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If a top-level spy decided he didn't want to be a spy anymore, could he just walk into HQ and hand in his resignation? With all that classified knowledge in his head, would he be allowed to become a civilian again, free to go about his life? The answer, according to the stylish, brilliantly conceived 1960s British TV series The Prisoner, is a resounding no. In fact, instead of receiving a gold watch for his years of faithful service, our hero (played by Patrick McGoohan) is followed home to his London flat and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a picturesque village where everyone is known by a number. Where is it? Why was he brought here? And, most important, how does he leave?

As we learn in Episode 1, Number 6 can't leave. The Village's "citizens" might dress colorfully and stroll around its manicured gardens while a band plays bouncy Strauss marches, but the place is actually a prison. Surveillance is near total, and if all else fails, there's always the large, mysterious white ball that subdues potential escapees by temporarily smothering them. Who runs the Village? An ever-changing Number 2, who wants to know why Number 6 resigned. If he'd only cooperate, he's told, life can be made very pleasant. "I've resigned," he fumes. "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." So sets the stage for the ultimate battle of wills: Number 6's struggle to retain his privacy, sanity, and individuality against the array of psychological and physical methods the Village uses to break him.

So does he ever escape? And does he ever find out who Number 1 is? "Questions are a burden to others," the Village saying goes. "Answers, a prison for oneself." Within this complete 17-episode set (which contains the entire series), all is revealed. Or is it? --Steve Landau ... Read more

Reviews (39)

I AM NOT A NUMBER, I AM A BOX SET OF DVDs
Well not exactly Patrick McGoohan's opening from The Prisoner, but it did catch your attention :-). Seriously here they are, all 17 episodes plus the Prisoner Video Companion originally offered on MCI Home Video now on DVD compliments of our good friends at A&E. What's nicer is the episodes are arranged in what the fans believe to be the chronological order of the episodes in terms of Number 6's time in the Village rather than order of original airdate (although some of them are in airdate order). As a hint at this look carefully at "The General" and "A, B and C". Both star Colin Gordon as Number 2, but in the opening for "A, B and C" he says "I am number 2" rather than "The new number 2". Also this set contains something released on video previously but only in England, a special edition of the 5th episode of the series, "The Chimes of Big Ben". Definitely the best of McGoohan's 3 British Secret Agent types series, but also the quintessential scifi series as well. By the way, a special debt of gratitude to A&E Homevideo. When this series first came out on VHS on MPI Homevideo in 1990, they made a muff in the episode "Checkmate". In the "Where am I" segment of the opening sequence it started with McGoohan doing it with the fore mentioned Colin Gordon even though Peter Wyngarde played Number 2 in this episode. By the third line "That would be telling" the tape was ok. I can't speak for the new A&E VHS copy, but on these DVDs the muff has NOT recurred. Which means either A&E acquired a better copy of the episode to restore on DVD or someone told them about the flub from 11 years ago. So kudos to A&E Video for to repairing this decade old "blooper". This 10 pack is much better buy than the 5 sets of 2 DVDs individually. Get it now, return to the Village and escape at your own pace.

For die-hard fans only, but for us, it's a treasure
Honestly, if you're not a true fan of the series, I can't imagine why you would want to shell out this kind of money to own the whole set. But as a former member of The Prisoner Appreciation Society, I think it's a great collector's item, and is good for introducing the series to friends who have never seen it before or who only saw it in passing. The series is as addictive and thought-provoking as ever, though having the whole collection to watch back-to-back lets you find lots of continuity errors that you were likely to miss the first time around... and the three or four really BAD episodes stand out all the more when you're watching them all in sequence and are focused on them.

As for the DVDs themselves, the audio quality of the episodes is what you might expect from a 1967 TV series (the difference between the audio of the shows and the modern-day interview is pronounced), the menu screens are attractive and in a style which fits the series well. The bonus features are a little scant. The "alternate version" of Chimes is so barely different it isn't that interesting, the Trivia Quiz was lifted right off the Appreciation Society's website, the trailers would make you NOT want to watch the episodes, but the couple of extra interviews are pretty cool.

A must for Prisoner fans
I myself did not think the transfer was all that bad. In fact I think it looks good on my 61" Sony and Sony DVD.
I started watching the Prisoner when it first released in the US as summer replacement. I have been hooked ever since.
Yes it is about a spy or "Secret Agent" who resigns in obvious disgust and is kidnapped, taken to a very mysterious, secret and very secure place known as "The Village". It is also about his attempts at escape and other intrigues. Leading edge spy stuff for its time.
To appreciate The Prisoner you must go beneath the surface at what The Prisoner really means. The series is full of symbolism and social commentary while The Vilage is referred to as "The model for a new world order" by one of the constantly changing #2's.
The series blew everyones mind in the late 60's when it aired. I knew many people who could not get it and never watched more than one or two episodes. The die-hard fans hung in there and got our own minds blown in "Fall Out" the final episode.
After years and careful noticeof the world and politics and social upheavals The Prisoner now makes sense immediately to people who are just now seeing it for the first time - like my 22 year old daughter. she had it figured out (correctly) by the 3rd DVD.
Anyway, this is an important series and TV's first true masterpiece. It is a work or art, it is a social commentary and it is very prophetic and more relevant than ever.
I love this set. I enjoyed the bonus tracks. To those who think the bonus tracks are lacking, remember this is a TV show produced in 1967. This is a veritable gold mine of bonus material.
After seeing all 17 episodes again in order, sharing them with my daughter had brought me to even new revelations about the series and the genius behind them.
My daughter thinks the special effects and action sequences are not realistic - BUT be reminded again, this is a TV series from 1967.
Could The Prisoner be remade and updated? Perhaps, but I would have a fear of losing the message. This series was created in an era of relative innocence when most people trusted the government. This is one of the things thsat made the series so remarkable.
Here we are 37 years after production and we are STILL discussing it;s significance. While I might agree with my daughter that modern production values and updated special effects woulc be a good spice to the series I would fear destroying the essence and the uniqueness.
Mc Goohan had a degree of freedom when producing the series. Any newer production would most likely be polluted by attempts to make it more mass-market acceptable.
The Prisoner is a sensitive work and a work of genius. Buy the DVD set and enjoy.

all-time great series, box set lacking...
i want to say first off that i'm a huge prisoner fan. i loved the series from beginning to end for all that it is. this review will be only of the dvd box set.
ok, the audio and video quality are fantastic. but here's my gripe: 10 discs for a 17 episode series? talk about being greedy! they could have easily had 4 episodes to a disc. even if it were 3 episodes per disc leaving the final disc chock full of extras that would nearly cut this set's size in half. speaking of which the extras in this set are nothing special. theres not even an interview with patrick mcgoohan!
i'm lucky i got mine at a bargain or else i never would have bothered.

The Archetype Prevails
There are no greater television shows than "The Prisoner". Not ever. Perhaps shows such as "MASH" or "Twin Peaks" rise high enough to catch a glimpse of Patrick McGoohan's Big Idea racing off into the distance but they will never catch up. "The Prisoner" is one of the few works of art in the twentieth century that actually deserve to be called revolutionary. But, Patrick McGoohan, the show's creator and star, has no time whatsoever to rebel against things that lesser figures and would-be rebels wish to rebel against -stoking up the fires of their tiny egos. McGoohan means business and his series, "The Prisoner" rushes up to all of the Big Questions and grabs them by the neck. "The Prisoner" is a declared war against tyranny in all of its forms: sexual attraction, the lure of comfort, the facade of democratic politics, science, fundamentalist anti-science, conservatism, cheap liberal progressivism, group-think in any form at all including "individualism" (which is just another form of group-think),the ultimate prison which is one's self, and more. Number Six, played by Patrick McGoohan himself, is absolutely relentless on his assault upon the Village which would keep him there against his will. And he desires to leave no matter what wholesome blandishments are offered to him. In that way, Number Six is a greater human being than most of us. He is more than a common human individual living out his life. He is an archetype. He can never quite escape but the octopoidal snares of the Village can never quite hold him. In that way, his story resembles the myth of Sisyphus. And yet Number Six is more than Sisyphus. I will not give the end of the series away but I will say that at the end Number Six comes to a true understanding of himself. The only good true understanding of one's self is if that understanding destroys the cycles. The strangest idea at the base of "The Prisoner" is the idea that morality itself, at its most secret heart, is the ultimate form of rebellion. Number Six has a devotion to pure justice, profound freedom, actual compassion ( as opposed to its sentimental counterfeits), and rigorous truth telling that is so extreme - more extreme even than the great Jewish prophets in the Bible - that he actually is an archetype, and not merely a single human being. Number One is the secret Archon that rules the Village. The Village is, of course, demon possessed, though the demons mostly reveal themselves as Angels of Light. Under Number One is paraded a grand series of Number Two's. They come and they go. Each one of them is yet one more attempt to seduce or brutalize Number Six into giving up his freedom. One of the strangest things about this series is that Patrick McGoohan's idea of freedom rejects both the dionysian and the apollonian as categories of human thought and endeavour. McGoohan believes there is a third way that carves its own path, disdainful of the sharp and controlled, fascist geometries of the apollonian and compassionately rejectfull of the oblivion and disintegration offered by the dionysian. No better show exists. I don't think the fifth grade schoolboy bullies who dominate Hollywood or the television studios could allow such a great work to be made or shown on television today. But that is both their fault and their impotence. The Number Two's come and go but the Archetype prevails. ... Read more

