The Andy Griffith Show: Season Six -
Paramount
Widower Sheriff Andy and his son Opie
live with Andy’s Aunt Bee in Mayberry NC. With virtually no
crimes to solve, most of Andy’s time is spent philosophizing
and calming down his cousin Deputy Barney. This show never
gets old. Re-visit the town of Mayberry and share in the
adventures of Andy, Otis, Goober, Aunt Bee and Opie with
this wonderful set. Season six marks the first season
offered in color and the first season with Warren, the
deputy that took Barney’s position. Some of the classic
episodes from this season include “Aunt Bee, the Swinger”,
“The Taylor’s in Hollywood”, “A Man’s Best Friend”, “Aunt
Bee Learns to drive” and “The Return of Barney Fife”.
Memorable guest appearances include Maudie Prickett, Richard
Keith, Norman Alden and Ronda Jeter. The DVD set includes
all 30 episodes uncut and in airdate order with restored
picture and sound. The packaging is attractive with pictures
from the show and an episode synopsis on the inside of each
volume.
Leave It To Beaver: Season Two -
Universal
The Cleavers are the 1950’s ‘All-American
Family’ in this ‘feel-good’ family sitcom. Parents Ward and
June, and older brother Wally, try to keep Theodore (‘the
Beaver’) out of trouble. However, Beaver continues to end up
in one kind of jam or another. Unlike real life, these
situations are always easily resolved to the satisfaction of
all involved and the Beaver gets off with a few stern
moralistic words of parental advice. Instigator and
troublemaker Eddie Haskal is an older kid who always manages
to avoid being caught.
Season two has finally been released onto
DVD. Everyone watched this show at one time or another
sharing the adventures of the Cleaver family. Beaver finds
himself in more trouble than ever in this season making you
wonder if this kid would ever get things right for a change.
Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley are back as the
tolerant parents that only want the best for the boys. If he
were my kid, he would get a spanking that he would not soon
forget!! Ken Osmond played the part of Eddie Haskel
providing some “normalcy” to the show. Every episode is
filled with laughs and funny “one-liners” that will keep you
laughing. The DVD presents all 39 digitally re-mastered
episodes with restored picture and sound. Own this great
classic today!
The World’s Greatest Lover - Fox
Gene Wilder, Carol Kane, and Dom DeLuise
are comic geniuses. Almost anything they do is gold.
However, there are a few exceptions. The World’s Greatest
Lover is one of those films. The story revolves around a
frustrated movie studio mogul (DeLuise) announcing a talent
search for a romantic leading man to rival the great Rudolph
Valentino. A neurotic baker (Wilder) and his wife (Kane)
travels to Hollywood to attend a talent search for an actor
to rival the great Valentino. Although not an actor, through
blind luck he succeeds - to a certain degree! There are a
few funny scenes but most of them fall flat. One great
running joke is the long suffering assistant to DeLuise.
Those scenes are great. There is only one Special Feature
and that is an Audio Commentary by Gene Wilder. It is a real
disappointment. Wilder is very soft spoken and I get the
feeling that he doesn’t have a lot to say about the film.
There are a few interesting points about the back-story of
the film but mostly there are a lot of long pauses.
Sometimes he just giggles at the film. This isn’t a must
listen unless you are a real die-hard fan of Mr. Wilder or
commentary tracks. This isn’t the best film by or staring
Gene Wilder or Carol Kane. I love both of them but this
isn’t a must see. Just maybe chalk it up as a renter if you
have nothing better to see on a weekend.
