Comments on: DVD on DVD

By: harry b

harry b — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:02:45 +0000

Thanks everyone. I’ll follow up some of these. Several that I hadn’t mentioned I’e already seen—I especially like Rocky and Bullwinkle of those. Also the Munsters; my middle one does a great impression of Herman.

By: Cam

Cam — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:52:51 +0000

Not sure how old your kids are, but I’d heartily recommend the original “Johnny Quest.” I loved it as a kid, and bought the DVD set a while back. I was delighted that my kids (11 and 8 yrs. old) loved it, too.

If you’re open to something more contemporary, however, I’d suggest “FullMetal Alchemist.” It is, without question, one of the smartest, most thought-provoking animated series, ever. It’s one of those rare shows that can challenge adults, and still hold the interest of children.

By: Locutor

Locutor — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:42:35 +0000

How can anyone prefer the Addams Family over the Munsters? Easy!

The Addams family were freaks who reveled in their freakiness. They let their freak flags fly proudly, and were always perplexed that the normals they encountered were frightened by their everyday antics.

The Munsters, on the other hand, were freaks only on the outside, and did their best to conform to American social conventions. They kept their freakiness in the closet, or tried to anyway.

Besides, Lurch Rules!

By: Backword Dave

Backword Dave — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:50:13 +0000

Clearly, the greatest thing ever on TV was Seinfeld (now available on DVD). After this Lance Mannion post, Batman, if available, should be worth checking. Taxi was funny at the time; now it might suffer from a version of the Larry Hagman problem: seeing Danny DeVito and Jeff Goldblum’s dad from ‘Independence Day’ together now just seems bizarre. ‘Rhoda’ was excellent, and wasn’t her sister Marge Simpson? Also from the MTM stable was ‘Hill Street Blues’ which ought to be great television in anyone’s book.

I don’t understand how anyone can seriously prefer ‘The Addams Family’ over ‘The Munsters’ – which starred the great Fred Gwynne also of Car 54, Where Are You? and Bilko. Both the latter two should hold up well.

By: Valuethinker

Valuethinker — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:44:57 +0000

Danger Man (aka ‘The Secret Agent’) with Patrick McGoohan. Probably the best TV spy show of the 60s (or ever). And a precursor to his extraordinary ‘The Prisoner’.

‘The Champions’ – Sci Fi spy show.

‘Schoolhouse Rock’ – a series of morning snippets that taught me more than anything in school ‘heh noun is a person, place or thing. I find it quite interesting that a noun is a person place or thing’.

Hill Street Blues. Of course. The prototype for any number of excellent sequels such as ‘The Wire’, ‘Homicide Life on the Street’, ‘NYPD Blues’ etc.

By: Robbie Taylor

Robbie Taylor — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:31:25 +0000

I have the opposite problem RE: I Dream of Jeannie and Larry Hagman – since I grew up watching IDoJ, I could never accept Hagman in a serious role, especially not a bad guy. I always expected him to call for Jeannie whenever things got too bad on Dallas…

By: Russell Arben Fox

Russell Arben Fox — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:58:11 +0000

Oh my, just looking over this thread I’m reminded of what I left out—besides “Benson,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” the “Underdog” cartoons, and “The Twilight Zone” are all must-haves. “Twilight Zone” is, as any fan will admit, profoundly uneven, with some simply atrocious episodes. And its best stuff has been appropriated, parodied, and re-used innumerable times by lesser programs. But still—when it was good, it was the most consistently surprising and shocking thing I’ve ever seen on commercial television.

By: tom brandt

tom brandt — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:06:11 +0000

If watched Mr Ed, you might enjoy watching My Mother the Car just for the incredible awfulness of it.

By: sk

sk — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:29:14 +0000

The Twilight Zone and The Honeymooners.

By: vanya

vanya — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 10:31:02 +0000

As so often with older pop culture, it’s hard to distinguish nostalgia from actual quality. I just rewatched the “WKRP” thanksgiving episode (“As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly”) on Youtube a few months ago – when I was 10 that was the funniest thing I’d ever seen, now – good but not really as good as I remembered. The truth is more recent shows like “Arrested Development”, “The Office” or even “Sex in the City” or “Seinfeld” are probably better than what we had in the 60s and 70s. That said, I will still strongly agree that “Taxi” is a must watch. I think the funniest bit in TV history is when Louie pushes the woman in the wheelchair down the stairs, but I’m a little sadistic. “Mary Tyler Moore”, “Barney Miller” and the original “Bob Newhart” I bet would also stand the test of time. I haven’t rewatched “Get Smart” in 25 years and I strongly suspect it won’t hold up as well as people seem to think. I have the same suspicion about “M*A*S*H”. The one area where TV has really gone down hill is theme songs – every one of those 60s shows (“Bewitched”,”Green Acres”, “Gilligan’s Island”, “I Dream of jeanie”, even a minor show like “The Courship of Eddie’s Father”) had great theme music.

