Mayberry RFD Season 1 Re Release In February!!! (1 Viewer)

[John*Wells]

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mayberry-RFD-Season-1-rerelease/23941

 

[LeoA]

Noticed that on Warner's site the other day, and was surprised since I hadn't seen anything here about it.

 

[rmw650]

About time as I have been seeing this specific set going in the low to mid three figures, so now there's an affordable version but hoping we'll see the remainder of this series released onto DVD this year perhaps...the cover art...Out on 2/27/2018...

 

[Randy Korstick]

Noticed that on Warner's site the other day, and was surprised since I hadn't seen anything here about it.

It was posted yesterday morning in the main Mayberry R.F.D. thread.

 

[Carabimero]

Time to spend a few days in Mayberry.

101 “Andy and Helen Get Married”

I asked my wife to watch this one with me because I thought she might like to see the wedding. The old copy I had was off TV and was missing the tag. It was nice to see what happened on Andy and Helen’s honeymoon.

Unless I missed it, Helen didn’t have a single line the entire episode.

 

[Blimpoy06]

Unless I missed it, Helen didn’t have a single line the entire episode.

She does say "I do" twice during the wedding.

 

[Carabimero]

102 “The Harvest Ball”

As happy as I was to have asked my wife to watch the first episode, I was equally happy I did not ask her to watch the second. Only minutes in, the guys at the barber shop all have a good laugh. Why? Because Sam quotes a card from Andy about his new wife: “Helen is being a typical wife. She already dented the fender.”

I mention this because my wife is a university professor. She’s done research into driving safety and gender and would have not appreciated Andy’s sentiment. I can’t say that I do, either. Even at the time, I have to believe it was insulting. Poor Helen is really getting the shaft in these first two episodes.

 

[Blimpoy06]

102 “The Harvest Ball”

After dating Howard, an being engaged to him at one point, then going as Goober's date for the Harvest Ball and leaving with Sam, Millie must have had quite a reputation in Mayberry!

 

[Carabimero]

After dating Howard, an being engaged to him at one point, then going as Goober's date for the Harvest Ball and leaving with Sam, Millie must have had quite a reputation in Mayberry!
View attachment 46562

One thing that always struck me about Mayberry, and maybe this is too much of a generalization, but I think it's true: being happy in Mayberry largely means not being married. Andy wasn't married for the run of his show, and once he gets married, he largely disappears. Hardly anyone in Mayberry that is a recurring character is married. The culture of Mayberry does not portray happy marriages; on the contrary, it pokes fun at married characters like the mayor on TAGS, Emmett on RFD, etc.

Marriage, in Mayberry, does not bear close examination, IMO.

 

[Blimpoy06]

Marriage, in Mayberry, does not bear close examination, IMO.

I had never given it much thought, but I think you're right about the depiction of marriage on the two shows. Otis Campbell seemed to have a decent relationship with his wife as I recall. But not his mother-in-law. Hit her in the mouth with a leg of lamb!

Just like the driving reference, I think this was part of the TV comedy tropes of the era that were expected. A drunk like Otis would never be a comedic figure today either.

 

[Carabimero]

103 “The Race Horse”

This one reminded me of an episode of TAGS, the one where Aunt Bee learns to fly. I always loved that episode because Aunt Bee’s entire character seemed subservient. Even her melancholy musical theme suggests to me life of regret and missed opportunities.

I enjoyed seeing Bee take the lead.

Speaking of the music, I wish the soundtrack to this show was available. After only three episodes, I love its treatment of some major themes from TAGS. Loving the music so far more than anything.

 

[Carabimero]

104 “Help on the Farm”

Nice to see Andy simply walking the streets of Mayberry for even a minute or two. Makes me feel like I’m watching a true episode from TAGS. I LIKE IT!

 

[Carabimero]

105 “The Copy Machine”

When I was twelve, my dad brought home and old clunker like this, where you had to put the sheets around the copy to make it. The machine was heavy as hell, took forever to warm up, and made about one copy every two minutes. But at the time I thought it was the neatest thing I’d ever seen!

 

[Blimpoy06]

When I was twelve, my dad brought home and old clunker like this, where you had to put the sheets around the copy to make it. The machine was heavy as hell, took forever to warm up, and made about one copy every two minutes. But at the time I thought it was the neatest thing I’d ever seen!

