It's official, the entire series is coming, and so is Here's Lucy!

Here is the announcement:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mothers-In-Law-DVDs-Planned/11326

Lucie Arnaz and Gregg Oppenheimer were at some convention and reported that The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy dvd releases were planned for 2009 but said there was no plans for Desi Arnaz's Mothers-in-Law. So todays news was a big SURPRISE! Yay for M.P.I.!

I'm glad to see some of Eve Arden's work coming out on DVD. She is a very talented and very underrated commedienne. I'm also excited that the legacy of Desi Arnaz will live on with the release of this series. Thank-you MPI.

Yeah, M.P.I. and also Shout! Video are really coming through for alot of folks! There releasing shows that the big companies (CBS/Paramount; Sony and Fox) just don't care about. Wow, I never thought I see The Mothers-in-Law announced! My only disapointment is, I just this month bought some MIL public-domain bootleg episodes, oh well...

The difference between MPI and Shout! though is that MPI upfront commits itself to the *entire* run of the show. "Bill Cosby Show" fans would still debate the idea that Shout has "come through" on all levels because regardless of whether the sales projections of Cosby were off or not, if they're being productive with many other releases, they should bite the bullett and get that remaining season out barebones.

I think The Mothers In Law was one of the more underrated comedies of the late 60's and should have gone at least one more season. Good that MPI is doing both seasons at once with plenty of extras..They did a good job with the Ultimate Petticoat Junction DVD set in 2005..

The difference between MPI and Shout! though is that MPI upfront commits itself to the *entire* run of the show. "Bill Cosby Show" fans would still debate the idea that Shout has "come through" on all levels because regardless of whether the sales projections of Cosby were off or not, if they're being productive with many other releases, they should bite the bullett and get that remaining season out barebones.
Good point! Too bad more companies can't follow MPI's lead.

And, allegedly there are lots of extras, too.
Probably lots of outtakes. Sounds exciting.

The difference between MPI and Shout! though is that MPI upfront commits itself to the *entire* run of the show. "Bill Cosby Show" fans would still debate the idea that Shout has "come through" on all levels because regardless of whether the sales projections of Cosby were off or not, if they're being productive with many other releases, they should bite the bullett and get that remaining season out barebones.

That is my point exactly. I don't know what caused Shout Factory to think The Bill Cosby Show would be a big seller, apparently they didn't do their research and spent a lot of money on the 1st season. And they don't market their products properly, how can they expect a mostly forgotten series like The Bill Cosby Show to be a big seller without an advertising campaign? Their methods are totally ludicrous. I agree they should just bite the bullet and get the 2nd and final season out there for the fans who bought season one. MPI would have done this better, spent less money on the project and we would have the complete series by now.

Nice to see MPI is issuing The Mothers In Law, I don't know if I will purchase this show but it's always nice to see a short lived, neglected old series like this get a new life on DVD, especially from a studio like MPI who will commit to issuing the complete series.

This show may've only run two seasons in prime time,
but it had a LONG, LONG run in syndication on WNEW-TV
channel five in NYC. They ran and re-ran those 56 episodes
for most of the early seventies. Much like the 39 HONEYMOONERS
episodes on WPIX-TV, also in NYC.

This show may've only run two seasons in prime time,
but it had a LONG, LONG run in syndication on WNEW-TV
channel five in NYC. They ran and re-ran those 56 episodes
for most of the early seventies. Much like the 39 HONEYMOONERS
episodes on WPIX-TV, also in NYC.
I don't think it was ever syndicated in Cleveland. I look forward to watching the DVD!! :cool:

Well, Shout! got all the That Girl Seasons out. They were slow about it but they got them out! But yeah, The Bill Cosby Show, has been out for awhile, and only ran 2 seasons. You'd think they would just put the other season out and be done with it. I guess I'm glad M.P.I. is the one releasing Mothers-In-Law and Here's Lucy!

As far as the Bill Cosby Show, they probably thought fans of Cosby and the very sucessful Cosby show, would be curious about this long forgotten show. I have and am enjoying it.

This show may've only run two seasons in prime time,
but it had a LONG, LONG run in syndication on WNEW-TV
channel five in NYC. They ran and re-ran those 56 episodes
for most of the early seventies. Much like the 39 HONEYMOONERS
episodes on WPIX-TV, also in NYC.
and that was the last time I saw it until recently whenI saw an episode on tv4u.com
Yay for MPI!!!!

Wow... I remember this show but haven't seen it since I was a kid! Looking forward to seeing this one again! I vaguely remember reruns appearing in the Chicago area on WGN but that's gotta be at least 35 years ago. Needless to say I'm pretty excited about this one!

