DVD Release Date: May 3, 2005 (Paramount Home Video)
Color
MSRP: $69.99
Number of Discs: 5
Number of Episodes: 30
Running Time: 787 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English
Spanish languages; Spanish subtitles; Closed
captioned.
Special Features: Lost scenes, flubs, original
openings, production notes, script excerpts, five
complete episodes of the radio show, "My Favorite
Husband," and more!
Introduction:
LUCY!!! Once again, that zany, crazy redhead is back
on DVD in the fourth season release of I LOVE LUCY.
Ride along with the Ricardo's and Mertzes as they head
out to California in this five disc set. Relive
memorable season four moments such as when Lucy sets
fire to her nose, struggles in a big movie scene,
dangles from a movie star's penthouse balcony, and
even goes one-on-one with one of the Marx brothers!
Included on this set are all 30 original season three
episodes with loads of special features, ranging from
flubs, lost scenes, script excerpts, to five complete
episodes of Lucy's radio show: MY FAVORITE HUSBAND.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The fourth season, like nearly all seasons of I LOVE
LUCY contains quite a few memorable episodes, and they
include "Ricky's Movie Offer," "Mr. & Mrs. TV Show,"
"L.A. At Last," "Lucy Gets in Pictures," "The Star
Upstairs," "Harpo Marx," and more! The more memorable
guest appearances in the fourth season include such big
name stars as William Holden, Van Johnson, Rock
Hudson, Richard Windmark, Harpo Marx, Tennessee Ernie
Ford, Teensy & Weensy - and more!
Packaging:
The packaging for this set follows the same design as
season's one through three, but its purple (or a
version of it) in color. Inside the box, there are
five individual cases, one for each disc. Each case
has a spliced shot of Lucy from one of the episodes
from that disc. On the discs they have spliced
screenshots from one of the more memorable episodes on
that disc. On the back of each case, there is a list
of each episode that is included on that disc (inside
the case are episode descriptions). The descriptions
themselves are a couple of sentences and include the
episode title, the original airdate and the production
number. The episodes are presented in original
production number order instead of the airdate order
and chapter skips are available. There are five discs in the set, each one in its own
individual case. There are six episodes per disc.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screen is simple and is exactly the same format
as seasons 1, 2 and 3. It features a spliced shot of
Lucy from one of her memorable scenes (Harpo Marx for
the main menu, or the chocolate factory on the bonus
features menu) on a red background that has
screenshots from various episodes of the series. The
main menu has a list of the episodes that take you to
scene selections and it has the opening theme song
playing in the background, although it doesn't loop.
It has the popular "Play All" feature as well as
"Setup." The bonus menu is the same design as the main
menu and lists all the bonuses for that disc. The
"Setup" menu allows you to choose if you want Spanish
subtitles or a Spanish language track.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video is very good, but the audio needs work. The
picture is crystal clear but the audio is still very,
very low, which is common for releases of older
series. The audio is presented in Dolby Surround
Sound. Each episode runs about 26 minutes (or more),
which means you get almost five minutes of extra
footage you can't see in syndication.
Special Features:
Special Features on all of the five discs, which are
explained in more detail further down, include
"Special Footage." Guest Cast Information is the list
of the special guests that are featured on the
episodes on that disc. "Original Opening" is the
original animated opening that was originally aired
along with the episodes on each disc. Now on to the
special features--hang on folks, this is a long read!
DISC ONE - “Special Footage" consists of bonus footage
from the end of "Mertz and Kurtz's" original 1954
broadcast. It was a special message from Lucy & Desi
on behalf of Community Chest, and featured the world's
biggest baby; The first of two "Flubs" consists of
Lucille accidentally switching a few words around
during a scene from "Mr. and Mrs. TV Show" the second
flub is from "Mertz and Kurtz" and mentions the fact
that when Kurtz was first brought up in season one, he
was named Ted Kurtz, so why, in the fourth season, is
his name BARNEY Kurtz? Finally the "Lucy on the Radio"
is a full-length broadcast of Lucy's radio show "My
Favorite Husband" and the episode is "George is
Drafted/Liz's Baby" and was originally broadcast on
January 27, 1951 and it would go on to be the basis
for the I LOVE LUCY episode, "Drafted."
DISC TWO - "Special Footage" on this disc consists of
a "flashback" scene that was inserted into a
rebroadcast of "The Camping Trip" in order to maintain
continuity while the Ricardo's planned their trip to
California; the second bonus footage is from "Ricky's
Contract" and when that episode was edited for
syndication, CBS cut short the closing music cue, so
for this release, they've remastered it; In the first
"Flub" Desi forgets a line in "Lucy's Mother-In-Law"
so he ad-libs; In the second Flub, from the same
episode, Desi messes up again but this time, Lucille,
as Lucy, points out his mistake; The third Flub is
from the episode in which Ricky's screen test takes
place. But because the scene took place in Hollywood,
unbeknownst to the camera crew, the Ricardo's kitchen
is clearly visible during the scene! In the final
Flub, from "Lucy Learns to Drive" Ethel supposedly has
her first driving lesson, but eighteen months earlier,
in "The Camping Trip" Ethel had no problem driving!
