i'm really enjoying this season even more more now!! the fact that the original opening (with Vivian Vance actually given a title credit, save for the episodes she isn't in) is a big plus! Yea, the kids are just glorified extras...only Jimmy Garrett has any substantial worth when he delivers his brief set of lines. Poor Ralph Hart must have seen the writing on the wall--he is barely used (and it's obvious puberty was starting...he was getting taller and really look way older than Jimmy). But the show was never about the kids anyway. Lucy and Viv really shine (and it's just a shame that the schism that took place wasn't resolved quickly to lead to a decent send off for Viv, rather than that hastily one line in the 4th season premiere--such as Vern Bunson could have been introduced as a recurring character and we could have seen the romance take place). While continuity is beginning to take a back seat, Lucy and Viv really knock out a few home runs in terms of chemistry and out and out laughs!

Season 3 does indeed rock! I am half way through watching it and I haven't laughed like this in a long time. I think these episodes might represent some of the best and funniest work Lucy and Viv ever did together!

Agreed. Liking this season better than Season Two actually, for the most part that is.

I do not have season 3 yet (the store that I bought the other two seasons locally has not carried this release yet - go figure, and I can't decide to buy now or wait and put on my list for Santa!) but from what I remember from the reruns on Nick it was still a strong season. It seems that the big change in humor and situations, with the Lucy character getting stupid instead of cunning, didn't happen until season 4. Besides Vivian leaving, that is when a lot of behind the camera talent also changed, and it shows in the end product.

I do not have season 3 yet (the store that I bought the other two seasons locally has not carried this release yet - go figure, and I can't decide to buy now or wait and put on my list for Santa!) but from what I remember from the reruns on Nick it was still a strong season. It seems that the big change in humor and situations, with the Lucy character getting stupid instead of cunning, didn't happen until season 4. Besides Vivian leaving, that is when a lot of behind the camera talent also changed, and it shows in the end product.

Season Four is also the year that Lucy kept "coincidentally" running into Mr. Mooney in almost every episode, all over the greater Los Angeles area; got shot out of a cannon; went flying through the air like Peter Pan due to her malfunctioning adrenal glands; chased a gorilla that stole her autograph book; got chased BY another gorilla right inside her apartment; was mistaken for a rain goddess; and was asked out on a date by a much younger man who also happened to be a big TV star, Bob Crane. It still had its moments, though, like the Dean Martin and Elliott Ness episodes, her adventures working in a department store, impersonating Carol Channing, trying to keep her mouth shut in order to win a prize on Art Linkletter's show, and the William Frawley cameo (his final TV appearance ever), but I prefer the 5th and 6th seasons. I'll be buying the 4th season, though, mainly just to have a complete set and help do my part to ensure we see seasons 5 and 6 on DVD.

Lucy and Viv really shine (and it's just a shame that the schism that took place wasn't resolved quickly to lead to a decent send off for Viv, rather than that hastily one line in the 4th season premiere--such as Vern Bunson could have been introduced as a recurring character and we could have seen the romance take place). While continuity is beginning to take a back seat, Lucy and Viv really knock out a few home runs in terms of chemistry and out and out laughs!

I agree , I have always thought that Viv's character was literally bundled off with a quick explanation of her having got remarried in the "Lucy at Marineland" episode. It would have been far better to have had a big two part wedding finale at the end of season three with Viv having a whirlwind romance and then marrying in the last show. Viv really deserved a better send off in my belief.

I agree. I liked Season 3 better than Season 2. My order of them from best to worst would be Season 1, 3, 6, 2, 5, 4. I really liked a lot of episodes in Season 3 and Season 6. Nothing will beat season 1 though. Season 4 was my least favorite as there were just to many unbelievable things happening with Lucy (who was in her mid 50's by the time that season aired).

I noticed that about Ralph Hart as well. In the episode "The Old Mansion" where the kids are brought on to help with the Countess' luggage he is getting quite tall. I believe that would be his final appearance on the show. I haven't finished Season 3 yet though.

I have season 3 on order, it should arrive soon. Looking forward to it, the 3rd and 1st seasons are probably my favorites. I plan to get the 4th season also when it comes out, after that I'm not sure.

Aurgggggggggg! I have to wait til Christmas!!!!! I've seen it in the stores though, atleast I got to look at it.:lol:

I agree , I have always thought that Viv's character was literally bundled off with a quick explanation of her having got remarried in the "Lucy at Marineland" episode. It would have been far better to have had a big two part wedding finale at the end of season three with Viv having a whirlwind romance and then marrying in the last show. Viv really deserved a better send off in my belief.

