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

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

TV Show Review: I Love Lucy - Season 5

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: 26 more laugh filled episodes with everyone favorite red head.

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line:

World travelers

Spreading laughs no matter where

They next go visit

From Hollywood to Europe

This is the fifth season of classic situation comedy I Love Lucy. It 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 begins just a few months after season 4 ended. The gang is still in Los Angeles where Ricky has just finished filming his picture. Fortunately, there's still time for a few hijinks, including trying to steal John Wayne's footprints in the two hilarious episodes that start the season. Things get complicated when Lucy is caught and the footprint block breaks. John Wayne plays himself in the second episode as they try to recreate the block. Even traveling back is an adventure when Lucy decides there's a robber on the train and continually stops the train.

Things are just beginning to settle down in New York when Ricky and his band get a series of bookings in Europe. With Fred hired as the manager, the women try to come up with a way to join them, almost getting arrested when they raise money for the "Ladies' Overseas Aid." Soon, the foursome are off again where Lucy meets the Queen in England, gets arrested for counterfeiting in Paris, and gets trapped in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps. Of course, all of these come with great routines, especially the counterfeiting one where it takes five people to overcome the language barrier in the prison.

The most famous episode from this season comes near the end. "Lucy's Italian Movie" is better known as the grape stomping episode and has one of the classic physical comedy routines from the show in it. Trying to research a roll in a movie she's been given, Lucy finds a local winery where she gets a job stomping grapes. Things turn funny when she tries to take a break and her co-worker gets angry enough to throw grapes.

Actually, the last several episodes are some of the sharpest of this season as "Lucy's Bicycle Trip" finds Lucy trapped at the Italian-French border without her passport, "Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo" and wins forbidden money at roulette, and "Return Home from Europe" finds Lucy trying to sneak home a 25-pound Italian cheese for her mother, by disguising it as a baby. All of them are absolutely hilarious episodes.

Even after five years, this show hasn't lost any of its laughs. In fact, the situations just seem to get more outrageous and yet they work. If we'd started with some of these stunts, it would seem implausible, but by now when Lucy wins a fortunate at roulette accidentally, we buy it. As with any season of any show, this one has its week moments. I find the England episodes rather dull. But over all, this set is more then worth it.

And this set continues to meet the high standards set by the previous releases. Since there are only 26 episodes this go around, there are only four discs. Still, the picture is sharp. The sound seemed a little weaker then normal is spots, but it's only a minute or so once or twice at disc. On the whole, it's fine. The discs are still loaded with the behind the scenes info we've grown to expect.

A brief note about "Lucy and the Dummy." The back of the box mentions it is edited from its original version. As the disc itself explains, the episode ran short originally, so they included a preview of a new movie coming soon from MGM. Since they couldn't get the rights to that promo, they couldn't include it here. Still, they have restored the run up to it, and it has nothing to do with the storyline or any of the jokes. We aren't really missing any I Love Lucy here.

I Love Lucy - Season Five has so many classic moments it's hard to list them all. Pack your bags and get ready to travel and laugh with Lucy.

Season 5 Episodes:

1. Lucy Visits Grauman's

2. Lucy and John Wayne

3. Lucy and the Dummy

4. Ricky Sells the Car

5. The Great Train Robbery

6. Homecoming

7. Face to Face

8. Lucy Goes to a Rodeo

9. Nursery School

10. Ricky's European Booking