I Love Lucy - The Complete Fifth Season (1951) Review

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(More customer reviews)Over 50 years ago during the early years of broadcast television, the very inspired talents of Lucille Ball (1911-1989) and her then husband Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) were showcased on their hilarious television show "I Love Lucy". TV execs had initially rejected the plausibility of the show because of Desi and because they intended to tape the shows. However, thanks to the tireless efforts of Lucille Ball and Desi's obvious talents, the show first aired in 1951 and quickly became one of the most successful TV shows during all six of its regular seasons. As Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on "I Love Lucy", Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were joined by William Frawley (1877-1966) and Viviane Vance (1909-1979) as their best-friends/apartment landlords of Fred and Ethel Mertz.
The fifth season of "I Love Lucy" that aired between 1955 and 1956 has 26 memorable episodes:
1. "Lucy Visits Grauman's": With Ethel's help, Lucy steals John Wayne's footprints from Grauman's Chinese Theater.
2. "Lucy and John Wayne": Lucy and Ethel try to return the footprints that they stole, but they break; so Ricky enlists the help from John Wayne (himself) to make a new set. More than one may be needed.
3. "Lucy and the Dummy": After Ricky backs out of a party where Lucy wants her big break, Lucy makes a dummy of Ricky to dance with at the party.
4. "Ricky Sells the Car": After Ricky sells the car, Fred & Ethel think they'll have to ride a motorcycle back to NYC; but Ricky buys train tickets for all.
5. "The Great Train Robbery": Thinking there's a jewel thief on board the train to NYC, Lucy can't stop pulling the emergency brake cord. (Train conductor played by Frank Nelson, 1911-1986.)
6. "Homecoming": Upon returning to NYC, Ricky is a big star, but Lucy initially doesn't share in everyone's worship of him.
7. "The Ricardos Are Interviewed": Ricky & Lucy consider moving and Ricky is to be interviewed on a prestigious show.
8. "Lucy Goes to a Rodeo": After Ricky can't help Fred with a rodeo-themed show for his lodge, Lucy & Ethel volunteer to help.
9. "Nursery School": After Lucy's fear of Little Ricky getting sick at nursery school comes to pass, she is determined to stay with him at the hospital.
10. "Ricky's European Booking": When Ricky can't afford to take Lucy on his European tour, she & Ethel dream up a raffle to help the "Ladies Overseas Aid", which they think is themselves.
11. "The Passports": Lucy can't find her birth certificate so that she can get her passport.
12. "Staten Island Ferry": To help Fred overcome seasickness, Lucy takes him onto the Staten Island Ferry; but she gets seasick herself and may be late to the passport office. (Passport clerk played by Charles Lane.)
13. "Bon Voyage": When the ship leaves port for Europe, Lucy is inadvertently left behind; so she'll have to get to ship via a helicopter. One of the best fifth-season episodes!
14. "Second Honeymoon": Lucy wants the Atlantic cruise to be a second honeymoon, but Ricky is too busy with the band.
15. "Lucy Meets the Queen": After Lucy misses seeing the queen at Buckingham Palace, Ricky gets invited to met the queen, but not Lucy. Of course, when has "no" ever stopped Lucy?
16. "The Fox Hunt": Bragging that she can ride, Lucy gets to show how well she can actually ride a horse in a fox hunt.
17. "Lucy Goes to Scotland": Lucy wants to travel to Scotland to meet her distant McGillicuddy relatives. The dream sequence that unfolds is unforgettable.
18. "Paris at Last": Not having any French currency, Lucy, Ethel & Fred exchange money with a so-called French artist (Shepard Menken, 1921-1999), who turns out to be a counterfeiter. The translation sequence is priceless, as is Lucy's introduction to escargot!
19. "Lucy Meets Charles Boyer": Lucy & Ethel are star-struck when they encounter Charles Boyer (himself) at a sidewalk cafe.
20. "Lucy Gets a Paris Gown": When Lucy goes on hunger strike to force Ricky to buy her an expensive French-designed dress, Ricky & Fred have dresses custom-made out of burlap. (A fantastic episode!)
21. "Lucy in the Swiss Alps": Lucy, Ricky, Fred & Ethel get trapped in an avalanche while mountain climbing until they here "La Cucaracha" being played.
22. "Lucy Gets Homesick in Italy": In this heart-warming episode, Lucy misses Little Ricky during his birthday, so a little Italian shoeshine boy (Bart Bradley) and his friends get to celebrate with her.
23. "Lucy's Italian Movie": In one of the best episodes of all time, Lucy takes "getting some local color" a little literally when she travels to an old-fashioned Italian winery to press grapes to impress an Italian film director. (Italian wine stomper played by Theresa Tirelli, 1907-1989).
24. "Lucy's Bicycle Trip": Lucy has trouble crossing back into France when she can't find her passport.
25. "Lucy Goes to Monte Carlo": When Lucy picks up a chip in a Monte Carlo casino, she inadvertently wins thousands of French franks.
26. "Return Home From Europe": To sneak home a 30-pound cheese, Lucy dresses it up as baby to fly home to NYC; but the passenger (Mary Jane Croft, 1916-1999) next to her flips out when the cheese disappears.
Paramount Home Video's superb job of packaging all 30 episodes of the fourth season of "I Love Lucy" onto 5 DVD's is a good indication as to how they will similarly package the fifth season onto 4. Overall, for superb packaging and a great price, I rate the "I Love Lucy: The Complete Fifth Season" DVD box set with an anticipatory 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it!

