How are the Dick Van Dyke sets? (1 Viewer)

[Kajs]

I can't afford it right now, yet I can't afford not to buy it now with $20 g/c at Best Buy and the $20 mail in rebate...I probably will pick both up tomorrow.

 

[David Von Pein]

with $20 g/c at Best Buy and the $20 mail in rebate.

Holy Buddy & Sally!!
They're practically giving them away!

 

[BrianP]

Glad to hear the discs have the play all feature and a chapter stop after the intro. Sounds like this release was done right. Now I only have to wait a few more days until my sets arrive from DVDEmpire.

 

[David Von Pein]

REGARDING THE BONUS "STUMP THE STARS" GAME SHOW ON THE SECOND-SEASON VAN DYKE SHOW DVD BOXED SET..........

You'll probably think I'm nuts (or maybe from the planet "Twilo" or something along those crazy lines), but this "Stump The Stars" bonus feature (located on Disc #5 of the Season Two Boxed Set) is very nearly worth the price of this set all by itself. An incredibly fun-to-watch bonus.

We're treated to four members of the Van Dyke Show cast appearing on the CBS-TV game show, "Stump The Stars" (which, I've now discovered, is an alternate USA title for "Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz"). Dick, Mary Tyler Moore, Morey Amsterdam, and Rose Marie compete in this charades-style game against the show's "regulars", which include the likes of Sebastian Cabot ("Family Affair"), Ross Martin ("Wild, Wild West", plus also starred in the creepy feature film, "Experiment In Terror", the exact same year this game show was filmed), and Beverly Garland ("My Three Sons").

It's very fun to watch the cast in a setting where they are not in character. This "Stump The Stars" bonus is not just a clip or two from the show...it's the entire episode (run time: 27 minutes)! Even included is a very humorous commercial for Wheat Chex cereal.

This game-show bonus exhibits very good picture quality too. Just great, great stuff. (Let me say, too, that all the players involved in that game show were excellent at playing the game too. You can tell the Van Dyke Show cast had been practicing in anticipation of their appearance on the Pat Harrington-hosted program.)

This added-value bonus of this ENTIRE game show on one of the S.2 discs raises these boxed sets to even higher levels of appreciation from this writer.

Interestingly (and perhaps unwisely), Image Entertainment elected to NOT promote the "Stump The Stars" bonus on the back of the Season Two box. Not a word about it.

And this terrific bonus is also played down somewhat by the e-tailers I've checked...with Amazon, The Walnut Times, and DVD Empire ALL referring to this bonus as just an "excerpt" from the game show, giving the indication to the buyer that it's not a very long segment, when, in fact, the entire program is included. I wonder why Image played down this outstanding added feature? In any event, that is one bonus I know I'll be re-visiting time & again.

So, kids of Classic TV, there's just one more reason to relish these DVD-on-DVD boxes.

(Mary looks absolutely mahhhhhh-velous on the game-show extra, BTW!)
*does Groucho eyebrow thingie*

 

[Dane Marvin]

David, thank you for the information on the "Stump the Stars" episode. I really had no idea it was even on the season 2 set (I was only able to pick up the first season on a very expensive Tuesday) and it's really quite impressive to have the entire episode included.

It really seems like they're digging into the vaults for these sets and giving us everything they possibly can (with the exception of gag reels -- but have these been ruled out for the final three sets in this series?) ... one feels like no stone will be left unturned by the time season 5 hits the streets.

 

[David Von Pein]

...gag reels -- have these been ruled out for the final three sets in this series?

I would guess: Yes.
Unless Mr. Reiner changes his mind about his desire to not let people see his cast "out of uniform" (so to speak).

I hope he does change his mind. I'd love to see a blooper reel on a future set.

I'm sure there are other Game Show segments that could be used for extra features as well. I know Dick Van Dyke was a "regular" panelist on "To Tell The Truth" for its first 5 shows (in 1956-1957). Those could be interesting to see. However, extras of this nature would more-than-likely be limited to shows where the entire Van Dyke cast makes an appearance, like the Stump the Stars dealie.

 

[Dene]

A shame they didn't release Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on the same day -- at least we'd now have two sets instead of one!

