DVD Release Date: February 7, 2006 (Image Entertainment)
Color/1994-95
MSRP: $29.99
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 14
Running Time: 330 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: N/A
Audio: English Stereo
Subtitles: None; Closed Captioned.
Special Features: None
Introduction:
John, Georgie, Billy Bob and the kids are back for one
last time for season three of the well written sitcom,
Hearts Afire! Yes, the series’ third season is now
available on the DVD for the first time. Don’t miss
the final 14 episodes of memorable misadventures,
including the final unaired episode. The series stars
John Ritter, Markie Post and Billy Bob Thornton.
Co-starring are Conchata Ferrell, playing Madeline and
Leslie Jordan playing Lonnie Garr.
The show was created & produced by Linda
Bloodworth-Thomason (Designing Women). Executive
producers include Linda’s then husband, Harry Thomason
and John Ritter’s business partner, Robert M. Myman.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
While this season again is not as good as the first
season, there are some good episodes. I don’t consider
the season premiere (“Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad About My
Baby”) to be memorable, but you have to watch that
since that is the episode where John & Georgie’s baby
is born. “The Virgin Lonnie” is a good episode and we
see Lonnie revealing to his friends that he is a
virgin, “It’s My Party” has Georgie setting-up a
surprise birthday party for John when he asked not to
do one, “The Sock-Her Boys” is another good episode
where Georgie’s all-girl soccer team challenge’s Ben
and Elliot’s all-boy soccer team, “Fat Like Me” is an
interesting episode as Georgie wears a fat suit to
prove a point, “Mrs. Hartman, Mrs. Hartman” has John’s
ex-wife returning, and “The Outsider” was an episode
that CBS never aired it has Georgie staging a sit-in
to keep the local library open.
Guys be alert, Markie Post is again well dressed
throughout this season. Especially in “It’s My Party”
(black dress) and “John & Georgie’s Not So Great
Adventure” (black cocktail dress).
The guests include Debra Jo Rupp (“The Virgin
Lonnie”), Ben Stein (“Prose and Condoms”), Maureen
O’Boyle (“Help Wanted”), Julie Cobb (“Mrs. Hartman,
Mrs. Hartman”), and Kristen Johnston (“John and
Georgie’s Not So Great Adventure”).
Packaging:
The packaging is nice and creative, and simple—an
amaray case--similar to the first two seasons. The
case’s front cover has a photo of Georgie in a sexy
black dress sitting on a flag pole, with John also
sitting nervously with the red, white & blue stars in
the background. The show’s logo, John & Markie’s
names, and The Complete Third Season marking are also
present, with a co-star mention of Billy Bob Thornton.
A nice red, white, and blue color scheme is on this
set. While I like this a lot, again like season two,
the third season moved away from D.C. and is now in a
southern town, so it doesn’t make sense. And also, the
logo changed, the packaging is using the first season
logo yet again. The back of the case has four small
different screenshots from the third season: John &
Georgie with the baby, John & Billy Bob, Madeline, and
Madeline & Georgie. The back also has a brief synopsis
of the show. A red box has the cast credits listed.
When we open the case once, we see a little booklet
and disc one on the left side. And when we open the
case a second time, we see disc two on the left and
disc three on the right. The little booklet showcases
episodes by disc with complete breakdown of the
episode, with episode titles, synopsis and nice photos
on the top. It is very well designed—but again more of
a D.C. theme, when this season they are still down
south.
Each disc has the same photo & style. The same photo
used on the cover of this set and the booklet is used
on the discs. Disc one holds episodes 1-5, disc two
holds episodes 6-9, and disc three holds episodes
10-14.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screen is well designed, just like the
packaging. Like the previous seasons, it starts off
with a nice photo of John and Georgie, the Capitol
Building and the Hearts Afire wording, with the
instrumental theme song playing in the background, and
then it fades to the actual menu screen as the theme
finishes off. The theme does not loop. This is great
but was already used and the show is not taking place
in D.C. On the menu screen itself, the episodes for
the disc are listed. There is no play all option, but
that is not a big problem with me at all, as I really
never use it. When we select an episode, we are taken
to a scene selection menu, where we can choose where
to begin. There are three selections. You can also use
the chapter button on your remote control if you wish.
The navigation on each sub-menu and the main menu is
very easy. The design is also quite nice and creative.
The only negative thing is that it is just too same
as the first two sets. They are not in Washington DC
anymore!
Video and Audio Quality:
The video looks magnificent once again! If anyone has
original copies from the CBS years, those are probably
getting a bit dated, so this would be a wonderful
improvement. It is also better than the rerun airings
from USA Network in 2000. The audio is also very clear
and in the original stereo. And what is even more cool
is that the original “CBS StereoSound Where Available”
tag is again intact in every episode underneath the
show’s logo once again! That is very cool since we did
not see this in syndication. Each episode runs on
average about 23-24 minutes, some more, some less. All
the episodes are for sure the original network
broadcast versions, so fans can take it easy and
relax, if anyone was worried.
Hearts Afire is was well known for using music in
episodes (in particular for the last scenes). Linda
Bloodworth loved using music on her shows. She used
music in her other series Designing Women, but nothing
like this! There is not as much music this season as
the first two seasons, especially season one.. So
people buying this set and fans would I’m sure like to
know if the original music is intact. The answer is …
well, some of it is intact. Melissa Pollak, who is a
diehard Hearts Afire fan and has an extensive and VERY
detailed episode guide, lists all the music for each
episode (it is located here:
http://mistwebdesign.com/HA3.html. If you all watched
the show on USA Network in 2000, you’ll probably know
what was used and removed, because whatever was
removed on USA, is also removed on this set. Here is
the complete breakdown on what music each episode had:
"Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Baby" Stevie
Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” plays at the end of the
episode, intact on USA Network and DVD.
"The Virgin Lonnie" -- Al Jarreau's "Teach Me Tonight”
is missing.
"It’s My Party" “Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby” at the
end, not on USA Network or the DVD—replaced by
background music.
"The Perfect Christmas" “Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas” at the end, not on USA Network or
the DVD—replaced by background music.
So, in essence, again we don’t get all the music, but
we get whatever was used in syndication on USA
Network. At least the episodes are unedited in length,
that is all that really matters, but some scenes rely
on the music, so it is a shame.
Special Features:
This season we have no special features. No bloopers
and outtakes this time! But one piece of good news is
that the set is now $10 cheaper from 39.99 to 29.99.
So, I guess that works!
Final Comments:
Image Entertainment has quickly gave us the complete
series of Hearts Afire in a nice 6 month window. They
did a decent job with the set. The music issue is not
their fault. At least we get some original music.
The main thing is we have the length of the episodes
in its original unedited form. The bloopers were nice
for the first two sets.
Again for this set I was not happy with the packaging
and menus. They were like season one and this season
and season two also was totally changed so the D.C.
theme was out of place. Other than the music and this,
it is a must buy. John Ritter’s memory will continue
for years to come and having this entire series is
precious. Let’s hope Hooperman’s two seasons come out
this year and at least the first season of 8 Simple
Rules, too. Buy this third and final season of Hearts
Afire on DVD, as Billy Bob would say, “it’s just a
rule I have.”