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In 1965, Star Trek set out to boldly go where no series had gone before, beginning a three-year mission that led to a franchise that would last decades.Here at last is the first season of the original series all in one box, 29 episodes in their original broadcast order.That means starting with "The Man Trap," and soon followed by "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the second pilot filmed and the first one starring William Shatner as Captain Kirk.The many highlight episodes include "Balance of Terror" and "Errand of Mercy" (introducing, respectively, the Romulans and the Klingons), the two-part "The Menagerie" (which recycled footage from the original pilot, "The Cage," which featured Christopher Pike as the captain of the Enterprise and is not included in this set), "Space Seed" (introducing Ricardo Montalban's Khan character), and "The City of the Edge of Forever" (written by sci-fi giant Harlan Ellison and considered by many the best-ever episode of the series).

The first-season DVD set is supplemented by 80 minutes of featurettes incorporating 2003-04 interviews with Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, other cast members, and producers, and some 1988 footage of Gene Roddenberry.The longest (24 minutes) featurette, "The Birth of a Timeless Legacy," examines the two pilot episodes and the development of the crew.Slightly shorter are "To Boldly Go... Season One," which highlights key episodes, and "Sci-Fi Visionaries," which discusses the series' great science fiction writers (most famously in "The City of the Edge of Forever").Shatner shows off his love of horses in "Life Beyond Trek," and, more interestingly, Nimoy debunks various rumors in "Reflections of Spock."As they've done for many of the feature-film special editions, Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide a pop-up text commentary on four of the episodes filled with history, trivia, and dry wit.It's the first commentary of any kind for a Star Trek TV show, but an audio commentary is still overdue.The technical specs are mostly the same as other Trek TV series--Dolby 5.1, English subtitles--but with the welcome addition of the episode trailers.The plastic case is an attempt to replicate some of the fun packaging of the series' European DVD releases, but it's a bit clunky, and the paper sleeve around the disc case seems awkward and crude.Still, the set is a vast improvement both in terms of shelf space and bonus features compared to the old two-episode discs, which were released before full-season boxed sets became the model for television DVDs. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (21)

TIME TRAVEL NOT REQUIRED TO SEE THIS COMING
I must say, that time travel was not required for me to anticipate this release of the original STAR TREK on DVD boxed set format... In the past I collected all 79 episodes individually on VHS format and enjoyed them all.. I love the show, its movies and "THE NEXT GENERATION" . I knew however that someday the ORIGINAL show would come to DVD as a boxed set.

MY PATIENCE HAS PAID OFF... I did not make the mistake of buying the 2per episode disks for several reasons.. 1. I knew that thsi show would join the others as season sets. 2. The packaging of the 2per disks was, to say the least HORRID.. 3.Cost economy... yes, I am not a cheap skate but i prefer more for less.. and last.. 4. SPACE- the limited frontier.. on my shelves for many disks when my TNG collections only takes up about 12" or so..

WELL, as for the show itself.. the FIRST and SECOND seasons are very well written storys, bad effects aside.. THE THIRD season was not quite up to snuff, but i still LOVE MY TREK...

GO OUT AND BUY BUY BUY... This set will sure to please..
AND NOT TO FORGET THE BEST PART---Special Features...
I fully enjoy learning all about movies, and TV shows i grew up to love..

THX FOR READING

The true final frontier
Even with five spinoffs,ten movies and nearly 38 years of history,The original Star Trek is the one that started it all and continue to inspire millions of fans.
The plot was simple, in the future a starship goes out on a five year mission to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and civilizations.Led by the heroic Captain James T. Kirk (willian Shatner) along with his Vulcan first officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy).The other crew members include Dr.Leonard McCoy (the late DeForest Kelley),Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott(James Doohan), Helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takai),Communications officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), and Yoaman Janice Rand (Grace Lee whitney who would only last half the first season).
Despite the cheap looking special effects and set pieces,ST was a mixture of action,humor,drama and morality tales.A far cry from other science fiction shows airing at the time such as Lost In Space.Classic first season episodes includes The Naked Time,The Enemy Within, The Menagerie ,The Conscience of the King, Balance of Terror(the Romulan's debut), Space Seed(KHAN!!!), Arena,This Side of Paradise,The Devil in the Dark, and the greatest Trek episode of all time, The City on the Edge of Forever.
The new season DVD set includes extras not included in the first wave sets which consisted of two episodes on forty discs.

Finally!
I've been waiting for this for MANY years! I know fans who bought the earlier DVD's (2 episodes on one DVD) are upset but in fairness those came out before this whole trend of 'Series Box Sets' started. And yes I'm sure that there will be future compilations (Special Ultra Limited Edition, etc) but I've always just wanted one thing: to have the entire series at my disposal to pop in a favorite episode whenever I wanted and HERE IT IS. I'm so psyched!

I love this series!
Star Trek is my favorite T.V. series of all time. I'm so glad that they're finally releasing it in box sets. I avoided buying the previous releases because at $20 for each 2 episode disc, I would have felt more guilt than joy everytime I bought one. I feel bad for the people that purchased those. That was really a greedy money grubbing move that Paramount made. SOB's, It always really pissed me off. This box set is also too expensive, but they know we'll buy them. It's like health care. You have to have it, so they take advantage of you and charge as much as they possibly can, making sure that they can make themselves richer and richer at the expense of us, the common man.

Yeah yeah, I "know" I should have waited...
but knowing Paramount, they could of sat on the release the boxed sets for who knows how long. It could have been atleast until 2006 (40th Anniversary) until they decided to release them as boxed sets since they could have easily continued to gouge buyers into buying the 2 episode per disc set -- why shouldn't they? they control the market?...and they probably will still do it. After everyone has bought the boxed sets they will release them all again remastered in High Definition. Maybe, with the infamous blooper reel as a bonus (unless they oh, so generously decide to release it in the upcoming season 2 and 3 boxed sets -- but I doubt it. Frankly, life's too short and I didn't want to wait for the boxed sets. I've enjoyed them since their release 5 years ago.

In any case, I won't be re-buying the new sets. The "bonuses" seem a little thin and desparate....probably will be some interviews of some of the supporting staff that were loosely involved (many of the important guys have passed on any way)in the original series making some minor comment on obscure incidents playing on the nostalgiac thirst of the hard-core fan.

In fact I can see Paramount re-re-releasing the series again (the 40th anniversary set?) with FULL LENGTH commentaries for every episode (e.g. Sally Kellerman, Willim Koenig, Dianne Muldar, William Ware Theiss etc.) by some of the actors actors and guests stars -- ONLY after everyone has bought the boxed sets.

However had Paramount been more fair about how they released the DVD's,and the way they treat loyal fans, I probably would have, for the sake of "completeness" continued to support their products (TNG, DS9, Voyager, and likely Enterprise etc.) but I'm not -- mainly because they don't deserve my business and they won't. In fact I generally BOYCOTT Paramount DVDs.

As Scotty once said: "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame me"...and I'm not about to be fooled again.

