DVD Release Date: October 25, 2005 (MPI Home Video)
B&W 1962-1963
MSRP: $14.98
Number of Discs: 1
Number of Episodes: 3
Running Time: 120 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approximately 35
minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English
subtitles
Special Features: Introduction from Linda Kaye Henning
on every episode; Holiday Greeting from Frank Cady and
Linda Kaye Henning; Original Cast Sponsor Commercials;
Christmas Surprise
Introduction:
Ho ho ho! It's time to spend your Christmas (well,
okay, it is October...) with the gang from The Beverly
Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction! It's The Beverly
Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction Ultimate Christmas
Collection, a DVD that contains two Christmas episodes
of The Beverly Hillbillies and one Christmas episode
of Petticoat Junction, two of the dominant rural
sitcoms of the 1960s, and even a small sampling of
special features.
Episodes Included:
The Beverly Hillbillies: "Home for Christmas"--this is
one of my favorite episodes of the show, and I was a
little disappointed that it wasn't included in the
Volume 1 set that MPI released last month--but now,
here it is, in its full and uncut glory. This is the
famous episode where the Clampetts decide to go back
to the country to visit Aunt Pearl for the holidays,
and they get to go back to the country in a jet--which
they believe is a flying bus! Meanwhile, unaware that
the Clampetts are on their way, Aunt Pearl and
Jethrine have their plans to go visit the Clampetts in
Beverly Hills.
The Beverly Hillbillies: "Christmas at the
Clampetts"--yet another great Christmas episode with
the Clampett clan, this one from the second season.
The Clampetts are surprised to find a tree covered
with snow in their living room, with several presents
underneath it, all gifts from Mr. Drysdale. And when
they open their presents, they have no clue what the
presents are and what they are supposed to be used
for. And they get even more confused when they find a
boat in the driveway with a chimpanzee in it--they
mistakenly believe that the chimpanzee is a man that
somehow got shipwrecked on their driveway! And then
Elly May gets Mrs. Drysdale the present she has always
wanted: a mink!
Petticoat Junction: "Cannonball Christmas"--in this
Christmas episode, Homer Bedloe from the railroad
company (played by Charles Lane, who seems to show up
EVERYWHERE in EVERY 1960s television show) comes into
Hooterville at Christmas time to inspect the
Hooterville Cannonball. But when he gets to
Hooterville, he is dismayed at the things that he sees
there, as he isn't used to the simple nature of the
people of Hooterville, and threatens to shut down the
Cannonball once and for all!
Packaging:
The packaging is just a simple Amaray style case, as
one would expect with a single-disc release. It has a
nice, festive Christmas theme on the outside, and
contains episode descriptions on the packaging
(although they have already been provided in this
review...). There really isn't much more to say about
the packaging, except that it is very typical and also
professional-looking.
Menu Design and Navigation:
I must say, I really like the menus on this DVD. When
you first put the disc in, you are greeted with a
Christmas wreath that rotates around the screen, while
an instrumental version of "The Twelve Days of
Christmas" plays in the background and various video
clips from the show pops up. The options on the main
menu are Episodes, Bonus Features, and Subtitles--all
of which are self-explanatory. There is no Play All
Option on this set, but with three episodes, do you
REALLY need it? And there is no scene selection menu
either, nor are there any chapters placed within the
episodes.
Video and Audio Quality:
The audio and video quality on the disc is basically
fine--about the same as the Petticoat Junction and
Beverly Hillbillies sets that were previously released
by MPI. Grain on the picture is still the primary
issue, and the buzzing sound in the audio is another
issue, but everything is basically fine for shows that
are over 40 years old. The audio, of course, is
presented in mono, and for the hearing-impaired,
English subtitles are available. Each episode is fully
intact, running around 26 minutes per episode.
Special Features:
Considering that this is just a one disc set with
three episodes, you'd think there'd be absolutely no
special features on this set.
And you'd also be DEAD WRONG. The special features are
a little thin by MPI standards, but of course, this
set has very few episodes as well. Each episode has an
introduction by Linda Kaye Henning that runs about
1:00 for each episode. Additionally, there is a
Holiday Greeting from Frank Cady and Linda Kaye
Henning (0:30), which is essentially just them telling
you "Merry Christmas" (it is nice to see Frank Cady
though). There are Cast Commercials that are product
endorsements from the episodes of the shows that are
on the DVD (3:44). But perhaps the GREATEST special
feature on this set is a special feature that is
advertised as a "Christmas Surprise" on the case--what
the "Christmas Surprise" actually is, is an episode of
another Paul Henning sitcom--The Bob Cummings Show!
The episode is (in the spirit of the set) a Christmas
episode entitled "Grandpa's Christmas Visit" that runs
at 26:00. This marks the first time that I've ever
seen the show, and personally, I can't really say it
is the greatest show I've ever seen (maybe I need to
see more episodes before I can fully judge), but it is
a VERY nice Christmas surprise indeed. Look for Ann B.
Davis on this show as well--she played the secretary
on here!
Final Comments:
Personally, I would have preferred if these episodes
would have been included in the volumes that were
previously released for both of these shows. I'm
generally not a fan of Christmas episodes, but the
episodes presented on this DVD, particularly the
Beverly Hillbillies ones, are some of the greatest
episodes of each series. This is a great DVD with
great episodes, and if you like either show, or just
love Christmas episodes in general.