This was quite a funny series. I'm certain that if NBC had
given it a better time slot (it was aired on Sundays at 8:30, sandwiched
between WORLD OF DISNEY and BONANZA, and up against ED SULLIVAN
over on CBS) it might've survived for several more seasons.

I agree. The episodes that I have seen (with Desi Arnaz guest starring) were very enjoyable. I am looking forward to this release!

The difference between MPI and Shout! though is that MPI upfront commits itself to the *entire* run of the show. "Bill Cosby Show" fans would still debate the idea that Shout has "come through" on all levels because regardless of whether the sales projections of Cosby were off or not, if they're being productive with many other releases, they should bite the bullett and get that remaining season out barebones.

Funny that you should mention The Bill Cosby Show here, as it's the show that replaced The Mothers-in-Law in fall 1969 in that quirky NBC Sunday 8:30 PM timeslot that was owned by Procter & Gamble at the time.

Do we have a release date for this set yet?
I keep looking on amazon.com for pre-sale
availability, but thus far to no avail.

Nothing yet. Wasn't it announced for this summer? Now that The Lucy Show has a street date, The Mothers-in-Law is the next release I'm anxious for. There aren't too many old classics coming, but I'm thrilled about these and Here's Lucy!

With the annoucement of the first season of Here's Lucy and the release date of August 25, I expect something about MIL soon as well.

I'm going to try this again: "We should be hearing something, anytime!" When I said this about Here's Lucy, there was an announcement the next morning!

Its July! And still no announcement for TMIL! Oh well, I'm not going to complain. I'm glad there putting so much time and effort into the release of Here's Lucy instead of rushing to release anything with sub-standard results. I just am anxious.

I saw the promos for it on The Lucille Ball Specials:Lucy Gets Lucky/Three for Two, so we know it is coming. And I think I just may go ahead and get this series!

I'm going to purchase this set when it is released. I have only seen a couple of episodes that featured Desi Arnaz guest starring, but what I saw I enjoyed. If anything, it will be a nice set on the shelf that I pull out from time to time and watch a couple of shows just for a chance from everything else I watch on a normal basis!

I'm going to purchase this set when it is released. I have only seen a couple of episodes that featured Desi Arnaz guest starring, but what I saw I enjoyed. If anything, it will be a nice set on the shelf that I pull out from time to time and watch a couple of shows just for a chance from everything else I watch on a normal basis!


I think most "Lucy" fans will enjoy The Mothers-in-Law. Eve and Kaye got into the same type of mischief as Lucy & Ethel/Viv did. I hope those who never saw this show check it out!

I called MPI today and talked to a rep who said that TMIL has a tentative release date of sometime in December. Here's the phone # in case anyone wants to call: 1-800-323-0442 (it's only for weekdays).

Thanks for the update PF7074!

I'm looking forward to this and I'm glad they are planning to release the "complete" series all in one set. That's the way to do it. It actually made me want to buy the series more. I hope MPI just keeps churning out the Lucy releases as well. One-a-month would be fantastic! :happyface

I agree with Robert, when I heard that this series was being released I was thrilled. Not so much because I really want it or need it, but just because of Desi's involvement and of course the Bob Carroll/Madelyn Pugh Davis writing team. But then when I learned that the entire series - with extras of course! - will be released in one release I was thrilled!!!

This is nice news!

I agree with Robert, when I heard that this series was being released I was thrilled. Not so much because I really want it or need it, but just because of Desi's involvement and of course the Bob Carroll/Madelyn Pugh Davis writing team. But then when I learned that the entire series - with extras of course! - will be released in one release I was thrilled!!!

I had heard that they are releasing the entire series, but I had not heard that they will be releasing it as the entire series as one set. (at least initially) I am not so sure that they are doing that? I could be wrong though. I read the first release is due by the end of the year. I guess I must have missed this update, as I have been keeping a close eye out for the extras and the release date to be announced. Thanks for the info. :)

This is where the news item is on tvshowsondvd.com:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mothers-In-Law-DVDs-Planned/11326

The last line says something to the effect of "In addition to all 56 episodes, MPI will include bonus material ...." Based on this release I believe is where a lot of people - myself included - thinks that all the episodes will be released in one set. I seem to recall reading elsewhere online that the entire series will be available as one set as well.

Glad we could help with the news! ;)

That press release says MPI will be releasing all 56 episodes of "The Mothers- In-Law" beginning later in 2009. The phrase "beginning later in 2009" indicates that some episodes will be released later this year and that others are to follow. I assume from this that season 1 will be released later this year and that a separate season 2 set will be released later, probably sometime in 2010.

The reason why we've been led to believe the series will be released in 1 single set is because of the pamphlet in the "Lucy Show: Season 1" set which shows cover-art with the phrase "The Complete Series" on it. I hope that is what will happen unless they change their plans.