Mot Morenzi

Progress indeed. I was beginning to think it was all finished and had been put in storage.

Ah, back in the day when the original negatives were cut. Such a pity. But nevertheless, if this is what survives, I'm grateful it's getting released at all and will support the releases.

I'm disappointed but not surprised that the syndicated versions were used. Those must've been the cleaned up versions they already prepared some time ago. I doubt they considered it worthwhile to remaster all the network originals given the show's niche appeal. I hope they all still survive, though!

At the very least he should've qualified for goose insurance!

I hope they do The Audition at some stage. Not only do they have that color reference footage, but it'd be a nice addition since it's a remake of the pilot, and therefore represents Lucy and Desi's first filmed comedy routine.

Wow, that's unbelievable about the insurance issue. Even in his 80s (and he didn't look it), he was so robust and full of life. Multiple sources say he was still sharp as a tack, and never once flubbed a line on the LWL set. Such a pity he lost out on that 1990 role. In my opinion, Gale would've made a great guest-star on Wings as Roy's father, had they chosen to go that route. He had it until the end.

Maybe later episodes would've cut back the kids' appearances like TLS did, with more plots taking place with them at school or already in bed, or off visiting friends. Or, maybe they would've gone the boarding school route, turning Grandma Heaven into Grandma Hell (MARGO: "I'VE LOST MY BABIES!") You're right that more conflict in the home could've given them more possibilities. Lucy getting along perfectly well with Ted and Margo is lovely and all, but friendly isn't necessarily funny. Perhaps an Endora/Durwood type relationship between Lucy and Ted could've livened things up a bit.

Instead of cancelling it outright, they should've tried moving it to a different time slot to see if it performed any better.

Has anyone gotten either volume yet? If so, what's the quality like?

Critical research failure.

Interesting. So there was talk of both Cary Grant and Bob Hope appearing. Pity that never happened. LUCY: There's Cary Grant! MARGO: Where!?

It's so unfortunate the Christmas episode couldn't be produced. It would've been great to have another holiday episode in the Lucy canon, especially since Here's Lucy didn't give us any. If only that phone call from ABC had come a week later. Hell, if only they'd held off altogether, maybe the show could've grown an audience!

Lucy, Legal Beagle For the longest time, I thought the title was Eagle not Beagle. Nice to finally have that confirmed. I initially wasn't too keen on watching this one, given we're currently dealing with our own version of Mrs. Loomis, but at least it has a happy ending. Lucy's courtroom routine is probably the most Lucy Ricardo-esque bit she has in the whole series. Dena Dietrich certainly did a lot of these bitchy character parts. For anyone who hates Mrs. Loomis, enjoy Patti LuPone tearing her a new one in this scene from Life Goes On:

Breaking Up is Hard to Do It's criminal this episode didn't air, as it is a top-notch excursion. This and "Mother of the Bride" are easily two of my favorites. The flow is natural, the performances modulated and the comedy heartfelt. That finale between Lucy and Gale brought tears to my eyes. Having all those years of their relationship documented really gives that reunion scene tremendous emotional weight. This episode proves the show was finding its rhythm and deserved more time.

The Wikipedia page lists them in aired order but numbers them in production order. That'll help illustrate the discrepancy. And you're right, they did bump up the guest star showcases to try and help ratings. Was Bob Hope intended to make an appearance? I'd never heard that before!

Lucy and the Guard Goose I'll always have a soft spot for this one, as it's the first episode I ever saw. It also features one of Gale's funniest performances. Those deadpan one-liners of his are a hoot. Conversely, I think it's one of Lucy's weaker performances. To be fair, the script doesn't give her much to work with, but her cue card reading is very obvious and her delivery stilted. She was clearly still readjusting to the swing of things. Lucy's Green Thumb This episode is what would've resulted if Milt Josefsberg wrote the first season of I Love Lucy. It makes the giant bread loaf look downright plausible. Nonetheless, I like how it shows off the family dynamic. Lucy and Curtis Are Up a Tree This one has a good underlying plot but is unevenly paced. The bedtime story routine grinds everything to a halt. Little Red Riding Hood in Spanish it ain't! I wish the treehouse scene had featured more heart to heart and less bickering between Lucy and Curtis. (Seeing it in good quality reveals just how bad the sky backdrop was. The 1960s canvases were more convincing!) And the whole Singin' in the Rain bit is waaaay to syrupy for my liking.

Good. I knew he'd been caught but couldn't find out if they'd been cleaned up yet. Accessorization is not what these statues were really looking for!

https://buffalonews.com/2019/10/04/lucille-ball-statues-in-western-new-york-park-vandalized/ This happened earlier in the month and I don't think has yet been discussed here. I didn't see any recent articles about this. Does anyone aware of the situation know if the statues have been restored, or are they at least in the process of restoration?

