Like Elvis Presley and rock & roll, I Love Lucy didn’t invent the sitcom, but sure as hell defined it in the early days of American television. Its popularity and cultural impact was huge, its influence immeasurable. Just think of the sheer number of similarly-structured shows that probably would never have existed without it.
I Love Lucy first aired long before my time, but has been in syndication forever. I can’t say I grew up on the show, nor did I ever go out of my way to watch it, so it holds no real nostalgic value. But whenever it happened to pop up on TV, I always found it pretty funny and a lot of the humor holds up even today, especially the classic episodes that have since become iconic (I dare anyone not to laugh their ass off during Season 1’s Lucy Does a TV Commercial).
Content-wise, this set is priceless. The initial I Love Lucy TV show actually ran for six seasons, but this set also includes three seasons (13 episodes) of the retooled hour-long version, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, which ran from 1957 to 1960. It’s all here, spread out over 33 discs. Then again, so did the DVD set released in 2020, as well as a Blu-ray edition released in 2024. However, this 75th Anniversary Edition offers some bonus features that, as far as I can ascertain, are new to disc, including a few that were not included on the DVD version of this set released a just couple of months ago, such as I Love Lucy: The Movie (see below). Here's hoping some of you die-hards held out for this.
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| Desi realizes he could've had a V8. |
Still, the overall video transfer is good, as is the audio quality, which in some cases differs from the recent DVD version. And it goes without saying that those who love the show will like having every episode immediately on-hand. As a 75th Anniversary commemoration, I Love Lucy: The Complete Series is a nice souvenir, but I’d be a little miffed if I was one of those buyers who just shelled out for DVD set thinking that a Blu-ray version wasn’t happening, only to have this sprung on me.
EXTRA KIBBLES (Spread out over several discs)
ORIGINAL OPENINGS & CLOSINGS - These changed a bit from season to season.
ORIGINAL PILOT
ORIGINAL BROADCAST VERSIONS OF SELECT EPISODES
AUDIO COMMENTARIES OF SELECT EPISODES
LUCY ON THE RADIO: MY FAVORITE HUSBAND - Episodes from the radio program.
I LOVE LUCY: THE MOVIE - From 1953, this seldom seen “movie” combines three episodes from the first season, along with some newly-shot material.
CHRISTMAS REBROADCAST FOOTAGE
EYE ON CBS SEGMENTS - From 1959.
SELECT COLORIZED EPISODES - For those into that sort of thing.
FLUBS - Various mistakes made during live tapings.
LOST SCENES
RESTORED MUSIC
BEHIND THE SCENES - Most are excerpts from a book about the show.
VINTAGE ADS
SLIDE SHOW GALLERY
COLOR MONTAGE VIDEOS, FOOTAGE AND HOME MOVIES
CAST LIST MENUS
GUEST CAST LIST MENUS
PRODUCTION NOTES
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
SPONSOR SPOTS - Vintage ads from the show’s sponsors.
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