Best of Password Review

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(More customer reviews)I am so glad that this is out. I have most of these episodes on tape but to see them in great quality is super! What I am curious about is if we are going to get a big surprise if a second volume comes out called "The ABC Years 1971-1975" This would be a great release but the ABC episodes are presumed to be lost. The UCLA TV archive has about 10 episodes and GSN has ran 1 episode from the 1973 season with Jack Klugman and Brett Somers. There is also an episode from 1972 with Sheila MacCrae and Martin Milner that exists as well. Let's keep our fingers crossed and if you love classic game shows, this is a keeper!

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Father Knows Best: Season Four (1958) Review

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(More customer reviews)Although seasons 1-3 have been wonderful via SHOUTS! great dvd sets season 4 hits it out of the park from the great news on the back of the dvd box "all 33 Uncut episodes" to each of the episodes themselves. Many are excellent episodes and the rest are all very good television. A standout is MR BEAL MEETS HIS MATCH, this rarely seen episode which was never shown in the package that The Family Channel aired in the 1980's and early 1990's is a dark and sinister episode with a really good payoff. Another standout is the episode in which legendary actress Greer Garson guest stars. After watching the entire set you will feel sad there aren't any more episodes left in the set. The cast is now hitting their stride and totally believable as a family, Robert Young and Jane Wyatt turn in outstanding performances week after week, Billy Gray's perfomances were always on the mark and he could be comical and yet serious and displayed a great range as Bud as did Elinor Donahue as Betty, the entire crew are all working in tandem with the cast to turn out a show that has become along with LEAVE IT TO BEAVER a classic example of 1950's televsion and something that all of us have wished life was really like if only for 1/2 hour a day! Print quality is clear and sound is crisp on most of the episodes if not all again especially taking into account these shows have not been restored possibly because FKB has not been in syndication in years and it took a while to figure out where the rights to broadcast and home video really belonged - and thanks must go to SHOUT! for releasing the classic show along with thanks to Robert Young's grandson Bill Proffit, the estate of Eugene Rodney and SONY for opening ther vaults to SHOUT! so unedited episodes could be utilized! This is a prime example of the good that can come out of all parties working together - SONY is not profiting from the video release of the series having no home video rights but they have co-operated in supplying the uncut versions instead of cut syndication versions that were out there for years going back to the 1960's through 1990's!
BRAVO! Bring on Season 5!

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Burke's Law: Season 1 - Volume 1 (First 16 Episodes) Review

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(More customer reviews)The 64 black and white hour-long episodes of "Burke's Law" were originally broadcast from 1963-65 on ABC. The show then morphed into "Amos Burke, Secret Agent" for another 17 episodes during the 1965-66 season. And one episode "Who Killed the Jackpot" served as the introduction of the "Honey West" characters played by Anne Francis and John Ericson.
Gene Barry played police captain Amos Burke, who headed up homicide while maintaining a lavish lifestyle; not because he was on the take but because he was already extremely rich and was just working for whatever intrinsic value the job provided. This was the main hook or novelty of the show, which was a weekly showcase of his lavish lifestyle (chauffeured limo with fully stocked bar, mansion, and a host of gorgeous women clamoring for his affections). Although technically a mystery-adventure series there was a significant comedy element generated by the reactions of his detectives and his superior to Burke's displays of wealth and indulgence.
Barry was perfectly cast as the suave and sophisticated working playboy. Unfortunately the supporting cast was quite marginal and the writers never developed these secondary characters beyond the most superficial level. But this did allow room to showcase a multitude of guest stars and like "The Wild Wild West" many of these were Hollywood's hottest starlets. Especially memorable was former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley whose unexpected chemistry with Barry led to multiple appearances during the course of the series.
Unlike "Columbo", the series withheld the identity of the killer from viewers until the end although it was not disclosed in the standard "Murder She Wrote" moment of revelation.
The huge popularity of "James Bond" and "The Man From UNCLE" caused producer Aaron Spelling to introduce a secret agent formula into the final season. Unfortunately what had been a unique cop show became just another silly spy series and it expired after just half a season.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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"Burke's Law" was a hit prime-time TV series that aired on ABC in 1963 and ran until 1966. It starred Gene Barry in the title roll (for which he won a Golden Globe - Best TV Actor Award in 1965) of an LA chief of detectives, who also happened to be a millionaire! Each episode featured unusual plot twists, glamorous settings and a fabulous list of guest stars. So good it was brought back for a brief run in 1994! VCI will be releasing season one in two separate collector's sets of 16 episodes each. Digitally remastered from the original 35mm master, each collection will also include `bonus' original commercials and previews. Bonus Features: Scene Selection| Burke's Lawisms| Vintage Commercials Specs: 4-DVD9s; Dolby Digital; 800 minutes; Color; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1963-65; SRP - $29.99

