MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > A Question about the Blu Rays

A Question about the Blu Rays

posted 8 years ago by gbennett5
7 replies | jump to latest

Sorry, I know this has been surely covered at the time of their release,
but I'm only now getting into the Blu Ray scene, and I'm trying to
determine if it's worth the money to get the Blu Rays, seasons one and
two. I've read some online reviews that say there's SOME pic improvement,
but they don't look as good as some classic films on Blu Ray. AND they're
costly.

How do people feel here? ARE they worth the money? And is season three
rumored to be released on Blu Ray soon?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Here we are in 2019, and they still only have the first two seasons.
If you would like to read some reviews of these, here you go:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/I-Love-Lucy-Ultimate-Season-1-Blu-ray/92092/#Review
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/I-Love-Lucy-Ultimate-Season-2-Blu-ray/129893/#Review

[–] [email protected] (1732) 5 years ago

It is not likely they will convert the whole series. Pretty pathetic, though, that they will spend the money to
colorize more and more episodes to pander to the infantile minds that view the beautiful black-and-white prints
as something inferior. But I digress...

ILL is SO popular, that it isn't cost effective, I guess. In other words, the money it would take to properly remaster
and them and then convert them to HD isn't worth the cost, when the revenue of the DVDs is still so high.

I couldn't believe, for instance, when Warner's recently released the 1950 musical "Summer Stock" on Blu Ray. It's
a pleasant film, but not a great one, and there are still great Judy Garland musicals that have not gone HD. But
I read that the number "Get Happy" is so iconic, that Warner's felt it was worth the costs.

Back to I Love Lucy: Like it or not, it still must be the most successful sitcom in history, and in view of the fact
that "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" have had entire-series HD transfers, it
is a little sad.

[–] steven1660 (140) 5 years ago

I don't understand how "Dick Van Dyke" got a blu-ray release and I Love Lucy didn't. They should just remaster the whole series and that's it, I don't understand. They need to open their wallets a little. CBS is ridiculous. To colorize the episodes, they first need to remaster the picture I believe, so wouldn't it be in their best interests to just remaster it all and release it in black and white? I don't work for a network, but this is I Love Lucy, come on. And I heard the Dick Van Dyke episode were beautifully restored, I heard the Lucy ones were Just OK. I know Lucy is an older show but CBS needs to step up, I just feel like they're cheap.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 5 years ago

No market for it.

It’s that simple.

People who love Lucy know blue rinse far better than they know Blu-ray.

PS Standard-definition (SD) transferred into a storage medium created for high-definition (HD) content is not improved. Save your money.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 5 years ago

Actually, you're wrong. ILL is still far and away the most beloved sitcom in TV history.

Name another show that can boast being broadcast on CBS PRIMETIME and come out the number ONE rated
show for the week - even though it was originally broadcast in 1957, and has been in constant reruns for
decades afterwards. I'm talking about the Superman ep, and even though it was needlessly colorized, no other TV
show before or since can claim that kind of audience share.

ILL appeals to all ages and all walks of life. "The Dick Van Dyke Show", while highly regarded, doesn't have
anywhere near the audience that ILL does. Yet it got a full series Blu Ray release.

My belief is that the show is TOO popular, and that CBS makes such a mint from the already still-selling
DVDs, there is no need to go to the expense.

[–] Iaaat (44) 5 years ago

There IS still a huge market out there for I Love Lucy and Lucille Ball stuff. They have an entire museum dedicated to the show and its stars. There are new collectibles being announced all the time (check out all the stuff available sometime on websites like lucystore dot com). I still buy the calendars every year (2020 is available already). Time Life released a Lucy collection just last year with 12 discs of some of the best episodes from all her sitcoms. Her failed sitcom, Life with Lucy (which lasted 13 episodes, only 8 aired) is getting a DVD release this October. A collection of the colorized episodes (so far) of I Love Lucy was just released a couple weeks ago. There were Lucy Funko POP! figures released last year. The show and Lucy are still very profitable and there's no reason why they couldn't release the rest of I Love Lucy on blu-ray.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 5 years ago

There IS a reason - I, like you, just don't buy it's because ILL still isn't massively popular.

If the show is selling very well as is (DVD), CBS can't be bothered spending a ton of money to hi def the
other four seasons. The difference between what is selling now, and what would sell in hi def isn't
(apparently) worth the cost. And it cost a fortune to restore the first two seasons (which is why the
seasons were selling for $100! And many fans held their ground and refused to spend the money).

I couldn't care less about any of Ball's other TV work. Much of it is horribly dated, and combined, can't
come near the brilliance of I Love Lucy.