Here's Lucy - Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series
by Jack Baker (II)
from Shout Factory Theatr
Celebrity guest stars such as William Holden, Orson Welles, and John Wayne had always been a successful trademark on Lucille Ball's four television series, beginning in 1951 with I Love Lucy through her fourth and final program, Here's Lucy, lasting 1968 through 1972. Here's Lucy: Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series is a best-of package with an emphasis on celebrity-driven stories starring the likes of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Benny, Ginger Rogers, and Milton Berle. The anthology has been compiled by Ball's two children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., who co-starred on the show as Kim and Craig Carter, adolescent daughter and son of Ball's character, widow Lucille Carter. The Arnaz offspring are all over this set in a very charming way, offering brief comments once you select a title to watch as well as optional, extended commentary on every episode. They're also personally involved in a couple of many, delightful extra features, including a 1974 sketch from a live charity event in which Lucie and Desi Jr. played their parents in a scene from I Love Lucy.
Most of the programs in Best Loved Episodes feature one or another show-business legend, sometimes playing themselves, at other times portraying a fictional character. Among the latter, Milton Berle is a fount of wicked burlesque as a used-car salesman foisting a psychedelicized hunk of junk on Kim and Craig, and Helen Hayes is particularly memorable as a seemingly desperate and kooky Irish tourist who may be pulling a scam on Lucille's brother-in-law and boss, Harry (Ball's longtime comic foil, the great Gale Gordon). Burton and Taylor, playing themselves, prove wonderful sports in an episode where Lucille mistakes the Welsh master thespian for a plumber and gets Liz's enormous diamond ring stuck on her own finger. (The show features one of Ball's best bits, substituting her own, out-of-control left arm for Taylor's during a press junket.) Shelley Winters is equally playful as a movie star with a compulsive eating disorder; the slender Lucille is pressed into service as a watchdog over Winters's appetite. I Love Lucy co-star Vivian Vance has two welcome appearances as old friend Viv (both episodes make excellent use of Gordon's trademark powers of exasperation), and Jack Benny plays himself twice, once in a touching, funny episode in which he and Ball play people from different chapters of Benny's life. These old pros from radio, stage, and the Golden Age of Hollywood never lost a step. --Tom Keogh
Lucille Ball, her children and her famous friends delight in this hit TV series!
Here's Lucy, which ran on CBS from 1968-1974, was the fourth hit TV show starring the most beloved comedienne of her time - the immortal Lucille Ball. In this series, Lucy's first that ran from beginning to end in full-color with her trademark hair shining bright, she plays Lucy Carter, a widow raising two teenaged children played by her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr.
These 24 episodes (hand-picked by Lucie and Desi Jr.) of Here's Lucy are packed with Ball's trademark slapstick comedy, but it's her guests that make this a classic TV experience. Stars like Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, Carol Burnett, Jackie Gleason, Johnny Carson, Milton Berle and Jack Benny are characters in her humorous adventures. Musical talent like Ann-Margret, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Wayne Newton offer memorable performances within the story.
So sit back and enjoy! You have front row seats for the wild, star-studded comedy of a genuine TV treasure.
PACKED WITH EXTRAS!
- Commentary by Lucie Arnaz, Desi Jr. and Carol Burnett on their favorite episodes
- Never-before-seen bloopers
- Rehearsal footage
- Sketch from a Jack Benny television special with Lucy, Jack and Johnny Carson
- Sketch from an Ann-Margret television special featuring Lucy and Ann-Margret
- Audience warm-up with Lucy's husband and the show's executive producer, Gary Morton
- A classic Pepsodent commercial with commentary
- The original CBS network promos
- The "Here's Lucy" syndication sales tape
- Footage from a benefit dinner where Lucie and Desi Jr. play their parents in an I Love Lucy sketch.
McCloud - Seasons 1 and 2
by Alex March
from Universal Studios
A viewer's favorite from the get-go, McCloud applied country-to-city humor to the popular police-series formula that exploded on TV networks in the early 1970s. Although it would eventually become part of the three-way line-up on the "NBC Mystery Movie" schedule (where it rotated with McMillan & Wife and Columbo, the series pilot premiered (on September 16, 1970) as part of NBC's "Four-in-One" cycle of TV miniseries (Rod Serling's Night Gallery was also in that foursome), and its popularity quickly earned a regular network timeslot, first on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. and later as the "Mystery Movie" threesome settled into a well-rated Sunday-night slot. To be sure, McCloud owed almost all of its success to the perfect casting of Dennis Weaver as Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud, of Taos, New Mexico, a good ol' boy crimefighter who spends the two-hour pilot ("Portrait of a Dead Girl") tracking a key witness who's escaped from his custody. This takes him to New York City, where the show's premise (involving McCloud's temporary assignment with Manhattan's 27th precinct, to "learn the methods of a large metropolitan police force") placed him at constant odds with his immediate superior, Chief Clifford (J.D. Cannon) as he partnered up with Sgt. Joe Broadhurst (Terry Carter, later on the original Battlestar Galactica) and pursued an on-and-off romance with Chris Coughlin (Diana Muldaur), a journalist who finds McCloud endlessly intriguing (not to mention newsworthy).
