It's all here folks. As I suspected, it's taking the studio a LONG time to prepare the necessary materials for Season 2 (original openings, closings, commercials, memorabilia, photos, etc.) as well as remastering the episodes. I myself am not upset about it. I'm more than willing to wait if it means the release is done right. I'm sure others will be irked however. Oh well, here's the link:

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Lucy-DVDs-Delayed/12985

Also to note, Season 3 et al. is not guaranteed. Season 2 still has to do well sales-wise to warrant a release. I think the delay for Season 2 will help in that regard. Popular shows that are delayed tend to create more demand. If we suddenly were inundated with release after release, many fans would take their time in acquiring them. Now that Season 2 is 8 months away, many who would have passed on it are sure to get it. Ultimately, everything is working out in our favor.

Long live "The Lucy Show"!

Ed

I read that. I wasn't to surprised nor disappointed any. Even though Season 2 will be out almost 1 year after the first Season it's sure to just as good as the first. It would be cool to see Lucy, Viv, The Kids, and Lucy's house in color.

I guess delays are actually good. Because the longer the better.

I'm glad it is coming out. I just wish there was more of a guarantee for the October date for Season 3. I think sales will do well though. I'm doubting we will see the complete series on dvd as many fans will stop after Season 3 due to the departure of Vivian Vance. But we'll see as time progresses. If July comes and the wait wasn't justified with a stellar release, I will undoubtedly be ticked off.

Thanks for the update

I'm glad it is coming out. I just wish there was more of a guarantee for the October date for Season 3. I think sales will do well though. I'm doubting we will see the complete series on dvd as many fans will stop after Season 3 due to the departure of Vivian Vance. But we'll see as time progresses. If July comes and the wait wasn't justified with a stellar release, I will undoubtedly be ticked off.

I disagree with you about the complete series. After all, sales for "Here's Lucy" are doing well (as far as we know anyway), and Vivian Vance does come by to visit in the later seasons. I'm not saying it's a sure thing but I don't think it's guaranteed to fail though. As you say yourself, "we'll see as time progresses". I for one am planning on having the complete series one day.

Ed

I disagree with you about the complete series. After all, sales for "Here's Lucy" are doing well (as far as we know anyway), and Vivian Vance does come by to visit in the later seasons. I'm not saying it's a sure thing but I don't think it's guaranteed to fail though. As you say yourself, "we'll see as time progresses". I for one am planning on having the complete series one day.

Ed
It's possible but it's going to be a very long time before the complete series is out on dvd. It's strange that "Here's Lucy" will be complete before "The Lucy Show" as her fans tend to like TLS more than HL. But I guess Lucie and Desi being in charge of her estate have control over "Here's Lucy". MPI will be much quicker than Paramount. Maybe some day we will see "The Lucy Show" complete. I hope I'm wrong and we do see it sooner than later.

It's all here folks. As I suspected, it's taking the studio a LONG time to prepare the necessary materials for Season 2 (original openings, closings, commercials, memorabilia, photos, etc.) as well as remastering the episodes. I myself am not upset about it. I'm more than willing to wait if it means the release is done right. I'm sure others will be irked however. Oh well, here's the link:

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Lucy-DVDs-Delayed/12985

Also to note, Season 3 et al. is not guaranteed. Season 2 still has to do well sales-wise to warrant a release. I think the delay for Season 2 will help in that regard. Popular shows that are delayed tend to create more demand. If we suddenly were inundated with release after release, many fans would take their time in acquiring them. Now that Season 2 is 8 months away, many who would have passed on it are sure to get it. Ultimately, everything is working out in our favor.

Long live "The Lucy Show"!

Ed

You have some pretty good insight, Ed! Earlier, I was trying to wrap my brain around CBS/Paramount still expressing reluctance to releasing Lucy, after their testimony that never before have they had so many requests for a show, and sales supposedly better than expected for Season 1. But continuing to stress that sales have to be good to warrent furthur releases, I guess must also be a ploy to create demand.

Anyway, I'm buying every release of Lucy wheather its The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy or the Lucy Specials adding to my I Love Lucy and Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour.

You have some pretty good insight, Ed! Earlier, I was trying to wrap my brain around CBS/Paramount still expressing reluctance to releasing Lucy, after their testimony that never before have they had so many requests for a show, and sales supposedly better than expected for Season 1. But continuing to stress that sales have to be good to warrent furthur releases, I guess must also be a ploy to create demand.

