Here's Lucy - Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series
by Lucille Ball, Danny Dayton, Jack Carter, Ross Martin
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Actor: Desi Arnaz Jr., Gale Gordon, Lucie Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Sid GouldDirector: Danny Dayton, Jack Carter, Lucille Ball, Ross Martin
Writer: Ray Singer
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 720 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Shout Factory Theatr
DVD Reviews of Here's Lucy - Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series
DVD Review: The Legend could not sustain this series
Summary: 3 Stars
I've looked forward to the release of "Here's Lucy" for some time now, and last week I learned that the first full season of the series will be released this summer by MPI Home Video. When I purchased the "Best of Here's Lucy" in 2004, my desire to see the series again was driven more by nostalgia than anything else. The opening credits in my opinion, still rank among the best in television history, but for too many episodes, it's quickly down hill from there. As many have already commented, Lucille Ball missed a good opportunity to bring other dimensions to the "Lucy" character in this 1968-74 vehicle. In order to fill-out the "Lucy" character, Ms. Ball would need good writers, and this set proves that good writers were in short supply. Given Ms. Ball's clout in Hollywood, she could have hired writers of the caliber of James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Carl Reiner, and others. These writers, and those like them, have the ability to bring the necessary human dimensions to their characters while exploiting the comedy inherent to real-life situations. The plots in many "Here's Lucy" episodes were thinly veiled attempts to accommodate the "big-name" guest star. It seems that the producers of this series worked to secure guest stars, and then the writers had to devise a script around a particular persona. Creators of well-conceived series understand that the script should drive the casting effort. Then there's the matter of the performances by the cast. First, Lucille Ball needed to stop reading cue cards and return to acting. Then, the actors needed to stop screaming their lines, but delivering them at appropriate levels, after all this was a TV sitcom, not an opera. Unfortunately, at this juncture of her career, age and custom had limited Ms. Ball's desire to develop as a performer, and consequently the ability to develop a series with characters which were believable, stories which were comical, but consistently tethered to some reality to which the audience could relate. For any Lucy fan, this set is worth owning simply because it features the greatest comedienne of all time, and because it showcases a rare product. Sadly, the "Best of Here's Lucy" is a reminder of why this series is rarely shown.DVD Review: EXCELLENT QUALITY, BUT......
Summary: 4 Stars
This DVD set is of excellent quality - great picture and sound and all the extras are wonderful to see. I enjoy watching the episodes with the concurrent commentary -- particularly the comments of Lucie Arnaz (Desi comes off as a bit of an airhead - mostly commenting on Lucie's comments or saying something irrelevant). Unfortunately (and sadly) the episodes by themselves are difficult to get through - inane, obvious plots with tired, over-used routines. I was a late teen when this show was originally run and found the show trying then - time has not been kind. Most episodes of I Love Lucy are as pertinent and enjoyable today as they were 50 years ago. I have always found it sad that Lucille Ball's later work could not match up. I don't understand how she couldn't build on her peerless reputation from I Love Lucy and explore new subject matter and styles rather than reverting to tired, childish farce and silliness.DVD Review: I Love (Here's) Lucy!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
HERE'S LUCY is the Lucy from "my" era - I grew up watching this show every week but I don't think I have seen it since it was briefly rerun in the mid 1970's. Lucille Ball has been one of my favorites all my life but I didn't even see an I LOVE LUCY episode until I was a teenager in the late 1970's - and I have rarely stopped watching them since. I don't know why I put off buying the HERE'S LUCY set, probably because I bought into that "not as good as I Love Lucy" mindset (what the heck WAS??) but I finally did and boy, have I been enjoying this set!! Sorry naysayers but HERE'S LUCY is actually REALLY FUNNY. There are some great laughs in nearly every episode. The Lucy GONE WITH THE WIND parody with Flip Wilson is just as good as the more famous satire done by Carol Burnett later which is considered one of the great skits in Burnett's career. A 59-year-old Lucy dances like a top-notch chorine in LUCY AND JACK BENNY'S BIOGRAPHY. Classic Lucy delirum abounds in LUCY AND LAWRENCE WELK, Lucy on the loose in the two-part Air Force Academy story, and I dare you not to laugh when Lucy forces herself to eat a nasty pickle in LUCY IS REALLY IN A PICKLE, a bit every bit as hilarious as the funniest moments from I Love Lucy. Vivian Vance and Lucy carry on in three hilarious episodes many years after ILL like it was the next day, and Mary Jane Croft is around in several to be a most acceptable second banana. Gale Gordon is far more appealing here as the kinder Uncle Harry than he was as the bombastic Mr. Mooney from THE LUCY SHOW. Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr, while only teenagers, do very well indeed and bring a nice "family" touch to the stories.
And the extras!!! Awesome!!! Priceless footage showing Lucy's dedication to her work rehearsing, hilarious bloopers with Jack Benny and Bob Hope, and a phenomeonally great musical number with Ann-Margret from a TV special with Lucy and Ann as the world's most starstruck celebrities which shows Lucy was a darn good singer when the material was right for her.