The reason for the rough transition and quick explanation for Vivian Bagley's departure from the series is that there wasn't supposed to be a fourth season at all. In fact, The Lucy Show was originally only supposed to be a one-season deal to help get Desilu back on its feet (and buy it some time to get some other series on the air). But Lucy agreed to continue it for a second season and soon discovered that the series (and the threat of discontinuing it) was great leverage to sell other Desilu products to CBS. At the end of the second season, she again threatened to leave, and Viv was ready to leave as well. Lucy was probably just bluffing so she could get another Desilu series on the air, but Viv wasn't. And Lucy, realizing Viv didn't want to continue for a third season, came up with a game plan: a new series in which she would co-star with Gale Gordon starting in the fall of 1964. She shot a pilot for that prospective series, which aired as a special you've all already seen, The Lucille Comedy Hour, with guest star Bob Hope. But CBS really wanted The Lucy Show to continue, and after a little arm twisting, Vivian Vance agreed to come back for a third season. When it became absolutely clear Vivian would not go beyond a third season, Lucy began preparing again for this new series with Gale Gordon, in which she would play a fictionalized version of herself: Lucille Ball, studio executive.

I've heard several explanations for why that new show got shelved in favor of continuing The Lucy Show, albeit without Vivian Vance, and there's probably some truth to all of them.

For one thing, CBS again was urging her to continue The Lucy Show. Although they would certainly air whatever show Lucy were to come up with, they felt it was that Lucy character fans most wanted to see. So there was pressure from the network to find a way to continue The Lucy Show. Second, the issue of the magic 100: the number of episodes considered to be the standard for having a viable Monday to Friday rerun package. By 1965, a number of old post-production series, including I Love Lucy, were airing in weekday morning or afternoon reruns on networks or in syndication, and making lots of money for the entities that owned them. Desilu hoped to have similar success by rerunning The Lucy Show. But at the end of the third season, they hadn't hit that magic number:100; only 84 episodes had been produced up to that point, and it would require at least one more season on the air to get past that benchmark. So both CBS and Desilu had an interest in having the show continue.

The third factor that led to the fourth season is that Maury Thompson (camera coordinator) and Tommy Thompson (associate producer/assistant director ) got together and dreamed up the idea of sending Lucy Carmichael off to California and having run-ins with celebrities. Maury Thompson (who had a great personality and easily won an audience) recounted this story at one of the Lucy conventions in Burbank in the late 1990s. He said he and Tommy Thompson whipped up a script with their idea and gave it to Lucy, who sat and read it in front of them, laughing out loud. She was sold on it. She had probably been hoping for some way to continue the series and appease CBS and her Desilu stockholders. This idea from Maury Thompson and Tommy Thompson did the trick. And since it was their idea, she let them take charge, making Tommy Thompson producer and Maury Thompson the director of this new version of the series. Jack Donahue had been director of The Lucy Show since the beginning, and producer for the second and third seasons. I suppose he was not available after the third season as he had probably believed the show was ending and moved on to other projects. He directed a couple movies in 1965 and 1966 before returning to The Lucy Show a couple years later. This opened the door for Tommy Thompson and Maury Thompson to move in with their idea and take charge as the new producer and director. (Something similar happened to Don Knotts when his character abruptly disappeared from The Andy Griffith Show that season because Knotts had been under the impression the series was ending and made other arrangements which prevented him from smoothly transitioning out.)

So basically, the third season ended with everyone thinking it was the end of the series, and that Lucy and Gale would move on to a new series. (Even Candy Moore seemed to have moved on, returning to The Donna Reed Show in a new role.) The decision to continue The Lucy Show for a fourth season was more or less an afterthought. And by the time that decision had been made, all the third season episodes had been produced already and it was too late to do a smooth transition with Vivian Vance involved. At least, this is the way I understand it happened.

I still have to watch my season 3, looking forward to it.

The reason for the rough transition and quick explanation for Vivian Bagley's departure from the series is that there wasn't supposed to be a fourth season at all. In fact, The Lucy Show was originally only supposed to be a one-season deal to help get Desilu back on its feet (and buy it some time to get some other series on the air). But Lucy agreed to continue it for a second season and soon discovered that the series (and the threat of discontinuing it) was great leverage to sell other Desilu products to CBS. At the end of the second season, she again threatened to leave, and Viv was ready to leave as well. Lucy was probably just bluffing so she could get another Desilu series on the air, but Viv wasn't. And Lucy, realizing Viv didn't want to continue for a third season, came up with a game plan: a new series in which she would co-star with Gale Gordon starting in the fall of 1964. She shot a pilot for that prospective series, which aired as a special you've all already seen, The Lucille Comedy Hour, with guest star Bob Hope. But CBS really wanted The Lucy Show to continue, and after a little arm twisting, Vivian Vance agreed to come back for a third season. When it became absolutely clear Vivian would not go beyond a third season, Lucy began preparing again for this new series with Gale Gordon, in which she would play a fictionalized version of herself: Lucille Ball, studio executive.