These characters are now far more appealing than the hoary plots that frequently found McCloud applying Southwest sleuthing to Big Apple crimes. Like McCloud himself, many of these 11 episodes are lanky and loose-jointed, and not quite as involving as nostalgic reverie might suggest. The first-season episodes are also the "condensed" versions, resulting from the subsequent combination (after their original broadcasts) of two original one-hour episodes into one 90-minute segment, hence the credits for two directors and two-layered plotlines in episodes like "Manhattan Manhunt," starring Richard Dawson as a Cockney-accented theater producer threatened by a would-be killer. (The second-season episodes are fully intact as originally shown.) And while the cost-cutting expediency of '70s TV production is painfully evident in cheesy process shots, blunt ADR recording, and oft-repeated stock footage, the tongue-in-cheek charm of McCloud remains fully intact, as Weaver adopts his signature line ("There ya go!") and commands his role with a gentleman's demeanor and a wry, fish-out-of-water perspective on big-city police work in episodes costarring a who's-who of '70s guest stars including Barry Sullivan, Nina Foch, Milton Berle, Stephanie Powers, Susan Strasberg, Bo Svenson, Sebastian Cabot, Susan Saint James (just prior to McMillan & Wife) and many more. The sight of McCloud navigating Manhattan's concrete canyons on a galloping horse was iconic in the playful spirit of the series: It makes no sense whatsoever, but with Weaver in the role, you bought it immediately and happily went along for the ride, which explains why McCloud aired for five enjoyable seasons until 1977. --Jeff Shannon
"There ya' go." Rustle up some action and adventure as police drama McCloud rides on to DVD for the first time ever! Emmy winner Dennis Weaver stars as the brave Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud, the toughest cowboy to ever take on the mean streets of New York, as well as the by-the-book detectives on the NYPD. Despite the demands of his strict supervisor, Chief Peter B. Clifford (J.D. Cannon), McCloud finds himself in an endless showdown with some of the meanest criminals east of the Mississippi. This amazing DVD set from the popular NBC Mystery Movie Series features all 11 thrilling episodes of McCloud Seasons 1 & 2 ' including the series' pilot, as well as a gripping bonus episode of the popular McMillan & Wife. Saddle up with entertaining guest stars including Milton Berle, Pat Morita, Stefanie Powers and more in the series that proved that sometimes all you need to solve a crime is a little good ol' country know-how.20
The Best of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Vol. 1
by Jerry Paris
from Image Entertainment
Sample some of the greatest comedy ever aired on television with this side-splitting collection of the best episodes from the legendary, Emmy Award-winning Dick Van Dyke Show! Episodes include: The Sick Boy and the Sitter, Big Max Calvada, Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth, Dear Sally Rogers.
The Best of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Vol. 2
by Jerry Paris
from Image Entertainment
Sample some of the greatest comedy ever aired on television with this side-splitting collection of the best episodes from the legendary, Emmy Award-winning Dick Van Dyke Show! Episodes include: Where Did I Come From?, That's My Boy?, It May Look Like a Walnut, October Eve.
Police Academy 2 - Their First Assignment
by Jerry Paris
from Warner Home Video
A much inferior sequel to the first hit film, Police Academy 2 nevertheless manages to keep a free-spirited, juvenile tone. Steve Guttenberg (Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby) returns as the charming goof-off, now graduated from the academy. He and the usual batch of misfits are let loose on the streets as rookie cops, wreaking havoc everywhere they go as they do battle with terrorists threatening the city. Some choice moments from the likes of Michael Winslow, as the man whose voice can imitate any sound, barely compensate for this being a pale imitation of the original movie. --Robert Lane
Mahoney and friends have graduated from the Police Academy and are issued with their first assignments. As before their cheerfulness and devotion to duty outweighs any shortcomings but are even they ready to do battle with a band graffiti daubing terrorists?Running Time: 87 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085393184322 Manufacturer No: 31843
Police Academy 3 - Back in Training
by Jerry Paris
from Warner Home Video
The graduates of the police academy are now in competition between the two police academies to see which one will survive a state-decreed budget cut.Running Time: 84 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085393184421 Manufacturer No: 31844
The Best of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Vol. 3
by Jerry Paris
from Image Entertainment
Sample some of the greatest comedy ever aired on television with this side-splitting collection of the best episodes from the legendary, Emmy Award-winning Dick Van Dyke Show! Episodes include: 100 Terrible Hours, Uhny Uftz, Never Bathe on Saturday, The Secret Life of Buddy and Sally.
The Best of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Vol. 4
by Jerry Paris
from Image Entertainment
Sample some of the greatest comedy ever aired on television with this side-splitting collection of the best episodes from the legendary, Emmy Award-winning Dick Van Dyke Show! Episodes include: Oh How We Met the Night That We Danced, My Blonde-Haired Brunette, 4*, The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail.
The Joey Bishop Show - The Complete Second Season
by Mel Ferber
from Questar
The comic genius behind the legendary Rat Pack, and co-star of the original "Ocean's Eleven," stars in this sparkling sitcom available for the first time on DVD in this exclusive collection authorized by Bishop. The Joey Bishop Show ran from1961-65. The second season marked a new beginning for the series, with new cast members, new characters, and a new premise that revitalized the series, making it a hit with viewers and Bishop fans. Bishop stars as New York talk show host Joey Barnes, whose professional life hilariously collides with his personal life. Abby Dalton joins the series as Joey's new wife Ellie, with Joe Besser (The Three Stooges) as fussy building superindendent Jillson, and Guy Marks as Joey's conniving manager. Contains 34 episodes, each in "living color," along with vintage archival extras, including the series pilot.
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