See you later paramount suckers! ... Read more

Description

The complete first season of Rod Serling's classic, groundbreaking series exploring the fantastic and the frightening. ... Read more

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The most famous episode in franchise history, "The Trouble with Tribbles," is one of the highlights of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series.A deserved classic, the humorous story centers on an ever-expanding mass of furry creatures that memorably rain themselves down on top of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and into the middle of a Federation-Klingon showdown. It inspired one of the most memorable episodes in the spin-off series Deep Space Nine, "Trial and Tribble-ations."Also in the second season, the Vulcan culture of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is fleshed out in "Amok Time" (in which Spock is faced with the possibility of killing his captain and friend) and "Journey to Babel" (introducing Spock's father, played by Mark Sarek, in what would turn out to be a long-recurring role).A new character, navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), was introduced; his Monkees haircut was intended to appeal to the younger audience, but he was also a Russian, which at the height of the cold war reflected Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of a more enlightened future.Other social-commentary opportunities presented themselves in "The Omega Glory," "The Doomsday Machine," and "Assignment: Earth," the last also one of those periodic opportunities to scrimp on the budget by time-traveling to an earlier version of Earth.Another example was "A Private Little War," a comic episode set in the Roaring Twenties and memorable for, among other things, Kirk's teaching a made-up card game called Fizzbin.In other significant episodes, "I, Mudd" saw the return of the bounder from season 1, "The Changeling" was the original inspiration for the first Trek feature film a decade later, "Wolf in the Fold" (penned by the author of Psycho) provides an example of the series' great writing, and "Mirror, Mirror" introduced the concept of the parallel universe inhabited by vicious, amoral counterparts of the regular crew, another theme later borrowed (more than once, and to good emotional effect) by DS9.

Special features are a bit lighter than on the season 1 set, but they do feature such contributors as Shatner, Nimoy, George Takei (Sulu), Koenig, Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and editor-writer D.C. Fontana. Of chief interest are "To Boldly Go," a 20-minute season recap; " Kirk, Spock & Bones: The Great Trio," discussing the interplay among Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley); "Star Trek's Divine Diva," shining the spotlight on the development of Nichols's character (she was originally considered to play Spock); and "Writer's Notebook: D.C. Fontana," discussing her various roles in the series (she used her initials to avoid the anti-female bias in science fiction at the time).--David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Second Complete Season in an 8-DVD Set! Fantastic!
When Paramount Home Video first started to release the original series of "Star Trek" in 1999, I was aghast at the fact that only one DVD with two episodes per DVD were being released one DVD at a time at a very high cost. The cost to own all 40 volumes (DVD's) was staggering. Of course, this doesn't even address the amount of shelf space required for all 40 DVD's.

Now, with this repackaged version, all 26 episodes of the second season are being released together on 8 disks. This is the packaged version of the original "Star Trek" that I fully intend to purchase because even at full list price, the cost of owning the second complete season is less than half the cost of owning its earlier cousins on an equivalent 13 DVD's. Also, the packaging itself has been designed similarly to the packaging used for other "Star Trek" series released in complete seasons, meaning that it will only require a small amount of shelf space. It is also possible that extra documentary and commentary material not released originally will be included in this complete second season box set.

The original series of "Star Trek", that ran for three complete seasons between 1966 and 1969, started a franchise that has included six television series and ten big screen motion pictures. The main original characters of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander/Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley, 1920-1999), Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan), Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Keonig from 1967-1969), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney from 1966-1967) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) have become an inseparable part of Americana. Though series creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) was not able to keep the original series alive for five seasons as originally envisioned (it was cancelled after its third season), he, along with the countless series fans, was able to resurrect it in the form of six motion pictures beginning in 1979 and the first series spin-off, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, which ran for seven years and had spin-offs of its own. There was also a 22-episode animated version based upon the original series that ran from 1972 to 1974.

The most memorable episodes of the second season include "Amok Time" (Spock's Vulcan mating ritual), "The Changeling" (the inspiration for the 1979 film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"), "Mirror, Mirror", "The Apple", "The Doomsday Machine" (with guest star William Windom as Commodore Matthew Decker, the father of the character Capt. Willard Decker (Stephen Collins) in the 1979 film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"), "I, Mudd" (with returning guest character Harcourt Fenton 'Harry' Mudd, as played by Roger C. Carmel, 1932-1986), "Journey to Babel" (which introduces Spock's parents: Ambassador Sarek as played by Mark Leonard (1924-1996) and his human wife Amanda as played by Jane Wyatt), "Friday's Child", "The Deadly Years", "Obsession", "Wolf in the Fold", the fan-favorite "The Trouble with Tribbles", "A Piece of the Action", "The Immunity Syndrome", "A Private Little War", "Return to Tomrrow" (with guest character Dr. Ann Mulhall as played by Diana Muldaur, who also played the unpopular character Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), "By Any Other Name", "The Ultimate Computer" and "Assignment: Earth". The were no truly awful episodes during the second season, but there were a few that had rather weak plots, including the ancient-Greek-inspired "Who Mourns for Adonais?" the gothic "Catspaw", the Nazi-inspired "Patters of Force" and the twentieth-century version of the Roman Empire in the episode "Break and Circuses". The episode "The Omega Glory" was rather good until the final scenes that are somewhat corny.

Overall, I rate the 8-DVD set of "Star Trek: Original Series Season 2" with an anticipatory 5 out of 5 stars. Clearly, this is how Paramount should have released the original series to begin with. Thank you Gene Roddenberry for taking all of us "where no man has gone before".

The pinnicle of TOS
After barely getting renewed for a second season, ST came back the next year in full force.The biggest hero was not Captain Kirk himself,but Gene Coon.The executive producer who contributed some of the best episodes, as well as set the tone for the show which inspired future Trek's as well.
One of the prime factors for the second season's brilliance was the charater's themselves as the actors found the tone of their characters.And the famous trio of Kirk-Spock -McCoy were finally established at the focal point of the show.The remaining supporting characters performed admirably as well, even with the introduction of Paval Chekov (Walter Keonig). Many classic episodes came from season two(Mirror,Mirror, Amok Time, Doomsday Machine, Deadly Years,Trouble With Tribbles, A Piece Of The Action, Journey to Babel).
As brilliant as season two was, it was not enough to get high numbers in the Nielsons.Thanks to a letter campaign by fans led by Bjo Trimble,ST was renewed for a third season.But with Coon's departure from the show after the second season,the third season suffered and even the fans couldn't save it. ... Read more

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Two years after 1963's The Great Escape thrilled movie audiences with a tale of Allied soldiers working cooperatively to flee a World War II-era prisoner-of-war camp, CBS found a hit situation comedy in the loosely similar Hogan's Heroes. Initially dismissed by critics as being in poor taste, the half-hour show starred Bob Crane (previously known for a supporting role on The Donna Reed Show) as Colonel Robert Hogan, leader of a resourceful band of French, British and American guests of the German Luftwaffe. Rather than sit out the war with his fellow captives, Hogan essentially used the POW camp, Stalag 13, as a base for sabotaging Nazi operations whenever possible, helping important prisoners escape, supporting the Resistance, gathering intelligence for the Allies, and generally screwing up enemy battlefield plans. The work was always dangerous, but Hogan's crew had a number of advantages: a network of underground tunnels beneath the camp (some leading to a nearby town), a flair for disguises, the complementary talents of Hogan's key staff, and the reliable idiocy of camp Commandant Klink (Werner Klemperer) and willful ignorance of lead officer Sergeant Schultz (John Banner).

Season one of Hogan's Heroes found all of these elements securely in place and the series balancing farce with suspense. Typical storylines include "Hold the Tiger," in which the boys smuggle a new German Tiger Tank into the camp, disassemble it to construct a blueprint, and then reassemble it under Klink's nose. "The Prisoner's Prisoner" finds Hogan kidnapping a Nazi general, sneaking him into Stalag 13, and tricking him—a la Mission: Impossible--to reveal troop plans. In "The Prince from the Phone Company," one of Hogan's most-trusted confederates, radio operator Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon), disguises himself as an African prince trying to secure money from the Third Reich. Half the fun of these shows is watching Hogan thinking quickly on his feet whenever things start to go wrong, or when one of Klink's more intelligent superiors becomes suspicious that not everything at Stalag 13 is as under control as it seems. Besides Dixon, the other players making up Hogan's elite squad include Richard Dawson as the slightly disreputable Newkirk (with a talent for thievery), Larry Hovis as chemistry whiz Carter, and Robert Clary as the charming LeBeau. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (46)

Great series ... DVD quality is poor
Hogan's Heroes is one of those series which you just can't stop watching.There is always a great laugh.

Unfortunately the DVD quality leaves a lot to be desired.DISCs 1 and 2 are mis-labeled.DISC 2 suffers from technical problems in the remastering.One of the worst tracks on DISC 2 was Happiness is a Warm Sergeant.The episode tended to jump back in a loop during certain parts, the sound would go in and out, and some other annoying glitchs.

