Format Number One-(1962-1965) When she lived back east, or Format Number Two-(1965-1968)when she moved to California? The California years weren't bad(they had their share of good episodes and bad episodes),but I liked format number one a little bit better.Feel free to post.

The first format for sure.

I'm hoping that my opinion of the second format will be better than it is now once I get to review the shows again. Not that it was bad, but out of all of Lucille's series (not counting Life With Lucy) I feel that over all the final three seasons of TLS were the most uneven and worse of her television career. Yet I know others will disagree. Just my opinion going on what I have seen of HL so far (which appears to get better to me as the series aged).

The first format the best, too bad Viv didn't agree to be part of the new format.

I also liked the first format better, with Viv and the kids. The second format got a little old, with Mr. Mooney yelling at Lucy all the time.

I thought it was interesting having Dick Martin around too. I like the early seasons for the main cast and watch all eps with equal high enjoyment, while I tend to have just favorites here-and-there from the California seasons. I'm particularly interested in episodes Mary Jane Croft and Ruta Lee worked on as far as those go.

Have to go with the Viv years, even though I'm looking forward to the rest of the series on DVD! :)

Format Number One (1962-65) Viv was very much missed from the second format as a regular.

I also liked the first format better, with Viv and the kids. The second format got a little old, with Mr. Mooney yelling at Lucy all the time.
Old Grouch I have been meaning to ask you? Is your avatar a photo of William Frawley?

Old Grouch I have been meaning to ask you? Is your avatar a photo of William Frawley?

Yes it is.

I had first seen episodes from "The Lucy Show" from seasons 5 and 6 and really enjoyed them.

These new "Lucy" DVDs are in great picture quality,far superior to the terrible "Best Of The Lucy Show" released in the UK,a few years ago.

I really like the Lucy/Viv gapers,I didn't like when Lucy was a cop though,I'd never have forgiven her if I'd been Viv,after the way she treated her!

Season4 is a bit odd,Chris is gone,Viv's married,Sherman's gone,Jerry makes two appearances then is gone too,season4 does have good moments though,the Dean Martin episode,and the episodes where Lucy is the stuntsman are very funny.

I love William Frawley's cameo in season4,he doesn't look too well and I know he died not too long after but how nice,he briefly reunited with Lucy,well seeing it was after Vivan Vance's departure!

The seasons with Viv are the best.

Format 1, by far! I much preferred Lucy & Viv having families to the "star of the week" format.

Well, I like both formats, but in separate series. I picked the second format should of been titled something different, and Lucy's name should of been different. Because honestly, it wasn't the same show by season five that it had been the first three seasons (in season four was a transitional period.

But if I had to choose, I definitely prefer the first three seasons with Vivian Vance. And I resent the fact that after the first season, Vivian was given less and less to do, because without her, the show wasn't as warm and genuine. Lucy might've been the funny one, but Vivian made it real. They complemented each other beautifully, and it was a crime shame that Vivian decided to leave the show.

Perhaps if her importance in the show wasn't reduced by the second season, Vivian would've decided to stay. I'm not sure, but from what I've heard, the travel issue doesn't make a good excuse in my book. Because she could've moved to California while working on the show and then moved back east, so that she would not have to travel. I guess doing the show wasn't very important to her, but it's certainly a loss to us fans.

I liked the second format better when she moved to California!

I liked it when it was Lucy & Viv & the kids, it was more like I Love Lucy then. In second format it seemed like nothing but one long yelling session, I mean EVERYONE yelling, even when just supposedly talking normally. Why was the Lucy Show so incredibly noisy? Everyone screamed at everyone even if it was to say How is you?:hello

Same goes for THE MOTHER-IN-LAWS, everyone in that show screams constantly too. Seems it must have been both Desi & Lucy's philosophy to have everyone yelling constantly for no reason other than to annoy anyone with normal hearing. Maybe Desi & Lucy were deaf so they thought the yelling was normal.:crazy:

I ALWAYS turn the TV volume way down whenever I watch any of the post-I Love Lucy Lucy show incarnations (the yelling got worse with each succeeding Lucy program) & volume goes down again for The Mothers-In-Law. Very loud and annoying. I Love Lucy was never like that, don't know what got into them after I Love Lucy ended.:confused:

I like the "Lucy & Viv" years the best, but the LA format (the final three seasons) were not bad, either. She relied heavily on major guest stars to help, but the fact that essentially she and Gale Gordon were the only two regulars on a sitcom for three seasons is pretty amazing. Especially in today's world of sitcoms when casts are at least 4 people and more.

I love the first format better. It was when Vivian Vance and the kids were still part of the show. After the transition to California, the show wasn't nearly as good but it was ok

I liked the second format better when she moved to California!

I liked when it started to be in color, and Mr. Mooney was in it all the time! That did start when she still was in Danfield! So either one than! ;)

The first format was superior to the second in my opinion. I felt like Vivian Vance's presence on the show as Lucy's partner in crime made for unmatched comedy. The situations those two could get themselves into were just pure comedic gold. The small(er) town setting, the two families living together under one roof always in need of more money and sometimes at odds with each other, a core group of friends and neighbors, and the stingy banker's unsympathetic attitude made an ideal set-up for Lucy's whacky schemes. The children were not utilized to their fullest extent though. They could have been given more to do.

The 4th season's huge revamp of the setting, particularly with the complete disappearance of Vivian Vance and all the children, basically resulted in a brand new series. It was virtually unrecognizable from the first three years. There were some very funny episodes (like Lucy's Substitute Secretary), and Mary Jane Croft, a favorite of mine, was given a larger role. I have the entire boxed set on dvd, but I always enjoy the episodes from the first three seasons the best.

The first format was superior to the second in my opinion. I felt like Vivian Vance's presence on the show as Lucy's partner in crime made for unmatched comedy. The situations those two could get themselves into were just pure comedic gold. The small(er) town setting, the two families living together under one roof always in need of more money and sometimes at odds with each other, a core group of friends and neighbors, and the stingy banker's unsympathetic attitude made an ideal set-up for Lucy's whacky schemes. The children were not utilized to their fullest extent though. They could have been given more to do.

The 4th season's huge revamp of the setting, particularly with the complete disappearance of Vivian Vance and all the children, basically resulted in a brand new series. It was virtually unrecognizable from the first three years. There were some very funny episodes (like Lucy's Substitute Secretary), and Mary Jane Croft, a favorite of mine, was given a larger role. I have the entire boxed set on dvd, but I always enjoy the episodes from the first three seasons the best.

It's kind of like how that sitcom in the 80s with Nell Carter called "Gimme a Break!" completely revamped the show by the final season. They already had retooled it once or twice. They brought in a young Joey Lawrence halfway into the series, then the father passed away (in real life, and they wrote his death into the show) and then in the final season, Nell and Telma Hopkins and Joey ended up moving from California to NYC. There were 3 sisters on the first 5 seasons but by season 6, all but one of them got fired because of how the show got retooled and the newer characters (The neighbors at Nell's apartment, one of whom was a young Rosie O'Donnell) being brought on. They also brought Joey's little brother Matthew onto the show in the final season as well and it was mostly focused on the 2 boys. The youngest daughter ended up going to college in CT, thats why they moved to NYC. They were going to try and have a 7th season where Nell became a house mother at Samantha's college but they did all they could do with the show.

The Vivian years, for sure.

The show's first life always felt like an I Love Lucy sequel, if not for the name changes lol

I could totally see Fred and Ethel splitting up at some point, and sadly if Ricky was killed in a car crash or something, I could see Lucy and Ethel getting a house together some place