I Love Lucy (DVD) Review

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 27th, 2010

Widely considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, show in television history, I Love Lucy signaled the ascendance of the prime time TV era. The brainchild of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, I Love Lucy revolutionized the television industry with its extensive use of a live audience and the employment of multiple camera angles. The result of true comic genius, the show's ability to entertain is just as relevant today as it was fifty years ago?

Real-life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play the prominent roles of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, a married couple living in a New York apartment complex. Ricky is a Cuban-born band leader who wows night clubs with his act, while Lucy is a homemaker. Lucy and Ricky's best friends are landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz who often become intertwined in Lucy's get-rich-quick schemes, screwball ideas, and comic shenanigans. Former masters of the stage, the cast comes across as a likeable bunch, with Lucille Ball stealing the show with her goofy antics and brilliant facial contortions. If ever there were a television classic, then I Love Lucy is it?

The I Love Lucy DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes including the series premiere "The Girls Want To Go To The Nightclub" in which Ethel seeks to celebrate her 18th Anniversary with a trip to the Copacabana, while Fred wants to go to the fights. When it's agreed that the girls will go to the club while the boys go to the fight, Fred and Ricky decide to spy on the girls so they call up a friend to get some dates for the club. But Lucy and Ethel have already talked to the same friend, and they decide to pose as Fred and Ricky's dates? Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "The Quiz Show" in which Lucy seeks to make some extra money by pulling off a fake stunt, and "Drafted" in which Lucy and Ethel mistakenly believe that Ricky and Fred have been drafted into the Army?

Below is a list of episodes included on the I Love Lucy (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (The Girls Want to Go to the Nightclub): Air Date: 10-15-1951
Episode 2 (Be a Pal): Air Date: 10-22-1951
Episode 3 (The Diet): Air Date: 10-29-1951
Episode 4 (Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her): Air Date: 11-05-1951
Episode 5 (The Quiz Show): Air Date: 11-12-1951
Episode 6 (The Audition): Air Date: 11-19-1951
Episode 7 (The Seance): Air Date: 11-26-1951
Episode 8 (Men are Messy): Air Date: 12-03-1951
Episode 9 (Drafted): Air Date: 12-10-1951
Episode 10 (The Fur Coat): Air Date: 12-17-1951
Episode 11 (Lucy is Jealous of Girl Singer): Air Date: 12-24-1951
Episode 12 (The Adagio): Air Date: 12-31-1951
Episode 13 (The Benefit): Air Date: 01-07-1952
Episode 14 (The Amateur Hour): Air Date: 01-14-1952
Episode 15 (Lucy Plays Cupid): Air Date: 01-21-1952
Episode 16 (Lucy Fakes Illness): Air Date: 01-28-1952
Episode 17 (Lucy Writes a Play): Air Date: 02-04-1952
Episode 18 (Breaking the Lease): Air Date: 02-11-1952
Episode 19 (The Ballet): Air Date: 02-18-1952
Episode 20 (The Young Fans): Air Date: 02-25-1952
Episode 21 (New Neighbors): Air Date: 03-03-1952
Episode 22 (Fred and Ethel Fight): Air Date: 03-10-1952
Episode 23 (The Moustache): Air Date: 03-17-1952
Episode 24 (The Gossip): Air Date: 03-24-1952
Episode 25 (Pioneer Woman): Air Date: 03-31-1952
Episode 26 (The Marriage License): Air Date: 04-07-1952
Episode 27 (The Kleptomaniac): Air Date: 04-14-1952
Episode 28 (Cuban Pals): Air Date: 04-21-1952
Episode 29 (The Freezer): Air Date: 04-28-1952
Episode 30 (Lucy Does a TV Commercial): Air Date: 05-05-1952
Episode 31 (The Publicity Agent): Air Date: 05-12-1952
Episode 32 (Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio): Air Date: 05-19-1952
Episode 33 (Lucy's Schedule): Air Date: 05-26-1952
Episode 34 (Ricky Thinks He is Going Bald): Air Date: 06-02-1952
Episode 35 (Ricky Asks for a Raise): Air Date: 06-09-1952