HERE'S LUCY versus THE LUCY SHOW DVD Releases

[LittleRickyII]

Somehow I had it in my head that the DVD releases of The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy had been piggybacking one another. But here's the actual order in which they have been released. It turns out, for example, that by the time the second season of The Lucy Show was released, the first three seasons of Here's Lucy had already been released. Then the releases of Here's Lucy slowed down, and The Lucy Show caught up a bit. There was actually an 11-month lag between seasons 4 and 5 of Here's Lucy.

1) The Lucy Show: The Official First Season (Jul 21, 2009)

2) Here's Lucy: Season One (Aug 25, 2009)

3) Here's Lucy: Season Two (Nov 3, 2009)

4) Here's Lucy: Season Three (Jun 15, 2010)

5) The Lucy Show: The Official Second Season (Jul 13, 2010)

6) The Lucy Show: The Official Third Season (Nov 30, 2010)

7) Here's Lucy: Season Four (Mar 29, 2011)

8) The Lucy Show: The Official Fourth Season (Apr 26, 2011)

9) The Lucy Show: The Official Fifth Season (Dec 6, 2011)

10) Here's Lucy: Season Five (Feb 28, 2012)

11) The Lucy Show: The Official Sixth & Final Season (Oct 9, 2012)

12) Here's Lucy: Season Six (Dec 18, 2012)

[McGillicuddy]

Now I remember worrying we weren't going to see a second season release for The Lucy Show!

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by markway895

Now I remember worrying we weren't going to see a second season release for The Lucy Show!

Exactly! That's what I thought when I went back and looked at the dates. And for awhile there, it looked like all of HL might have been out before the end of 2010, while possibly never seeing the rest of TLS released.

[Edster2973]

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

Exactly! That's what I thought when I went back and looked at the dates. And for awhile there, it looked like all of HL might have been out before the end of 2010, while possibly never seeing the rest of TLS released.

You have to remember something. Here's Lucy is a much younger show than The Lucy Show so there had to be time given to CBS to clean up some of the episodes of The Lucy Show. Also, I think CBS was hesitant to release the show as it was unsure whether it would sell well enough to justify the expense of restoration, remastering, clean-up, digging up old commercials etc. so when Season 1 was released, they waited to see what the profit would be. Here's Lucy, on the other hand, is still owned by Lucille Ball's estate and I'm sure, being owners of the show, Lucie and Desi Jr. kept better tabs on the series and made sure it was preserved better etc. so putting out DVDs of this series presented less of a financial risk to MPI.

This is what would account for the ironic and unusual uneven scheduling of both series. Also, I think with Here's Lucy, being a less popular show, MPI probably felt that it would be better to stall some of their later season releases and give a wider berth to The Lucy Show as to ensure both series wouldn't compete with each other. Again, since Here's Lucy is less popular than The Lucy Show, they can afford to do this since they expect to sell less, but they can afford to since putting everything together was less expensive than it was for The Lucy Show.

Either way, I'm just glad by year's end we'll have both series released in their entirety on DVD. I remember thinking that such a thing would be a pipe dream and here we are. While I know the series was a dog, it makes me hope for a release of Life With Lucy as well, just to complete the Lucy series. We just might see that one of these days since, again, the expense of doing so would be very little and they could afford to have it sell much less than the previous shows (although I do suspect many fans would buy it nonetheless). The extras they could put on that series' set (interviews, promos, recollections, etc.) would be worth their weight in gold and give further insight into the life of Lucille Ball.

Never say never...

Ed

[McGillicuddy]

Seems like everybody's anticipating the release of Life With Lucy The Compete Series. It just stands to reason. With all that has been put into The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy, plus the post HL Specials, that LWL would be next.
I lost track, do Lucie and Desi Jr. own the the rites to Life With Lucy?
It stands a better chance if they do, and I hope its put in the hands of MPI.