It is a shame that the quality control for this release is so poor.

Wonderful for all ages
Hogan's Heros (along with Green Acres) was my favorite show when I was a kid, and now I watch this DVD set with my own children. I have three boys, 11, 8, and 7, and they love it.A Nazi prison camp may seem like a "mature" theme for small children, but they love Schultz, the friendly guard dogs, the tunnels, and all of the craziness of Stalag 13 (tanks getting stolen, planes taking off, etc).
A great series for bringing families together.

Good Set - One Error RE: Disc Labels
The set was as advertised except that disc one and disc two had their on-cd labels swapped i.e. disc one was actually disc two and vice versa.

Excellent old show that brings back fun memories for me :)

Return to childhood..
The Hogan's Heroes DVD collection has been a wonderful bit of entertainment and nostalgia for me.I find that I can repeatedly play these old classic episodes and still be fascinated and laugh out loud at the plots and stories.

There are other reviews that go into far more detail than I care to as far as individual episode titles and various trivia.

I will simply say that this DVD set will provide hours of entertainment for anyone who grew up watching these old shows in syndication.

I gave the set 4 of 5 stars for one and only one reason.Though the set clains to be "full length season one episodes" the reality is that there are missing scenes.Most are minute and do not affect the flow of the shows but to someone who as a kid watched them over and over in repeats, they are noticable..

HOWEVER this will not keep me from adding the second season to my collection the moment it comes out...

Short and simple review
I don't want to go on with this review, so I will capsulize my comments with one word:"Excellent" ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Fine Classic Viewing. A Must for Patrick McGoohan Fans
This megaset is well worth the price. Each episode in original broadcast order, crystal clear uncut in glorious black and white, except for the final two episodes of course. Relive the excitement along with excellent characterizations over 47 episodes. Includes the original U.S. opening Secret Agent Man them.

FIRST SEASON NOW AVAILABLE!!
First off--I wanted to let everyone know that the first season of "DANGER MAN" (all 39 half-hour episodes filmed in 1961) is now available on DVD at www.deepdiscountdvd.com. Type in "danger man" then hit 'search by title'(this item is NOT available on Amazon; that is why i mentioned it!). This 13 disc megaset contains all 47 HOUR-LONG episodes filmed in 1965-66. This is a fantastic show with the great actor Patrick McGoohan and great stories too! I am so glad to see all of these classic TV shows coming out on DVD. As far as i'm concerned, today's television is mostly crap. They don't have the actors, the stories, or the decency that the old shows had. The talent just isn't there in these new shows. When trying this show also try "THE AVENGERS" and "THE SAINT". You'll love every minute!

Good ... for TV
It's important to place any review in context. In the history of TV this was quite a good show, and compared to present-day TV, it is a masterpiece.

It works because it offers a sort of purity, a sincerity. It isn't top-heavy with the preening narcissism that dominates modern acting. McGoohan was a good, though not great, actor with limited range, but he infused the Drake with character, self-effacement, and decency. All one has to do is compare McGoohan to another star of the same vintage, Roger Moore, to appreciate the former's acting substance. After watching dozens of episodes, though, McGoohan's methods are somewhat wearing.

Compared to a good book, the plots are thoroughly characteristic of TV; they are superficial and unrealistic.

An expensive and extensive set like this is for devotees, and they already know they will like it, naturally. Casual viewers will more likely watch a few episodes and leave the box on the shelf gathering dust. But if you have the spare cash, you could do a lot worse than Secret Agent when you crank up the idiot box.

Prince of Spies
What was golden about "Secret Agent" in 1965 remains golden: it tackles the familiar spy-story themes---duty, honor, country; loyalty, brotherhood, betrayal---with a theatrical style, with romanticism, wit, and grace, often with deep human feeling. In 1965, when the moral norms in television and movies were starting to go to hell in a handbasket and the spy genre was characterized by the comic-book vulgarity of the James Bond films and the moral pessimism of John Le Carre, the strong moral tone and absence of promiscuity in "Secret Agent" were remarkable. That turned out to be a deliberate device, at the personal insistence of the star. Certain of the writers and directors seemed to recognize the possibilities and seize on them, deftly exploiting their star's unique characteristics to create some fascinating, unforgettable television.

With this reissue of the complete '65-'66 series on DVD---and now that things in the culture have gotten a lot darker---my own thanks go to Patrick McGoohan for that particular moment in his career: for the glowing, graceful Cold Warrior he made of John Drake; for his insistence on a principled approach to the character; for the enduring mystery of personality he brought to a small-screen hero.

Can't go to the theater? Watch McGoohan, with his strange quality of aggressive shyness, in a repertory of amusing impersonations: the tipsy playboy, the wheeler-dealer businessman, the shy schoolteacher, the crisp colonial officer, the langorous beachcomber, the insolent artist, the veddy English butler, the flirtatious German encyclopedia salesman, the supercilious physician ("It's Bailey-Carpenter---ehm---there's a hyphen"). The darkness of "The Prisoner" and 35 years of villain roles haven't dimmed the glow of this princely performance, or the image of the decent, thoughtful man behind it, who seemed to care so genuinely about his influence on the television audience.

Faulkner said, "The artist's duty is to lift up men's hearts and help them endure." The people who worked on this series did their duty.

So spend your money. This is great stuff.
M.E.M.

Question about other shows
Is this the complete set without the first season, then? If the first season ended in '61, and the rest of this megaset starts from '65, are there episodes from '61-65? My email is Jadziaq@hotmail.com if anyone would pls let me know, Thanks!

Leanne ... Read more

Amazon.com

Since its network debut in 1960, The Andy Griffith Show has been a viewer favorite thanks to its folksy, nostalgic charm and memorable cast, both of which shine in this set featuring the series' debut season. Originally spun off from an episode of Make Room for Daddy (both series shared producers Sheldon Leonard and Danny Thomas), The Andy Griffith Show centered around the lives of small-town sheriff Andy Taylor (the marvelously dry Griffith), his son Opie (Ron Howard), cousin and deputy Barney Fife (multiple Emmy winner Don Knotts), and the other gentle eccentrics of Mayberry (which was based on Griffith's real hometown). But while other "rural" programs poked fun at its characters (The Real McCoys, The Beverly Hillbillies), The Andy Griffith Show never stooped to stereotypes, preferring instead to draw its humor from the fine writing and cast, which counted Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee, Howard McNear as Floyd the Barber, and Hal Campbell as Mayberry's benevolent drunk, Otis, among the first season ensemble. All 32 episodes (including the epilogues, which are rarely aired in syndication) are compiled on this four-disc set, which regrettably lacks any supplemental features. --Paul Gaita ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Filmed in VIDECOLOR [explosions, drum roll, music builds to a climax] and SUPERMARIONATION"! The opening sequence of Thunderbirds is itself a master class in Gerry Anderson's marionette hyperbole: who else would dare to make a virtue out of the fact that (a) the show is in color and (b) it's got puppets in it? But everything about this series really is epic: Thunderbirds is action on the grandest scale, predating such high-concept Hollywood vehicles as Armageddon by 30 years and more (the acting is better, too), and fetishizing gadgets in a way that even the most excessive Bond movies could never hope to rival. Unsurprisingly, the visual effects are by Derek Meddings, whose later contributions to Bond movies like The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker echo his pioneering model work here.

As for the characters, the clean-cut Tracey boys take second place in the audiences' affections to their cool machines--the real stars of the show--while comic relief is to be found in the charming company of Lady Penelope and her pink Rolls (license plate FAB1), driven by lugubrious chauffeur Parker, whose "Yes, milady" catchphrase resonated around school playgrounds for decades. (Spare a thought for poor old John Tracey, stuck up in space on Thunderbird 5 with only the radio for company.) The puppet stunt work is breathtakingly audacious, and every week's death-defying escapade is nail-bitingly choreographed in the very best tradition of disaster movies. First shown in 1964 and now digitally remastered, Thunderbirds is children's TV that still looks and sounds like big-budget Hollywood.

