TV Show Review: I Love Lucy - Season 1 Volume 4

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: "The Benefit"

Cons: "Lucy Plays Cupid"

The Bottom Line:

One bad episode

But even bad Lucy is

Still enjoyable

Volume 4 Is a Mixed Bag

Volume four of Season 1 of I Love Lucy continues chronicling the early adventures of every one's favorite red head with four more episodes. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) live in New York City, where Ricky and his band perform at a night club. Lucy is his stay at home wife who constantly wants to break into show business. Most of the time, their adventures include their neighbors and best friends Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley and Vivian Vance.)

"The Adagio" - Ricky needs an adagio dancer for a new act at the club, so Lucy sets out to learn this French dance. Things are looking up when Ethel finds Lucy a real French man to teach her. But when he shows up with romance on his mind, Lucy finds herself in over her head. There are some funny bits to this episodes, especially the climax. However, it's only an average episode.

"The Benefit" - Ethel's women's club is hosting a benefit, and they want Ricky to perform. Lucy agrees to ask him, but only if she can be in the show, too. Several back and forths later, Ricky agrees, but takes all the best lines for himself, a situation Lucy sets out to change. I had forgotten just how funny this episode is. It is easily the best one on the disc and the funniest one to date. I was laughing constantly, and the lines were catching me off guard. (And as a side note, does anyone else notice that Lucy's singing ability or lack there of changes on the whims of the plot?)

"The Amateur Hour" - In order to keep a dress she can't return, Lucy needs to get a job and earn the money. When she agrees to babysit for $5 an hour, she gets more then she bargained for when the woman shows up with twin terrors. But it will all be okay if they can win a talent show that night. There are some great bits before Lucy realizes what she is dealing with, but the ending is rather anti-climatic. Fred is completely absent from this one, and Ethel has little more then a cameo.

"Lucy Plays Cupid" - When Lucy finds out that elderly neighbor Miss Lewis has a crush on the grocery man, she agrees to help play match maker. But the signals get crossed and the grocer thinks that Lucy is the one with the crush. The premise sounds funny, but it doesn't work as well as it should. The most interesting thing to note here is that Edward Everett Horton, best known as the voice of the "Fractures Fairy Tales" from Rocky and Bullwinkle, plays the grocer. Additionally, Fred and Ethel are absent from this episode.

Why do I note when the Mertzes are missing? Because one of my favorite things about the show is the friendship between the four lead characters. When they aren't all there, the show feels like it is missing something to me. I think one reason I like "The Benefit" so much is because all four are at the top of their game. In fact, there are no guest stars in that episode. The acting and timing is hilarious. It doesn't get much better then that.

Once again, this disc is great. The picture is mostly bright and clear. I did notice a couple times when it got a little dark, and there is the occasional inperfection. Still, I defy you to find a better picture. The mono sound is fine as well. There aren't quite as many special features this go around. We've got two mistakes from "Lucy Plays Cupid," short bios of the guest stars, the original pitch and rehearsal photos from the unaired pilot (shouldn't that have been on disc one?), and the original opening animation (the episodes start with the hearts on satin we've seen in reruns ever sense.) To me, the highlight of the special features is the episode of Lucy's radio show, "My Favorite Husband." The episode they presented here inspired the "Cupid" episode, and it is much funnier then the TV version.

There is no reason to buy this disc. These episodes are now part of the complete season 1 set, so if you are a Lucy fan, skip this disc, which only has these four episodes, and buy the complete season.