 

[Jon_Are]

This is one of my favorite sit-coms of all time as well.

But I was on the fence with this one, having seen so many of the episodes so many times.

However, y'all are working hard to push me off that fence. I might need to take a hike to Best Buy this week.

Anyone have an episode list for the first two season handy (or a link)?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Seymour Uranowitz]

Full series episode list available at http://www.dvdondvd.com/episodes1.htm


Season One: 1961-1962

1.The Sick Boy and the Sitter
2.The Meershatz Pipe
3.Jealousy
4.Sally and the Lab Technician
5.Washington vs. the Bunny
6.Oh How We Met the Night That We Danced
7.The Unwelcome Houseguest
8.Harrison B. Harding of Camp Crowder MO
9.My Blonde-Haired Brunette
10.Forty-Four Tickets
11.Tell or Not to Tell
12.Sally Is a Girl
13.Empress Carlotta's Necklace
14.Buddy Can You Spare a Job?
15.Who Owes Who What?
16.Sol and the Sponsor
17.The Curious Thing About Women
18.Punch Thy Neighbor
19.Where Did I Come From?
20.The Boarder Incident
21.A Word a Day
22.The Talented Neighborhood
23.Father of the Week
24.The Twizzle
25.One Angry Man
26.Where You Been Fassbinder?
27.The Bad Old Days
28.I Am My Brother's Keeper
29.The Sleeping Brother
30.The Return of Happy Spangler
31.Pilot Episode (starring Carl Reiner): Head of the Family


Season Two: 1962-1963

1.Never Name a Duck
2.The Two Faces of Rob
3.Bank Book 6565696
4.The Attempted Marriage
5.Hustling the Hustler
6.What's in a Middle Name?
7.My Husband Is Not a Drunk
8.Like a Sister
9.The Night the Roof Fell In
10.The Secret Life of Buddy and Sally
11.A Bird in the Head Hurts
12.Gesundheit Darling
13.A Man's Teeth Are Not His Own
14.Somebody Has to Play Cleopatra
15.The Cat Burglar
16.The Foul Weather Girl
17.Will You Two Be My Wife?
18.Ray Murdock's X-Ray
19.I Was a Teenage Head Writer
20.My Husband Is a Check-Grabber
21.It May Look Like a Walnut
22.Don't Trip Over That Mountain
23.Give Me Your Walls!
24.The Sam Pomerantz Scandals
25.I'm No Henry Walden
26.The Square Triangle
27.Racy Tracy Rattigan
28.Divorce
29.It's a Shame She Married Me
30.A Surprise Is a Surprise Surprise
31.Jilting the Jilter
32.When a Bowling Pin Talks Listen
33.All About Eavesdropping

 

[Bill Burns]

I've just cancelled my preorder (part of a larger order, not yet shipped) after hurrying out to buy these at Best Buy; many thanks to those earlier who mentioned the fantastic BB deal -- I wouldn't have known about it otherwise. The $20 gift card is just that -- a standard gift card with $20 credited to it. No expiration date. Good on any merchandise. Gotta love it -- that's a free DVD, more or less, two of you pick up a couple of $10 gems. I reminded the clerk (there was a small card detailing the offer attached to the shelf, just to the side of the sets) when it didn't ring up immediately, before handing over my credit card. I think a notice came up on his screen right after I said something, though, and there was no delay in ringing it up. They take the value of the card off of the DVDs and then charge you for the card, so the sets ring up as $45 apiece.

BB was well stocked on both sets (multiple copies), and with a little hunting and tilting against the ceiling lights, I found two with narry a scratch on the lenticular images that adorn the covers.

Color me very excited. Both sets are now in my hands, and Looney Tunes Golden Collection and Lon Chaney Collection arrive at the end of the month (about a week). Settling down with Lon Chaney is certainly my definition of a spectacular (or is that spook-tacular?) Halloween.

I feel like I've hit paydirt. LT, LC, and DvD ... on DVD. I'm lovin' 2003. Yes, yes ... such doggerel's beneath me. Heh.

 

[R. Kay]

Great show.

While a lot of care went into its production, the 2 Box sets are still to expensive for my blood.

