- MOTHERS-IN-LAW, THE (DVD MOVIE)
HAZEL:THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON - DVD MovieHooray for
Hazel! Shirley Booth stars as the irrepressible housekeeper Hazel in the endearing family TV series that ran from 1961 to 1966. A brilliant character actress, Booth wisecracks her way through Hazel's life, solving the problems of her employers, the often-befuddled Baxter family, as well as of the community (busting a shoplifting ring, finding homes for stray dogs, exposing a group of financial swindlers). All this Hazel does with her cheerful working-class enthusiasm, without getting so much as a stray wrinkle in her crisply pressed maid uniform (complete with little head thingy). When she gets into her own scrapes, she shrugs them off with Brooklynese cracks like, "Looks like I'm in the soup again!" The show is a perfect snapshot of early 1960s America, complete with frozen-in-time décor (did
eve! ryone have that same print of the little-girl ballet dancer framed in their living room?) and a lovely leisurely pace.
Hazel can make an entire episode out of one single premise, as when Mr. Baxter decides that an unlisted phone number might cut down on the number of crank phone calls. And who wouldn't be nostalgic for a time when middle-class households had a working dad, a mostly-stay-at-home mom, perfectly behaved kids--and live-in housekeepers? Part of the appeal of Hazel, though, is that it's clear her life is much broader than her occupation. She knows everyone in town, from the balloon guy at the local park to the most powerful judge on the bench--all of which eventually comes in handy. And did we mention she's a cham-peen league bowler? Booth won two well-deserved Emmys for her portrayal of Hazel. The boxed set includes all 35 25-minute episodes, and you won't want to miss a one. I'm talking to youse!
--A.T. HurleyThe Complete First Season 1959 ! 1960, All 32 Original Episodes The comic misa! dventure s of television’s most well-meaning but misguided boy are back! The lovable Dennis Mitchell (Jay North) left a trail of chaos throughout his suburban neighborhood. Yet along with his friends and classmates Tommy (Billy Booth) and Margaret (Jeannie Russell), Dennis managed to pry his way into the hearts of millions from week to week. Based on the long-running comic strip by Hank Ketcham, this beloved CBS television series (1959 1963) stayed true to form, as Dennis’s youthful curiosity always managed to get him into heaps of trouble . . . especially with his crotchety old neighbor Mr. Wilson (Joseph Kearns). Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry starred as Dennis’s parents who were always on hand with love and guidance but not necessarily the required supervision.
Here for the first time on DVD are all 32 uncut episodes from the first season of Dennis The Menace!The first season of
Dennis the Menace, a black-and-white sitcom based on the comic strip by Hank Ke! tcham that ran on CBS from 1959 to 1960, featured an energetic, curious young boy who was simply a magnet for mischief. Dennis (Jay North) is essentially a good boy who always wants to be right in the middle of whatever's going on in his suburban neighborhood and has an insatiable desire to "help" his friends and neighbors. His loving, but exasperated parents (Gloria Henry and Herbert Anderson) never seem quite able to anticipate what kind of trouble Dennis might get into next, but one can bet that it will probably have something to do with their grouchy neighbor Mr. Wilson (Joseph Kearns). Whether it's planting flowers, pouring a concrete walk, camping out in the backyard, finding a buyer for a neighbor's house, or talking on the neighborhood (telephone) party line, Dennis always seems to inadvertently make a mess of things. In some ways, this sitcom is surprisingly timeless in its portrayal of a young boy and his abundant energy and overwhelming sense of curiosity, but de! tails like the prevalence of cap guns and shooting games in De! nnis's p lay, firecrackers tossed casually into the garbage and incinerator, and the stereotypical portrayal of a "woman's role" are startling reminders of how much has changed since the late 1950s and early 1960s. Bonus features include a 2010 interview with Henry and Jeannie Russell (Margaret) about everything from casting to the weekly shooting schedule and various troubles on the set; a 2007 audio-only radio interview with Henry and Russell; the 1960
Donna Reed Show episode "Donna Decorates," which guest-starred Dennis the Menace; and the original show promo, credits, and commercials.