I'm loving all the details that weren't clear until now. I'd never noticed the vinyl necktie either. I'd also never spotted the little R2D2 figure in the living room before.

It's interesting that the episodes predominantly crafted by the old team tend to be the weaker ones. Linda Morris and Vic Rauseo seemed to be the best overall writers the show had. Marc Daniels, sadly, appeared to be the least effective director.

Lucy is a Sax Symbol This is an okay episode, IMO. It's been so long since I last saw it I'd totally forgotten most of the plot. The sentimental scenes would've been more effective without the sappy music. That, to me, dates the show more than the references. I loved Lucy's line "I'm trying to decide if it's real or if it's Memorex!" The mousse in the sax scene was funny. Lucy Makes Curtis Byte the Dust I know some consider this to be the biggest dud of the lot, but I actually enjoyed it. It's a very silly outing, and the computer references aren't very true to life, but the general idea of Lucy and Curtis trying to modernize was a good one. The biggest fly in the ointment to me was Rupert, which was just way too wacky and out-of-the-blue. Mother of the Bride I'm with the general consensus that this is the strongest overall episode. Audrey was a fantastic guest-star and the show is very well-paced. The cake fight is a tad stilted but certainly well motivated, and the wedding scene manages to be touching without getting overly sentimental. I especially love the reveal of Margo in Lucy's wedding dress. It's also nice to see a softer side to Curtis; I concur with Fidelman that this show works best when Lucy and Gale are on the same side, not at each other's throats.

One Good Grandparent Deserves Another This is a pretty solid debut. It's also one of the few that provides Larry Anderson with any kind of decent showcase. His character was really relegated to the background for most subsequent outings. As great as Lucy's entrance is, Gale's is the one I truly love. That wonderful bellow of "ANYBODY HOOOOOME!?" followed by his schlumping through the door is such a great moment. It's a bit hypocritical of Mrs. Barker to criticize Leonard for his smoking, given that HER voice suggests she wasn't always the health nut she is now! The fire-extinguisher sequence would've been so much better had the camera not captured the additional foam being poured in. It nearly ruins the whole routine, but Lucy, Gale and Donovan manage to salvage it. Lucy Makes a Hit With John Ritter I'd only seen this episode once before, years ago, and it was better than I remembered. At least the plot had a logical progression, even if some of the individual scenes could've been better written. Ritter's energy helps buoy the show tremendously. With all due respect to Larry Anderson, maybe if they'd been able to cast Ritter in the role and allowed the son-in-law to be Lucy's partner in crime, the show might've had more legs to stand on. Love Among the Two By Fours This is one of the more touching episodes. It veers on schmaltz at times, but overall manages to avoid becoming too sticky...no thanks to the kids, who really overplay the cutesy factor. Lucy's little dance with Peter Graves had me absolutely beaming, and might be my favorite scene of the whole series. Gale's a bit obnoxious in this one but he does have some great lines, especially the one about using the faucet to turn him on. It's fun seeing Gale deliver more adult-oriented jokes than he could've done back in the Mr. Mooney/Harry Carter days. IMO, this episode features Ann Dusenberry's best performance. Margo actually gets some decent lines and screen time and Ann shows some solid timing. Lucy Gets Her Wires Crossed This is a fun episode. The infamous armchair scene isn't nearly as bad as critics at the time made it out to be. None of them seemed to realise Lucy wouldn't have done it if she wasn't comfortable with the stunt, and she merely gets jostled a bit. The glued together bit isn't quite as funny as it would've been with Lucy and Gale in their prime, but it's still a fun routine. It's a pity they couldn't have done that on "The Lucy Show" with Lucy, Viv and Gale all getting glued together.

Lucy and the Rub-A-Dub-Dub Joan Brenner gets the shock of her life when she discovers three men in Lucy's bathtub. Prudish Joan is eventually mollified after Lucy explains that the men in question were "friends" of her newly de-shelled roommate Carol Bradford, but not before Joan lands a precision F-strike and pulls the toilet chain, causing the water to run cold and the three fellas to jump out in shock.

My copy FINALLY arrived today! Took Amazon a week after I ordered before they shipped. I've only briefly checked it out but the quality is great. I immediately went to the special features, none of which I've seen before. I was interested to note that the ET segment utilised the rare 5th season "The Lucy Show" title screen. Where on earth would they have gotten that back in the 1980s!? At long last I can finally retire my CrummyVision Whiner's Club Bootleg edition, unless of course I get a hankering to watch that enervating cast party video.

Sad news. Such a shame they're all gone now. I'm sure Kaye thought he was looking peaky and is feeding him up right now. It's unfortunate Jerry wasn't interested in / available for interviews on the DVD set. I think he's talked about it in other local interviews available on YouTube, but it's a pity his memories couldn't have been preserved on the box set.