From Lucy-tormented Hollywood A-listers and bongo-propelled production numbers to archival goodies such as long-lost footage, there is much to love in this collection of all 13 episodes from The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (also known as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour). Following I Love Lucy's sixth and final season, these monthly (give or take) specials reunited America with Ricky and Lucy (and Keith Thibodeaux's adorable Little Ricky, still living the country life in Connecticut. The expanded, hour-long format allowed for celebrity guest stars and excursions to far-flung locales, such as Japan and Mexico. Not matter where they go, Lucy can always be counted on to act, in Desi's words, "a little crazy in the head," which is how she winds up masquerading as Ernie Kovacs' chauffeur in "Lucy Meets the Moustache" (an episode making its home-video debut), dangling Milton Berle from a construction crane in "Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos," or sparking a uranium uproar in Las Vegas in "Lucy Hunts Uranium."
A
highlight of this set is the first-ever
home video release of the uncut version
of "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana," a
flashback episode in which Lucy meets
Ricky on a "maiden voyage" to Cuba. She
also meets future best friend Ethel
(Vivian Vance) and her new husband Fred
(a toupeed William Frawley), and goes
overboard for her first celebrity
sighting, Rudy Vallee. Because these
episodes do not play as often in
syndication, they seem fresher than
their endlessly re-run counterparts.
They are full of delights for movie, TV,
and Lucy buffs, among them, Fred
MacMurray getting "Uranium" fever,
Maurice Chevalier singing "Yankee Doodle
Boy" in the "Mexico" episode, prolific
character actor Sid Melton as a bellboy
in the "Alaska" episode, and a va-voom
Vance decked out as maid and a dance
hall girl, respectively, in the "The
Celebrity Next Door" and "Milton Berle"
episodes. Among this set's prodigious
bonus features include 1951 color
footage that an audience member
surreptitiously filmed, rediscovered
scenes that were cut from the original
broadcasts, and a filmed presentation to
Westinghouse, which sponsored the
series. If you don't add this to your
library, you have some 'splainin' to do.
--Donald Liebenson
Product Description
The I Love Lucy Hour Shows is a series
of hour-long specials that aired from
1957-1960 that continued the I Love Lucy
saga. Housewife Lucy Ricardo (Lucille
Ball) lives in Westport Connecticut,
with her bandleader husband, Ricky (
real-life husband Desi Arnaz,) and their
son, Ricky Jr. (Keith Theibodeaux.)
Always nearby are the couple's best
friends Fred and Ethel Mertz (William
Frawley and Vivian Vance.) Ricky's job
as an entertainer requires him to travel
a lot. As a result, he often takes Lucy,
little Ricky, and the Mertzes with him
to such far-off places as Japan and
Mexico. Ricky's career also allows him
to meet many famous celebrities, from
Betty Grable to Ida Lupino. Of course,
when Lucy meets up with these
celebrities, chaos naturally ensues.
