Search - I Love Lucy - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD

Now that Hollywood is Distroyed, Europe is Next!!

Movie Mania | Southern Calfornia | 06/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We left Lucy and the gang in Hollywood with Ricky about to make his big film.



Disc 1:

Lucy Visits Grauman's - Ricky has finished the film and tells everyone that they are returning to NYC in on week. The girls have to get everything done in one week. First stop is Grauman's Chinese Theater. When they are there, they find that John Wayne's footprints are loose and she decides it would make the perfect souvenir.



Lucy and John Wayne - Lucy must replace the footprints or go to jail. First Fred tries to forge but it doesn't fool anyone. Then Ricky remembers he met Duke and calls him to help out. But Lucy thinks it's another Freddie the forger original and erases it. They get Duke back and he again makes the print and signature (#2) but then Little Ricky is found playing in it. Ricky has already gone to the studio and had Duke make another print (#3). And Lucy comes up with the idea to have Duke step into wet cement then ask him to sign it. She and Ethel put the wet cement outside Duke's dressing trailer but it's Ricky who steps into the cement ruining the boot print. Lucy then realizes that she just needs to borrow the Duke's boots and redo the imprint. This of course goes crazy when Duke surprises her in the trailer and she hides but does not escape as wanted - this is just crazy. She winds up running out and leaving Ethel behind. John Wayne, like most stars were doing the show to promote a movie.



Lucy and the Dummy - Ricky returns from a studio going away party with a plastic head of himself used in the movie. The studio calls and wants to have Ricky perform at an executive party at the studio. Lucy has convinced the studio that they have an act but Ricky is going fishing. Lucy decides to use the plastic head and creates a fake Ricky for the performance. As expected everything goes wrong but the studio execs thought it was a great comedy routine and offers Lucy a year's contract.



Ricky Sells the Car - Ricky has an offer to sell the car and he figures that with the family plan it would be cheaper to take the train but he has forgotten the Mertzes.



The Great Train Robbery - The train trip home starts and stops and starts and stops.... First, Lucy forgot her purse at the newsstand and sends Ricky to get it but the train is leaving and Lucy pulls the emergency brake to stop it (#1). Then when Mother and Little Ricky are moved to another car, Lucy sees the new passenger has a gun and panics and pulls the emergency brake (#2). He is really a jeweler carrying diamonds. Lucy finds out that there is a jewel thief on board and assumes that it is her new neighbor. The real thief uses her to rob the jeweler and takes Lucy hostage but she pulls the emergency brake to foil him (#3). The press get on board and are taking her picture when the conductor thinks that she going to pull the emergency brake and .... (#4). Each time Fred and Ethel are in the Club Car and have their meal splattered on them.



Homecoming - The gang arrives back in NYC. Everyone treats Ricky as a star and ignores Lucy which infuriates her. But after talking to a tabloid reporter, Lucy follows suit, which infuriates Ricky.



Face to Face - Ricky is booked on a TV talk show. But when Ricky's agent insults the apartment and tells Ricky he needs to move uptown, the Mertzes decided that he might be right and pick a fight to make the Ricardo's move.



Disc Two:

Lucy Goes to a Rodeo - Fred's lodge is having a show but when Ricky is booked to do a radio show, Fred must ask Lucy and Ethel to help out. Fred and gang come up with a western themed show. Ricky finds out that he is not booked to perform on a radio show but the rodeo. When he cannot put together a show for the rodeo, he must beg Lucy, Fred and Ethel to pitch in.



Nursery School - Lucy doesn't want to send Little Ricky to a nursery school but Ricky insists that he goes. After his first day, Little Ricky comes down with a cold and needs his tonsils removed. But when he goes to the hospital Lucy won't leave him there alone overnight.



Ricky's European Booking - Ricky gets a booking for a European tour. But he cannot take Lucy with him. Lucy and Ethel can go if they raise the money. They decide to hold a raffle and create a fake name Ladies Oversees Assistance. What the girls don't know is that it is illegal to hold a raffle for a fictitious organization. All works out when Ricky finds out that if the band plays on the ship, the voyage is free. So he can take the girls. Ricky sings Forever Darling to promote his and Lucy's upcoming film.



The Passports - Lucy cannot find her birth certificate and needs two people to sign an affidavit they knew when Lucy was born. In this episode we learn that Lucy was born in 1921 and this is the episode where Lucy gets locked in a steamer trunk.



Staten Island Ferry - Fred is seasick and the girls hate their passport pictures. Fred and Lucy go on the Staten Island Ferry to test sea sick pills. But they fall asleep on the Ferry and have to rush to make it to the passport office before it closes.



Bon Voyage - Well everything else has gone wrong with Lucy getting to Europe, why do you think that her getting on the boat would be easy? Lucy gets left on the dock and has to find a way to get to the boat. This episode includes another promotion for Forever Darling.



Second Honeymoon - Lucy wants this to be a second honeymoon but Ricky has to work. She is depending on Ethel but when Fred gets the honeymoon bug, Lucy is left on her own. She finally finds a way to get Ricky to herself but even that backfires.



Disc Three:

Lucy Meets the Queen - The gang arrives in London. Lucy and Ethel want to see the queen and will do anything to get see her. When they find out that she will be at the Palladium show, they are ecstatic. They spend all day practicing their curtsey only to find out that only Ricky will meet the queen. Ricky comes up with a loop hole. If she is in the show, she might be able to meet the queen. Ricky lets her perform in a dance routine but she has a Charlie horse from all the curtseying. This is one her classic scenes.



