DVD Release Date: August 17, 2004 (Shout! Factory)
Color/approx. 723 min
MSRP: $34.98
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 24 (6 on each disc)
Languages and Subtitles: English, no subtitles.
Special Features: Too much to list here, but they
include 14 commentaries by Lucie Arnaz, Desi Jr.,
Carol Burnett & Wayne Newton. Never before seen
bloopers, long lost sketches, outtakes, rehearsals,
audience warm-up footage and much MORE (see review)!
Introduction:
Here's Lucy (CBS; 1968-1974) was Lucille Ball's third
hit series. Ball portrays Lucy Carter, a widow who
lives in Los Angeles raising her two teenage children,
Kim and Craig (portrayed by her real-life children,
Lucie Arnaz and Desi Jr., respectively). Lucy Carter
works as a secretary in an employment agency owned by
her somewhat stuffy brother-in-law Harry (played by
Gale Gordon). Over the course of its six-year run,
notable guest stars have been Elizabeth Taylor, Carol
Burnett, Johnny Carson, Jackie Gleason, Ginger Rogers
and so many more!
Packaging:
The case itself is hard to describe. The cover
features the show logo with a color photograph of
Lucie, Lucy and Desi Jr. sipping an ice cream float
(I'm assuming) with a teal background. It's a nice
cover. It folds open to reveal all four of the discs
included in the set. There are two notable sections
that include descriptions for each disc, such as the
episodes on the disc (along with the guest star for
that episode, if there is commentary included, who
wrote the episode, who directed and even the original
airdate!). It also includes a list of special bonus
features for each disc, which is very handy to have.
The part that holds the discs features a colorful
background with various color promotional photos of
Lucy with her famous guest-stars and the screenshots
even match who guest stars in the episodes on the
disc!
The discs themselves feature the Here's Lucy logo and
the discs are red in color with squares of a lighter
red color. It's very easy on the eyes and a nice
choice. The back of the case features four more promo
shots (Lucy with Carol Burnett, Lucy with Richard
Burton & Elizabeth Taylor and Lucy with Johnny
Carson). Underneath it lists a good portion of the
special features and then a synopsis explaining the
series as well as the memorable guest stars that
appear on the episodes in this set. It also has a
little box that explains where the commentary for the
episodes was recorded as well as the dates, which is
an odd, but interesting addition (the last bout of
commentary was recorded on May 26th, 2004). It also
gives thanks to Carol Burnett and Wayne Newton and a
few other notable thanks and a brief blurb that says
“Dedicated with Love to Lucille” in red color.
Episodes Included / Notable Guest Stars:
Now, onto the actual episodes and everything in
between! Just to start off, all 24 episodes included
in the set were hand-picked by Lucy's children --
Lucie and Desi Jr. So these are already memorable
episodes. Speaking of memorable episodes, I couldn't
even begin to list how many memorable episodes are
included on this set. "Lucy Meets the Burtons" (guest
starring Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor) is one of
the most memorable from the entire run of Here's Lucy.
The guest stars that are included on this set are
Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, Carol Burnett, Lawrence
Welk, Vivian Vance, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Donny
Osmond, Eve Plumb, Helen Hayes, Charles Nelson Reilly,
Shelley Winters, Sammy Davis Jr., Wayne Newton, Milton
Berle, Ann-Margret, Ginger Rogers, George Burns, and
Flip Wilson.
Menu Design and Navigation:
On each disc there are six episodes along with special
features. In this set, there are four different discs,
and each disc has many special bonus features
included. I've already described the discs above, but
they are red/maroon in color with the Here's Lucy logo
on them. The menu feature is animated, so to speak.
The opening with Here's Lucy (featuring a clay-like
animation of Lucille Ball, used for the opening) is
used as well as some background music. The main menu
includes the "Play All" feature, Episodes, and Extras.
When you select Episodes the background (with music)
features a still shot of various sets used for the
show. When selecting an episode, you go to another
menu screen with a screenshot from the episode, the
episode title, the original air-date, any guest-stars
in the episode as well as being able to go through the
special features that involve that episode (it's hard
to explain, so I hope the screenshots above help
some).
