A Little Extra Lucy

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Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’m sharing something from I Love Lucy — something that wasn’t on the DVDs… at least, not in this form…

Now, I think the original I Love Lucy DVDs are some of the best home releases out there (and the Blu-rays are better still). But given the age of this material, it was natural that some of the original footage would be hard to locate, and so, in a few (rare) instances, episodes were unfortunately edited — among them “L.A. At Last!,” which was fixed when it was colorized and later released on DVD in both color and black-and-white, and “The Celebrity Next Door” (from The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour), which was finally seen complete on the recent Time-Life Lucy compilation. I’m certain that all of the other edited outings — those we know about and those we don’t — will one day see the light of day in a future release…

But in the meantime, the completist in me needed full copies of the two other most glaringly edited episodes, both of which come from Season Four, “Ethel’s Birthday” and “First Stop,” two classics that deserve to be seen in ALL their glory… Sadly, they were edited on the original DVD release, and unless you have a copy of a set that was issued with the replacement version of the final disc — which includes the missing scenes as a special feature (not included within the episodes themselves) — there’s some footage you haven’t seen… until now.

So, for subscribers who comment below to alert me of their interest, I’m offering copies of these two episodes with the extra scenes added back into them… Note, however, that I am not a professional editor or video restoration service; I have literally matched the frames of the DVD versions of the episodes with the missing footage (from the replacement disc’s special features) and spliced them together. The quality difference is noticeable and the cuts are obvious and occasionally crude. But until we get these two great Lucy excursions in their full form, this’ll have to do… For those curious, here’s a clip from “Ethel’s Birthday,” with one of the missing sections (meant, as with the other added footage from this one, to bridge some continuity with both the previous entry and the year’s larger Hollywood arc). Enjoy!

 

 

Come back next week for another Wildcard post! And stay tuned Tuesday for more sitcom fun!

18 thoughts on “A Little Extra Lucy”

  1. I’m interested in the extra scenes. I bought the whole set (all 9 seasons including LDCH) at once at Wal-Mart, so they scenes may or may not be included.

    • Hi, Jon! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      The complete series set should have the missing Season Four scenes, including those cut from these two episodes, as a bonus feature on the year’s fifth disc. I have emailed you at your yahoo address.

  2. I would be interested in obtaining the episodes. Is the replacement disc only offered on the 2011 slim releases?

    • Hi, Charlie! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      All the re-releases should have the missing Season Four scenes, including those cut from these two episodes, as a bonus feature on the year’s fifth disc. I have emailed you at your gmail address.

    • Hi, bobster427! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      The missing footage in the above clip begins around the 0:42 mark and goes until about 1:12. It’s the transition to and start of the dinner scene, which includes dialogue about Ricky’s mother’s visit, providing some continuity with the previous episode.

  4. Great job with the edit above! I LOVE I Love Lucy and I am a HUGE Lucille ball fan! I would love to have the complete episodes. :-)

  6. I would love to have the two episodes. Ethel’s Birthday is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing!

  8. I was not aware that these episodes are not complete! What a shame that they were even edited in the first place. Another Episode that was edited is the second of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours, The Celebrity Next Door with Tallulah Bankhead. Please send me these episodes! (My favorite birthday greeting is Lucy’s “Happy Birthday! And I hope you live ANOTHER Hundred Years!”

    • Hi, Michael! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      I have emailed you at your AT&T address. Also, as mentioned above, “The Celebrity Next Door” can be found uncut on Time-Life’s recent Lucy collection.

    • Hi, Chris! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      Please subscribe to this blog using your preferred email address and I will send a link your way!

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