The Fox Hunt - Ricky has a meeting with a British movie producer and Lucy wangles an invitation to his country estate. But things turn sour when she finds out that his daughter is the pretty star struck girl who has a crush on Ricky. The show ends with a hilarious fox hunt. (Lucy repeats it 20 years later when she does the movie Mame.)



Lucy Goes to Scotland - Lucy wants to find her ancestors in Scotland but they don't have time. So Lucy does the next best thing, she dreams about it in a musical sequence. This is one of the best episodes of the season.



Paris at Last - The gang arrive on the continent. And Lucy winds up in jail. Lucy exchanges some dollars to francs on the street. But they turn out to be counterfeit. The police do not speak English and Lucy's French is not too good. Ricky arrives but only speaks Spanish and English. But there is a prisoner who speaks Spanish and French. This leads to a translation telephone.



Lucy Meets Charlie Boyer - Lucy thinks every man is Charles Boyer. When she learns that Ricky is to meet him it's Hollywood all over. But when Boyer shows up at a café that the gang is at, Ricky warns him and Boyer pretends to be a look alike. This of course, keeps complicating itself.



Lucy Gets a Paris Gown - It is fashion week in Paris and Lucy wants one of the outlandish gowns that she and Ethel see at all the salons. To teach her a lesson, Ricky and Fred have the hotel tailor make dresses out of burlap sacks, a horse feeder and a wine cooler.



Disc Four:

Lucy is the Swiss Alps - Fred sends the band to the wrong city, so the gang has the day off. They decide to have a picnic on the mountain but wind up getting snowed in at a cabin with no food or heating.



Lucy Gets Homesick in Italy - It's Little Ricky's third birthday and Lucy misses him. She winds up giving a birthday party for a group of local children.



Lucy's Italian Movie - This is one of the most famous episodes. Lucy gets an offer to appear in an Italian movie and she decides to soak up some local color. Since the movie is called Bitter Grapes, she assumes that the movie is about winemaking and she goes to a local winery and poses as one of the laborers. This all ends up in a wine vat.



Lucy's Bicycle Trip - It's only 35 miles to Nice, so Lucy thinks it would be picturesque to take bicycles from Italy. The problem is that when they arrive at the Italian - French border, Lucy cannot find her passport. This episode also includes a great scene where the gang spend the night in a barn and Lucy actually milks a cow.



Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo - Lucy wants to see the famous casino but Ricky forbids her. To get around his ban, Lucy and Ethel go to dinner at the famous restaurant in the casino. Lucy finds a chip on the floor and tosses it on the roulette table and wins and wins and wins. She winds up with 875,000 francs! Now, how does she explain it to Ricky?



Return Home from Europe - Well, Lucy has wreak havoc across Europe but that is not enough for her. She wants to bring a 25 lb piece of cheese home for mother but Ricky is not willing to pay the overage for it. So only Lucy would try to pass it off as a baby but what Lucy doesn't know is that baby's don't fly free. So how do you get rid of the cheese?



This is another great season. The interesting thing is that each disc is a story in itself. Disc 1 is the end of Hollywood and the return home. Disc 2 is the beginning of the trip to Europe. Disc 3 is London and France. Disc 4 is the rest of Europe and the return home.



These are the fully restored episodes including the original blackout commercials. In the early days, TV shows were sponsored by products. In the early years it was Philip Morris and you constantly saw their cigarette packages placed throughout each episode. From the 4th season on, there were multiple sponsors. They usually promoted their product as part of the mid episode break. These have been restored.



DVD EXTRAS: Each disc has extras.

Flubs - Each disc has certain scenes that have mistakes. Sometimes you only know they are mistakes because they tell you here. The cast is so accomplished that you think they are scripted.



Guest Cast - Each disc lists the guest cast (anyone that is not the four stars) for each episode with a brief bio of each actor and listing of episodes they appeared in.



Special Footage - Each disc has special footage including edited scenes and footage shot for a specific purpose. The edited scenes are in the episodes, so you really don't need watch these.



Original Openings - Each disc shows the original opening for the show. The satin heart opening was created for syndication.



Production Notes - Each disc has production notes for an episode on the disc.



Lucy's Radio Show - Each disc has an episode of My Favorite Husband which inspired and episode of the series.



Behind the Scenes Audio Featurette - Disc 3:Excerpts from a making of I Love Lucy book.



Oppenheimer Interview - Disc 4: An interview with Jess Oppenheimer



Slide Show - Disc 4

"

Who doesnt love Lucy

J. Sharp | Philadelphia, PA | 07/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We last left the Ricardo's and the Mertzs in Hollywood. Lucy and Ethel are still trying to meet the maximum amount of movie stars during there brief time in Hollywood. This season starts with Lucy trying to get the greatest star memorabilia of all, the footprints of John Wayne. A classic episode spread over two parts.



Season Five takes the Ricardo's and Mertzs through Hollywood, back to NYC, then over seas to Europe. It has classic Lucy moments such as her trip in Italy stomping grapes. Also includes probably one of my favorite episodes, The Great Train Robbery. In this episode Lucy goes a little overkill on the emergency breaks. This season guarantees laughs during each episode.



I am very pleased with the timely release of each season. This is a collectors dream. Each episode is in high quality and is packaged in a neat and convenient box set. CBS has recovered greatly from the previously shaking release of only four episodes per disc. Definitely buy this season as well as others in order to preserve Lucy for further generations.

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