The Best OF Ozzie & Harriett (1 Viewer)

[marcSo]

I just saw over at videoeta.com A release called The Best Of Ozzie & Harriett.On their may 1st 2007 scedule. also next to studio releasing it it says sony video.I know there are a lot of public domain releases out there with very poor quality.But IF This is coming from sony this could be the real deal.If anyone can get anymore info please post.I have been looking for an official release for a long time.This would be great!!!!!!!!

 

[Bob Hug]

This looks to be legitimate; here's the link for the Amazon listing:

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Adventure...?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

Unfortunately, there's not much detail on the release but, hopefully, this will not be a repackaging of the PD episodes; I'm "cautiously optimistic" on this one, particularly as the top of the DVD cover says "The Nelson Family Presents." This suggests that David Nelson and Rick Nelson's family might have some involvement in the release.

 

[marcSo]

Yeah that does look legit and Amazon even has sony listed as the studio thats releasing it.I am stil going to hold off purchasing it until I know its an official release.And not another pd release.

 

[Bert Greene]

I'll share in the guarded optimism. I didn't know Sony had any connection to the series, but like Bob says, that "Nelson Family Presents" is at least a positive sign. I've certainly wanted some legit releases of "Ozzie and Harriet," along with a number of other family-style sitcoms, like "Father Knows Best," "My Three Sons," "Donna Reed" and whatnot. When it comes to vintage sitcoms, dvd's haven't represented them quite as well as the more more wacky, fantasy-oriented examples.

 

[Bob Hug]

I'm now thinking that this might be released by Shout! Factory since the listing at Amazon lists Sony Music as the studio. Sony Music is the distributor for Shout! Factory DVDs and CDs. Unfortunately, there's no indication about this on SF's web site, so this remains speculative on my part. However, if SF is involved with this set, it'll likely be a great one, considering their track record with vintage TV-on-DVD, hopefully along the lines of their "Here's Lucy" release which had a ton of extras.

 

[Gary OS]

Definitely looks like something we can be optimistic about. The price is actually the thing that makes me believe this will be a solid release. No way is a poor, PD release going to be sold for $35 retail. I look for this to be a decent set.

Gary "now watch - this thing will end up being a four episode, poor quality nightmare just to prove me wrong" O.

 

[Doug^Ch]

I'll be picking this set up the second that it is released.

 

[marcSo]

Hopefully if this is an official studio release we will see a volume 2 and 3. With as many episodes this show had over its 16 year run.Their could be a best of set from the early years. The middle years as well as a latter year set.

 

[Michael Alden]

It would be great to see a good release on this show and hopefully there are enough people that will support it rather than say they're happy with the 3rd generation VHS dubs they get at Crapmart.

 

[marcSo]

I dropped shout factory an email asking about The Ozzie & Harriett dvd release.Their response was look for it in may.This is great news hopefully we will get some extras with this set.Finally an official studio release.

 

[Bob Hug]

I can't imagine Shout! Factory releasing this set WITHOUT extras; certainly some episode commentaries and/or interviews with David Nelson at a minimum. As previously mentioned, I'd guess that this would be along the lines of the "best of" collection that Shout! Factory did with "Here's Lucy" . . . probably upwards of two dozen episodes with whatever extras the surviving Nelsons can offer. I'm more a fan of the early years of the show when the Nelson boys were young, but it will be interesting to see how many of the later shows will be included with the early "music videos" of Rick Nelson and his group and, yes, I'd really like to see a color episode or two from the final season thrown in for good measure. Whatever the case, this release is a must for me . . . the gentle, warm-hearted family humor of "Ozzie & Harriet" makes this show a classic.

 

[Michael Alden]

It's great to see. O&H is still the unquestioned longest running sitcom in television history with a whopping 435 episodes. It would be nice to get a few box sets of this show with maybe 5-10 episodes from each season.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

No one loves the sitcoms of the '50s and '60s more than I do, but can you honestly name ONE of those 435 episodes that stands out in your mind as a really good, funny or memorable episode? All I remember about this series is that everyone said every line the same way and late in the series, Ricky Nelson sang a song at the end of the show.

 

[Sky King]

No one loves the sitcoms of the '50s and '60s more than I do, but can you honestly name ONE of those 435 episodes that stands out in your mind as a really good, funny or memorable episode?

Joe,

This can be said about many TV series of that generation.
After all, how many individual episodes can you recount about shows like..."Father Knows Best", "Topper", "Mr. Peepers", "The Bob Cummings Show", "My Little Margie", and the list goes on.
While many of us are unable to recant individual episodes regarding these shows and others like them, they never the less, gave us a warm, comfortable feeling, lacking in many of today's TV fare.

 

[LCD22]

I'm glad this is getting released, only because my mother and a friend have been waiting for it. It's great to hear that Shout! Factory is handling it (I love the cover art). Another classic sitcom that is out on DVD, but doesn't have a legitimate studio release, or a "season" release, is "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis". I hope we'll see that one (if Fox continues to ignore this sitcom they should just license it out so we can get this series on DVD, or do I have to buy the "best of" DVDs that I've been eying for awhile through Movies Unlimited?).

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Well, yes, I'd rather watch any episode of "Ozzie and Harriet" than anything that's on today. But I still can't think of an episode of O&H that stands out -- and I remember many individual outstanding episodes of those series you mentioned, especially "Father Knows Best," which was, to me, the exact opposite of O&H -- well-written stories with a point to them, and vastly better acting by all concerned.

 

[Michael Alden]

Ozzie and Harriet actually plays more like a long-running soap opera than as a sitcom. It's more or less a continuing story of the lives of the family as the boys grow from childhood to college to marriage and careers. It's not sitcommy the way later shows tend to be but more of a slice of life story with comedic elements. Just like you aren't lost when missing an episode of a daily soap, every one of the 435 O&H episodes isn't completely memorable either. That said, I still wouldn't mind having a nice chunk of them in the collection.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

See, no one can name a single episode!

I remember the Mad Magazine takeoff on the show better than the show! The "plot" of the Mad satire involved Ozzie changing a light bulb. It was more exciting than the typical episode.

Even so, I still like it. I'm one of those people that feel that ANYTHING from the 1950s or 1960s is better than anything today -- even "The Dennis O'Keefe Show."

 

[Michael Alden]

I'm with you on the above statement. If I had to limit my viewing, I would take all of the shows from any one year in the sixties over everything from the 70s to the present.

BTW, I can only speak for myself but the reason I can't name any O&H is that I haven't seen the show since it ran on ABC in the sixties and it went off when I was 8. It never ran in syndication in NY and where I live didn't get cable until 1990, long after the Disney and TBS runs were over.

 

[Charles H]

There was an episode on NCIS: Second Season entitled "The Good Wives Club," in which Tony is watching an episode of "Ozzie and Harriet" on tv to get a feel for 1950s values. It was a bit self-referential in that Mark Harmon's sister was Ricky Nelson's widow.