"Lucy on The Radio" features a full-length broadcast
of another episode from Lucy's radio show "My Favorite
Husband." The episode is titled "Reminiscing" and
originally aired on CBS Radio on July 1, 1949 and
features guest appearances by Gale Gordon, Bea
Benaderet, Hans Conried, and Frank Nelson. And a
special feature is included. In the final scene of
"Ethel's Birthday" Lucy and Ethel made such a ruckus
that some of the dialogue in the play they were
watching (OVER THE TEACUPS) couldn't be heard. For any
viewers who may be wondering what was being said
onstage, the script for the plays first scene is
included!
DISC THREE - In the first of four "Flubs" this one is
from the episode "First Stop" and it points out that
throughout the episode, Lucy wore a light-colored coat
over a dark pantsuit, but when she gets out of the car
to check the Aunt Sally's sign, she's wearing a dress
without a coat, then as soon as she climbs back into
the car, her original outfit reappears! In the second
flub, from the episode "Ethel's Home Town," Ethel's
hands are clasped together when Billy Hackett snaps
her photo for the paper but when the picture appears
in print; her hands have magically changed positions!
The third flub is from several episodes and points out
the lack of continuity in regards to Ethel's middle
name: it goes from Louise (which was William Frawley's
first wife's name) to Roberta (Vivian Vance's middle
name) and finally to Mae (Vivian's mother's name). In
the last flub, from "LA at Last" a cameraman is
visible when Lucy knocks the dessert tray onto William
Holden. In the "Special Footage" it's another restored
ending for the episode "California Here We Come". THe
"My Favorite Husband" episode for this disc is titled
"Giveaway Program" and was originally broadcast on CBS
Radio on March 18, 1949 and inspired the second season
I LOVE LUCY episode "Redecorating." In the "Behind the
Scenes" featurette, it's an audio recording of a
snippett from "Laughs Luck... and Lucy" the book by
Jess Oppenheimer (Series Producer and Head Writer).
DISC FOUR - In the first of four "Flubs" it's from the
episode "Don Juan is Shelved" and points out the
oddity of the episode being that Mrs. McGillicuddy
never heard of Dore Schary (head of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio) but earlier before, she
seemed well aware of the man and was eager to meet
him! In the second flub, it points out the fact that
Lucy and Ricky's anniversary changed from the 19th of
the month to the 7th of the month. In the third flub,
we are reminded that Doris Singleton first appears as
Lucy's friend "Lillian Appleby" in "The Club Election"
but for all the subsequent episodes, she is called
Caroline. But in "Lucy Gets in the Pictures" Desi
goofs and changes the name back to Lillian. In the
final flub, they point out something during the final
scene of "Don Juan is Shelved" and it shows a Desilu
handyman carrying a pole that is very visible
on-screen. The first of two Special Footage features
is from the episode "Hollywood Anniversary". At the
end of the filming of the episode, Lucy and Desi did a
promo spot for the Olympic Fund that aired during the
end of "The Hedda Hopper Story" but for this release,
it was restored; In the second bonus footage, it's a
restored ending from "Bull Fight Dance". The episode
of "My Favorite Husband" for this disc is titled "Liz
Substitutes in Club Play" and featured guests Gale
Gordon, Bea Benederet, Mary Shipp, and Herb Vigran,
and was originally broadcast on January 6, 1951.
DISC FIVE - In the first of three "Flubs" this one is
from "The Dancing Star" episode and Lucille mistakenly
says vanced instead of danced and starts to chuckle.
Desi sees this and playfully starts to egg her on. The
second flub, starts off explaining that Lucille almost
never ad-libbed, in which she is forced to during "The
Dancing Star." The final flub is from “The Tour" and
Desi's unique pronunciation of the word "badger" is
unscripted - and so is Lucy's reaction! The four
special bonus footage starts off with a restored
ending from the episode "The Star Upstairs". The
second is from "The Tour" episode in which Jesse
Oppenheimer and William Asher have cameos. The third
is restored music from the episode "The Tour," and the
last bonus footage tells us how, in "The Tour" Richard
Windmark's house is actually the house Lucy and Desi
had just purchased in Beverly Hills. And the "My
Favorite Husband" episode is titled "George Attends a
Teenage Dance" was originally broadcast on November
20, 1948. And finally, a "Behind the Scenes"
featurette is included and it is a slideshow of still
pictures from the show's fourth season.
Final Comments:
Once again, another fantastic I LOVE LUCY release from
Paramount! They continue to really go all out with I
LOVE LUCY. The special features are amazing because
you can see footage that hasn't been seen in over
fifty years! Overall, there really is nothing I would
change about these releases and I encourage Paramount
to continue doing what they are to bring us all of
these amazing treasures. As a life-long Lucy fan, I’m
thrilled to own this great set and you will be too!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 5/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
-- Reviewed by TVJunkie101 on 04/23/05
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