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I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete First Season (1965) Review

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(More customer reviews)A few years ago I started watching IDOJ for the first time since I was a kid on cable TV reruns. As an adult, I was able to perceive many things that simply went over my head as a child. This was actually quite an edgy show by mid 1960's standards. Oh how I wished this show would be released on DVD, and lo and behold it my wish was granted!
(And, I bought the B&W version because I prize historical accuracy. I want to see exactly what was shown on TV back then, without the lousy TV's we had back then.)
You've got a blond bombshell, who is eager to please in every way a man could imagine, living out of wedlock with an astronaut, who represented the most heroic all-american roll models we had back in the 1960's. And somehow, for years, this show provided good clean TV fun for millions of viewers.
Part of why it worked I suppose is that Jeannie really wanted to marry Tony, and slowly but surely she broke down his resolve not to marry her until toward the end of the series, when they actually do get married. The meta-narrative of the show is that
Jeannie got her wish. (Oh yeah, and she slept in her bottle until she did!)
Is IDOJ really a "knockoff" of Bewitched? Yes and no. I rather think of IDOJ as an improvement.
For example, the last scene in the pilot has Tony walking into his bedroom and closing the door, Jeannie turning to smoke and entering his bedroom under the door, Tony yelling "Knock it off!!" or something like that, and Jeannie coming back out from under the door and reappearing with a wink to the camera. It's all left to the imagination what happened in there and it's funny!
And that's where IDOJ is very different from Bewitched. In IDOJ, the hottie with the supernatural powers gets to be sexual, whereas in Bewitched she does not.
In Bewitched, Samantha is the sane one with a world of lunacy around her in which she tries to maintain order and survive the crisis of the week. She is usually uptight and in crisis mode and after a while I just start to wonder what she ever saw in Darrin in the first place. Also, this formula gets repetitve. I doubt that I'll ever order the Bewitched series for that very reason: it's much the same story every week.
In IDOJ, Tony is the sane one in a world of lunatics, and Jeannie is often part of the chaos. Jeannie gets to be beautiful, sexual, smart, mischevious, and most importantly, unpredictable. Will she be part of the problem or the solution this week? Or, will she try to be part of the solution and instead bring on more chaos? You really don't know whats coming.
Also, I really appreciate the work that went into some of the props and stunts that often only provided a gag lasting a few seconds. In particular when Jeannie makes herself small and has to hide in items like coffee cups, pencil holders, and things like that. Those kind of scenes take a lot of work to set up. There's some genuine special effects work in this series beyond just objects dissappearing and reappearing.
Oh, and one more thing. The DVDs are single sided!! I can actually look at them and see what disc I'm holding! I can handle them without going into "brain surgeon" mode in order to avoid damaging them! They actually did the packaging correctly! WOW!
So, here you've got a properly packaged example of the best that 1960's sitcoms had to offer, and for under $30. Stop wishing and start buying!
Postscript: My one dissappointment with this DVD set is the commentary on the pilot episode. I expected great things since the commentators would be the main three actors in the cast, but it's like they didn't understand the purpose of a commentary or didn't prepare. Don't expect a lot of additional insights into the series. I tried to watch this with my wife and got so embarrassed for them that we turned it off and just watched the pilot episode without the commentary.