 

[Brian W]

Many thanks to Craig S for making me and others aware of the BB deal. Picked up both yesterday. Besides the $20 GC, it is also the best pricing I've seen. Looked like they were moving off the shelves, were only a few left of Season 1.

While at BB, I have to mention that the Indiana WS set was sold out, the sales guy said they had just as many of WS and FF, yet there were still a TON of FF sets. Pretty encouraging!

Can't wait to see the Dick Van Dyke sets this weekend...

 

[Craig S]

Many thanks to Craig S for making me and others aware of the BB deal.

Thanks for the props, but I gotta pass 'em on to David Lambert & his Weekly Roundup:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=164440

Everyone should make a habit of popping into the Coupons & Bargains section every Sunday evening to peruse the Roundup. Dave does all the legwork and presents all of the week's B&M deals in a concise, easy-to-read format. It's one-stop shopping for the best deals. Check it out!!

I actually may be double-dipping on the DvD deal - I was thinking this morning that my Mom (who never missed an episode of DvD or MTM) would love these for Christmas...

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

If I lived closer than 3 hours away from the nearest best buy, or if I had a credit card I would've used that offer. $20 off with that, and the $20 rebate inside, that's a tremendous price.

Heh, while I was writing this post, my CD/DVD guy just delivered my DVD and Indi box sets, its going to be a busy weekend for my DVD player.

 

[Larry Geller]

Looks like nobody here has found the hidden stuff on season 2, so here goes...
On many chapter list pages (I'm not sure which & how many) if you push the cursor left from one of the chapter stops (it varies which one from show to show), a glow will form around Dick's head. If you then press enter, you will see Kent cigarette commercials featuring the shows characters, IN CHARACTER, hawking Kents, also some anti-Communist Radio Free Europe spots. I guess they hid these, unlike the Joy spots that are listed in the extras, in order that the kids won't find them. Rob & Laura smoking away in the living room is priceless!
I LOVE these sets!!!

 

[Brandon]

Thanks for the info. I had no clue there were any hidden bits on here, and I love those in-character commercials.

 

[Dane Marvin]

a glow will form around Dick's head.

I'm sorry, but I was drinking pop while reading this and it squirted out of my nose. Yes, I'm twelve.

 

[David Von Pein]

a glow will form around Dick's head.

Yeah, that *is* pretty good.

Anyway, even if we MUST highlight "Dick's Head", I'm glad to hear of even MORE stuff on these stellar DVD releases. Thanks, Larry, for the "heads"-up.

I also like the non-hidden type of Easter Eggs...i.e.: the "Ottoman Tripper" (on selected discs). It's a trivia question, with a correct response taking you to a clip of Rob stepping around the famous ottoman. A wrong answer gets you a clip of Rob falling over the stool (complete with extra sound effects).

 

[Ryan FB]

I've watched all of Season 1 Disc 1, and all I can say so far is these sets are amazing.

PQ is generally very clean for me, and I haven't noticed any botched up encoding or artifacting. The only exception to cleanliness so far is the "Head of the Family" pilot, which is understandably more dirty (you'll see original film artifacts on it, i.e. dirt and grain) than the regular episodes. It's great that they included this with the set, if only for historical value...honestly, it is kind of surreal for me to watch having seen nothing of it before. But having watched it, let's just say I can understand why nobody picked it up at first based on the pilot .

Overall, Image seems to have done everything right, loading these sets up with tons of goodies (i.e. the old ads and shows featuring cast members), including an intelligent chapter stop after the intro, and wrapping everything up into a beatiful, well-done package. It also helps that this show is certainly deserving of the excellent treatment it's receiving, it's easily one of the most enduring, timeless sitcoms.
Consider me in line for the rest of the season sets when they come out.

 

[ScottRichard]

I hadn't seen Head Of The Family before either and it was surreal--the character of Buddy was especially strange! It was fascinating to see it though and to see how much the concept changed. I did think the writing was pretty good, the basic concept still made it really different from other sitcoms of the time. I liked in the extras where Carl Reiner says that the network didn't like the idea of the show being about a comedy writer and asked him if he couldn't just make Rob an insurance agent!