[Edster2973]

Originally Posted by markway895

Seems like everybody's anticipating the release of Life With Lucy The Compete Series. It just stands to reason. With all that has been put into The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy, plus the post HL Specials, that LWL would be next.
I lost track, do Lucie and Desi Jr. own the the rites to Life With Lucy?
It stands a better chance if they do, and I hope its put in the hands of MPI.

Not just for the show but for any insight that the extras included (interviews with friends, family, cast members etc.) would give insight to Lucille Ball's life, even if it was not her best material. Stands to reason that if they don't release it, that they're a bit ashamed of it and that's a pity. Many of us haven't seen it and would like to check it out. The fact that it's the last vehicle to star both Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon is reason enough to warrant a release. Worse shows have been released...

Ed

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Edster2973

You have to remember something. Here's Lucy is a much younger show than The Lucy Show so there had to be time given to CBS to clean up some of the episodes of The Lucy Show.

More than that, all the Here's Lucy episodes had already been remastered several years before the season releases began. They were planning to release them years ago, likely through Shout! Factory, so they had the work done so it would be ready to go. Then that licensing deal fell through so it was put on hold, though the work had been done. Even many of the interviews were already in the can. The real work on these releases has been in pulling together some of the extras. The staggered releases is mostly a business/marketing decision.

By the way, I've updated my original post to include the final release in December.

[three 14]

i have life with lucy incuding the never aired ones.

[Kasey]

I'm not one to 'rubber-stamp' everything Lucy does (or any other actor for that matter) and the Nick@Nite episodes I taped of "Life With Lucy" were dreadful, but Ed's correct: any Bonus Features on a DVD set would be worth the price. Especially if it's MPI who releases it as I assume the price point would be around $20. That's well worth it considering what I paid for some recent 'blind-buys' that turned out to be terrible IMO ("Cougar Town" and "Revenge").

[BewitchedFan]

May I ask what the difference is between HERE'S LUCY and THE LUCY SHOW. Which is better and why?

I've only seen HERE'S LUCY because I watched it long time ago when it was syndicated on PAX. I don't recall THE LUCY SHOW ever being syndicated on TV, so I never got a chance to see it.

If anyone can explain the difference, I'd greatly appreciate it. If I hear enough positive reviews on THE LUCY SHOW, I may decided to blind buy a couple of seasons on DVD.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by BewitchedFan

May I ask what the difference is between HERE'S LUCY and THE LUCY SHOW. Which is better and why?

I've only seen HERE'S LUCY because I watched it long time ago when it was syndicated on PAX. I don't recall THE LUCY SHOW ever being syndicated on TV, so I never got a chance to see it.

If anyone can explain the difference, I'd greatly appreciate it. If I hear enough positive reviews on THE LUCY SHOW, I may decided to blind buy a couple of seasons on DVD.

The main difference is that The Lucy Show is generally better, at least the early seasons. The first couple seasons actually were excellent. The Lucy Show went through a major format change midway through its run because Vivian Vance left the cast. The second format after her departure very closely resembles Here's Lucy. But the original format from the first three seasons, which featured Vivian Vance, was much better, particularly the first two seasons, and very different from the later format. It felt a lot like an extension of I Love Lucy because of the presence of Vivian Vance, and also the original I Love Lucy writers (Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Davis, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf), who all participated the first two seasons (and Schiller and Weiskopf into the third). Even Desi Arnaz was the executive producer at the very beginning of the series. But the quality began to slip after the second season with the departure of writers Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Davis, and in the middle of the third season, Schiller and Weiskopf left as well. Then the fourth season Vivian Vance was gone from the show, which was a huge loss (the on-screen chemistry between Ball and Vance is legendary).

With Vivian Vance's departure in S4, the format was changed: Lucy's character, Lucy Carmichael, and Gale Gordon's character, Mr. Mooney, a banker, both relocated from small-town Danfield, New York to Los Angeles, California, where Lucy soon became Mr. Mooney's secretary at his new bank. Mary Jane Croft had a minor role on the show at this point as Lucy's friend and neighbor, Mary Jane Lewis. Lucy's daughter, Chris, was written off the show as having gone away to college, and her son Jerry was written off as having gone to boarding school. Lots of celebrity guests began appearing on the show, in at least half of the episodes, a trend which carried over into Here's Lucy.