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Follows the antics of an astronaut after he unknowingly releases a genie from a bottle who then insists on serving him.Genre: TelevisionRating: NRRelease Date: 14-MAR-2006Media Type: DVD

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I Dream of Jeannie - The Complete First Season (Black & White) (1965) Review

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(More customer reviews)A few years ago I started watching IDOJ for the first time since I was a kid on cable TV reruns. As an adult, I was able to perceive many things that simply went over my head as a child. This was actually quite an edgy show by mid 1960's standards. Oh how I wished this show would be released on DVD, and lo and behold it my wish was granted!
(And, I bought the B&W version because I prize historical accuracy. I want to see exactly what was shown on TV back then, without the lousy TV's we had back then.)
You've got a blond bombshell, who is eager to please in every way a man could imagine, living out of wedlock with an astronaut, who represented the most heroic all-american roll models we had back in the 1960's. And somehow, for years, this show provided good clean TV fun for millions of viewers.
Part of why it worked I suppose is that Jeannie really wanted to marry Tony, and slowly but surely she broke down his resolve not to marry her until toward the end of the series, when they actually do get married. The meta-narrative of the show is that
Jeannie got her wish. (Oh yeah, and she slept in her bottle until she did!)
Is IDOJ really a "knockoff" of Bewitched? Yes and no. I rather think of IDOJ as an improvement.
For example, the last scene in the pilot has Tony walking into his bedroom and closing the door, Jeannie turning to smoke and entering his bedroom under the door, Tony yelling "Knock it off!!" or something like that, and Jeannie coming back out from under the door and reappearing with a wink to the camera. It's all left to the imagination what happened in there and it's funny!
And that's where IDOJ is very different from Bewitched. In IDOJ, the hottie with the supernatural powers gets to be sexual, whereas in Bewitched she does not.
In Bewitched, Samantha is the sane one with a world of lunacy around her in which she tries to maintain order and survive the crisis of the week. She is usually uptight and in crisis mode and after a while I just start to wonder what she ever saw in Darrin in the first place. Also, this formula gets repetitve. I doubt that I'll ever order the Bewitched series for that very reason: it's much the same story every week.
In IDOJ, Tony is the sane one in a world of lunatics, and Jeannie is often part of the chaos. Jeannie gets to be beautiful, sexual, smart, mischevious, and most importantly, unpredictable. Will she be part of the problem or the solution this week? Or, will she try to be part of the solution and instead bring on more chaos? You really don't know whats coming.
Also, I really appreciate the work that went into some of the props and stunts that often only provided a gag lasting a few seconds. In particular when Jeannie makes herself small and has to hide in items like coffee cups, pencil holders, and things like that. Those kind of scenes take a lot of work to set up. There's some genuine special effects work in this series beyond just objects dissappearing and reappearing.
Oh, and one more thing. The DVDs are single sided!! I can actually look at them and see what disc I'm holding! I can handle them without going into "brain surgeon" mode in order to avoid damaging them! They actually did the packaging correctly! WOW!
So, here you've got a properly packaged example of the best that 1960's sitcoms had to offer, and for under $30. Stop wishing and start buying!
Postscript: My one dissappointment with this DVD set is the commentary on the pilot episode. I expected great things since the commentators would be the main three actors in the cast, but it's like they didn't understand the purpose of a commentary or didn't prepare. Don't expect a lot of additional insights into the series. I tried to watch this with my wife and got so embarrassed for them that we turned it off and just watched the pilot episode without the commentary.

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I DREAM OF JEANNIE:COMPLETE FIRST SEA - DVD Movie

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