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Lucy: A Legacy of Laughter DVD

Brock

By Brock,
in The Danfield Tribune

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Brock Newbie

Brock

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Check out this new DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057Q8QNA/ref=pe_5140_20810470_snp_dp

 

Does anyone have this? It looks like the standard public domain episodes of TLS with a splash of Life With Elizabeth thrown in for good measure, but I'm really curious as to this "new, original" documentary the DVD claims to have? Has anyone seen this yet and can weigh in?

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C L A U D E Newbie

C L A U D E

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Check out this new DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057Q8QNA/ref=pe_5140_20810470_snp_dp

 

Does anyone have this? It looks like the standard public domain episodes of TLS with a splash of Life With Elizabeth thrown in for good measure, but I'm really curious as to this "new, original" documentary the DVD claims to have? Has anyone seen this yet and can weigh in?

Sounds great, not out yet though, will look for it although i already seventy three versions of those public domain Lucy shows, LOL! I too want to see that featurette though.

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C L A U D E Newbie

C L A U D E

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Public domains are like ants and roaches, when you think YOU GOT THEM ALL you don't.

 

This collection does have a couple of hooks though, which interests me.

 

There is a Lucille Ball documentary on public domain which I already have.

That's true, one of the Lucille Ball Collections only had a few Lucy shows on it but it had this short British documentary with only a cuple of mistakes in it, i had to rebuy it on dvd when i had already bought it on VHS as it was that good and of course that made you buy it to get the doc.

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Neil Newbie

Neil

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I bought it!

It's 30 public domain episodes PLUS 5 "bonus" episodes of Betty White's "Life with Elizabeth".

I think this is every public domain episode, but don't know for sure.

I still can't figure out how certain groups of episodes of these series lapsed into public domain. Of the ones that have been packaged and sold, they're all CBS series as far as I know..and from different calendar years.

This set has what appears to be all of the 5th season, the two from the first season (which they call "The Plumber" and "The Barbershop"!) and the rest are from the 6th season.

I've watched only the first couple of minutes of the "featurette" --a guy standing in front of the camera and reciting the minute details of her life: "Lucille's brother Fred went to live with Desiree's parents and she went to live with Ed Peterson's parents...." which segued into a clip intro "let's look at one of the classic moments that made Lucille Ball a national institution" followed by a LONG clip from "Lucy Babysits the Chimps"(?!) before going back to the on-camera narrator..."Lucille went to New York and appeared on Broadway under the name Diane Belmont..."

I'll tell you all about it when I watch the rest but wanted to give you a little preview.

"Life with Elizabeth" is a pretty bizarre show. The half hour features three separate 'plots', each introduced by announcer Jack Narz "Our next situation is....". The writing makes "I Married Joan" look like "I Love Lucy". Betty's game and trying her best, but she's stuck with the worst material ever (judging by the episode I watched). It's like some 6-graders doing comedy improv. Hard to believe adults put this out.

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C L A U D E Newbie

C L A U D E

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I bought it!

It's 30 public domain episodes PLUS 5 "bonus" episodes of Betty White's "Life with Elizabeth".

I think this is every public domain episode, but don't know for sure.

I still can't figure out how certain groups of episodes of these series lapsed into public domain. Of the ones that have been packaged and sold, they're all CBS series as far as I know..and from different calendar years.

This set has what appears to be all of the 5th season, the two from the first season (which they call "The Plumber" and "The Barbershop"!) and the rest are from the 6th season.

I've watched only the first couple of minutes of the "featurette" --a guy standing in front of the camera and reciting the minute details of her life: "Lucille's brother Fred went to live with Desiree's parents and she went to live with Ed Peterson's parents...." which segued into a clip intro "let's look at one of the classic moments that made Lucille Ball a national institution" followed by a LONG clip from "Lucy Babysits the Chimps"(?!) before going back to the on-camera narrator..."Lucille went to New York and appeared on Broadway under the name Diane Belmont..."

I'll tell you all about it when I watch the rest but wanted to give you a little preview.

"Life with Elizabeth" is a pretty bizarre show. The half hour features three separate 'plots', each introduced by announcer Jack Narz "Our next situation is....". The writing makes "I Married Joan" look like "I Love Lucy". Betty's game and trying her best, but she's stuck with the worst material ever (judging by the episode I watched). It's like some 6-graders doing comedy improv. Hard to believe adults put this out.

And we never missed the show because Betty White was so good as a tv personality, but you're right, i don't remember one single instance where i recollect anything at all about the show, oh wait, yes i do, they would always finish with this fight or brawl where everybody talked at the same time and the announcer would say, Elizabeth, say goodbye to the people. Thanks for the description of the dvd, if i see it here i'm buying it for sure.

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Neil Newbie

Neil

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No one has ever explained how 1 episode of s5 of The Lucy show DIDN'T get into the public domain.

 

Perhaps it was offered and public domain said "no" If I'm not mistaken it's "Lucy Loves Main Street part 2" aka "We built these special sets so we're going to stretch them into two episodes whether there's plot enough or not"....and in my opinion, it's a definite NOT.

