The Lucy Show: The Official First Season DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

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Lucille Ball made her name on I Love Lucy, but after the successful run of that show, she was ready to try something new. So in 1962 she created a new show. This was The Lucy Show. And while it wasn’t as strong as I Love Lucy, it still proved Ball’s comic genius.

This show was actually pretty progressive for the time. Lucille Ball stars as Lucy Carmichael, a widow with two kids, Jerry and Chris. She lives with her divorced best friend Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance) and her son Sherman. Together Lucy and Vivian face all sorts of wacky sitcom shenanigans. The other major character in the show is Lucy’s neighbor and sometime boyfriend Harry, played by Dick Martin of Laugh In fame.

The plots of the episodes get pretty outrageous at times, like Lucy buying a sheep to mow the lawn, but her perfection with both quick wit and physical comedy keep the laughs comes during even the most preposterous moments. In fact, sometimes the more preposterous the better. There are many moments that seem like modern sitcom cliches, but you have to remember, Lucy invented most these cliches.

Lucy Carmichael is a self-absorbed know-it-all who thinks she has the answer to everything and it often oblivious to those around her until it’s too late. It’s this personality that drives the show and gets Lucy into all her wacky situations like winding up at a fancy restaurant in a kangaroo costume.

It might not be I Love Lucy, but The Lucy Show is quality sitcom entertainment and is sure to make you laugh.

Episodes:

Disc One:

Lucy Waits Up For Chris (10/01/62)

Lucy embarrasses her daughter Chris when she comes home on a date. Lucy vows not to do it again, but on their next date the kids come home early to an unprepared Lucy.

Lucy Digs Up A Date (10/08/62)

Lucy and Vivian don’t have dates for a dance. That is until Lucy meets Jerry’s math teacher. When she schemes to find out if he’s married or not she ends up with ID and has to return it to him before he finds out.

Lucy Is A Referee (10/15/62)

When Jerry and Sherman’s football game doesn’t have a referee, Lucy decides to do it herself. Too bad she knows nothing about the sport.

Lucy Misplaces $2,0000 (10/22/62)

A clerical error at the bank lands Lucy with $2,000 instead of $20. She hides the money so it won’t get stolen and it ends up scattered around the circus where everyone has to pitch in to find the money.

Lucy Buys A Sheep (10/29/62)

No one wants to mow the lawn so Lucy buys a sheep to do it for them. But the snow comes early and she has to bring the sheep inside where it won’t let anyone get any sleep.

Lucy Becomes An Astronaut (11/05/62)

Lucy and Vivian volunteer to spend 24 hours in a simulated space capsule. Afterwards it goes to Lucy’s head and she thinks she’s ready to really go into space so it’s up to Vivian to put her in her place.

Lucy Is A Kangaroo For A Day (11/12/62)

Lucy wants to buy Jerry a new bike for his birthday so she takes a job as a secretary, which goes disastrously. So much so that she winds up in a Kangaroo costume in a fancy restaurant!

Disc Two:

Lucy The Music Lover (11/19/62)

Lucy meets a handsome doctor who is also a music enthusiast and she wants to impress him. Too bad she can’t stay awake at the symphony.

Lucy Puts Up A TV Antenna (11/26/62)

Lucy’s TV antenna blows out so she decides she and Vivian can install the new one themselves.

Vivian Sues Lucy (12/03/62)

When Vivian slips and hurt herself on one of Jerry’s toys, Lucy gets worried that Vivian will sue her.

Lucy Builds A Rumpus Room (12/10/62)

Lucy and Vivian get in a fight when they both want to bring a date home for dinner. Harry suggests they build a rumpus room in the basement.

Lucy And Her Electric Mattress (12/17/62)

When Vivian goes on vacation, Lucy decides to buy her a new bed and gets her a fancy electric one. That goes badly and it must be returned. Vivian comes home early to find she has no bed at all so the two must share their boy’s bunk bed.

Together For Christmas (12/24/62)

Lucy and Vivian decide to spend Christmas together for the first time. To bad they both have very different ideas about what Christmas is.

Chris’s New Year’s Eve Party (12/31/62)

Chris wants her mom out of the house for her New Year’s Eve party. That is until it turns out to be a boring party. So it’s Lucy and Vivian to the rescue with a performance of Charlie Chaplin silent short film.

Lucy’s Sister Pays A Visit (1/07/63)

Lucy is convinced that her sister’s marriage isn’t working because the couple eloped so she decides to throw them a wedding. Things are going great until the groom spikes the punch.

Disc Three:

Lucy And Viv Are Volunteer Firemen (1/14/63)

Lucy and Vivian join a brigade of all women volunteer firefighters, but will they be able to actually be able to put out any fires?