The Thunderbirds Mega Set contains 32 complete, uncut, and digitally remastered episodes on 12 DVDs. Bonus features include production stills photo galleries, two original 1965 "The Making of Thunderbirds" featurettes, the History of Thunderbirds, character biographies, and a Gerry Anderson biography/filmography. --Mark Walker ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The best way to experience the classic series
SERIES INTRODUCTION:
In the sixties, Gerry Anderson created a number of puppet shows. But these weren't the lame kind - they were actually all very interesting. Among them were Fireball XL5, UFO, and, of course, his crowning achievement - Thunderbirds. At long last, the classic series has gotten a DVD release, and now all of the DVD volumes are available in one handy set! Read on for my review.

BASIC PLOT:
The basic plot of Thunderbirds is simplistic, but it works. Jeff Tracy, a former air force pilot, as put together an organization to rescue people around the world from danger. Appropriately enough, he calls his new agency International Rescue. The operation is carried out by his five sons, each of which operate a vehicle that can be used to help people in dangerous situations. The Tracy brothers have a variety of adventures, no two of which are alike. Two of my personal favorite episodes are Trapped In The Sky, an episode in which a bomb has been placed on a commercial airliner, snd The Uninvited, in which Scott Tracy discovers an ancient Egyptian pyramid that has been turned into a base for terrorists. You get every episode of the series in this set.

FILM OPINIONS:
For being filmed in the sixties, this series was well ahead of its time. Sure, there are a few plotholes (for example, every newspaper in the series says the date is December 24, and they can't seem to decide what year the series takes place), but it's still an excellent series. It's just a shame the show tends to go so underrated these days, because it is actually quite excellent.

DVD:
The DVDs have beautifully restored the series, and the episodes look about as good as a show from the sixties on DVD possibly can look. The final disc in the set has a number of bonus features, which will really appeal to die-hard fans of Gerry Anderson and the series as a whole.

OVERALL:
Overall, Thunderbirds is one hell of a classic science fiction series. If you're a fan of the genre, this is a series well worth checking out - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good it is.

...5, 4, 3, 2, 1...the Thunderbirds are go!!!
Wow!...I've just bought this set and I am really thrilled about it!
I've just seen the first DVD and I relived my whole childhood! I remembered lots of details about these first episodes and to be able to watch them again, some 30 (or so) years later is quite an experience!!!
As a kid I was really impressed by all the gadgets in this series: I loved the airplanes, the spaceships, the cars, the architecture. No wonder why I ended up being a car designer! I remember that all of the first ideas for futuristic automobiles that I drew as a kid had double front axles, just like Lady Penelope's Rolls-Royce!
It's amazing that many of the sci-fi ideas displayed in this series still seem fresh after all these years. A lot of effort and creativity went into producing these episodes!
If you were a fan of the Thunderbirds back in the 60's you'll enjoy this set! Buy it, don't hesitate, it's worth every single dollar!
My only dissappointment is that this set comes in only one language: english. Back in the sixties I watched the series translated into spanish since I live and grew up in Mexico, and I miss hearing the voices that I remembered!...

A well earned reputation
Imagine James Bond and Mission Impossible performed by marionettes. Throw in some eye opening and lavish (miniature 1/3 scale puppets) sets, special effects, and a "gee whiz!" attention to detail, and you begin to get an idea of why "Thunderbirds" has such a cult following. The scripts are involving and could just as easily have been performed by live actors with good results. There are enough cool gadgets in this series to please the ten year old boy in every grown up man (I suspect this series is more of a guy thing because relationships take second place to action). There is something else fascinating about this series and that is how seriously the producers, directors, designers took what was essentially a children's puppet show and kept to such high (and unnecessary) standards. This may be partly due to producer Gerry Anderson's frustrated desire to work as a mainstream film director/producer with live actors (he eventually got his wish years later). Seeing marionettes perform in realistic sets, with sophisticated action scripts, and good voice acting is a novel experience that appeals to everyone who has ever had a train set and tried to build a miniature town or city.
I bought this series for my mindless summer vacation viewing and it has been great fun. The DVD transfers are very clean.
This is great family entertainment, summer viewing, father and son get together material. Way to go, Thunderbirds!

F.A.B
Like most of the reviewers, I grew up with this show as a child, it is re run every Saturday Morning here in Australia at 6 a.m. While we know they are puppets, the show hooks you in with its plot, which where way ahead of their time for the years that the shows where made. One of my favourite episodes has to be the ones set in the desert with the pyriamds where the bad guys live and they shoot down Thunderbird 1. and the Episodes with the baddy with the hypnotic eyes. I still enjoy the show 35 years on. I have one question that I would like answered, why does Scott (Thunderbird 1) have an American accent when all his brothers have English ones???

superthunderbirds
Watched this as a child. This series is so much better than cartoons. The shows even though they were made in the 60's is so futuristic. The space station, nuclear devices, unheard of in the 60's. Did Gerry Anderson have a premonition of things to come. I wonder !!. ... Read more

Description

While driving in the Collinsport village, Barnabas Collins accidentallyhits a stranger in the road. He recognizes that the man is identical toQuentin Collins from 1897. Paul Stoddard becomes frantic when he realizes that the Leviathans want to claim the soul of his daughter Carolyn due to an agreement he made when she was a child. He discovers that the young boy living at the antique shop is a member of theother-worldly race. Dr. Julia Hoffman's investigations to find a cure for Chris Jennings' werewolf curse lead her to the elderly artist Charles Delware Tate. After revealing that she is really Amanda Harris from 1897, Olivia Corey tries to help Quentin regain his memory. While searching for Quentin's mystical portrait, Julia meets art collector Sky Rumson and learns he is married to Angelique, the witch. Barnabas begsAngelique for her supernatural help to overthrow the Leviathans. Bonuses: Exclusive interviews with actors Kathryn Leigh Scott, Christopher Pennock, Geoffrey Scott and soap opera journalist/historian Michael Logan. Starring: Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett, David Selby, Grayson Hall, Louis Edmonds, Kathryn Leigh Scott, David Henesy, Nancy Barrett, Thayer David, Marie Wallace, Dennis Patrick, Lara Parker, Don Briscoe, Donna McKechnie, Christopher Pennock, Roger Davis, Lisa Richards, Geoffrey Scott, Ed Riley, John Harkins, David Jay, Michael Maitland, Emory Bass, Kenneth McMillan, Camilla Ashland, Sho Onodera, Lisa Ross, Ronald Dawson, Brian Sturdivant and Marsha Mason. ... Read more

Amazon.com

It has its own stormy weather and fire-breathing housepet named Spot, but the mansion at 1313 Mockingbird Heights is otherwise like any other American sitcom home. This is the address of the Munsters, the family that for two seasons, 1964-66, found a permanent place in pop culture--if not "monster" success. Developed by Leave It to Beaver team Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, the series was a standard sitcom (complete with the same awful canned laughter), except that the Ward Cleaver character was a reanimated corpse.

Dad Herman (Fred Gwynne) was a Frankenstein's monster, mom Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo) and Grandpa (Al Lewis) were vampires, and son Eddie (Butch Patrick) a little wolf-boy. Munster niece Marilyn was inexplicably normal, which prompted much worry from the other members of the family (she was played in early episodes by Beverly Owen, who left to get married, and then by Pat Priest). The plots revolve around typically tortured sitcom situations:Herman must lose weight to fit into his old Army uniform, Herman has insomnia, Herman takes dance lessons from a crooked instructor. (As that list would suggest, 6'5" Fred Gwynne's wonderfully agile slapstick and Borscht Belt comedy made him the center of the show.)

What distinguished The Munsters from Father Knows Best was the Universal horror-movie lineage and the ghoulish one-liners (the latter growing a bit tedious after a while). The three-disc DVD has all 38 first-season episodes in excellent transfers, a 15-minute pilot with different actors as Lily and Eddie, and no extras or commentaries. High points include "Hot Rod Herman," which features the tricked-out Munster Koach and Drag-u-la (boss wagons both), and "Eddie's Nickname," the one where Grandpa gives Eddie a potion that causes the boy's beard to grow (a weirdly memorable image, if you're a kid). The show was either pure kiddie farce or a radical comment on the absurdly unreal world of sitcoms. Either way, if you grew up with them as an alternate TV family, you can't help but have warm feelings for the Munsters, as clammy as they are. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A Great Show Comes with a Price
I love The Munsters. I have to get the DVD. But why does it have to be $60.00! That's crazy! It only has three discs and it barely has any extras. I got the first season of The Simpsons, with only 3 discs and a bunch of extras, for less than $60.00!!!
I still will get The Munsters on DVD because the show is great, but it is painful to think of how expensive the next DVD will be(...).

