Disc Rating: 8.5/10
Synopsis:
In October 1951, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz debuted the first episode of what was to become one of the best-loved and most watched TV shows of all time. Zany redhead Lucy and her Cuban bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo, along with their neighbors and comic foils Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vivian Vance and William Frawley), got into the most hilarious predicaments ever imaginable. Overflowing with notable guest stars and escapades that never lose their entertainment value, it’s no wonder why everyone still loves Lucy.
One of the most beloved and iconic sitcoms of all time, ‘I Love Lucy’ comes home in its entirety on Blu-ray featuring all six seasons of the original series, in addition to all three seasons of ‘The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour’ in one massive collector’s set that diehard fans should love. Get ready to revisit the hilarious misadventures of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo along with their trusty neighbors and best friends Ethel and Fred Mertz (plus of course Little Ricky a bit down the road) as they tackle everything from wine making, shopping and trying to get booted from their lease when tempers flare with their friends and landlords. Then join the group as they head for various noteworthy trips to Los Angeles, Paris and more, now all in sparkling High Definition and compiled in one convenient set that you can enjoy any time you might please.
I Love Lucy’ first debuted on CBS in October of 1951 and became the most popular series on television as audiences repeatedly went out of their way to tune in week after week to enjoy the hilarious antics of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo and today the series still holds up as one of the most beloved comedy series to ever grace TV screens. The show is still effortlessly able to deliver hilarity and light-hearted fun more than seven decades after it first graced television screens thanks largely to the comedy stylings of Lucy and Desi who managed to create a television couple that viewers could not only escape with, but also often relate to in their own right at times.
The series ran for six seasons and eventually saw the key four cast members taking trips across country and even beyond it for one reason or another, before eventually reconfiguring itself into a new, yet familiar series for three seasons as ‘The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour’ which invited viewers back into the family’s lives for some super-sized new adventures with various popular guest stars contributing. The series still holds up better than many might expect, although it’s certainly still a product of its time and certain elements don’t align as well with today’s world, particularly the excessive smoking featured regularly throughout for one (not to mention the cigarette sponsors for more episodes than not over its run) yet the comedy certainly hasn’t become the slightest bit stale or unamusing in the many decades since.
There’s certainly plenty to love about this massive 33-disc ‘I Love Lucy: The Complete Series’ Blu-ray set from Paramount Home Entertainment which brings home all 194 unforgettable episodes of the series in high-definition; including every episode from the six-season run of ‘I Love Lucy’, along with all three seasons of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” which has been remastered and features some long-missing footage and is presented here in the form it was originally broadcast as “The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show,” with some original cast commercials included.
The set features quite nice full high definition video presentations for each and every episode of both series, along with lossless soundtracks for each and a truly amazing (and massive) offering of bonus materials including countless hours of extra goodies throughout the set. Perhaps the biggest disappointment about the release is that it ships in one of the Epik-Pak DVD-sized cases and almost every disc slot within features three discs stacked on top of each other. Fortunately I experienced no issues with the discs as a result and all 33 play problem-free. If you’re a fan of ‘I Love Lucy’ that’s been awaiting its complete HD debut, then this complete series Blu-ray set should be a real treat and is recommended for anyone already considering a purchase.
VIDEO:
The Blu-ray release of ‘I Love Lucy: The Complete Series’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation on every episode of the series (including all 6 seasons of ‘I Love Lucy’ and 3 seasons of ‘The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour’) with the show’s original 1.33:1 Full Frame Aspect Ratio in which the series was originally broadcast. The video presentations look pretty good as a whole, especially for a series such as this that aired quite some time ago. While there may be some quality fluctuations in the later seasons, everything holds up capably with sharp details, some noticeable grain throughout and far fewer issues or imperfections as a whole than you might imagine; easily offering the best quality that the series has ever seen in all of its years. Overall, these are very nice high definition presentations and while some may look slightly better than others, they all look quite nice altogether.
AUDIO:
The Blu-ray release includes a 2.0 channel LPCM soundtrack on seasons 1-2 and 2.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks on seasons 3-9. These lossless two channel soundtracks each provide solid audio presentations that hold up quite admirably after all of these years and do a great job of balancing the various audio elements within; ensuring that all dialogue, effects and everything else sounds generally sharp, clean and rewarding for the most part. There are some minor hissing noises noticeable on occasion (mostly during the older promotional spots featured within) and while there may be some brief imperfections at times, they rarely affect or negatively impact the content. Overall, these are solid 2.0 split mono soundtracks that deliver quite impressively as a whole, especially for a broadcast show of its age.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-ray release of ‘I Love Lucy: The Complete Series’ serves up an almost shocking quantity of supplements throughout the 33 discs and features extras on literally every disc of the set. In a very rare occurrence, I’ll give a general idea of the various extras included throughout the set, although for the sake of time and space (just listing every disc’s extras would be longer than an entire review normally) it’s just not sensible to break down each individual extra.
Seasons 1 and 2 include the same wealth of extras that were included on the ‘Ultimate Season’ sets that came out nearly a decade ago and feature numerous noteworthy goodies. For starters, the first two seasons offer the choice of watching each episode in their more familiar, heart-opening syndicated formats or in their original broadcast versions including the various promotional material and openings with the ancient cigarette promos and more. In addition to that massive bonus, the first two seasons also treat us to the ‘Original I Love Lucy Pilot’ remastered from original 35mm kinescope, plus alternate and Colorized versions of a couple episodes, Flubs, select Audio Commentaries, Behind the Scenes Audiobook Featurettes, Production Notes, Cast and Sponsor bios, ‘Lucy on the Radio’ broadcasts, plus the ‘I Love Lucy’ movie with multiple episodes formed together with interconnecting scenes for a special movie broadcast, plus a good bit more.
Season 3-9 (or technically Seasons 3-6 and Seasons 1-3 of ‘The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour’) also offer a nice quantity of extras such as a newly Colorized (and never before released) version of the episode “Lucy and the Loving Cup”, in addition to remastered Original Openings and Closings for various episodes/seasons, plus more ‘Lucy on the Radio’ broadcasts, not to mention plenty of additional Flubs, Behind the Scenes Audiobook Featurettes, along with some ‘Lost Scenes’, long-last ‘Flashback Scenes’ and numerous episodes (marked by a Star) that feature additional footage from their original broadcast version and a great deal more.
Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
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Disc Rating: 8.5/10
