Info:
DVD Release Date: September 26, 2006 (Warner Home Video)
Color/1982
MSRP: $26.98
Number of Discs: 2
Number of Episodes: 13
Running Time: 278 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: Closed
Captioned; Spanish and French subtitles
Special Features: None
Introduction:
America's favorite blue-haired Mama--well unless you
are like me and think Marge Simpson is better--is now
on DVD! The Complete First Season of Mama's Family
gives you all 13 episodes of the first season of the
show on DVD--though in an edited manner. Watch Thelma
Harper (Vicki Lawrence) deal with her nutty family,
including her sister Fran (Rue McClanahan), son Vint
(Ken Berry), and grandchildren Buzz (Eric Brown) and
Sonya (Karen Argoud). And of course there is Mama's
ever so annoying daughters Eunice (Carol Burnett) and
Ellen (Betty White) always making frequent visits. Can
Mama, who should be in her twilight years enjoying
life alone without raising a family, survive in this
nuthouse? Find out by watching these episodes!
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The first season of Mama's Family is very weird for
one reason--no matter which way you go (watching the
episodes in airdate order vs. production order), the
sequencing of events is all wrong. You'll find that
certain events take place in one episode and suddenly
a few episodes later, you are back to a time before
that major event happened (like planning to marry
somebody seven episodes after you married the person
that you were married to for practically the entire
series). This set uses the airdate order, which to me,
makes just as much sense as the production order does.
They are both all out of order.
With that being said, the set begins with the episode
"Vint and the Kids Move In," which I don't even think
it is necessary to say what that episode is about--it
is self-explanatory. Next, we have "For Better or For
Worse," where Mama's next-door neighbor, Naomi
(Dorothy
Lyman) sees Vint for the first time in a while and
realizes how sexy she always thought he was--and
before you know it, they decide to spend the night
together, under Mama's roof! And talk about quick
relationships!!! Just one week later, Vint and Naomi
get married in the wedding catastrophe two-parter,
""The Wedding." Richard Dawson guest stars on "Family
Feud," where the family goes on the hit game show.
Will they win or lose? In "Cellmates," Eunice causes a
scene at a restaurant and causes herself and Mama to
go to jail, where they meet up with a hooker that
teaches them more about mother-daughter relationships
than they ever knew themselves. John Sylvester-White
(Welcome Back, Kotter) plays Mama's boss when she gets
a job in "Mama Gets a Job." Mama has to iron Fran's
dress for an important event in "Fran's Dress," but
when she accidentally screws up and burns it, will
Fran know that Mama replaced the old dress? In
"Positive Thinking," Eunice decides to become a better
woman instead of the annoying person she always has
been, but will Mama cause her to go back to her old
ways?
Packaging:
The package is basic but functional and practical for
the set. The set is spanned over two discs, with 7
episodes on Disc 1 and 6 episodes on Disc 2. The set
uses a typical Amaray style case, with a tray inside
holding the second disc. On the front of the case,
there is a standard cast photo--what more can one say
about it? And the disc art is pretty basic too, with a
picture of Mama on each disc. The set has a useful
episode insert included too, with a description and
original airdate for each episode on the set.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are basic and serve the function that one
would expect. The main menu has a cast photo--the
exact same one on the outer case—and has options for
Play, Episodes, and Languages, all of which are
self-explanatory. I have a huge problem with the main
menu though. The music that plays on the menu is very
annoying and out of place! It is some kind of New
Orleans-style jazz... what does that have to do with
Mama's Family??? As one would expect, selecting Play
will play all of the episodes, selecting Episodes
takes you to a list of episodes, and Languages allows
you to turn on subtitles (Spanish and French, which I
guess goes great with the New Orleans-style music on
the main menu).
And there are chapters placed throughout every
episode; 5 to be exact (one after the opening credits,
one at the beginning of each scene, and one at the
beginning of the closing credits).
Video and Audio Quality:
The video and audio quality are acceptable, although
it obviously looks somewhat dated. Black levels seemed
to be a major issue with this set all throughout, as
it often has been with this show in syndication. The
show obviously has not been well preserved as it could
have been. But what is even more obvious is this:
Warner really, REALLY, blew it on this set. The
episodes on this set are edited episodes--every single
one of them. They all run at roughly 21:20-21:30, and
without even thinking too hard, it is obvious what one
of the missing elements is. At the beginning of each
episode that aired in this season, there was a brief
introduction from Harvey Korman as "Alastair Quince,"
who would basically introduce you to the episode.
Well, those aren't there on the DVDs, so CLEARLY, the
set is edited. As for what else is missing, there is
no telling what, if anything, but one can reasonably
assume something else is missing in this set.
Special Features:
They didn't do anything else right with this set, so
to actually expect special features would be foolish.
However, there are many nice things that they could
have done. For instance, it would have been a nice
touch to include the movie "Eunice" as a bonus item;
this was (in a sense) the pilot for the show. Maybe
some old skits from The Carol Burnett Show would have
been nice. And of course, there is always the old
standby, commentaries and interviews. What did Warner
do though? Nothing. Shame on them. And while I'm on
special features, does anybody have any clue what Eric
Brown and Karen Argoud are up to these days???
Final Comments:
I honestly think that this set may be one of the
biggest disappointments of the year, primarily due to
the fact that Warner used syndicated episodes on this
set. I had been looking forward to this set for quite
some time, primarily because I was anxious to see
unedited versions of this show for the first time
ever, but I couldn't even get that. It isn't too often
that I don't recommend a DVD set, but I can not
honestly say that I do recommend this set. Instead,
I'd recommend recording episodes off of i: Independent
Television, which airs the show 5 nights a week in the
same form as the episodes are presented on the DVDs.
But if Warner does the right thing, and given the way
that they have handled some botched releases before, I
would say there is a chance, and decides to reissue
the set as an unedited set, I'd say to get the set.
But for now, your happy home would probably be just as
well blessed if you don't buy this set.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 3.5/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 0/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 4/5
Overall: 3/5
-- Reviewed by skees53 on 09/24/06
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