I Love Lucy on Blu-Ray? (Speculation)

Then again, if no one buys season one, will they continue releasing them?

I am waiting for a big price drop, though. Probably next year.

 

Amazon had an amazing blow out on the box set of the regular version and it is beautifully packaged. I think it was all of $40 so I bought it even though I already had them all. It takes up less space than just season one did. It is more than good enough quality for me. If there ends up being a ton of extras by the time a blu ray box set comes out I might be enticed, but I'm with the poster above...I don't see that happening if people don't support season one. I just don't think the general public is going to see a need to buy it again on blu ray.

 

I would buy it for a reasonable price, but even at the current discounted price it's just too expensive. Over $50 for one season of a TV show is beyond my budget, especially when I already own the show on dvd.

 

They're shooting themselves in the foot with this high-priced, season-by-season schedule. They'd be better off releasing the entire show at once and then slowly discount the price.

 

Agreed. The market for home video on physical media is shrinking more and more. Add that to the fact that most people probably don't care about having old TV shows in HD (their loss) and I don't see the wisdom in releasing these shows one season at a time, priced really high.

 

On the Lucy Lounge forum Tom Watson (one of the producers) has posted from time to time about the work being done for Season Two. No time frame has been given but could be around the holidays or early 2015. The quality of Season One was beyond what I expected and I hope the same quality is maintained throughout. I believe that if one series will be released all the way through it is Lucy because it is still a cash cow for CBS. Plus the options for the fans who want the upgrade to Blu is there, and those who are happy with their DVD releases have that choice to keep those, too.

The part I would feel cheated on is if the hour shows get restored and then only the unedited shows are on blu only. They should make those unedited shows available on DVD, too. But I have no problem giving the hardcore fans a few extra bonus features for those who want to dish out the extra $$$.

 

I'd be happy to repurchase on Bluray---but I'll just wait for the complete series box. I was already burned for buying the seasons individually on DVD only to buy the compete series set later. I have no idea why they went with individual BR boxes now. Looks like they really want to squeeze as much money as possible, exhausting all the avenues first.

 

Agreed. I've been burned too many times buying individual seasons, especially when a fancy box set comes out with all kinds of goodies. They could put all of the episodes of Lucy on Blu, throw in a bottle of Vitameatavegemin and I'd buy it!

 

I'll wait for the complete box and maybe I can grab like I did with the Dick Van Dyke box - a steal of a price. It still amazes me how they can cut the price so much from "list". Makes you wonder sometimes what the profit margin really is.

 

Wait the 1 hour shows on DVD are edited??

 

Why I usually get my boxes from eBay sellers. Sealed / Genuine / Helluva lot cheaper !!!

 

I got my wife season one on blu-ray for Christmas, despite the relatively high price. It came out to about $2 per episode, which isn't too bad, plus there's some interesting bonus features.

Anyways, we're through disc one and the picture quality isn't quite the revelation that one might expect. Not bad, by any means, but not nearly as good as The Twilight Zone or Dick Van Dyke, for example. Seeing The Twilight Zone in HD is really amazing and feels like watching a movie. Lucy is a much more modest upgrade over DVD picture quality.

Still, I did read that filming techniques improved quite a bit starting with season two, so here's to hoping that that will be a more noticeable jump.

 

Finished up season one on BD last night and we enjoyed it so much! Any word on season two yet? I hope they didn't cripple the sales with such a high asking price.

Oh also I was wondering: has anyone else here watched the "original broadcast versions" of the episodes? The ones with the animated opening and commercials?

We thought they would be fun to watch for "purity" sake and to see some nice vintage commercials. In reality, they're incredibly tedious to watch. It's nice to see the original opening sequence, but the "commercials" consist only of a Philip Morris spokesman talking into the camera, hawking cigarettes. It gets really dull and repetitive really fast. We switched to the "heart on satin" version after a few.

 

Near the end of the season Lucy and Desi started to do the commercials so you have a chance to see extra footage of them. "Drafted" features a tag scene of the cast singing "Jingle Bells," and the final episode of the season shows Lucy and Ricky wishing the audience a happy summer and reminding everyone to tune into My Little Margie, the summer replacement for Lucy.

Overall the set is fantastic and from what I read on a Lucy forum that they are working on season 2 but no time frame for release. Not just the price by the length between releases I hope will not hurt sales.

 

We saw the tag scene for the season finale because it was separate in the bonus features. Missed the Jingle Bells tag scene. Around which episode did it change to Lucy and Desi doing the commercials? Are they worth watching at that point? Do the commercials improve/change at all in season two?

 

From what I have seen of complete season 2 broadcasts yes, the commercials improve. The opening animation differs almost from episode to episode. Plus Lucy and Desi are in a lot of commercials, except for the pregnancy shows. (But Philip Morris has a great commercial wishing Lucy and "Ricky" well with their new addition on the "Lucy Goes To The Hospital" episode.). It seems to me, going by memory here, that the commercials get better and Lucy and Desi start doing the final commercial about the "Pioneer Women" or "The Marriage License" episode. Not sure exactly. When I watched the set the first time I watched all the episodes as broadcast, since I have not when I watch a season one show. It is a great, fantastic option to include but about one time viewing is good enough for me. I enjoy seeing the "repeat" broadcasts more on the disc, since those came from season two (and maybe beyond? Again can't remember for sure.) the flow of the commercials and the quality of commercials are better than the earliest broadcasts.

In all seriousness, while they are fun to watch, how often can you listen to how 9 out of 10 doctors suggest you smoke Phillip Morris cigarettes? Haha!

 

Exactly why we switched away from that version after a few episodes. It gets to be so tedious and repetitive, especially if you are watching more than one episode in a sitting!

Thanks for the other info!

EDIT: I will say, though, that I think it's worth watching a few original broadcast versions because it clues you in to some of the in-jokes throughout the season where they reference Philip Morris. Particularly the one where Lucy crawls inside the Ricardos' TV set and imitates the "Call for Philip Morris!" tagline. I was born in the '80s so I would have had no clue as to what that was referencing without seeing the original show opening.

 

I think the season one BD was announced around this time last year, but no news on season two yet. Sales probably weren't great, considering the high price tag (especially relative to the DVD). It'll be a shame if CBS pulls the plug on this because of their own boneheaded moves.

 

This was always going to be a niche release but its pricing is a little curious.

 

I refuse to buy season 1 on Blu-ray. It's either the entire thing at once or nothing. I've been burned too many times buying individual releases only to have a super-deluxe complete set come out at the end.

 

I doubt we'll ever get a complete set of this show with exclusive bonuses. They did it for DVD but that was a much earlier and different market. Nowadays they would simply package the individual seasons together and put a cardboard wrapper around it.

 

Then you get cases like That 70's show where it's 2 seasons on blu-ray then the next 5 left in limbo. ILL S1 was full of extras so I don't think they could do a deluxe series set.

 

Horribly dated, barely-funny show, by today's standards. Sorry. People would watch anything in those days; there wasn't much to choose from.

 

I'd be happy if they took the bonuses on the heart set and put the entire series out on Blu-ray in a much smaller package size. The heart set looks great as a gift, but it is impractical if you are trying to watch the entire series.

 

I agree. The Twilight Zone and Dick Van Dyke complete series BD sets are just that: all five individual seasons housed in a special slipcover.