I've heard several explanations for why that new show got shelved in favor of continuing The Lucy Show, albeit without Vivian Vance, and there's probably some truth to all of them.

For one thing, CBS again was urging her to continue The Lucy Show. Although they would certainly air whatever show Lucy were to come up with, they felt it was that Lucy character fans most wanted to see. So there was pressure from the network to find a way to continue The Lucy Show. Second, the issue of the magic 100: the number of episodes considered to be the standard for having a viable Monday to Friday rerun package. By 1965, a number of old post-production series, including I Love Lucy, were airing in weekday morning or afternoon reruns on networks or in syndication, and making lots of money for the entities that owned them. Desilu hoped to have similar success by rerunning The Lucy Show. But at the end of the third season, they hadn't hit that magic number:100; only 84 episodes had been produced up to that point, and it would require at least one more season on the air to get past that benchmark. So both CBS and Desilu had an interest in having the show continue.

The third factor that led to the fourth season is that Maury Thompson (camera coordinator) and Tommy Thompson (associate producer/assistant director ) got together and dreamed up the idea of sending Lucy Carmichael off to California and having run-ins with celebrities. Maury Thompson (who had a great personality and easily won an audience) recounted this story at one of the Lucy conventions in Burbank in the late 1990s. He said he and Tommy Thompson whipped up a script with their idea and gave it to Lucy, who sat and read it in front of them, laughing out loud. She was sold on it. She had probably been hoping for some way to continue the series and appease CBS and her Desilu stockholders. This idea from Maury Thompson and Tommy Thompson did the trick. And since it was their idea, she let them take charge, making Tommy Thompson producer and Maury Thompson the director of this new version of the series. Jack Donahue had been director of The Lucy Show since the beginning, and producer for the second and third seasons. I suppose he was not available after the third season as he had probably believed the show was ending and moved on to other projects. He directed a couple movies in 1965 and 1966 before returning to The Lucy Show a couple years later. This opened the door for Tommy Thompson and Maury Thompson to move in with their idea and take charge as the new producer and director. (Something similar happened to Don Knotts when his character abruptly disappeared from The Andy Griffith Show that season because Knotts had been under the impression the series was ending and made other arrangements which prevented him from smoothly transitioning out.)

So basically, the third season ended with everyone thinking it was the end of the series, and that Lucy and Gale would move on to a new series. (Even Candy Moore seemed to have moved on, returning to The Donna Reed Show in a new role.) The decision to continue The Lucy Show for a fourth season was more or less an afterthought. And by the time that decision had been made, all the third season episodes had been produced already and it was too late to do a smooth transition with Vivian Vance involved. At least, this is the way I understand it happened.


An interesting read. I didn't know that.

I always thought the magic number for syndication was 65. At least as a kid that's what I had been told.

An interesting read. I didn't know that.

I always thought the magic number for syndication was 65. At least as a kid that's what I had been told.

I hadn't heard 65 as the number, and there have been a couple series that got by with around that number, but it's always been 100 that I've heard. Here's a little bit on that topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_episodes

As for Lucy's decision to return for a fourth season, I found this article from late January 1965, at which point she had not made a decision: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HSQTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-gQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2467,6307448&dq=the-lucy-show&hl=en

I saw another article from February 28, 1965 where her return to The Lucy Show was announced. According to the production dates on the Season 3 set, it looks like she would start production each season four months in advance (in May), so it was only two months or so from the time the announcement was made about the fourth season that production would have begun, not a lot of time for planning. And this announcement was a month after the production for the third season had already wrapped up ("Lucy and the Old Mansion" was the last episode filmed for the third season, and it was filmed on January 28, 1965 according to the DVD info). So at the time the 3rd season was completed, Lucille Ball still had made no decision about a 4th season, much less what it would be about. So it was too late for a Viv send off, unfortunately.

I'm assuming those stories about making a series out of that Lucille Ball Comedy Hour special are true (and I've heard that a number of times), but I can't find anything from that time where that was hinted at publicly.

I received the season 3 DVD, the orange/teal color scheme on the cover art is very nice and appealing to the eye. Now to start watching some episodes. Lucy Show is a pretty good series, but something is missing without the humorous contributions of Desi Arnaz and Bill Frawley.

To me, Lucy's antics are mostly on the silly side rather than genuinely funny, but there are also a number of truly funny moments in the shows. Of all her series, I like Lucy Show the best. It's not often seen on TV so I have been buying these DVD's. I Love Lucy is regularly shown on TV, I don't see a need to buy the DVD's. Here's Lucy I'm not planning to have on DVD.

:) I went out and bought my Lucy Show season 3 today!!!! I did not receive it for Christmas, so I got it at Target. I'll be watching this evening!