It's all right, but that's all.
Well the few times I have seen this series. The shows are all right. Some of the jokes are all right, but both the writing and the casting does not always work, and it has not aged very well.

Munsters= Laughs & Fun
Wonderful news to know that the Munsters episodes are gonna be
released on DVD. I have seen some episodes and even have
recorded some on VHS but I haven't seen all. I literally fall
from my bed laughing each time I see an episode. What a great
chemistry the actors made: Fred Gwyne (Herman) and Al Lewis
(granpa) plus the talents of Yvonne De Carlo, Pat Priest and
Butch Patrick. I recall an episode where Herman asks his boss
for a raise and he gets fired and he didn't want Lily to know
he was without a job, then he seretely goes out seeking for a
new job and ends up with various jobs where he surely made a mess
and gave us a chain of funny situations.

Awesome!
I Can't wait to finaly own this awesome hilarious show on DVD!

I love the Munsters and think they are a much more interesting TV family then the boring TV families from Leave it To Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show, etc, etc, etc!

btw: Marilyn was played by two different actors in the first season First by Beverly Owen and than by Pat Priest and as much as I like Pat Priest I wonder why she replaced Beverly Owen and whatever happed to Beverly Owen.

Munster Mash
I always preferred 'The Munsters' to 'The Addams Family'. Both have their own certain charm, though.

We're finally treated to the complete first season of 'The Munsters' on DVD. Personally, I can't wait. The nostalgia that bleeds from this show can only be rivaled by the likes of the original 60's Spider-Man cartoons and the original Star Trek. What to expect of this short-lived 60's sitcom is, corny gags, cheezy sets, inept and silly plots, annoying laugh-track that snickers at anything, goofy endings and ridiculously hammy acting.

Would you really have it any other way?

The cast is quite perfect, though. The bulky, dopey, sensitive, half-wit Frankenstein, Herman. The sultry yet prudish, Lily. The sneaky, sarcastic and "brilliant" mad-scientist, Grandpa. The innocent and always curious werewolf-child, Eddie. And the frightfully normal teenage prom-queen, Marilyn (who is shunned and dubbed a freak for being so ordinary and pretty).

All in all, 'The Munsters' is just pure fun. Grab this DVD if you're into it. If not, then go run to your precious 'Addams Family'. ... Read more

Description

In VOLUME NINE of I LOVE LUCY: SEASON ONE, Lucy: manages to get herself and Ricky on the radio in "Lucy Gets Ricky On The Radio," teaches her time-conscious hubby a lesson in "Lucy’s Schedule," comes up with an unorthodox treatment for baldness in "Ricky Thinks He’s Getting Bald," and convinces Ricky to pressure his boss into giving him a raise in "Ricky Asks For A Raise."Now that all 9 volumes of Season One are available, there is also an I LOVE LUCY: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON DVD set available. ... Read more

Reviews (57)

Not a Perfect Set, but Worth it
I love "I Love Lucy." Whenever I find it on TV, I watch and find myself laughing. Naturally, it was one of the first shows I knew I wanted on DVD. This set has good and bad points. In reality, I'd probably give it 4.5 if I could. But since I can't, I rounded up.

The biggest drawback is the price. It's expensive! Even though I've found it cheaper other places, it still costs a lot of money. Of course, you do get 9 DVD for the price. And if you bought the discs as they came out, you have no reason to get this set since you already have all the material.

On the plus side, you get the 35 official season 1 episodes plus the "lost pilot" that was found and released several years ago. The episodes have been restored and I doubt they looked this good when they first aired. Picture is original full frame black and white and sound is original mono. Bonus features include behind the scenes trivia and photos, guest cast information, restored footage (some of which is a hoot), the original animated opening, and at least one episode per disc of Lucy's radio show "My Favorite Husband" that inspired certain episodes.

For me, I find some of the episodes near the start of season 1 to be rather slow and not as funny. This is a common complaint of mine with most TV shows. The writers and actors need time to find the characters before things really take off. Still, there are some early gems like "The Diet" and "The Fur Coat." The second half more then makes up for the first with many classic moments and hilarious episodes like "The Ballet," "Breaking the Lease," "The Gossip," "Pioneer Women," "The Freezer," and "Lucy's Schedule." I can watch these episodes over and over again and laugh myself silly every time.

Of course, this doesn't mention the single most famous episode of season 1 - "Lucy Does a TV Commercial." If this title doesn't ring a bell, I have just one word for you. Vitameatavegamin.

Is this a perfect set? No, and its flaws are a little more obvious then most. The good news is that future seasons of this classic show will be released in cheaper to buy full season sets. In the end, if you love Lucy, you will be glad you spent the money to get this set.

Episode guide for season one
Here is a complete episode guide for season one of "I Love Lucy." (September 1951-June 1952) The DVD collection also includes the series pilot, deleted scenes, clips from Lucy's radio show, "My Favorite Husband," and excellent preservation.

1. Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her-Lucy reads a murder mystery and jumps to the conclusion that Ricky must want to murder her as well.
2. The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub-For Fred and Ethel's wedding anniversary, Ethel wants to go to a nightclub, but Fred wants to go to the fights. Ricky and Lucy try to solve the problem.
3. Be a Pal-Lucy thinks that she and Ricky have nothing in common, so she begins to adopt his interests, including poker, much to Fred's dismay.
4. The Diet-When Lucy auditions for a part at Ricky's nightclub, he tells her he'll hire her if she can fit into the costume: a size 12.
5. The Quiz Show-Desperate for money to balance her household accounts, Lucy goes on a quiz show and agrees to bring home a total stranger and introduce him to Ricky as her long-lost husband.
6. The Audition-Lucy hires a coach to prepare her to audition for Ricky's show. This episode nearly mirrors the show's pilot, including Lucy's hobo act.
7. The Séance-In order to get Ricky in the good graces of Mr. Meriweather, Lucy and Ethel arrange a bogus séance so that Mr. Meriweather can contact his dead wife.
8. Men are Messy-Lucy is tired of cleaning up Ricky's messes, so when a magazine photographer comes to take snapshots of Ricky's home, Lucy decides to teach her husband a lesson.
9. Drafted-When Ricky receives a letter from the War Department, Lucy thinks he's been drafted. When Ricky catches Lucy knitting socks and then hiding them, he thinks she's pregnant. Ethel and Fred also adopt similar wrong conclusions.
10. The Fur Coat-When Ricky brings home a fur coat he rented for a show, Lucy mistakenly believes it's for her, and Ricky can't get her to take it off.
11. Lucy is Jealous of a Girl Singer-A recurring theme throughout the show, Lucy is jealous of a girl at Ricky's club (who is actually a dancer, not a singer).
12. The Adagio-Lucy hires a Parisian dancer to prep her for an audition at the Tropicana, but the dancer has romance in mind.
13. The Benefit-Lucy and Ricky agree to perform for Ethel's benefit club, but while rehearsing Lucy notices that Ricky delivers all the punch lines. She decides to change things...without telling Ricky.
14. The Amateur Hour-To earn extra money, Lucy agrees to take care of a lady's two bratty boys. She and the boys later appear on a TV show.
15. Lucy Plays Cupid-Lucy tries her hand at matchmaking for the first time with one of her neighbors and the grocer.
16. Lucy Fakes Illness-Lucy promises she'll have a nervous breakdown if Ricky doesn't hire her in his new show.
17. Lucy Writes a Play-Ricky refuses to play the leading role in Lucy's play.
18. Breaking the Lease-Lucy and Ricky have a huge fight with Ethel and Fred, so they decide to break their lease with vengeance.
19. The Ballet-Lucy lies and claims she has professional ballet experience to get a part at Ricky's nightclub.
20. The Young Fans-A teenager in the apartment building has a crush on Ricky, so Lucy tries to find her a boyfriend her own age. That young man (played by Richard Crenna) subsequently develops a crush on Lucy.
21. New Neighbors-Lucy and Ethel spy on their new neighbors, and Lucy creeps into their apartment while they're gone. They return while she's in a closet, and she overhears what she thinks is an elaborate espionage plot.
22. Fred and Ethel Fight-Lucy tries to patch up Fred and Ethel's marriage when the two split up.
23. The Moustache-When Ricky grows a moustache, Lucy plasters on a beard...that won't come off!
24. The Gossip-Ricky and Fred try to prove that women are bigger gossips than men.
25. Pioneer Women-Ricky and Fred think Lucy and Ethel are spoiled housewives who couldn't live without their modern conveniences. So all four decide to live like pioneers without electricity, running water, contemporary clothing, etc.
26. The Marriage License-Lucy discovers that she and Ricky are not legally married because Ricky's name is listed as "Nicky Nicardo" on their marriage license.
27. The Kleptomaniac-When Ricky finds out that Lucy is hiding mysterious valuables in the closet, he assumes she compulsively steals them.
28. Cuban Pals-Some of Ricky's old friends from Cuba come to visit, including a little girl Ricky used to dance with...who isn't a little girl anymore, much to Lucy's dismay!
29. The Freezer-Ethel buys a huge commercial freezer from her uncle, and she and Lucy fill it up with meat: two sides of beef. When they try to hide the huge expense from their husbands, Lucy accidentally locks herself in the freezer.
30. Lucy Does a TV Commercial-Probably the most famous "I Love Lucy" episode, Lucy does a commercial for Vitametavegamin, an health "tonic" with some shady ingredients.
31. The Publicity Agent-Feeling that Ricky has fallen out of the public eye, Lucy dreams up an elaborate publicity stunt: She poses as the Maharincess of Franistan who can't live without Ricky Ricardo's records.
32. Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio-Lucy is so impressed with Ricky's knowledge of American history that she gets him to be a contestant on a radio quiz show.
33. Lucy's Schedule-Ricky puts Lucy on a strict schedule to teach her the importance of punctuality.
34. Ricky Thinks He's Getting Bald-Lucy gives Ricky scalp treatments to combat his fears of growing bald.
35. Ricky Asks for a Raise-Lucy presses Ricky to ask for a raise.

