The Lucy Show: The Official Fourth Season

CALIFORNIA, MARY JANE, IRON MAN, BILL'S LAST APPEARANCE
No one knew what to expect in Season 4, after The Lucy Show Season 3 was a farewell to Vivian Vance. What they didn't expect from the show that was always in the top 10 Nielsen ratings, was that it would move up in the ratings to #3 after Vivian's departure, which it surprisingly did. The new Season 4 begins with Lucy moving to California and enlisting son Jerry in The Los Angeles Military School, while sending her daughter Chris up north to college. Lucy takes Jerry to Marineland to get Jimmy Piersall's autograph on Jimmy Piersall Day, all filmed at the real Marineland with the real Jimmy Piersall. What a great start to a season! Added to all this, you'll see Lucy perform with the seals and dolphins as well as seeing her real life children sitting behind her in the stands.

Besides booking more great guest stars in this season, Lucy was still looking for that permanent new sidekick to replace Vivian. Lucy's close friend Ann Sothern was out of the question due to Ann's...

Season Four - The California Years - JUST GREAT!
The fourth season of "The Lucy Show" is a major turning point in the series. Vivian Vance had quit at the end of season three so Lucy had to change formats. I must say that the California Years have some of the best episodes of the series. First of all, "The Lucy Show" finished a whopping third place in the Nielsen ratings for 1965-66 season. It averaged a 27.7 rating and was way up from season three. Season four also includes three more fabulous episodes with Ann Sothern as the Countess Framboise and one of the episodes include a cameo by William Frawley. Actress Joan Blondell also stars in two episodes and both are great. Season four of "The Lucy Show" changed for the better, season three just couldn't go on any longer, especially with Vivian Vance's (I love her) demands. Lucy was the star of the show and it showed by going it alone for the last nine years of her weekly television series career. Gale Gordon's role is much larger now and Lucy will come to work for Banker...

"We're Gonna Have a Wing-Ding"
For fans of "The Lucy Show", this release of the series' fourth season is bittersweet. CBS is now rolling them out at a reasonable pace (it's been less than six months since Season 3 came out last November), but Season 4 marks a sharp turning point for the series.

Fans of Vivian Vance will be especially disappointed. Having left the series at the end of Season 3, this year she only receives a two-second mention from Lucy in the season-opener ("I wonder how Viv likes her new husband"). Trying to find a replacement for the irreplaceable Viv was fruitless, so after a couple of episodes with Joan Blondell as a potential sidekick, Ann Sothern makes a few return appearances to fill the void before everyone probably decided "Oh, the hell with it" and gave up. From this point forward, whenever they needed an ear for Lucy's schemes, they called on good 'ol reliable, sweet Mary Jane Croft.

Lucy's TV son Jerry is the only holdover from the Danfield era, but he is quickly...

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