--Tami HoriuchiMY THREE SONS:SEASON ONE VOL 1 - DVD MovieWhen one thinks of cutting edge television,
My Three Sons does not immediately leap to mind, but this beloved Boomer-era staple (it ran for 12 seasons, which, for a family sitcom, is second in longevity only to
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet) broke the nuclear family mold. Fred MacMurray's Steve Douglas was a wid! ower, raising his titular brood--college-bound Mike (Tim Considine), middle son Robbie (Don Grady), and youngest son Chip (Stanley Livingston)--with the help of his gruff, but soft-hearted father-in-law, Bub (William Frawley). In the first episode, when a door-to-door cosmetics salesman asks to see the woman of the house, Bub laughs, "Boy, do you have the wrong house." Also not par for the sitcom course is the avant-garde use of sound effects. In one episode, sibling rivalry over a girl results in a "cold war" between Mike and Robbie. Their dinner table sniping as Steve tries to broker peace is punctuated by the sounds of guns firing and bombs exploding. Which is to say that
My Three Sons has aged nicely, and has much to offer beyond nostalgia. No offense to the great William Demarest, who replaced an ailing Frawley in 1965, but the series' "Bub" years were the best. Save for the episode in which comedian George Gobel is a guest at the house, the situations are groun! ded in reality, and the writing often surprises with twists th! at subve rt sitcom convention and stereotypes. "Countdown" cleverly unfolds in real time as the family's Monday morning routine plays out against a televised satellite launch. In another episode, a fraternity rejects Mike, not because they are snobs (the usual sitcom portrayal), but because they believe Mike isn't serious enough about his education. Some episodes simply bring home the laughs, as in "The Little Ragpicker," in which a realistic looking dummy causes a new neighbor to think the worst about the Douglases. But there is genuine pathos in "Bub in the Ointment," in which Bub's "Irish temper" and lack of tact embarrass the kids, until Steve reminds Mike of the sacrifices Bub made to move in with the family after his daughter died. The boys talk, act, and fight like brothers, and Steve, while a pipe-puffing fount of sage fatherly advice, is sometimes at a loss, and is allowed to be testy and impatient with his "wild bunch." The split season is unfortunate, but these inaugural 1! 8 episodes are a healthy serving for those who want a taste of this iconic series.
--Donald LiebensonStudio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 12/16/2008 Run time: 974 minutes Rating: NrSongwriter Paul Simon said it best: Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance. Especially when that train is the Hooterville Cannonball ("the train that’s loved by all"), whose heralding whistle sets this charming series’ classic theme song in motion. An instant hit in its first season,
Petticoat Junction, like
The Andy Griffith Show is the chance to spend quality time with "some decent folks." The series is set at the bucolic, but run-down, Shady Rest Hotel, remotely situated between Hooterville and Pixley (the Mt. Pilot to Hooterville’s Mayberry). The Shady Rest has seen better days. The last time there were three guests at one time, someone observes, was when "Mrs. Pritchard gave birth to twins in the lobby." Widow Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet, th! e voice of Betty Rubble on
The Flintstones) runs the pl! ace with her three beautiful daughters, flirtatious Billie Jo (Jeannine Riley), bookworm Bobbie Jo (Pat Woodall), and pigtailed tomboy Betty Jo (Linda Kaye). Kate’s finagling Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) complicates matters with ill-fated get rich schemes. Other colorful characters include Cannonball engineers Charlie (Smiley Burnette) and Floyd (Rufe Davis), more interested in life’s simple pleasures, like fishing, than running the train on time, and Sam Drucker (Frank Cady), the "self-described general store keeper, notary republic, and town wit." Throughout the first season, Kate and company thwart efforts by Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane), "the most ruthless man since Ivan the Terrible," to put the Shady Rest out of business and shut down the Cannonball, the antiquated steam train that time, and the C.F. & W Railroad forgot. Created by Paul Henning,
Petticoat Junction is not as widely syndicated or popularly known as his other series,
The Beverly Hillbillies and
! Green Acres, but it’s a pleasure to rediscover. One episode for the '60s time capsule, broadcast just a little over a month after the Beatles appeared on
The Ed Sullivan Show, is "The Ladybugs" in which Beatlemania hits the valley, and Uncle Joe transforms the Bradley girls into a girl rock group. Dennis Hopper, of all people, appears as a beatnik in the episode, "Bobby Joe and the Beatnik." Vintage TV fans will have fun spotting Ken "Eddie Haskell" Osmond as a suitor for Billie Jo in "The Genghis Keane Story" (the same episode introduces future
Green Acres scene stealer Hank Patterson as pit-toting farmer Fred Ziffel); Sheila James (Zelda on
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) as a fellow Ladybug, and Steve Franken (Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. on
Gillis) as Homer Bedloe’s chip off the old block son, who has a change of heart after spending time at the Shady Rest in "Bedloe and Son." This set benefits from episode introductions and affectionate r! ecollections by Kaye and Woodall. So, like the song says, forg! et about your cares, it is time to relax at the
Junction. As Bedloe, Jr. proclaims, "A fella could get used to a life like this."