SOMEBODY MADE A MISTAKE FOR SURE
As a personal policy I buy all of my DVDs at Amazon and I think their prices and services are absolutely superb, however, this DVD is priced at bn.com at 79.98. That's just about $35 less than Amazon.
I'm sure there is no bad will here but it sure sounds somebody made a mistake. I hope Amazon corrects it before I have to buy this elsewhere

WHAT HAPPENED TO SEASON TWO?
I bought the discs in Season One one by one, as they were released. Each new disc would come out every few months. The last one came out in Summer of 2003. NO NEW DISCS SINCE THEN. WHAT GIVES?
The disc quality and bonus material are all great.
The first discs feature a bonus tinny Spanish soundtrack. Later discs boast both a Spanish soundtrack and subtitles. Too bad the subtitles were left out of the first episodes.
And WHY NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES at all for the hearing impaired?
SEASON TWO, WHEREFORE ART THOU?

Great if YOU LOVE LUCY
This is expensive. My advice... shop around (hint hint) ... Read more

Amazon.com

Before The Dick Van Dyke Show, suburbia was never portrayed on television as a haven of sophistication. We never followed Ozzie Nelson to work. And we never, ever fantasized what Ward and June Cleaver did behind closed doors. But Your Show of Shows veteran Carl Reiner's groundbreaking series broke the staid, sitcom mold. Just consider Mary Tyler Moore's Laura Petrie, the ravishing wife of Dick Van Dyke's comedy writer, Rob Petrie. "I'm just a housewife," she proclaims in the episode "To Tell or Not to Tell," just before breaking into an incendiary bossa nova in the Petrie living room. In "The Return of Happy Spangler," she is jokingly identified as Jackie Kennedy. But the comparison is apt. She's got style (those capri pants scandalized the show's sponsors!); she's got grace.The Dick Van Dyke Show boasts a peerless ensemble, gold-standard writing, and characters who have become icons. How many comedy writers were inspired to get into the business by watching Rob and his staff, man-hungry Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) and old school "human joke machine" Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam), brainstorm sketches for tyrannical boss Alan Brady (much discussed, and much feared, but never seen in season 1)?

Much of the comedy in the first season springs from Rob juggling his glamorous career with his harried home life. In the first episode, he compels his over-protective wife to attend a party at Alan Brady's, though she is worried son Ritchie (Larry Matthews) is sick ("He turned down his cupcake"). In "Washington vs. the Bunny," Rob must choose between a business trip and seeing Ritchie in a school play. In another episode, Rob forgets "Forty-Four Tickets" he had promised to the P.T.A. But back to Laura (and about time!). As the season unfolds, Moore comes into her own as a gifted comedienne, and she takes her stock character to dizzy new heights, as witness "My Blonde-Haired Brunette" and the classic "The Curious Thing About Women," the one with the inflatable boat. A pop culture benchmark, The Dick Van Dyke Show is must-own television. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Still funny after all these years
This holds up lots better than most shows that were from the 50s. It features one of the great casts ever, an hilarious Van Dyke, a radiant MTM. Season 1 did have some kinks worked out. The fascinating pilot, on the DVD as an extra, was written for Carl Reiner to star and called "Head of the Family." The Season 1 Dick Van Dyke show episodes retain a lot of that sensibility, though are much funnier. As time wears on in this series, it exploits the talents of the adult cast far more. In Season 1 it sometimes seems like Richie is the center of every episode, in keeping with the original concept. Oh, the first classic MTM "Oh, Rob..." can now be documented to occur early in Season 1, on Disc 2. ;)

1st-Season Episode Guide ... Plus Fun Van Dyke Show Facts...
Here's a complete Episode Guide for Season One of "The Dick Van Dyke Show", which consists of 30 programs, all of which are showcased in this picture-perfect, five-disc DVD boxed set. (There's also a bonus 31st program in this collection -- that being the original "Pilot" episode, "Head Of The Family".)

This episode list reflects the order in which the programs are presented within this DVD collection, arranged in sequence by "Production Date" (the date of filming the show), which does not always necessarily match the "Air Date" chronology.

The original CBS-TV "Air Dates" are listed in parenthesis:

-------------------------------------------------

"HEAD OF THE FAMILY" (PILOT) --- Starring Carl Reiner in the role of Rob Petrie. Featuring Barbara Britton as Laura, Morty Gunty as Buddy Sorrell, and Sylvia Miles as Sally Rogers.

The "Pilot" episode ultimately evolved, more than a year later, into what would become "The Dick Van Dyke Show". "Head Of The Family" was filmed in early December of 1958, but it didn't receive its one (and only) network TV airing until more than a year-and-a-half later, when CBS aired it on July 19, 1960.

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THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW -- SEASON #1 (1961-1962):

1. The Sick Boy And The Sitter (First Aired: 10/3/1961)
2. The Meerschatz Pipe (11/28/1961)
3. Jealousy! (11/7/1961)
4. Sally And The Lab Technician (10/17/1961)
5. Washington vs. The Bunny (10/24/1961)
6. Oh How We Met The Night That We Danced (10/31/1961)
7. The Unwelcome House Guest (11/21/1961)
8. Harrison B. Harding Of Camp Crowder, Mo. (11/6/1961)
9. My Blonde-Haired Brunette (10/10/1961)
10. Forty-Four Tickets (12/5/1961)
11. To Tell Or Not To Tell (11/14/1961)
12. Sally Is A Girl (12/19/1961)
13. Empress Carlotta's Necklace (12/12/1961)
14. Buddy, Can You Spare A Job? (12/26/1961)
15. Who Owes Who What? (1/24/1962)
16. Sol And The Sponsor (4/11/1962)
17. The Curious Thing About Women (1/10/1962)
18. Punch Thy Neighbor (1/17/1962)
19. Where Did I Come From? (1/3/1962)
20. The Boarder Incident (2/14/1962)
21. A Word A Day (2/7/1962)
22. The Talented Neighborhood (1/31/1962)
23. Father Of The Week (2/21/1962)
24. The Twizzle (2/28/1962)
25. One Angry Man (3/7/1962)
26. Where You Been, Fassbinder? (3/14/1962)
27. The Bad Old Days (4/4/1962)
28. I Am My Brother's Keeper (3/21/1962) **
29. The Sleeping Brother (3/28/1962) **
30. The Return Of Happy Spangler (4/18/1962)

** = Two-Part Episode

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It's a fine batch of episodes for the show's rookie season. And they look better than ever on this set of DVDs from Image Entertainment, with each program being remastered and restored.

A wealth of bonus material also awaits the purchaser of this deluxe, snappy-looking DVD package .... including: audio commentaries, cast interview snippets, original TV commercials, promotional ads, Emmy Award clips, and photo galleries. A first-rate package in every respect!

Intriguing "Dick Van Dyke Show Season 1" Notes & Trivia ...........

