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The Movie:
This second season box set of the "I Love Lucy" show includes all 31 episodes from the season, as well as plenty of supplemental features for fans. The season starts with "Job Switching", still one of the most famous episodes of TV ever, where Lucy and Ethel try to work at the conveyor belt of a candy company, while Ricky and Fred find that they're not exactly cut out for housework. Other classics in the set include "Ricky Has Labor Pains", where Lucy and Ethel sneak into Ricky's "Daddy Shower"; "Lucy Goes To The Hospital", where Lucy goes into labor; "The Handcuffs", where Lucy finds herself handcuffed to Ricky without means of escape and "Lucy is Encieinte", where she must figure out how to tell Ricky she's pregnant.
Job Switching
The Saxophone
The Anniversary Present
The Handcuffs
The Operetta
Vacation From Marriage
The Courtroom
Redecorating
Ricky Loses His Voice
Lucy Is Enceinte
Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable
Lucy's Showbiz Swan Song
Lucy Hires an English Tutor
Ricky Has a Labor
Lucy Becomes a Sculptress
Lucy Goes to the Hospital
Sales Resistance
The Inferiority Complex
The Club Election
The Black Eye
Lucy Changes Her Mind
No Children Allowed
Lucy Hires a Maid
The Indian Show
Lucy's Last Birthday
The Ricardos Change Apartments
Lucy Is Matchmaker
Lucy Wants New Furniture
The Camping Trip
Ricky and Fred are TV Fans
Never Do Business With Friends
The DVD
VIDEO: All 31 episodes are presented in 1.33:1 full-frame. The back cover promotes the fact that these episodes have been restored and remastered and, from the looks of them, that's certainly quite true. While the presentations are not without a few minor concerns, each episode appeared unexpectedly crisp and clean, with less flaws than I'd expect, given the age of the episodes. The B & W image appeared consistently sharp and bright, with little in the way of softness or inconsistency.
The episodes did some some issues, but they were hardly of much concern. Some minor instances of wear (a few nicks, some marks and the occasional little bit of dirt) were present, but these were not distracting. Light grain was present at times too, but I'm guessing it's always been a part of the elements. No instances of edge enhancement or pixelation were spotted.
SOUND: The mono soundtrack of the shows remained perfectly fine, with acceptable overall clarity, no noticable distortion and, most importantly, crisp dialogue.
EXTRAS: While the DVD set does not include any commentaries from the show's creators, there are plenty of assorted extras included throughout all five discs. The first disc includes several supplements, such as four flubs that made it into the show. There are also several bits of deleted footage, some of which hasn't been seen in decades and has been restored for this release. This section also notes the fact that there were several animated scene transitions produced for the show's original run, which have been reinserted into the episodes for this release.
That's certainly not all, though. We are also presented with alternate animated openings for the show and an episode of Lucy's radio show, "My Favorite Husband".
The second disc provides more flubs, guest information, more restored/special footage, production notes, an audio exerpt from "Lucy" writer Joel Oppenheimer's book and another episode of the radio show. The third disc includes another radio episode, more flubs/guest information and more special footage, including a "special message" to the new baby from sponsor Philip Morris and three lost scenes.
The fourth disc provides more special footage, including more lost scenes and a special charity request that Lucy and Desi made that was originally broadcast and the end of the network rebroadcast of "The Seance". There's also another radio show, more flubs, guest information, original openings and production notes.
Finally, the fifth disc includes more special footage (a second season promo, most lost animation/scenes/transitions), another radio show, guest information and flubs.
Final Thoughts: Lucy's second season includes some of the most memorable episodes of this timeless sitcom. Paramount has also included quite a few supplements. Audio/video quality is excellent, especially considering the age of the shows. Recommended.
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