DVD L LUCY SHOW, THE: THE OFFICIAL SECOND SEASON

LUCY SHOW, THE: THE OFFICIAL SECOND SEASON

Written by TroyAnderson Jun 27th 2010 Hits: 89 Favorites

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THE PLOT THUS FAR

After the death of her husband, Lucy Carmichael (Lucille Ball) and her friend, the recently divorced Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance), move into a house together with their children. The series follows the adventures of the widow Lucy as she grapples with the comic complications of life on her own.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

This was Lucy's first series after the Lucy-Desi break-up. In many ways though it followed the same formula as I Love Lucy in that the comedy was set up just as well and Lucy is just as funny. Her character was developed as one that actually hit the times well. Lucy was portrayed here as a single woman and still energetic enough to pull it off. Folks like Garry Marshall were among the talented writers enlisted to do scripts and many of the scripts were very funny. Lucy with her talent added to all of them.

Some of the story lines are dated but they are very typical for the time period in which they were made. You will see how the comedy style on tv has changes but what you will see has not changed is that when someone possesses talent that is pure genius it shines thru whether with dated material or not. And here we also get all the episodes in color and they truly pop. The remastering is perfect and you will notice Lucy's hair color, the eyeshadow and how every scene just pops with vibrancy. For me there are many episodes that are in no way dated like Lucy and Viv Play Softball. Give Lucy a simple scenario and she milks it for all the laughs imaginable. To see her in her oversized uniform trying to play and feeling vulnerable as no one wants her to play is hilarious. Vintage Lucy. The extras here are sublime. Vintage openings and closings, interviews and the special The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour with Bob Hope.

In the second season (1963-1964) the show was now in color (the second and third seasons originally broadcasted in black and white but filmed in color.) Gale Gordon now co-starred alongside Lucille, and would later co-star with her for the next 23 years. He played Theodore Mooney, the president of the bank Lucy later worked at and was always annoyed by Lucy. Lucy and Viv still got into wacky misadventures such as starting their own Kiddie Party business, digging for "embezzeled money" in Mr. Mooney's backyard in the middle of the night, working in a summer camp kitchen, trying to rescue Mr. Mooney's pet bird from a telephone line, digging through cakes to look for Lucy's lost contact lens, and being turned into wicked witches in one of Lucy's nightmares.

The DVD comes with a ton of vintage specials and featurettes. You also get a Jell-O commercial that was recovered from the archives. If that wasn't enough, there's a wealth of production notes and details that showcase how Lucy made the transistion to solo star. The A/V Quality is amazing for a show this old, but what would you expect? Paramount/CBS has done right by the Desilu titles and this is no exception. I'd recommend it for a must-buy.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!