I Love Lucy: Season 1, Vol. 1 (Full Screen)

I Love Lucy is a television classic. 50 years old, and it still plays daily on TV and is loved by millions. This DVD features the first four episodes of the classic show starting with the pilot that was found in the early 90's. In addition, it presents the first 3 episodes to air in the fall of 1951 on CBS.

Fans of the show will love this disc. The sound and picture are great. Every episode is broken down into several chapters, including a separate chapter for the musical sequence. There are plenty of extras as well, including an episode of Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband" and an excerpt from Jess Oppenheimer's book on the creation of the show.

Like many TV shows, the first episodes aren't the strongest. Lucy is the only character fully developed at this point with the other three delivering straight lines. Still, there are several good laugh an episode.

It would be nice if the show were being released in season, or even half season sets. But this certainly isn't settling for second best since it's a great DVD.

The first season of "I Love Lucy" the most classic of television situation comedies had a 50.9 rating in the Nielsen ratings, which meant that half the television sets in the country were tuned into CBS on Monday nights at 9:00. Unlike most recent television DVD sets which offer an entire season as a set, the first season of "I Love Lucy" is coming out on DVD four episodes at a time. Volume 1 offers up the original pilot episode, and the first three episodes of the series. All of these episodes were written by the team of Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr., who would stay with the show for its first five season:

"The Lost Pilot" was kinescoped on March 2, 1951 as an audition episode with which to woo potential backers for the show. Desi and Lucy play Larry and Lucy Lopez in what was a rewrite of the vaudeville skits the couple were doing on tour patched together with an old "My Favorite Husband" radio scripts (a lot of the first season episodes of "I Love Lucy" had similar points of origin). In a story that will sound familiar as the years go by, Lucy is determined to break into show business and decides to replace the ailing clown (Pepito the Clown) in her husband's nightclub act.

Episode 1, "The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub" (October 15, 1951) for the Mertzes' anniversary, but Fred and Ricky would rather go to the fights. Lucy and Ethel dress up as hicks and show up as the boy's blind dates. This battle of the sexes sets the tone for the show's perpetual subtext, although the recurring theme is Lucy trying to get into showbiz.

Episode 2, "Be a Pal" (October 22, 1951) has Lucy taking advice from a self-help text and trying to keep her marriage fresh by becoming Ricky's pal. Now if only Ricky could figure out what Lucy is REALLY up to.

Episode 3, "The Diet" (October 29, 1951) is what Lucy is using to lose 12 pounds in just two days so she can be a part of the chorus line in Ricky's nightclub act. An early opportunity for Lucy to do the physical humor that was her forte.

The value of Volume 1 is in the historical importance of both the original pilot and the show's first episode. Even though it has little resemblance to what actually aired, the "lost" pilot is the funniest of the bunch (compare Lucy's comic antics at the end of the pilot with the similar but lesser hijinks at the end of Episode 1). None of these first three televised episodes would be considered classic Lucy shows and they are really rather pedestrian all things considered. Note: Episode 1 was the first episode aired, but it was not the first episode taped. That would be "Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her," which can be found on Volume 2. See you there.

First, I must start by saying that these are by far the cleanest, clearest prints of "I Love Lucy" I've ever seen, and they sound great too. The restored opening of "The Pilot" is much better than it was presented on TV and video ("I Love Lucy: The Very First Show"), where the missing narrative was provided by Lucie Arnaz. Finding the original announcer to recreate the opening 50 years later was an inspired decision, and although it's a kinescope, "The Pilot" looks almost as clear as the episodes themselves. Also, the few episodes of Lucy's radio series "My Favorite Husband" included on these discs are a real treat. I'd never heard them before, and they are just as funny as the TV series. I hope they continue to include more of these. The extras are interesting, especially when they show before-and-after restoration footage. However, like many reviewers here, I wish there were more episodes per disc. With "The Pilot", 179 half hour shows, a Christmas Special, and 13 hour-long episodes, my "Lucy" DVD collection will reach half-way to the moon by the time they're finished being released. I also wish the original openings had been restored to each episode, instead of being "extras", and the animated act-changes and original closing credits are nowhere to be seen. If restoring these segments was done for two episodes on a laser disc a few years back, and is being done brilliantly on TVLand now, why not on these DVDs? I doubt watching these amusing animations will inspire anyone to take up smoking cigarettes. And how about putting some of the original commercials on as extras? Also, during the radio shows, all we get is a still of Lucille Ball behind a microphone, with a collage of scenes from "I Love Lucy" behind her. Surely there must be some photos of the "My Favorite Husband" cast that could be shown, perhaps as a slide show, during the episodes (still, I guess it's better than staring at a radio as the original listeners did!). Nevertheless, despite my disappointments, I will continue to buy these as they come out, and have already pre-ordered Volumes 3 and 4. I never get tired of watching "I Love Lucy", and, in the final analysis, it's the shows themselves--the best sitcom ever made--that I am collecting here, everything else is just gravy.