Saturday TV - The Lucy Show (1962-1968) - Season 5, Ep 1 - Lucy Meets George Burns

Happy Saturday, Kiddies! We're gonna take a bit of a break from the movies today and instead look at TV shows that are also in the Public Domain. Like the movies, some of these shows will be well known, some of them won't, some of them will be great and some, well... let's just say there's a reason the copyrights weren't renewed.

Today, however, we're looking at one of the all-time classics. One of the things that truly warms your old professor's heart is sharing the things I love with my children. Showing them that there actually were movies and television shows (and even radio shows and music) that were made before they were born, and that lots of that stuff can still be entertaining today.

Recently I had the opportunity to do just that with my nine-year old daughter. Like most girls her age, she's completely addicted to the Disney channel and shows like iCarly. But every once in awhile I'll pop in a disk of something that she's never seen, just to give her a taste of what came before. That's how we recently wound up watching The Lucy Show (starring, of course, Lucille Ball).We started with an ever-popular favorite, the one where Lucy and her house-mate Viv (Vivian Vance) try to install a shower in their boys' closet. With it's combination of verbal repartee and water-logged slapstick, the episode was a hit. Then we moved on to one of the color episodes. In this one, Lucy is working at the bank with Mr. Mooney (the wonderfully full of bluster Gale Gordon). In walks George Burns, who is there to transact some bank business upon encountering Lucy, however, Burns decides that she would make a wonderful partner for his new act. After a quick training session and negotiations between Mr. Mooney and Burns' agent (a perfectly placed voice cameo by Jack Benny), the episode ends with an extended on-stage routine by Ball and Burns that perfectly showcases the comedic timing and talents of both stars. Of course for me it was a nostalgic tour-de-force. But what did the nine-year old think? Well, considering the room was full of laughs through the show, I'd say it was a hit.

As far as their public domain status,  most episodes of the show are still under copyright, but there are some 30-35 episodes that never had their copyright renewed, and they are now in the public domain and available for free viewing, showing, remixing, or whatever other uses you might wish.

Ok, usually I'd give you a preview or trailer, but I think since we're only talking a thirty minute TV show, I'll go ahead and embed the whole thing below:


The skinny? yeah, here ya go:
Title: The Lucy Show
Original Broadcast Dates: 1962-1968
Total Number of Episodes: 156
Stars: Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon
Directors: Maury Thompson, Jack Donohue
Production Company: Desilu

This show (and quite a few other episodes of this series) is available for download here.


It's also available on DVD from Amazon: Best of Lucy & Friends (4pc)

And Netflix has a number of Lucy shows avaiable for rent, including this one: The Lucy Show: The Lost Episodes Marathon: Vol. 1

Until next time, Happy Treasure Hunting,

-Professor Damian