Lucy Becomes A Reporter (1/21/63)

Lucy becomes a fill-in society columnist much to the chagrin of the newspaper editor. Things turn around when it turns out she can get an interview with a very illusive financier.

Lucy And Viv Put In A Shower (1/28/63)

When Lucy angers the plumber he quits before finishing installing the new shower. So Lucy and Vivian attempt to finish it themselves and almost drown!

Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet (2/04/63)

Vivian’s Barbershop Quartet needs one more woman and the group reluctantly agrees to let Lucy join them, but only if she’ll take lessons.

Lucy And Viv Become Tycoons (2/11/63)

Vivian’s boyfriend Eddie thinks he can market her caramel corn, so she and Lucy go into business but get in way over their heads.

No More Double Dates (2/18/63)

Lucy and Harry don’t want to double date with Vivian and Eddie so Lucy comes up with a big lie to break it off, but things don’t go as planned and Lucy winds up hiding under a table.

Lucy And Viv Learn Judo (2/25/63)

Scared by reports of a prowler in the neighborhood, Lucy and Vivian take judo lessons.

Lucy Is A Soda Jerk (3/04/63)

Chris gets a job as a soda jerk to pay for her new drum majorette uniform. But when she can’t get the day off work for the big parade, Lucy decides to fill in for her.

Disc Four:

Lucy Drives A Dump Truck (3/11/63)

The City Counsel won’t pay for the Volunteer Fire Departments new uniforms so they take up a paper drive to raise the money.

Lucy Visits The White House (3/25/63)

Jerry and Sherman’s Boy Scout troop build a White House out of sugar cubes and get a chance to bring to Washington D.C. to show the president. However, along the way the sugar cube house is destroyed and Lucy and Vivian must attempt to rebuild it.

Lucy And Viv Take Up Chemistry (4/01/63)

Lucy and Vivian decide to take a chemistry class where Lucy comes up with the idea to create a youth serum.

Lucy Is A Chaperone (4/08/63)

Lucy and Viviane chaperone Chris and her friends at the beach but embarrass Chris when they try to get hip with the kids.

Lucy And The Little League (4/15/63)

Lucy and Vivian get too rambunctious at their kids little league game and get kicked out so Lucy puts on a series of disguises to sneak back in including a trashcan!

Lucy And The Runaway Butterfly (4/22/63)

Lucy accidentally lets one of Chris’s butterflies go and runs amok all over town trying to catch another one.

Lucy Buys A Boat (4/29/63)

Tired renting a cottage for summer vacation, Lucy decides to buy a boat. Too bad it’s a real fixer-upper. Then Lucy and Vivian get trapped on the lake.

The show is presented in fullscreen 1:33.1. Sound is in Dolby Mono. The show actually looks and sounds really good. This is a top-notch transfer.

The following extras appear on all discs.

Flubs: Short texts point out errors done on the show.

Vintage Elements: Original opening sequence and closing credits with product placements. Also, Cast Commercials. These are really hilarious as the cast is forced to peddle the sponsor’s goods. It’s interesting to note that Lucy does not appear in any of these commercials. It’s also worth noting that you can set it up to watch the episode with these original elements.

Bios: Short texts about the cast and crew of the show.

Guest Cast Lists: Lists of guests and what episode they appeared in.

Disc 1:

New Interview with Lucy Arnaz: (20 min.) An interesting interview with Lucille Ball’s daughter.

Seven Wonderful Nights: (3 min.) This is a clip from a 30-minute show that was a compilation of previews for CBS’s fall line up for 1962.

Premiere Promo: (1 min.) A Short promo that was used to advertise the show prior to airing.

Disc 2:

CBS Mini-Promo: An 8 second promo for the show broadcast throughout the fall of 1962.

Disc 3:

Fair Exchange Promo: (1 min.) Lucy appears in this add for the series Fair Exchange.

Disc 4:

Clips from Opening Night: (10 min.) Opening Night was a one-hour variety show to promote the 1962-63 season for CBS. These clips highlight the moments in which Lucy appears.

Let’s Talk To Jimmy: (16 min.) Jimmy Garrett reminisces with host Tony Maietta about his role as Jerry on the show.

Collecting The Memories: (4 min.) Garrett and Maietta discuss the merchandise that was issued during the first season and how they have become collector’s items.

I have to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started watching this, as I’d never seen an episode of it before. But I found I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed most of the episodes. And with some great special features this is certainly a DVD worth checking out.




Paramount and CBS DVD present The Lucy Show: The Official First Season. Created by Desilu. Starring Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, Candy Moore, Jimmy Garrett, Ralph Hart and Dick Martin. Running time: 773 minutes on 4 discs. Not Rated. Released on DVD: July 21, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years