Paramount Promises Fix After Viral ‘I Love Lucy’ Blu-ray Restoration Fail: Faces Get ‘Splainin’
“Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do”—and it looks like Paramount is ready to make things right.
Last month, a pair of eerie screenshots from the recently released “I Love Lucy” Blu-ray set went viral, triggering a wave of concern and confusion among fans. The screenshots from the 1957 “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” episode, Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana, showcased a bizarre case of remastering gone awry. As part of a multi-year restoration project, the process of upscaling the show’s original image quality to HD inadvertently led to a hauntingly surreal scene where background characters’ faces became unsettlingly distorted—resulting in some very viral, very weird moments.
In one frame, a woman in the background, previously out of focus, now appeared with a much more masculine look, bulging eyes, and a disturbing toothy grin. Another man, originally part of the blurred backdrop, came to life with an unnervingly smooth face and grin, both standing out in a way the original shot never intended. What was meant to be a scene of indistinct background figures turned into a moment that stole attention from the main action, starring Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in the foreground.
This unsettling visual didn’t go unnoticed. Fans took to Reddit and social media, blasting Paramount’s restoration efforts, and pointing out the glaring flaws in the upscale process. For a moment, the iconic sitcom, one of the most beloved shows in TV history, had a strange new look that no one saw coming.
A Quick Fix on the Horizon
Fortunately, Paramount is aware of the backlash and is moving quickly to address the issue. A source close to the company told IndieWire that the mishap was the result of an “over-enhancement” of the background faces during the restoration process. They confirmed that the scene would be corrected, with an updated version of the Blu-ray set to be released soon.
Despite the viral blunder, it’s important to note that the remastering effort for the entire series has received positive feedback from some quarters. The 32-disc Blu-ray box set, which was released on November 5, was restored and remastered over four years, with painstaking attention to detail. Paramount worked with a mix of original 35mm negatives, 16mm film reels sent to network offices, and more recent video tape sources to bring the classic sitcom into high-definition glory.
Restoration Process Explained
While the I Love Lucy restoration was a monumental task, the process wasn’t without its challenges. Some episodes had missing footage, with as much as four minutes of material lost over time, while other reels were damaged with warped or scratched frames. The remaster aimed to restore as much original material as possible, ensuring the show would look as close to the way Desilu Studios intended in the 1950s.
Interestingly, some fans speculated that artificial intelligence (AI) had been used to speed up the process, particularly when it came to the enhanced faces. Generative AI can sometimes struggle with depth of field, leading to sharp, unrealistic focus on background elements. However, the Paramount source clarified that AI was not employed in this case, and the remastering process only enhanced the existing footage.
What Happens Next?
With the Blu-ray restoration quickly becoming a topic of conversation (for better or worse), Paramount’s commitment to fixing the issue is a welcome development for fans of the iconic show. While the faces of the background characters may have been accidentally enhanced, the remastered I Love Lucy still brings much-needed clarity to a classic series that’s been cherished for decades. And as for those unsettling faces? Well, we’ll just have to wait for the updated version to see the background where it belongs—out of focus.
Let’s hope Lucy’s got some ‘splainin’ to do for a smoother restoration experience next time around.
