Rating:  -
Season five of I LOVE LUCY (1955-1956) from Paramount Home Video has some of the series' most classic episodes, including John Wayne's footprints in Hollywood and a memorable transcontinental train journey home to New York City on disk one; bon voyage to Europe and Lucy needing a helicopter to reach a missed ship on disk two; and all over Europe on disks three and four, including the grapes stomping (and fighting!) in Italy, romancing Charles Boyer and starting a nutty fashion trend in Paris, winning at gambling in Monte Carlo when they were not even consciously playing (and are not even supposed to be in the casino per Ricky), and, funniest of all, smuggling a huge smelly cheese through transatlantic customs disguised as a baby (then getting accused of murder in New York when Lucy and Ethel eat it en route to save on the price of a baby plane ticket!). It is especially funny to see tight-wad Fred Mertz made Ricky's Band Manager and constantly take penny-pinching to new heights. This matchless series is as great as TV sitcoms get. And season five is close to the best season. Other seasons have truly classic episodes, but season five has the most of them, especially impressive because it only has 26 episodes.
And we finally get I LOVE LUCY completely remastered, uncut, and non-commercial after half a century with cuts. (The original shows clock in at around 26 minutes, so a full four minutes are missing from every syndicated episode, even now on TV Land.) We also get a glimpse of what the show was really like in prime time, with bonus sections filled with animated commercials, original animated openings and intermission lead-ins, and animated fade-outs that have not been seen in fifty years. The "hearts on satin" credits were not created until syndication. And while Desi Arnaz still chain smokes, the series is now blessedly sponsored by Sanka, Lilt permanent, and Fluffo vegetable shortening, not a forgotten cigarette company.
The show, in season five, has a very special episode that aired on my fifth birthday--January 30, 1956. It has also acquired two more writers. Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf join Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Their writing is world-class and the actors are immortal after more than half a century. The latter three writers go back to 1949 and Lucille Ball's radio sitcom "My Favorite Husband", four episodes of which are included on the four disks. We also see "lost" and flubbed scenes, and Jess Oppenheimer takes us behind the scenes on how he got the writing gig for the series.
This is an elegantly produced DVD from Paramount Home Video, with lots of fun bonuses and superb packaging. I highly recommend renting or buying I LOVE LUCY season five. I recommend buying because you will have an entire season in one trim package and will watch favorite shows often.
Rating: -
Watching this brilliant comedy, it is sometimes hard to believe that all of them are gone. Watching them over and over it never gets tiring or boring. It's like watching old friends again. For me the best sit com ever,followed by the Golden Girls.
Rating: -
What more can I say. Lucy and Desi invented the situation comedy as we know it. The quality is so good it looks like it was filmed yesterday.
Rating: -
I own every season of I love lucy..this is another hit. great characters, funny storylines..great punchlines..I love it
Rating: -
I bought this set to add to my Lucy library. I am very happy with the crisp dvd set. I am very pleased and you cant get 'em any cheaper anywhere than from Amazon! Buy and enjoy!
|