 

I've watched the rest of the documentary which includes clips from "Ring a Ding", the great one where Mooney is getting her out of the car and "Little Old Lucy" where Dennis Day is putting the moves on her. (The only jack Benny regular that didn't get an entire show built around him was Rochester, it seems) In between the featurette cuts back to this unidentified on-camera 'biographer' who spews out facts, sometimes slightly inaccurate, about Lucy's life. When he finishes telling the story of how "I Love Lucy" came about he says "and here's a clip that is sure to bring back a lot of memories": and a scene from "Robert Goulet"! in the bank where Lucy convinces Chuck to pose for the look-alike contest and Mooney to take the picture--which probably had 'the general public' who might pick this up scratching their heads, because not only is it not memorable, or particularly funny, they've built the intro up to seem like you're going to getting "I Love lucy".

At the VERY least this is not one of those public domain sets that has a picture of Lucy Ricardo on the jacket; or one that is promising the BEST of "the Lucy Show".

Which is a good question: since MPI put out the SEVEN episodes of "the Best of Here's Lucy".

If you had to pick the TEN best episodes of "The Lucy Show", what would they be?

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mark bale Newbie

mark bale

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Not sure if Rochester had some sort of radio show (or at least a pilot), and neither Don Wilson or Mary Livingston had their own shows did they.

 

Re. the non PD s5 episode of The Lucy Show, I can only make a guess that the episodes were copyrighted one at a time, and some sort of gigantic error resulted in this single episode being done, but not the rest of the season. Though it doesn't explain the 2 PD episodes from season 1.

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Neil Newbie

Neil

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Not sure if Rochester had some sort of radio show (or at least a pilot), and neither Don Wilson or Mary Livingston had their own shows did they.

 

Re. the non PD s5 episode of The Lucy Show, I can only make a guess that the episodes were copyrighted one at a time, and some sort of gigantic error resulted in this single episode being done, but not the rest of the season. Though it doesn't explain the 2 PD episodes from season 1.

 

You're right....unless they outsourced the copyrighting project to the Unique Employment Agency.

 

Mary "appeared" via voice in "Jack Benny's Biography"

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mark bale Newbie

mark bale

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You're right....unless they outsourced the copyrighting project to the Unique Employment Agency.

 

Mary "appeared" via voice in "Jack Benny's Biography"

 

Yes but she never had a regular series of her own. Phil Harris did, as did Dennis Day, Mel Blanc. But Mary and Don Wilson didn't (guest spots no doubt)

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JoeySanJoaquin Newbie

JoeySanJoaquin

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Perhaps it was offered and public domain said "no" If I'm not mistaken it's "Lucy Loves Main Street part 2" aka "We built these special sets so we're going to stretch them into two episodes whether there's plot enough or not"....and in my opinion, it's a definite NOT.

 

I've watched the rest of the documentary which includes clips from "Ring a Ding", the great one where Mooney is getting her out of the car and "Little Old Lucy" where Dennis Day is putting the moves on her. (The only jack Benny regular that didn't get an entire show built around him was Rochester, it seems) In between the featurette cuts back to this unidentified on-camera 'biographer' who spews out facts, sometimes slightly inaccurate, about Lucy's life. When he finishes telling the story of how "I Love Lucy" came about he says "and here's a clip that is sure to bring back a lot of memories": and a scene from "Robert Goulet"! in the bank where Lucy convinces Chuck to pose for the look-alike contest and Mooney to take the picture--which probably had 'the general public' who might pick this up scratching their heads, because not only is it not memorable, or particularly funny, they've built the intro up to seem like you're going to getting "I Love lucy".

At the VERY least this is not one of those public domain sets that has a picture of Lucy Ricardo on the jacket; or one that is promising the BEST of "the Lucy Show".

Which is a good question: since MPI put out the SEVEN episodes of "the Best of Here's Lucy".

If you had to pick the TEN best episodes of "The Lucy Show", what would they be?

I dunnooo, I'm curious enough to want to see it but hate to support its purchase as it's yet another PD cash-in tie-in, and rife with easily-checked errors at that, which tells me it was done by fly-by-nights.

 

I think I'd just as soon wait for the sanctioned releases which, if experience shows anything, have been stellar and well worth the wait. Why give those yokels any hard-earned money?? Will wait and see if that "documentary" (cough, cough) turns up on YouTube....for free! ;)

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C L A U D E Newbie

C L A U D E

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I dunnooo, I'm curious enough to want to see it but hate to support its purchase as it's yet another PD cash-in tie-in, and rife with easily-checked errors at that, which tells me it was done by fly-by-nights.

 

I think I'd just as soon wait for the sanctioned releases which, if experience shows anything, have been stellar and well worth the wait. Why give those yokels any hard-earned money?? Will wait and see if that "documentary" (cough, cough) turns up on YouTube....for free! ;)

LOL! Your bottom pics are always so different and i just want you to keep up the good work, LOL!

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C L A U D E Newbie

C L A U D E

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:obrien:

 

I dunno 'bout that....let's just say in recent years it's gone (south), "expanding" from a nice-sized "Desilu Ranchito" sadly to Bonanza's huge "Ponderosa"!

:lucydisgust:

LOL! Mine's gone from Lucy WITH the chin strap contraption to Lucy without it, unfortunately. Mine has more lines than high def TV.

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