By: Hidari

Hidari — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 08:23:48 +0000

Banana Splits!

La la la la-la la la, la la la la-la la la….one banana two banana three banana four…..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banana_Splits

By: grapeshot

grapeshot — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:10:59 +0000

I agree that “Get Smart” is worth watching. I also endorse “Taxi”, “the Monkees”, “Mary Tyler Moore Show” (and if you can find them, it’s spinoffs “Rhoda” and “Phyllis”, and even “the Lou Grant Show”, but that was more serious) and the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. If you haven’t seen it, “The Muppet Show” stands up well even now. My 16 year old niece and my 3 year old nephew were sitting side by side, laughing as they watched the DVDs I brought with me on a recent trip.

There’s the venerable “My Favorite Martian”, and the Adam’s Family ripoff, “The Munsters”, which was nearly as good as the Adams Family, but was a little more “square”. I haven’t seen it in a long time, but I remember “McHale’s Navy” as being popular in reruns. If you can, also try to get “Mission Impossible” and “I Spy”, which are classic, hour-long mystery shows that are rarely seen in reruns today.

Let’s not forget the westerns. I personally found the most popular ones, such as “Gunsmoke”, “Bonanza” or “Big Valley” way too serious and self-important to be worth watching, but “Wild, Wild West” could be pretty fun to watch. And I believe that the first season of “Alias Smith and Jones” may be coming out on DVD. I recently watched this in reruns, and found it to be interesting—and all due to the chemistry of the two leads. (Skip the later episodes in the second season, which had a replacement actor for one of the leads who committed suicide. Those episodes are interminably boring.)

If it’s cartoons you want, you might also consider “Underdog”. and “Gargoyles”. The latter is not a comedy, but it has interesting storylines that you can watch with your kids.

Two other late seventies/early eighties sitcoms come to mind: “Barney Miller” and “WKRP In Cincinnati”. I hear WKRP may be finally coming out on DVD in April, but I’m not sure about BM. However, these might go over the heads of little kids.

Then let’s not forget “Happy Days”, and it’s spinoffs “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy”. HD and L and S were pretty good in their early years, but got very tired and lame after their 4th or 5th season. Mork starred a then unknown Robin Williams, and in season three was joined by Jonathon Winters. Oh, and ANY SHOW starring Bob Newhart is definitely “must see TV”: “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart”.

Personally, I am currently rewatching all the “Magnum PI” episodes that are out, and getting a kick out of seeing how well they still work. Sure, some episodes are lame, but the chemistry of the cast is what holds the attention—especially between Magnum and Higgins—and every now and then there’s are real solid episode that rewards the viewer. Hmmm….there’s just something about a man in a red Ferrari…..

By: Mary Catherine Moran

Mary Catherine Moran — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 03:31:31 +0000

Well, Bonanza, of course. First six seasons (1959-1965) only, because once Adam Cartwright flees the Ponderosa, the show well and truly jumps the shark.

Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) gets major points for complaining, circa 1963, that the show was sexist, racist, and anti-woman, and that it glorified big capital in its uncritical paean to big ranching. And Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright) was once “the voice of Canada” (on CBC Radio).

By: Russell Arben Fox

Russell Arben Fox — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:50:42 +0000

Someone mentioned “Fraggle Rock,” so I think one should also ask: what about the original “Muppet Show”? It was, I believe, at least partially produced in London; was it seen on British TV? If not, run, don’t walk, to your computer and order the DVDs now. My kids love them. Yes, there are some slow episodes, where the guests simply couldn’t adapt to working with puppets or were sufficiently famous that they thought they didn’t need to. But some episodes—the ones with Steve Martin, John Cleese, Gilda Radner, Carol Burnett, and Harry Belafonte come to mind—are simply TV gold. At its best, it was the best TV variety program ever.

I give hearty second (or third) to “Rocky and Bullwinkle.” And while I confess that it can’t quite touch some of the masterpieces of episodic TV comedy already mentioned, I have to put a plug in for the sitcom that made me laugh more than any other—”Benson.” (The first five seasons or so, that is; by the time Benson is made assistant governor, you should bail.)

By: vivian

vivian — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:16:19 +0000

For the “winter holidays” I got the Best of the Electric Company volumes 1 and 2 (the kids are allowed to watch them too). Get Smart will be the next big purchase.
Just learned that the following exist on DVD: Ernie Kovacs, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters. Also Laugh-in, but quick sketch comedy could be ruined with a best-of format.