TV Show Review: I Love Lucy - Season 1 Volume 1

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: The early laughs from a great comedy.

Cons: So focused on Lucy the rest of the cast doesn't have much to do.

The Bottom Line:

Funny beginning

Bit too focused on Lucy

Not best; worth watching

The Start of a Truly Classic Comedy

When discussing classic comedies, you don't need to look any further then I Love Lucy. Well over 60 years old, it is still on TV countless times a day. Even better, the comedy is still funny. Very little of the material is dated, something I fear will affect the comedies we enjoy today.

When it came time to release I Love Lucy on DVD, the executives in charge made a poor decision. In stead of releasing the first season all at once, they started with single discs containing four episodes. Since TV on DVD was relatively new at the time, I'll forgive them this once. Especially since they got it right for the other seasons and since these discs didn't skimp on extras.

This disc contains the original pilot and the first three official episodes of the show. For those who don't know the story, the "pilot" was shot for the CBS executives to try to convince them to make the show in the first place. Fortunately, it worked. This pilot never made it to air and was lost for many years. Someone found it in 1990, cleaned it up a little, and put it on the air then. It's nice to have it included here, although the show was redone later in this season.

In this lost pilot, we are introduced to Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz). Ricky works at a nightclub, and Lucy is forever trying to get into his act. Unfortunately for Lucy, all Ricky wants when he gets off work is to come home to a non-show business life. This particular day, a TV network is coming to look at Ricky's act down at the club, and Ricky tries to keep Lucy from finding out. However, when the clown is hurt, Lucy steps in to save the day.

As I said, this was remade into an episode that shows up on the next disc. It's quite interesting to watch an early version of the show. Since this show (and the first season) were written by the people who were writing Lucy's TV show at the time, Lucy is definitely Lucy here. Ricky is pretty much a straight man to Lucy's antics, although they are already making fun of his accent. The Mertzes are no where to be found, and the sets are different and much cheaper looking. Still, it is funny and any fan of the show will get a kick out of watching an early version.

Next come the first three episodes of the real series.

First up is "The Girls Want to go to a Nightclub." We're introduced to the Rickardos' next door neighbors and best friends Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley and Vivian Vance) here. The Mertzes anniversary is coming up. Ethel wants to go to a nightclub to celebrate, while Fred wants to go to a fight. Both couples wind up fighting over the proper way to celebrate. Who will win?

Next comes "Be a Pal." When Ricky ignores Lucy at breakfast, Lucy finally decides that the romance is gone from their marriage. In an attempt to get it back, Lucy tries dressing for breakfast, playing poker with the guys, and making their apartment look like Cuba. Will any of it work?

Finally, we have "The Diet." In the first official "Lucy wants to get into show business" storyline, Ricky needs to replace a dancer who has quit the show. He'd just bought her size 12 costume, so that's his biggest requirement. He promises Lucy that she can have the part if she can fit into the dress. What will Lucy do to lose 12 pounds in 4 days?

While you can see the germ of the classic in these episodes, they haven't completely sprouted yet. Of course, most shows go through growing pains their first season, so that's hardly surprising. The problem here is that Lucy is really the only character. She gets all the jokes and most of the physical humor. My theory is the writers knew her and didn't know what to do with the other characters yet.

That's not to say that these are bad episodes. There are still plenty of great jokes here, both in the dialogue and with Lucy's trademark physical humor. All four of the leads do fine jobs acting. And the production values are greatly improved from the unaired pilot. In sort, these episodes aren't bad, they just pale compared to what was to come.

Now as I said earlier, no one skimped when they put out this disc. The pilot is the worst episode here. It has plenty of grain in the shots and the sound is bad. I'm sure that's because of how the show was filmed and stored over the years. The other three episodes have been restored. They aren't quite as bright as the other sets, but they are better then anything shown on TV. There is hardly any grain or dust anywhere. The sound is mono and is crisp and clear. You can't complain about the shows.

But it doesn't stop there. The disc is packed with extras. While the episodes start with the familiar heart logo we all know from years of reruns, they do include the original opening, complete with the plug for Phillip Morris cigarettes. They also include the new intro that was filmed when "The Diet" was rerun during Lucy's pregnancy in season two. There is detailed information about the guest cast, behind the scenes pictures and trivia, and a portion of creator Jess Oppenheimer's book talking about creating the show. They've got a section they call flubs. Since the show didn't do retakes, this is really just pointing out mistakes that made it into the show. Finally, there's an episode of Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband" that inspired the episode "The Diet."

While you get a lot for your money, all this stuff was included in the later, slimmer release of the complete season. Since that set is cheaper then getting all of these discs, I recommend you skip this release and buy the complete first season instead.