DVD on DVD

That should be Francis the Talking Mule, with Donald O’Connor. They made more movies together than Reagan and Bonzo, at least.

I can’t recommend strongly enough “Rocky and Bullwinkle.” Intended for adults (who will get a lot of stuff that’s opaque to kinds) and for kids. “The “Peabody’s Improbable History” segment is, well, watch it and see. And Edward Everett Horton and the “Fractured Fairy Tales” will also amaze.

Wilbur is both a pig (Charlotte’s Web) and Mr. Ed’s owner.

If you can get ahold of _Green Acres_, you will have a classic on your hands. Funniest damned show ever put on TV.

And, of course, _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ is another great. Should go well with your DVD on DVD collection.

“Get Smart” is required viewing, and recently came out on DVD, I believe.

When the baby arrived, a friend lent us the entire first season of Bewitched on DVD.

When the baby arrived, you had time for TV?

Yes to Taxi. The funniest single bit in sitcom history is when Reverend Jim takes a driving test.

If you found Dream of Jeannie sexist, why didn’t you find Bewitched sexist also? Here’s this woman of extraordinary gifts having to suppress them to please hubby – she renounces them or at least conceals them so she can push the vacuum cleaner round the suburban house. However, Endora, the mother-in-law, is the coollest mother-in-law in sit-com history.

Dick Van Dyke Show was pretty good.

The Monkees. The comedy is scattershot with a lot of misses, but the music holds up surprisingly well. Bob Rafelson produces, and there are lots of interesting cameos.

The commentary is particularly interesting.

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.)

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…..

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.

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

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…

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.

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.