>> Many people have labeled Rob & Laura Petrie as "America's First Couple of TV", likening the attractive and photogenic TV husband-and-wife duo to that of the real-life "First Couple" of the day, John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In addition to this purely sentimental and cosmetic "connection" made between the two couples, there are also two other very interesting pieces of information that closely tie the Kennedys to the fictional Petrie clan. .... Many fans of the show might not realize that both of these "First Couples" made their debuts on the exact same date. On January 20, 1961, JFK was inaugurated as the nation's 35th President; while later that very same day, the premiere episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" ("The Sick Boy And The Sitter") was filmed before a live studio audience in Hollywood. (The show wouldn't be aired, however, until more than eight months later.)

>> Another Kennedy/Van Dyke Show tie-in occurred in 1958, when actor Peter Lawford, JFK's brother-in-law, forked over the cash to finance the filming of Carl Reiner's pilot, "Head Of The Family". With another interesting Kennedy twist being the fact that in order for the project to go forward, it appears that the Kennedy patriarch himself, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., had to green-light Carl Reiner's script with a positive review of the material. The elder Kennedy evidently did indeed give a thumbs-up to the pilot script, because just days after reading it, Lawford issued the funds to support its production. So, I suppose one could argue that if it weren't for the backing of the Kennedy clan, we might *not* have ever seen "The Dick Van Dyke Show" make it into production. (Although, even without the aid of the powerful Kennedy family's financial assistance, it's doubtful whether the writing talents of Mr. Reiner would have remained hidden under a bushel for very long.)

>> Each first-season episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" cost about $40,000 to produce. This is practically pocket change by today's TV production-cost standards. Many programs nowadays cost more than two million dollars PER EPISODE! Yikes!

>> The original January 1961 Desilu Studios Production Schedule listed the premiere episode of the Van Dyke series as "Carl Reiner Show: All In A Day's Work--Pilot", a title that was never used. The "official" title of the show had not yet been finalized at the time of the first show's filming.

>> This Season-One DVD treasure chest contains one of the very best Mary Tyler Moore/Laura Petrie "crying jags" of the whole series -- in the episode "My Blonde-Haired Brunette", which features a nifty-looking "half-blonde / half-brunette" Laura Petrie, who was attempting to spice up her marriage by bleaching her hair. This is the episode which solidified the comedic acting talents of Mary Tyler Moore in the eyes of Carl Reiner (and everybody else who worked on the show). It didn't take Mary very long to go from "That Girl With Three Names" (just before she was cast in the part, when nobody could remember what her name was) to an acting force to be reckoned with. The rest, as they say .... is history. :)

"Technical Glitch" Explained
The previous review regarding "distortion" on some of these Dick Van Dyke Show episodes sparked me to expand upon this problem a bit further. .......

A few scenes within these first-season shows (as well as a few from the subsequent Image boxed sets in this series) exhibit a kind of "video fluttering" effect. To clarify further, it looks to me as if the video goes just slightly out-of-focus and a little blurry for these few scenes.

Some of the episodes affected include: "Punch Thy Neighbor", "Forty-Four Tickets", and "A Word A Day". But keep in mind, this "flutter"/"fuzziness" problem does NOT exist for the WHOLE length of these episodes. In "Punch Thy Neighbor", the picture goes a little off-kilter near the beginning of the program, but then clears up again completely about 8 minutes later, with the final portions of the episode exhibiting the usual crystal-clear clarity that 95% (or more) of the episodes display throughout these Image Entertainment boxed sets.

Also consider the fact that on many (smaller) TV monitors, these slight blemishes might not be nearly as noticeable (if at all). The larger your television screen, the more you'll notice any minor video defects.

I was nearly certain in my own mind that these "fuzzy" scenes on these DVDs were the fault of the film-to-DVD digital transfers. But, after e-mailing Image Entertainment directly about this problem, I'm now of the opinion that I was in error about my original assessment of the transfers.

Image was kind enough to get back to me via return e-mail in a very short time period, and explained to me what the deal was regarding these video "hiccups". Here's the exact mail I received from Image .......

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"Dear David,
The "blurriness" apparent during sections of these episodes is the result of damaged source material; more specifically this problem is caused by warped film. Image Entertainment has done all it can do to eliminate this problem using the technology on hand and hopefully new technological advances in editing will allow this problem to be corrected completely at some point in the future. Thank you."

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This explanation straight from the distributor's mouth started to make the most sense, logically-speaking, to me. It's unfortunate, indeed, that not every single second of every scene is 100% pristine in video quality. However, it was kind of comforting to hear that Image Entertainment was, in fact, aware of the "blurry" problem I was talking about in my mail to them, and was forthright enough to give me the straight dope on what they knew about the situation. And it's kind of nice to just know that these shows, everything considered, look as good as they possibly can look, and that the slight fuzzy portions are NOT the result of neglectful work done by the people in charge of the digital transfers.

I accept, without reservation, Image's "warped film" explanation regarding this matter. Perhaps other individuals who have also noticed this problem will not accept it. So be it. But, as far as I'm concerned, the people at Image Entertainment are a class act all the way, and have proven this to me via previous correspondence (well before I ever even noticed this video glitch issue). They have always been very quick to respond to any inquiry I've had about their company and their products.

Having said all of the above, I really think it would be a shame for this minor picture-quality topic (and it IS minor, affecting only a small handful of total episodes) to be considered a "make it or break it" issue when someone goes to evaluate whether or not to purchase these otherwise-pristine DVD products.

For, even if you DO notice a few of these video blips, these Dick Van Dyke Show season sets, overall, are some of the very best TV-on-DVD products on the market today.

Warning: Portions of some episodes are distorted.
Although it looks like digital distortion, Image Entertainment blames the periodic distortion on "warped film" and claims that there's nothing they can do about it.

It's Van Dyke's show, but it's Tyler Moore's breakthrough.
The Dick Van Dyke Show is simply a landmark of television situation comedy. It's treatment of the American family bought the sitcom into the 1960's. Where I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best were relics of the staid, conservative Eisenhower years, The Dick Van Dyke Show propelled sitcoms into the New Frontier. Audiences now got to see a family that more closely mirrored the situations and concerns of their own lives (even with the inevitable exaggeration of situations that occurs in event the best shows). For the first time, audiences not only got to see where the father figure in a family worked, but that workplace became a focal point for many of the show's episodes. Fathers and mothers were real people and not the carboard cutouts of Father Knows Best and Ozzie and Harriet or the hysterical cartoon characters of I Love Lucy. A Jewish character was vital, not as a caricature as in previous shows, but as a real, viable character. To be sure, there was the usual lunacy found in most sitcoms, but the humor arose from situations that its audience could identify with and relate to.

However, no innovation introduced by The Dick Van Dyke Show was more important than the modernization of the portrayals of women on television. Mary Tyler Moore's Laura Petrie isn't the pretty, but sexless perfect housewife of the 1950's. She is a sexy, intelligent partner to Dick Van Dyke's Rob Petrie who is nobody's fool and is Rob's moral conscience in many ways -- unheard of in the 1950's. As Van Dyke said during a retrospective on the show, "You knew that even though Rob and Laura slept in twin beds, they were doing something else besides sleeping in that bedroom." Moore's tight capri pants and curvaceous figure inspired lust among men (including Carl Reiner's son Rob, who once touched Moore's rear end on the set) that was unimaginable just a few years earlier.

But even more importantly, a female character was now a vital part of the humor of a show without being a sarcastic parnter like Alice Kramden, a sterile, smiling mannequin like Donna Stone/June Cleaver/Margaret Anderson/et al or a wild maniac like Lucy Ricardo. What makes this first season DVD set so important is that the viewer can track when the show hits its stride. And, not coincidentally, it hits that stride when the show starts to utilize Mary Tyler Moore's great comedic talents in the 9th episode, "My Blonde Haired Brunette."

In the first eight episodes of the show, all of the characters, not just Laura Petrie's, seem unfinished. However, each character has their identity defined to a great extent (Rob is the father figure who sometimes is given to clumsiness, Buddy Sorrell is the wisecracking veteran writer, Sally Rodgers is the man hungry female writer who uses her sense of humor to hide her loneliness, Mel Cooley is the fussy producer who is the butt of Buddy's jokes, etc.) The character of Laura, however, seems to be a more modern version of the 1950's housewife, there to give support, cook breakfast for her family, etc.

In "My Blonde Haired Brunette," all that changes. Rob plucks a gray hair out of Laura's head and kids her that she's getting old. Laura becomes extrem