The Lucy Show –
The Complete Sixth & Final Season (1967 – 1968/CBS DVD Set)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: A+ Episodes: B+
I have a vivid memory when my independent Boston television station announced the
addition of The Lucy Show to their evening
line up. Cast photos were shown and the
announcer said about the series, “not to be confused with I Love Lucy.” There was no
problem confusing one “Lucy” with the other.
The audience cared about the situations Lucy Ricardo became involved
with. Often a storyline on I Love Lucy flowed into another. When The Lucy Show moved Mrs. Carmichael to Los Angeles she was
embroiled, for the most part, in self-contained comedic situations lacking in
continuity.
For example, in the premiere episode on this DVD, Lucy Meets the Berles, Lucy greets the legendary comic as if it was
their first meeting. However the pair
crossed paths before in episode# 96, Lucy
Saves Milton Berle (1965). Additionally,
Lucy attended her college reunion in episode#41, Lucy’s College Reunion (1963) but in Lucy Gets Her Diploma, appearing on this DVD, she did not graduate
from high school!
Some continuity is present when Vivian Vance returns in Lucy and Viv Reminisce and Lucy and The Lost Star, both presented
on this set, but the ladies fail to acknowledge each other’s children. However, these characters were major
supporting players during the series first three seasons. In the final episode of the series, Lucy and the Boss of the Year Award,
Mrs. Carmichael salutes Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) and refers to working with him
for six years. Actually, up to this
point, she had only been his secretary for two and a half years. Continuity errors are common in long running
series but Lucille Ball was a perfectionist.
It is surprising so many goofs and omissions occurred. Despite the
continuity flaws the comedy by Lucille Ball, Gale Gordon, Mary Jane Croft‘s
Mary Jane Lewis and Roy Roberts as Mr. Cheever was superb.
One episode on this DVD strays from the standard skitcom format. It is more character driven and stands out: Lucy’s Mystery Guest. Mary Wickes plays Lucy’s Aunt Agatha who takes
control of her niece’s life until the reason she pays visits to her relatives
is revealed. It is a well-written and
acted installment.
Fans of musical numbers will enjoy the episodes on this DVD which
involve a revolving door of guest stars. Ken Berry dances in Lucy Helps Ken Berry, Carol Burnett performs vibrant musical
numbers in a two-part episode (Lucy and
Carol Burnett & Lucy and Carol
Get Their Wings), Frankie Avalon dreams of a show
business career and belts out songs in Lucy,
The Star maker and Joan Crawford joins Lucy, Viv and Mr. Mooney to stage a
show in Lucy and The Lost Star.
The extras are outstanding and include informative cast biographies,
production notes, unseen footage, rare bloopers, sketch designs for Lucy’s
attire and photo galleries.
The Lucy Show finished the
1967-68 season at number 2 in the ratings.
Nevertheless, the series ended because it was produced by Desilu which
was no longer owned by Lucille Ball. The
comedienne decided to end the series and begin a new program produced by her
own company. The new show would be known
as Here’s Lucy although initial
press reports indicated audiences would see another season of The Lucy Show. The Evening News reported in their February
29, 1968 edition, “The trade reports quoted the star as saying she plans to get
those two children back into the series-the boy and the girl who were shipped
off to school several seasons back and never heard from again. The locale was shifted from Connecticut
to Hollywood.
But when the children reappear they will be played the two Arnaz children.”
Though wonderfully performed The
Lucy Show would have benefited if I
Love Lucy writers, Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Martin, had not departed
after a falling out with Lucille Ball in 1964. Had they stayed, Lucille
Carmichael might have become as beloved as another “Lucy” who was married to a
Cuban bandleader.
The 1.33 X 1 color image as in all the previous color sets (starting
with the Second Season) finally delivers great transfers from first-rate 35mm
film materials lacking in the endless and endlessly bad public domain DVD (and
VHS) releases of these shows. These shows
were meant to look great, top rate and as good as anything on TV at the time
and here, they still do. We are all glad
CBS has gone out of their way to issue proper transfers of this and other
classic series short-shrifted by those lame, secondary releases. Lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono accompanies all
the episodes on the set and they are nice and clean, so the combination is as
strong as we will ever see on DVD.
Now the whole series is on DVD in great condition and people can see
it is a better series than it ever received credit for. The
Lucy Show is a TV classic and it is great to see it back in its full glory.
- Fred Grandinetti