My Dad was a copy machine repairman in the 70's and we had machines like this sitting in the basement. I got to take them apart and put them back together at my leisure.

 

[Carabimero]

106 “The Panel Show”

This wasn’t a bad episode, but I will always prefer the episodes, mostly black and white ones, when Mayberry was the entire universe. The only other places that existed were maybe Raleigh or Siler City, and then only rarely were they ever mentioned. I thought the shows when they went to Hollywood and such lost something. That said, I thought this departure was justified by way of the comparison they tried to make. And it’s probably my favorite episode so far because of Howard’s poem at the end.

 

[Blimpoy06]

106 “The Panel Show”

And it’s probably my favorite episode so far because of Howard’s poem at the end.

It's not Howard's Nehru jacket?

 

[Carabimero]

It's not Howard's Nehru jacket?

His jacket didn't hurt any. And I love those mics around their necks.

When I compare Howard Sprague to Barney Fifie there's a huge comic fall off, but Howard has his moments.

107 “Youth Takes Over”

This struck a real chord with me in that as a grownup now, I’d forgotten how grownups rarely took me seriously when I was a kid. Really nice writing in this one.

And it sure was great to see the Mayberry Sheriff’s Office again.

Here I am in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in the town that inspired Mayberry, in the Sheriff's Office...

We stopped by Floyd's barber shop and I met the man who inspired the character of Floyd, a man who used to cut Andy's hair when he was 16...

I rode Barney's sidecar.....

And my wife and I stopped in Ellie's Durgstore for a chocolate Sundae...

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I've paid too much attention to classic TV end logos on Star Trek over the years when my main takeaway from those pics is "Hey, cool, a Paramount hat from the Viacom era!"

 

[Carabimero]

I've paid too much attention to classic TV end logos on Star Trek over the years when my main takeaway from those pics is "Hey, cool, a Paramount hat from the Viacom era!"

I don't want to get off topic too much but RFD was shot here so....I have stuff spanning all thirty years I've worked at the studio...I bought the cap and sweat pants back in 1988 on my first day on the lot. My wife retired the cap after 19 years and I bought the one you see in the Mayberry photos. I outgrew the sweats years ago but she still wears them.

So many great memories. Around the turn of the century I sent this picture, taken in the camera department, to my uncle Harold Prater. I was ten when he gave me the nickname "Cecil" because I would go around pretending to be a director. He got a kick out of seeing Jo Anna and me with the first VistaVision camera, the one used by Cecil B. DeMille to film The Ten Commandments. It was the last communication I had with my uncle before he passed away.

I took my wife to work one day for the big celebration of 100 years. They engineered a massive photo with the biggest living stars ever to work at Paramount. While not in the photo, we were there. It was a day I'll never forget.

One of the saddest days I remember on the lot was in December of 2007, when the last crate of original Star Trek props was shipped out the Paramount gate. Some flavor of ST had been in production for 27 straight years. Lots of folks spent their entire careers working on ST. Some of the stuff went to auction; other stuff went on a world tour. This is the very last crate. When I think about it, the only day that might have been sadder on the lot is the day Gene Roddenbery died.

I'll end with a happy picture of my wife this Christmas.

 

[Carabimero]

I've paid too much attention to classic TV end logos on Star Trek over the years when my main takeaway from those pics is "Hey, cool, a Paramount hat from the Viacom era!"

Okay I have one more for you and then we'll return to Mayberry.

Back in 1989 my wife and I had this picture made at the fountain in Balboa Park, San Diego. You'll note I'm wearing a Gulf+Western t-shirt. They were about to change it to "A Paramount Communications Company" but hadn't yet.

So the point: to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary next year, my wife and I are going to try and recreate this picture at the fountain, so I have asked the folks at Paramount if it's possible to recreate an exact replica of this t-shirt. My wife still has--and still fits into--her Mickey Mouse shirt. Her red bandanna is faded but she still has that, too.

I'm really hoping we can faithfully recreate the pic to a large degree. I am even losing weight for it. I don't think I can get back down to 144lbs that I weighed then, but I am going to try and lose as much as I can. I have being dieting since April...