Anyway, I'm buying every release of Lucy wheather its The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy or the Lucy Specials adding to my I Love Lucy and Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour.

Thanks markway895 (how are you enjoying the DVDs you bought from me by the way?). As much as I think we fans want everything released for legacy's sake, the bottom line is that such projects cost money. I've learned that it helps to think like a business in order to predict what's coming next and why things are delayed etc. I'm not always right but I'm 90% in the ballpark most times.

As much as we all love the Lucy shows, I think if we were in the company's shoes, we'd handle things similarly. It's just a necessary evil when dealing with commerce. It's especially tricky for the companies given the economy lately. They have to gauge the difference between things that sell slowly due to the economy and things that sell slowly due to lack of interest. It's not always an easy call. I see this as their way of ensuring that the fans get what they want as well as the company ensuring they don't take a loss. In my heart of hearts, I think CBS has a true loyalty to Lucy and her catalogue and they want to do right by her. They just have to be careful in how they do it.

As I said in an earlier post, I plan to own the entire series of "The Lucy Show" someday, in addition to "Here's Lucy" and "Life With Lucy" (a show that I don't think was her greatest effort, but it's only a half season's worth of episodes and the completist in me wants everything). Time will tell.

Thanks for the kind words in any case!

Ed

I'm disappointed with the delay, only because I've never seen any of the Second Season episodes of "The Lucy Show". In fact, until the Season One release, I'd never seen any episodes other than the few that were from later seasons, on television. So, while I understand that this is a business, I'm still wishing they would come sooner. I'd buy them all, right now, if they were released. Until then, I'll just keep buying the season releases of "Here's Lucy", as that is a show I'd never seen until the Season One set, and enjoying my Complete Series set of "I Love Lucy". I just pray that we have a Complete Series of "The Lucy Show"!

...So, while I understand that this is a business, I'm still wishing they would come sooner. I'd buy them all, right now, if they were released. Until then, I'll just keep buying the season releases of "Here's Lucy", as that is a show I'd never seen until the Season One set, and enjoying my Complete Series set of "I Love Lucy". I just pray that we have a Complete Series of "The Lucy Show"!

I'll be buying "Here's Lucy" too. But I probably won't run out on the day of release to get "The Lucy Show". With "Here's Lucy", I usually pre-order and sometimes forget the day it comes out and it shows up in the mail. I'll wait until I see "The Lucy Show" in stores sometime late next year and hope to pick up a copy. I, actually, prefer "Here's Lucy". It hasn't hurt that MPI wasted no time in getting Season 2 on the shelves. Rumour has it that Season 3 may be out by April. So "The Lucy Show" is on my backburner of dvd-buying for now. There are so many other things coming out in the months before this new street date, I have so many sets to work through. :lol:

I wonder why it takes CBS a year between releases but MPI can shoot the next season out in less than three months? Doesn't make sense to me at all.

I wonder why it takes CBS a year between releases but MPI can shoot the next season out in less than three months? Doesn't make sense to me at all.
They didn't trust that Season 1 would sell well. If they had, we would be seeing Season 2 a lot sooner. Like I said, I think it will hurt sales for Season 2 because I've already read posts all over the net and on amazon where people are asking where they can buy Season 2. By the time next July rolls around, will Season 2 sell? Sure, probably. But would it have sold better if it was released in the next few months? Definitely.

I wonder why it takes CBS a year between releases but MPI can shoot the next season out in less than three months? Doesn't make sense to me at all.

It's because "The Lucy Show" is an older show and requires more restorative work, which means more money involved. This is why CBS needs more "proof" that it will sell. There is a definite demand for the show but it's often compared unfairly to its predecessor, "I Love Lucy", and doesn't play nearly as often in syndication. So it's considered a bit of a risk investment-wise. Plus, and I've said this before many times, there's also work in finding out what still survives from the show in terms of original airings, like original openings, closings, commercials, etc. This adds to the expense. In our still fragile economy, CBS has to play it safe and exercise a bit of caution before investing whole hog in a show that may not end up selling enough to justify the costs involved in putting it out in the first place.

"Here's Lucy", in contrast, is a newer show. They also were preparing for syndication more fully by then, so better care was taken with the show. Lucille Ball owned "Here's Lucy" outright as opposed to "The Lucy Show" being owned by Desilu, the company she had sold off by then. So she (and later her estate) took special care of it since it was set to be a commodity. Also, and correct me if I'm wrong if anyone knows differently, I think Columbia House video bought the rights to "Here's Lucy" and did remastering on the show itself. So the cost involved on MPI's end is not nearly as huge as it is on CBS's. Even if "Here's Lucy" doesn't sell nearly as well as the "The Lucy Show", MPI will still see an easy profit since not much money was invested in the restorative process, at least not as much when compared with "The Lucy Show".