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It\'s I Love Lucy\'s fifth hilarious season, as Lucy manages to find trouble in Hollywood, Manhattan, Paris, London, Rome, and everywhere in between. Before leaving Tinseltown, Lucy bags the ultimate souvenir—John Wayne\'s cement footprints from Grauman\'s Chinese Theatre! Then, on board the train back to New York, Lucy can\'t resist adding a few unscheduled stops—courtesy of the train\'s all-too-convenient emergency brake cord. Next, Lucy goes to extremes to catch a luxury ocean liner when it sets sail for Europe with Ricky and the Mertzes aboard—but with Lucy still on the dock. On the Continent, Lucy\'s madcap escapades include getting thrown in a Parisian jail, modeling a French "designer" potato sack, causing an Alpine avalanche, hitting an accidental jackpot in Monte Carlo, and—in one of TV\'s funniest scenes ever—soaking up a whole lot of "local color" in an Italian grape-stomping vat!

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Monk - Season Two (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)A quirky comedy about a man with obsessive compulsive disorder and several phobias who is alternatively helped and hindered by his excrutiating attention to detail. In the first season, Monk loses his job as a police officer and works as a private investigator. His department continues to call him for help on the toughest cases. Here's another funny season.
1. Mr. Monk Goes Back to School: Monk becomes a substitute teacher to investigate the death of an English teacher.
2. Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico: Monk investigates a friend's sons death in Mexico.
3. Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame: While investigating the murders of a CEO and his wife, Monk befriends the Major League superstar who was having an affair with the wife.
4. Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus: Monk investigates the murder of a circus ringmaster.
5. Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man: The captain's hippie wife thinks the world's oldest man has been murdered.
6. Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater: Mr. Monk takes the place of a murdered actor on stage while investigating the murder.
7. Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect: When a woman is murdered, Monk suspects her brother who has been in a coma for four months.
8. Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy: A secretary hires Monk to discover who killed her boss.
10. Mr. Monk and the 12th Man: The Captain calls Monk for help in solving nine brutal murders.
11. Mr. Monk and the Paperboy: Monk's paperboy is murdered.
12. Mr. Monk and the Three Pies: Monk helps his estranged brother whom he has not seen in many years when he claims his neighbor murdered his wife.
13. Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star: Monk becomes convinced that a TV show's star has murdered his ex-wife.
14. Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny: An older law student asks Monk for help finding her missing grandmother. In exchange, she offers to help him get reinstated as a policeman. Michael Shalhoub, Tony's brother, plays on this episode.
15. Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife: The captain's wife is injured when her car has been stuck by a truck whose driver was killed by a sniper.
16. Mr. Monk Gets Married: To solve a murder, Sharona and Monk pose as a couple going for counseling at a clinic
17. Mr. Monk Goes to Jail: Dale the Whale calls Monk from jail with information about a murder.

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MONK:SEASON TWO - DVD Movie

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My Christmas (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this when PBS aired it on television and was blown away! This is something I will watch every year at Christmas. The DVD contains performances of all the songs on his CD, My Christmas. This definitely gets you in the mood for the holiday season! Buy it!

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Millions will rejoice this holiday season with the much-anticipated release of Andrea Bocelli s My Christmas. Now for the first time ever on DVD the first-ever Christmas performance from Andrea Bocelli and David Foster. This heart-warming collection of songs recorded live in concert at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles is destined to become a holiday classic for years to come.

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Into the Woods (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)The DVD of Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS is not that remarkable other than the fact that it's great to have this wonderful television production available in the format. The picture is crisp and the sound is pristine. There are no extras on the disc. I do enjoy the chapters, however. Unlike my video tape version, it's great to be able to skip to a particular song I wish to view.
INTO THE WOODS is such a great show. The first act is hilarious and witty. It very smartly weaves together all those fairy tales so familiar to us all. Then act two makes us look at them through adult eyes. I think Sondheim and Lapine are telling us that in fairy tales as well as "real" life, the simple words "I wish..." are truly the beginning of whatever story each of us is about to tell. They counsel us to be careful of what we wish in life -- our wishes effect everyone.
My favorite song in this production is "The Last Midnight" which is performed by Bernadette Peters as the Witch. It is very macabre and Sondheim reveals so much about the Witch's character through the lyrics. Plus, it gives Ms. Peters an opportunity to belt!
INTO THE WOODS is a hoot! Enjoy it.

