is Lucy and there's the episode with John Ritter that is actually pretty good....you get to see one physical comedian relishing the chance to work with his idol!

Very fortunate to have recorded this one as well as the series premiere the one and only night they both aired, recently transferred them to DVD with original commercials intact! Extremely historic indeed!

[Jude The Obscure]

Sound like me.....I'm transferring many a rare gem (well gem to me) on DVD because seeing an official release on some things will just never happen.