Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: I Love Lucy

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

TV Show Review: I Love Lucy - Season 4

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: 30 laugh out loud funny episodes

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Favorite season

So many classic moments

Will leave you laughing

The Gang Heads to Hollywood in My Favorite Season

This is season four of a classic situation comedy. I Love Lucy stars real life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as husband and wife Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. They live in New York City, where Ricky and his band work in a nightclub as a singer. Their best friends are also their landlords - Fred and Ethel Mertz, played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance. Together, the four friends get into all kinds of strange and hilarious adventures.

This season find the four main characters traveling to Southern California so Ricky can star in a movie. This season has some of the funniest episodes of the show with movie star guest stars.

The first few episodes start out looking like the previous seasons with some antics in New York like "The Business Manager," an episode around the financial problems that come when Lucy pays no attention to a budget, and "Lucy Cries Wolf," in which Lucy tests Ricky's love by pretending to be in trouble.

But before the first disc is over, Ricky's been potentially offered a chance to star in the movie Don Juan. The rest of the season focuses on that storyline as they wait to hear back from Hollywood, plan the trip, buy a car and learn to drive it, drive cross-country, and finally make it to Hollywood. Along the way, we get some truly classic episode such as:

"Ethel's Home Town" - When the gang gets to New Mexico, the town thinks that it's Ethel that's going to star in a movie. When she agrees to do a solo show, the other three decide to "help" her out.

"L.A. at Last" - The four have arrived in Los Angeles and Lucy is anxious to meet her first movie star. However, things become embarrassing when Lucy accidentally hits William Holden with a pie. To further complicate matters, Ricky brings Bill Holden home to meet Lucy.

Lucy's dream to be in the pictures finally comes true when "Lucy Gets in Pictures." But will the director regret casting her?

In "The Hedda Hopper Story," Ricky hires a publicity agent to get him mentioned in the trades. Is the agent's idea all wet?

When movie star Cornel Wilde is "The Star Upstairs," Lucy will do anything to meet him, including hang from a balcony.

New York friend Caroline Appleby shows up in LA anxious to meet some of the famous friends that Lucy claims she's made. However, she's in for a surprise when "Harpo Marx" shows up.

This season actually ends with the gang still in Los Angeles. Season 5 picks up here with the last few episodes in this story line before moving back to New York and on to Europe.

I had forgotten just how good some of these episodes are, even ones I knew I liked. The writing and acting were in peak form this season. All four of the leads are in peak form, and some of Lucy's physical routines, like the fake nose or too heavy head dress, are hysterical. The characters are sharp. All four of the leads know their rolls, and the writers are writing to their strengths. The parade of well-known guest stars certainly helped. In addition to those mentioned, we have Rock Hudson, Richard Widmark, and some movie stars wives. To be honest, I'm young enough that some of these names I only know from the show, but that doesn't dampen my enjoyment one bit. And even when you can see the ending coming a mile away, it still delivers plenty of laughs before you get there.

This show continues to get the treatment it deserves on DVD. You couldn't ask for a better picture. The mono sound has been cleaned up as well. Each of the five discs contains six episodes along with behind the scenes trivia, mistakes, guest cast information, and five episodes of "My Favorite Husband," Lucy's radio show done prior to this series. I was surprised to learn that the show gained a second sponsor during this time, and enjoyed seeing the ads for them that originally aired before shows.

This may be my favorite season of the show because everything gels so well. If you only get one season, I Love Lucy - Season Four is the season to get.

Season 4 Episodes:

1. The Business Manager

2. Mertz and Kurtz

3. Lucy Cries Wolf

4. The Matchmaker

5. Mr. and Mrs. TV Show

6. Ricky's Movie Offer

7. Ricky's Screen Test

8. Lucy's Mother-in-Law

9. Ethel's Birthday

10. Ricky's Contract

11. Getting Ready