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A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, directed by James Lapine, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after "happily ever after. "With oft-recorded songs such as "Children Will Listen" and "No One is Alone," "Into the Woods" is a music lover's delight from start to finish--and will forever cement Stephen Sondheim's unparalleled position as the giant of the American musical theater.

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Othello (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Production) Review

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(More customer reviews)Theater in Shakespeare's time was popular entertainment for the masses and not highbrow art. The Globe Theatre in London continues that tradition with this production of Othello. In contrast to productions of Othello in which the actors are self-consciously striving to be "deep", the actors here are playing for the crowd.
By no means does this make the quality of the performance suffer. Eamonn Walker brings a brooding physical presence to the stage as Othello. Zoe Tapper is amazing as Desdemona - beautiful and with a clear voice that makes her lines easy to follow. It is Tim McInnerny as Iago who rules the stage, though - the audience is alternately laughing at him as he manipulates the hapless Rodrigo, and then is horrified as he manipulates Othello.
Add to this the reconstructed Globe Theatre in London, and you have a winning combination. You need not be a Shakespeare scholar to enjoy this production - just a human being.

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Performed for the first time at Shakespeare s Globe Theatre, with its racing concentrated plot and intense dramatic detail, Othello is one of Shakespeare's most exciting, atmospheric and heartbreaking plays. This is a tale of uncontrollable jealousy, deception and murder driven by one of theatre's greatest villains. "Full of pace and energy... Eamonn Walker brings to Othello dignity, grace and a fine sense of the contradiction that leads Othello to lament the pity of it even as he prepares to murder Desdemona" THE GUARDIAN "Walker cuts a charismatic and brooding figure. He charts the hero's descent into murderous jealousy with a vivid physicality... Zoë Tapper (Desdemona) is enchanting". THE INDEPENDENT The seriously disturbed side of Tim McInnerny's lago is riveting, with his pushiness morphing, in soliloquies, into a manic fury." THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY "The play suits the Globe better than any I've seen." TIME OUT "Desdemona is perfection, the best I have ever seen. Tim McInnerny has been brilliantly cast as lago." OBSERVERCASTBianca: Zawe AshtonCassio: Nick BarberAemelia: Lorraine BurroughsRodorgio: Sam CraneMontano: Nigel HastingsClown: Paul LloydLago: Tim McInnernyDuke of Venice: Jonathan NewthGratiano: Michael TaibiDesdemona: Zoë TapperLodovico: Dickon TyrellSenator / Soldier: Che WalkerOthello: Eamonn WalkerDirector: Wilson MilamDesigner: Dick BirdComposer: Stephen Warbeck This production of OTHELLO was first performed at Shakespeare"s Globe Theatre, London on 4th May 2007. Recorded live.

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Annie (1999) Review

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(More customer reviews)Many people pass off ANNIE as a children's musical, when in actuality it has one of the most sophisticated scores and the book is of a higher standard than of many other shows. It still holds a record of something like the 8th or 9th longest running show on Broadway, and it is a delight among theatre-goers.
This new Disney version stays faithful to the stage score and script, not like John Huston's rambling version back in 1981 (refer to my review for this), and it is a delight to watch. It has that 'theatrical-style' feel to it.
The esteemed cast, the bulk of which are seasoned Broadway performers, include Kathy Bates as Miss Hannigan, Alan Cumming as Rooster, Audra McDonald as Grace Farrell, Kristin Chenoweth as Lily St Regis, Victor Garber as Daddy Warbucks and the lovely Alicia Morton as Annie. Making a cameo in the 'NYC' number as ''Star To Be'' is (oh happy day) the original Broadway Annie - Andrea McArdle.
The cast is sensational, and while I will not bring down the 1981 performers of Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters and Ann Reinking, they are far more believable in their interpretations.
You must buy this new version of the Broadway smash ANNIE!

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Disney makes this beloved musical more magical than ever with an all-new, feature-length production! Featuring an all-star cast and new choreography, this charming tale of an adorable orphan named Annie captures all the fun of the original, but adds an unmistakable Disney touch! For a young girl living a "hard-knock" life in a children's orphanage, things may seem pretty bad -- especially at Christmas. But feisty Annie carries a song in her heart and hope in her locket -- the only thing she has from her parents. One day, fed up with the dastardly Miss Hannigan (Academy Award(R)-winner Kathy Bates), Annie escapes the rundown orphanage determined to find her mom and dad. Her adventure takes her from the cold, mean streets of New York to the warm, comforting arms of bighearted billionaire Oliver Warbucks, with plenty of mischief and music in between! Filled with memorable songs and magical moments, Disney's ANNIE brings this heartwarming story to a whole new generation. And now you can relive the magic over and over again!

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