Video and Audio Quality:
The video quality is pretty good, a little scratchy
but overall I really think it came out nice. The audio
is low, at least for me. No subtitles are included,
and there seems to be no closed captioning
available--bummer.
Special Features:
The specials are such a trip; I
don't know how I can even list them all. A nice bonus
is that each bonus feature includes a recorded
description from Lucie Arnaz explaining what you are
going to see!
The special features on disc one: Lucy's Blooper Reel
#1 (features a voice-over introduction from Lucie
Arnaz) and runs about 10 minutes, Rehearsal footages
"Lucy Meets the Burtons" (about 7 minutes and 30
seconds), Behind-the-Scenes Footages (6 minutes and 25
seconds) includes some rough copies of a few scenes
from the episode, "Lucy Meets The Burtons" Original
Ending (Elizabeth Taylor's "Goodnight Lucy" scene that
was cut out of the original broadcast because it
parodied "Laugh In" and the two shows aired opposite
of each other. It lasts about 1 minute and 10 seconds)
& Script for Alternate Opening Scene, and Jack Benny's
Carnival Nights with Lucy & Johnny Carson (features
voice over intro from Lucie Arnaz) runs approx. 6
minutes (It's, I think, the skit that involved Lucy
from the special. You can also play this special with
commentary from Lucie and Desi Jr.).
Disc two has: Lucie's Pepsodent Commercial (30
seconds) your average commercial that is tied in with
Here's Lucy for Pepsodent toothpaste, CBS Promo #1
(approx. 1 minute) an original promo from CBS
broadcasts --not a remastered copy but still good
quality (features voice over by Lucie explaining how
they found the promo), Rehearsing with Sammy Davis Jr.
- with and without commentary (approx. 4 minutes),
Rehearsing with Buddy Hackett (approx 1 min -- this is
rare footage because Buddy was taping a cameo
appearance that was cut from the episode - no real
footage existed so this is the rough copy of the
rehearsal), Audience Warm-up with Gary Morton
(features voice over by Lucie explaining the clips -
approx. 13 minutes - basically the audience for that
episode arriving, and then the usual warm up jokes,
etc.), Sammy Davis Jr. Bloopers (approx. 30 seconds)
and Lucy Introduces The Cast.
Disc three contains: Lucy's Blooper Reel #2 (voice
over with Lucie; approx. 7 minutes), CBS Promo #2
(approx. 1 minute - they found this promo on eBay! And
it's actually good quality. Color is terrible, but
it's still pretty darn clear.), Ann-Margret Special
(from December 1969, either with commentary or without
- features a brief intro voice over from Lucie and
Desi Jr. - approx. 8 minutes - basically the skit with
Lucy is only included, not the entire special) and
Rehearsal for "Lucy the Skydiver" (approx. 3 minutes -
with commentary from Lucie & Desi Jr.).
Finally, disc four has the following: Lucie & Desi Jr.
as Lucy & Ricky Ricardo at the Thalians Ball (approx.
5 minutes - from 1974, it was a benefit at
Cedars-Sinai Hospital and features Shecky Greene as
Fred, Ruta Lee as Ethel, Lucie as Lucy and Desi Jr. as
Desi - It's a skit they put on from the Lucy episode
about the various ways Lucy tries to tell Ricky she is
having a baby -- awesome bonus, in my opinion, really
really cool, It's available with or without
commentary), Rehearsing with Jack Benny (features
rehearsal footage - approx. 11 minutes), Jack Benny
Bloopers (approx. one minute), TV Syndication Sales
Tape (approx. 10 minutes - it's basically a tape where
the cast tries to sell the show into syndication) and
Sales Tape Bloopers with Bob Hope (approx. 3 minutes -
it's the bloopers from Bob Hope's cameo for the sales
tape)!
Final Comments:
In closing, this set is absolutely fantastic. A must
have for any die-hard Lucille Ball fan. I really would
love to see season sets released with even more (if
that's possible; so much was already included) bonus
features. Shout!, Lucie & Desi Jr. really put a lot of
effort into this set, and with special commentary from
Carol Burnett and Wayne Newton, it makes this set even
better. I would highly recommend this set to anyone
who is a fan of Lucille Ball.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 5/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
-- Reviewed by TVJunkie101 (Shawn) on 08/18/04
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