Events Calendar
In This Section
'Witness for the Prosecution' keeps audiences guessing
Actor Gary Coleman pleads guilty in Utah court
Rich Heldenfels: 'Past Life' is unbelievable
Michael Jackson doctor charged with manslaughter
Gary Coleman scheduled for Utah court appearance
'Christmas Story' actor finds challenges behind camera
Actor in Oscar nominee for foreign films is detained
Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Episodes remastered. Extras include bloopers, commercials, interviews
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Jul 19, 2009
If Lucille Ball had done I Love Lucy and then left television forever, her reputation as a giant of TV comedy would be secure.
But she went on to make other series, still relying on her physical-comedy skills, often with trusted collaborators like Vivian Vance and Gale Gordon; in fact, she spent more years in post-I Love Lucy series than she did on the inspired original.
Tuesday marks the arrival of the first of the Lucy sequels, The Lucy Show: The Official First Season (CBS/Paramount, 30 episodes, four discs, $42.99). Ball, divorced from former co-star Desi Arnaz (although they were still business partners), played widowed mother Lucy Carmichael in this series; Vance — Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy — played Lucy's divorced friend Vivian Bagley.
Without the fine ensemble from the earlier show, this doesn't quite measure up. But it's a worthy successor to the I Love Lucy DVDs in terms of packaging.
The episodes, which originally aired in 1962-63, have been remastered and offer a solid black-and-white image. The box warns that some episodes may be edited from their original version but a random check found story lines intact and episodes lasting about 25 minutes.
In addition, for many of the episodes, you have the option of a ''vintage'' viewing that includes commercials and sponsor references later cut from the show.
Other extras include bloopers, footage from promotional videos Ball made for the program and two interviews, one with Ball's daughter, Lucie Arnaz, and the other with Jimmy Garrett, who played Ball's son on the series.
Especially enjoyable is the interview with Lucie Arnaz, who made her acting debut as a guest star on The Lucy Show. You can also spot Lucie's brother Desi in at least one episode. Lucie and Desi went on to co-star with their mother on Here's Lucy, the first season of which will be released on DVD in late August.
Watching The Lucy Show did fill me with nostalgia. The new DVD of Pushing Daisies filled me with sad longing.
Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second Season (Warner, 13 episodes, four discs, $39.98 on DVD, $49.99 on high-definition Blu-ray) is all that remains of the splendid little fantasy comedy about a pie maker who can bring people back from the dead.
Watching the last of these 13 episodes, even with its rather rushed wrap-up of the characters' lives, made me wish that there was more: more humor, more splendid visuals, more of the characters.
Instead, I'll have to get by with replays of this set and the previously released first-season DVDs. But at least there is some new material. DVD extras include pieces about series creator Bryan Fuller, how the production executed one of Fuller's script ideas, the music and other topics.
I don't have as pleasant feelings about Jon & Kate Plus Eight: Season 4 Volume 2: The Big Move (Genius, 17 episodes, no extras, two discs, $19.95). Since these shows aired, Jon and Kate Gosselin have split; a lot of these shows were part of a TLC marathon leading up to the telecast showing their marriage had broken.
Of course, one of the reasons for watching these shows again is to notice all the cracks already appearing in the marriage. (I was disliking Kate long before the couple separated.)
There's also reason to wonder how the Gosselins' eight children will do with their parents apart, especially if that means they do not continue on television. As Jon & Kate Plus Eight has gone on, it has seemed to involve ever more entitlement for the Gosselin clan because they are TV stars. How will the children deal with a life where, say, they don't get primo seats and backstage visits at shows they attend?
Beyond TV, the grimly compelling big-screen feature Watchmen comes to DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday in several packages from Warner Home Video, including the movie itself in widescreen or full-frame ($28.98), a two-disc package with a three-hour director's cut of the film ($34.98) and a Blu-ray of the director's cut ($35.98).
Based on the comic-book series of the same name, the movie is an uneven but generally impressive feat. But don't expect mild escapism. As I said of the theatrical version, it is grim and extremely violent; next to Watchmen, films like The Dark Knight and Iron Man look like lighthearted fantasies.
Down the DVD road: With a new version of Fame coming to theaters, MGM Home Entertainment will release the first two seasons of the TV series in a 38-episode, nine-disc set on Sept. 15.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal, in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com and on Twitter. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
If Lucille Ball had done I Love Lucy and then left television forever, her reputation as a giant of TV comedy would be secure.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