Frankly, the second format of The Lucy Show has more in common with Here's Lucy than it does with the original The Lucy Show format. In my opinion, the fourth season of TLS was rather bad. The fifth and sixth seasons were hit and miss, just as Here's Lucy was: some very funny episodes among some not-so-good episodes. The first couple seasons of The Lucy Show, however, with the Danfield format and Vivian Vance were pretty excellent. I would highly recommend that you check out those first two seasons (especially the first) of The Lucy Show, and the third season as well which has some worthwhile episodes (not quite as good as the first two, though). I would not recommend the fourth season, but I would recommend the fifth and sixth seasons only if you enjoyed Here's Lucy. The reason I adamantly don't recommend Season Four is that it was a very rough transition to the new format, and it shows throughout the season. Many of the rough patches got ironed out by S5.

To help clarify the different formats, and how they compare to Here's Lucy:

The Lucy Show Season One: Lucille Ball plays Lucy Carmichael, a widow with two children, Chris and Jerry, who shares her home with her best friend (and tenant), divorcee Vivian Bagley, and Vivian's young son, Sherman. The show takes place in the small town of Danfield, New York. Occasionally in the cast are Charles Lane (best known as Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction) as Lucy's banker, Mr. Barnsdahl, who is in charge of the trust fund her late husband left her; and Dick Martin (of Laugh-In fame) as Lucy and Viv's pilot neighbor, Harry.

The Lucy Show Season Two: The same format as S1 except Lucy has a new banker, Mr. Mooney (played by Gale Gordon, who replaced Charles Lane), president of the Danfield Bank; and Dick Martin is no longer in the cast.

The Lucy Show Season Three: Same format as S2

The Lucy Show Seasons 4-6: Lucy Carmichael has relocated to Los Angeles, where she lives in a one-bedroom apartment. Vivian and the kids are no longer on the show (Lucy's kids are away in school). Mr. Mooney has also moved to L.A. and Lucy becomes his secretary at the Westland Bank. Lucy's new best friend is Mary Jane Lewis. Though not a regular, Vivian Vance makes a couple guest appearances as Vivian Bagley.

Here's Lucy: The format is almost identical to the format of seasons 4-6 of The Lucy Show, except names and workplace have changed, there are kids on the show again, Lucy in a house instead of an apartment, and Lucy is now related to Gordon's character (he's her brother-in-law). Lucille Ball again plays a widow, now named Lucy Carter, who lives in Los Angeles with her two children, Kim and Craig (played by Lucy's real-life children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr.), and works for her brother-in-law, Harry Carter (Gale Gordon) at Carter's Unique Employment Agency. Yet again, Mary Jane Croft is playing her best friend who, once more, is called Mary Jane Lewis (which was Croft's real-life married name). Desi Jr. left the cast after the third season.

[BewitchedFan]

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

The fifth and sixth seasons were hit and miss, just as Here's Lucy was: some very funny episodes among some not-so-good episodes.

You know, I feel the same way with HERE'S LUCY. Some episodes are really good while some are not so great. It's not as consistent as I LOVE LUCY.

Anyways, thanks for the informative explanation of the differences on the two shows. Appreciate it.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by BewitchedFan

Anyways, thanks for the informative explanation of the differences on the two shows. Appreciate it.

No problem. Now go pick up the Season One DVD of The Lucy Show. No misses!

[LittleRickyII]

BewitchedFan, go here and scroll down and click on The Lucy Show, and you can sample five episodes of The Lucy Show from the first season that are streaming from this site: http://metvnetwork.com/videos

[ILuvCarolBurnett]

Many episodes of Here's Lucy were rehashings of The Lucy Show. For example, what is considered the best episode of Here's Lucy is the episode where she meets Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The whole thing of getting a ring stuck on her finger was a rehashing of the 1966 episode of "The Lucy Show" "Lucy-and-the-Ring-a-Ding-Ding". And The Lucy Show episode was much better.