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Rating: - Almost Perfect----
What was I thinking?...that I was the only series fan who noticed the missing footage from "The Celebrity Next Door", the best of the Lucy-Desi comedy hours? Silly me. (Good thing I have an uncut copy on VHS in a drawer somewhere. Take that, DVD-Slicer.) The set itself does get a good overall review though, because of the content of the program. These shows have the freshness of the Connecticut house set, and some other neighbors (Frank Nelson, Mary Jane Croft, et al) to add to the Ricardo-Mertz mix. Little Ricky is a bit older and is given more to do----while not exactly an award-winning actor, the kid is believable and in his occasional duets, performing with Desi Arnaz, you'd swear they were really father and son. At times, the show is a bit more labored than the other seasons----Lucy seems a bit tired and less the devoted wife, but by then the Arnaz marriage was unfortunately taking its toll on the talented stars. However,the sheer professionalism of cast and crew keeps it entertaining, always. The roster of guest stars is impressive--Danny Thomas, Betty Grable, Fred MacMurray, many more who were big names at the time. "Celebrity", sadly, does have some footage needlessly (there are no commercials!)removed, which fogs the plot a bit---but it's a great show nonetheless. Bette Davis was originally cast to play the star next door, and it would have been interesting to see her spin on the role...she could be funny when she wanted to be. Due to an injury,she was replaced by the redoubtable Tallulah Bankhead---ultimately a wise choice, because if Davis could be funny, Bankhead could be hysterical. Despite her penchant for showing up soused at rehearsals, Tallu turns in a flawlessly comic performance--totally in tune with the mood, and matching the wacky red head scene for scene. If the "I Love Lucy " series had to come to an end, this was a fitting way to go out...the whole 9 years largely the result of Lucy's unique talent, and Desi's vision and hard work.

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