Please ignore the negative comments, I wouldn't be surprised if most of them are from people who haven't even viewed this set. This set is a fine companion to the classic I LOVE LUCY DVD sets and I loved it every bit as much as those. PLEASE Shout Factory give us a "Volume Two" very soon!!! And if you want to start releasing this show by the season, I will happily buy those too!!!
DVD Review: For Lucy Completists
Summary: 2 Stars
Lucille Ball should have stretched her talents in a comedy-variety format. Instead, the immortal redhead dusted off the old routines for "Here's Lucy." Time has not been kind to this 1968-74 sitcom, which finally exhausts the Lucy formula. Though Ball, Gale Gordon, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. make a winning ensemble, the scripts and direction are a faint echo of the "I Love Lucy" days. Even the guest spots ring hollow - whether it's Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton or Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. Worse still, Ball's once-sublime physical humor takes on a forced, repetitive quality. Except for a few welcome appearances, Vivian Vance is no longer around to pick up the slack. With its gaudy colors and cheesy sets, "Here's Lucy" looks more dated than "I Love Lucy" ever did. The extras in this DVD collection are better than the actual episodes (which offer a few laughs as long as you keep your finger on the fast-forward button).DVD Review: The best of Here's Lucy, yet not the best from Lucille Ball
Summary: 5 Stars
The quality and overall contents of this DVDs are excellent. Not only will you see the best episodes from this TV series, but you will also get a lot of behind the scenes and extras never seen before!! Still, this is not Lucille Ball's finest moments or her best show at all... But after all, nothing can be compared to the golden days of I Love Lucy or well, even The Lucy Show...
Description of Here's Lucy - Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series
Lucille Ball, her children and her famous friends delight in this hit TV series!Here's Lucy, which ran on CBS from 1968-1974, was the fourth hit TV show starring the most beloved comedienne of her time - the immortal Lucille Ball. In this series, Lucy's first that ran from beginning to end in full-color with her trademark hair shining bright, she plays Lucy Carter, a widow raising two teenaged children played by her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr.
These 24 episodes (hand-picked by Lucie and Desi Jr.) of Here's Lucy are packed with Ball's trademark slapstick comedy, but it's her guests that make this a classic TV experience. Stars like Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, Carol Burnett, Jackie Gleason, Johnny Carson, Milton Berle and Jack Benny are characters in her humorous adventures. Musical talent like Ann-Margret, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Wayne Newton offer memorable performances within the story.
So sit back and enjoy! You have front row seats for the wild, star-studded comedy of a genuine TV treasure.
PACKED WITH EXTRAS!
- Commentary by Lucie Arnaz, Desi Jr. and Carol Burnett on their favorite episodes
- Never-before-seen bloopers
- Rehearsal footage
- Sketch from a Jack Benny television special with Lucy, Jack and Johnny Carson
- Sketch from an Ann-Margret television special featuring Lucy and Ann-Margret
- Audience warm-up with Lucy's husband and the show's executive producer, Gary Morton
- A classic Pepsodent commercial with commentary
- The original CBS network promos
- The "Here's Lucy" syndication sales tape
- Footage from a benefit dinner where Lucie and Desi Jr. play their parents in an I Love Lucy sketch.
Celebrity guest stars such as William Holden, Orson Welles, and John Wayne had always been a successful trademark on Lucille Ball's four television series, beginning in 1951 with I Love Lucy through her fourth and final program, Here's Lucy, lasting 1968 through 1972. Here's Lucy: Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series is a best-of package with an emphasis on celebrity-driven stories starring the likes of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Benny, Ginger Rogers, and Milton Berle. The anthology has been compiled by Ball's two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., who co-starred on the show as Kim and Craig Carter, adolescent daughter and son of Ball's character, widow Lucille Carter. The Arnaz offspring are all over this set in a very charming way, offering brief comments once you select a title to watch as well as optional, extended commentary on every episode. They're also personally involved in a couple of many, delightful extra features, including a 1974 sketch from a live charity event in which Lucie and Desi Jr. played their parents in a scene from I Love Lucy.
Most of the programs in Best Loved Episodes feature one or another show-business legend, sometimes playing themselves, at other times portraying a fictional character. Among the latter, Milton Berle is a fount of wicked burlesque as a used-car salesman foisting a psychedelicized hunk of junk on Kim and Craig, and Helen Hayes is particularly memorable as a seemingly desperate and kooky Irish tourist who may be pulling a scam on Lucille's brother-in-law and boss, Harry (Ball's longtime comic foil, the great Gale Gordon). Burton and Taylor, playing themselves, prove wonderful sports in an episode where Lucille mistakes the Welsh master thespian for a plumber and gets Liz's enormous diamond ring stuck on her own finger. (The show features one of Ball's best bits, substituting her own, out-of-control left arm for Taylor's during a press junket.) Shelley Winters is equally playful as a movie star with a compulsive eating disorder; the slender Lucille is pressed into service as a watchdog over Winters's appetite. I Love Lucy co-star Vivian Vance has two welcome appearances as old friend Viv (both episodes make excellent use of Gordon's trademark powers of exasperation), and Jack Benny plays himself twice, once in a touching, funny episode in which he and Ball play people from different chapters of Benny's life. These old pros from radio, stage, and the Golden Age of Hollywood never lost a step. --Tom Keogh
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