Does this make more sense to you now?

Ed

I wonder why it takes CBS a year between releases but MPI can shoot the next season out in less than three months? Doesn't make sense to me at all.

It's simple: CBS is starting from scratch restoring The Lucy Show. Restoration is a time-consuming process. At the time season one was released, those were the ONLY episodes of the entire series that had been restored. The entire Here's Lucy series, on the other hand, has already been restored and any given season (except for the extras) can hit the shelves practically at the drop of a hat. HL was restored several years ago for syndication purposes and also because there had been plans to have Shout! Factory do the season releases. But, as we all know, that business relationship disintegrated and so an almost-ready-to-release product was turned over to MPI for release. MPI has a far simpler task to do than CBS.

It's simple: CBS is starting from scratch restoring The Lucy Show. Restoration is a time-consuming process. At the time season one was released, those were the ONLY episodes of the entire series that had been restored. The entire Here's Lucy series, on the other hand, has already been restored and any given season (except for the extras) can hit the shelves practically at the drop of a hat. HL was restored several years ago for syndication purposes and also because there had been plans to have Shout! Factory do the season releases. But, as we all know, that business relationship disintegrated and so an almost-ready-to-release product was turned over to MPI for release. MPI has a far simpler task to do than CBS.

:clap Ahhh... someone else who gets it. Thanks for chiming in. Nice to see I'm not alone! :) :yourock:


Ed

:clap Ahhh... someone else who gets it. Thanks for chiming in. Nice to see I'm not alone! :) :yourock:


Ed

:lol: Thanks, Ed. I would like to add one more thing that I don't think people realize: the primary people putting these DVDs together, the ones whose names you see in the packaging -- and I'm talking about both Here's Lucy and The Lucy Show -- this is not their main job. They're doing this on the side. So think about how long an undertaking like this would take you if you were doing it outside of your regular, full-time job. And every one of them are devoted Lucy fans who want to do this right. Patience, people, please.

:lol: Thanks, Ed. I would like to add one more thing that I don't think people realize: the primary people putting these DVDs together, the ones whose names you see in the packaging -- and I'm talking about both Here's Lucy and The Lucy Show -- this is not their main job. They're doing this on the side. So think about how long an undertaking like this would take you if you were doing it outside of your regular, full-time job. And every one of them are devoted Lucy fans who want to do this right. Patience, people, please.
I for one am perfectly happy to wait longer for these seasons to be released if it means were going to get a higher quality product in the end. I rather see them do these sets well than see them do this sets quickly and just slap them together.

I'm just glad it's coming to dvd, I still have to watch disc 4 of the show. I'll be more than ready by the time it's released.

I'm fine with it..........if it means seeing another great release with all those great extras. and yea, delayed will make sort of a pent-up demand. Look at how long Season 1 was delayed :lol:

I am going to chime in here if I may. I believe that there are those, not necessarily Lucy fans like us on here, within the industry that believe "I Love Lucy" was Lucille Ball's "finest hour" while The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy pale in comparison. I can't tell you how many times I have read that "garbage" by critics, industry people and the like. The later series are seen as variations on the Lucy Ricardo character and nothing more.

I remember as a youngster, my initial exposure to Lucille Ball was "The Lucy Show". Where I grew up, the series aired in the afternoons for years. That is when I fell in love with Lucy..AND Viv..hence my name here. ;)

However, while it has surprisingly taken a number of years, the "powers that be" are learning us Lucy fans LOVE Lucy not just in I Love Lucy, but her other wonderful subsequent series, her films and TV specials. I just hope the DVDs keep coming! :)

When it comes time for the season 4 episodes on, when it was aired in color, I would love to see the "CBS presents this program in color" at the beginning of each Lucy Show. I'm sure it won't happen, but I heard that the Bonanza DVD releases had it included with NBC's peacock, so anything is possible.

An example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z82cI4LXVgo&feature=related

UPDATE:

The news about Season 3 in October is false. I just found this out. It is not possible to have Season 3 prepared by that date (as confirmed by one of the fans working on these sets). I thought other fans would appreciate this info and not be led to believe you should see Season 3 on store shelves in October. I know how annoying it is to have false info. But, at least, Season 2 will be released this year. :)