Lucille Ball was a headstrong actress.When she was doing "I Love Lucy" she always yielded to Desi Arnaz because of her love for him and her respect for his management of the show.When she did "Lucy Show" everything changed: she was divorced, her voice had changed because of doing the Broadway show "Wildcat" (it wrecked her vocal chords), she got Desilu Studios as part of the divorce settlement and she became a big time b!tch. Her on screen technique changed changed as a result. Her presence became totally mechanized: mugging and groaning through every scene.Her insecurity at not having Desi meant she ruled the set, firing one actor when he stood up to her, using salty language to make people cringe and, finally, making uber-b!tch guest star Joan Crawford cry.I think the real nadir of the series (and of all of Broadcast TV, really) came when she did that horribly, awful show where she gets drafted because a letter arrives for "Lou C. Carmichael" and her name in the series is "Lucy Carmichael".The Army insists she be drafted nevertheless, and she gets her hair dutifully buzzed off while sporting a private uniform. Then they put her through boot camp.STOOOOPID and actually UNCOMFORTABLE TO WATCH.But it was "Lucy" - so I did.Thus was the currency of Lucille Ball: even if they were pennies, they were pennies from Heaven.I LOVE/MISS LUCY RICARDO!!!

The Lucy Show was one-of-a-kind and had Lucy and Vivian in one hilarious episode after the other. Scenes of Lucy's knitted dress coming unraveled because a strand is caught in the elevator, watching Lucy and Viv try to get Mr. Mooney's parakeet from the roof, and especially Lucy and Viv painting the interior of their house, getting locked out, and sleeping in Viv's convertible are unmatched. This series is actually better than I Love Lucy - Lucy and Viv had a chemistry that cannot be measured. There are a few seasons in black-and-white and then some in color - Lucy and Viv competing for the last line in Cleopatra, Lucy and Viv installing a shower, Lucy and Viv sleeping in bunk beds - total fun!

I tend to disagree with many of the previous comments about how the show was not the same without Vivian Vance. I was just given a four CD box set of 28 episodes, some black and whites taking place in Connecticut, but most were the color ones taking place in California.I found the early episodes unappealing, in many ways, especially coming off of I Love Lucy. Bear in mind, I was born in 1959, so I viewed all of the black and white Lucy's in re-runs. I did not like the setting in Danfield, CT. Lucy did not seem to fit in there well, the children did nothing for me and as far as Vivian Vance, I had already seen their best antics on I Love Lucy. I Love Lucy is a show that only comes about once in a lifetime and they were so good, I did not think this aging team, now getting into their 50's, were as good and many were just repeats. I just watched the Shower Installation episode, which is considered one of the funniest, and again, I didn't think it was that funny. I saw this comedy routine on Abbott and Costello and the Three Stooges. I did like the day they both went to a farm and William Frawley was there and Vance said to Lucy, "hey this guy looks familiar, doesn't he?" They did continue to get great guest stars and that was a saving grace. I may not be the best critic, because I rarely saw the black and white episodes in re-runs.What I did get to see live and then in the early 70's in re-runs, were the color shows from 1965-68, when Lucy relocates to California. Here, the kids and Vance were gone and Lucy got to do her own antics and since she was so enormously funny and talented, I liked watching her solo with either famous actors and comedians or with some of the supporting cast from earlier Lucy's like Mary Jane Croft and Mary Wickes, to name a few. Gale Gordon was splendid as the straight man to Lucy's foils and the way he yelled MRS. CARMICHAEL!!! The show was sunny and colorful and the apartment stage set seem to fit her now 60's style much better as does Southern California. Yes, there were some marginal episodes, but many great ones as well. My favorite being Mary Wickes as Aunt Agatha. Bear in mind that the last two years of this show, 1967-68, it was number two in the ratings, higher than any of the ratings when it took place in Connecticut.All in all the show had many funny moments and again, I liked seeing Lucy solo. When Here's Lucy came along in the fall of 1968, with Vance, Lucy Arnaz and Desi Jr. as well as Gale Gordon, the show was better and funnier with many good episodes both on CBS and NBC. All of her shows lasted six seasons, the norm for a good comedy.I cherish all of the work she did throughout her 23 consecutive years on television. She and all of her cast will always be missed forever.....

I just caught this version of the various Lucy shows this morning, and had not realized that our UPN cable station was even carrying it, as the cable summary was of the old "I Love Lucy" show.... This was the show that premiered in the Fall of 1962, and I remember watching it so well, when I was in high school!! It is in black and white and UPN showed back to back episodes from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M; and I have to say they were probably two of the best of that incarnation of the show; the first concerned Lucy and Viv (Vivian Vance) putting in a shower, and the second concerned their trying to start a carmel corn business using a recipe of Viv's....both were just hilarious, and as they say there is nothing like the old situation comedies of the 50's and 60's...I hope UPN continues to carry it for awhile...I do agree with the others that you CANNOT beat the combination of Lucy and Vivian Vance..they are magic together; when Viv is talking on the phone conveying the recipe of the carmel corn to a friend and Lucy is trying to make a batch by herself is fannntastic!!!I am sorry to hear the DVD versions are not very good as far as transfer of film....hopefully they will redo these for future generations...