The Lucy Show: The Official Second Season

 

 

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One year after CBS/Paramount brought us Season 1 of the highly-anticipated DVD release of "The Lucy Show" comes an equally stellar release.

It's been a painfully slow wait for this one, but the end product is worth it.

Originally airing during the 1963-64 TV season on Monday nights at 8:30, the second season of "The Lucy Show" stands out for a variety of firsts.

Though CBS did not begin airing the show in color until 1965-66, these shows were the first Lucy escapades to be lensed in color.

The restoration of these episodes is phenomenal. The colors pop right out at you, from Lucy's famous flaming red 'do, to Vivian's oversaturated blue eye-shadow, to the purple and sapphire throw cushions on their sofa. If nothing else, it's fun just to watch these again and see how vibrant the colors are.

The scripts themselves are a little bit of a let-down compared to those of the stellar debut season, which was in glorious black-and-white. I always felt the writers got a little slack once Desi Arnaz stopped overseeing production on this series. (Though in my opinion, the third season saw a vast improvement in scripts).

Despite a dip in the quality of the writing, the performances are still top-notch, as Lucy and Viv never disappoint and are still delivering the goods as well as they did on "I Love Lucy".

Another milestone this season is the arrival of Gale Gordon as Theodore J. Mooney, the new bank president in charge of Widow Carmichael's trust fund. One of the better entries this season is a two-parter where Lucy accidentally locks Mr. Mooney in the bank vault--twice!

For the next eleven years, Mr. Gordon was the only constant in both this series and its' successor, "Here's Lucy".

The menus on this DVD are very cute and well-done with design, colors and fonts that evoke an early '60s/Kennedy era feel.

Like the Season 1 set, viewers have the option of watching the episodes in "vintage" mode, where we get the original sponsor openings (in black-and-white as originally telecast), and some cast commercials for products such as Jello and Lux Soap. The quality of these old promos isn't as pristine as the episodes themselves, but they are in excellent condition considering their age and rarity.

Some of the more interesting bonus features include a lengthy interview with Lucy "protege" Carole Cook, who, despite being in her 80s now, is still sharp as a whip and shares her stories of working with Lucy with great relish.

There is also a gallery of stills from most episodes of the season, as well as several other interviews and a CBS Opening Night special from 1963.

Season Two of "The Lucy Show" doesn't have as many laughs as Season 1, but is still well worth your time. Things only get better in Season 3, which I hope we won't have to wait another year to get.

Welcome to the second season running from the fall of 1963 to the spring of 1964.Of course late 1963 brought us the world changing events of the Kennedy assassination and this year saw the fortunes of the Desilu Studios at their lowest in years.Desi Arnaz had resigned after the first 15 eps of the previous season and now Lucille Ball herself was in charge of the entire operation.Season one had been a critical and public success and so was renewed on that basis for a second season.
The second season as you watch it does not have the real kick of the first season and in fact the Lucy/Vivian chemistry seems to be fading a little.This was partly the scripts that were being created and the two sometimes had little to work with.Script writing changes would be made into the third season as their old scriptwriters from the 50s series would depart.However Lucy made one masterstroke addition to this season.It was in the form of Gale Gordon as Mr.Mooney.Gordon took over from Charles Lane;the actor who made a huge name for himself in movies and television for his seemingly eternal crankiness in his character portrayals.There was little or nothing for Ball to bounce off of with Lane whereas with Gordon,with his exceedingly droll and animated comebacks,she had a veritable cornucopia of reactions and interactions.The entire of the dynamic of the show changed from his introduction just a few eps in and it never looked back.However there was an in disputable "drag" in the show and Lucy would go further in her tweaking of the show into Season Three and onwards.One troubling factor was that Lucy was always up against her 50s shows which were huge in re-runs and the inevitable comparison always surfaced;with the new show always getting the short end.The fact was they were NOT as funny as the old ones;it was a new decade and things professionally and personally had changed for TVs first lady,which was bound to affect the output.Jackie Gleason also ran into this kind of criticism/comparison.He was always up against his original Honeymooners series(55/56)as opposed to his new show The American Scene Magazine.
As with the previous season and the original I Love Lucy Shows,CBS has done this series proud and again sets another benchmark for all television series releases.The have included most of the original commercials,closings and bumpers from the shows and they can be watched either separately or as an entire show.Also there are interviews with cast members Carole Cook and Barry Livingston.There are photo galleries,production notes,biogs and the April/64 "Lucille Ball Comedy Hour" with special guest Bob"ski-nose" Hope.It is a delightful inclusion and in colour,as are all the eps in this season.And they have all been remastered to a crisp and clean level.
All in all highly recommended entertainment for the entire family.

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