--Donald LiebensonIt's a funny family feud from Desi Arnaz and the writers of I Love Lucy
Set in the swinging late 1960s, THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW centers on the laugh-filled misadventures of longtime neighbors in suburban Los Angeles who become related to each other when their children suddenly get married.
Legendary actress Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks, Grease) stars as Eve Hubbard, the sophisticated wife of straight-laced lawyer Herbert Hubbard (Herb Rudley). Veteran comedienne Kaye Ballard plays Kaye Buell, the outspoken wife of bombastic television writer Roger Buell (Roger C. Carmel and Richard Deacon). To the dismay of their hapless husbands, the strong-willed mothers are determined to meddle in the lives of newlyweds Jerry (Jerry Fogel) and Suzie Hubbard (Deborah Walley).
The Mothers-in-Law is one of those "You had to b! e there" shows, best appreciated by those who dimly but fondly remember this short-lived series. This was Desi Arnaz's last TV series as a producer. As a swan song, it's more "We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me" than "Cuban Pete," but for a show that was hopelessly square even back in 1967 (as witness the cringe-worthy episode featuring the one-hit wonder band the Seeds, who perform said one hit, "Pushin' Too Hard"), it rates as a found treasure thanks to the crack timing and expert clowning of its stars. Show biz troupers Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard star as reserved and sophisticated Eve Hubbard and histrionic and overly emotional Kaye Buell. They are neighbors with an odd-couple friendship whose lives become further bound when their children, Eve's daughter Susie (Deborah Walley) and Kaye's son Jerry (Jerry Fogel), get married and move in to the Hubbards' garage. Arnaz did not attempt to reinvent the wheel with
The Mothers-in-Law. Created and written primarily by I Love Lucy scribes Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis, t! he serie s takes several pages from the
Lucy playbook. Arden and Ballard have a Lucy-Ethel chemistry. Arnaz, who directed many of the episodes, deftly stages the ladies' slapstick shenanigans. And just as Lucy never stopped plotting to get into husband Ricky's act, so do Eve and Kaye insist on meddling in their children's lives, much to the eye-rolling annoyance of their long-suffering husbands (Herbert Rudley and Roger C. Carmel). Several episodes also manage to work in comical production numbers to showcase the cast's talents. Fan-favorite episodes include those in which Arnaz guest stars as matador Raphael Del Gado from Barcelona. Other memorable guest stars include Don Rickles, Ozzie Nelson, Paul Lynde, and a pre-
All in the Family Rob Reiner. Despite being sandwiched between Disney's
The Wonderful World of Color and
Bonanza,
The Mothers-in-Law was not a ratings smash. In season 2, Carmel left the show in a salary dispute and was replaced Darrin-! style with Richard Deacon, and not even the addition of grandchildren to the family mix could save the series. The extras on this eight-disc set are impressive. Baby boomers will get a nostalgic kick out of seeing the NBC peacock unfurl its feathers in "living color," as well as period commercials. There is a newly filmed interview with the gracious Ms. Ballard, the original unaired pilot featuring Kay Cole as Susie, two failed Arnaz series pilots for
The Carol Channing Show and
Lands End, and solo variety show performance clips featuring Arden and Ballard. Unlike the intrusive Mrs. Hubbard and Mrs. Buell, TV buffs should welcome
The Mothers-in-Law into their homes.
--Donald Liebenson
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