Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn’t be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.
The only release of interest out today is The Lucy Show: The Official Second Season, from Paramount Home Entertainment. Included are all 28 episodes from the 1963-1964 season. Although CBS broadcast the show in black and white for its first three seasons (1962-1965), beginning with this season the episodes were filmed in color. Bonus features include “The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour,” segments from “Opening Night” and “The Stars’ Address,” interviews with Carole Cook and Barry Linvingston, a pair of featurettes, original opening/closing credits and original cast commercials.
“The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour” was a special broadcast on Sunday, April 19th, 1964 with Bob Hope, Gale Gordon and others. Ball plays a studio executive trying to convince Hope’s character to star in a television series about a young married couple. “Opening Night” was a special broadcast on Monday, September 23rd, 1963 on CBS in which Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, Andy Griffith, Garry Moore, Phil Silvers and Lucille Ball celebrated the start of a new season (they all shared the same sponsor, General Foods). “The Stars’ Address” was the 1963 CBS fall preview special that I believe was seen on individual CBS stations at various times during September.
I haven’t found any reviews of this set, but The Lucy Show DVD website declares that the episodes are “beautifully restored, in color, and completely unedited!”
“Opening Night” was indeed a General Foods special, in which they previewed all of their sponsored CBS series during the 1963-’64 season {“I’VE GOT A SECRET” (alternating with The Toni Company), “THE LUCY SHOW” (alternating with Lever Brothers), “THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW” and “THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW” [all on Monday nights], “THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM” (Tuesdays, alternating with State Farm Insurance), and “THE NEW PHIL SILVERS SHOW” (Saturdays)}.
And yes, “The Stars’ Address” was a half-hour fall preview sent out individually to local CBS affiliates for scheduling at their own leisure, a week before the new fall season began in September 1963. It also featured appearances by Jack Benny, the cast of “THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES”, the cast of “RAWHIDE”, Alfred Hitchcock, Phil Silvers, and {winding up the week,} Ed Sullivan.