Press Release MPI Press Release: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD) (1 Viewer)

[The Obsolete Man]

If you want to earn your no-prize, Ozzie liked a soft mattress while Harriet liked a firm one. So separate beds it was!

That's also the only way to justify Rob Petrie not sleeping with Laura.

 

[SuperClark]

Fred and Wilma were much more liberated and modern.

 

[LeoA]

I think it's unfortunate if even one episode has to be the rebroadcast version but I imagine that some of the originals could be lost so they had to use the rebroadcasts. The other issue is that the discs are not formatted in 4:3 full screen. The Ozzie & Harriet show is a classic but the season 1 and 2 DVD from MPI is not what I expected or was hoping for and it's doubtful that I will purchase more seasons. A disappointment but it's alright and I'll get over it. Have a good weekend fellow forum members!

I'm a CRT fan and still watch DVD's on my Trinitrons here and there (Although they're more so for classic videogames at this point), but even I think you're making too much of this.

Not only is it quite possibly fixable in your settings, but let's be realistic here. Come 3 or 4 years from now, we'll be 20 years out from the end of quality consumer CRT television production. How long do you think you'll go with a CRT as your day to day television set? Once you make that switch, these will automatically fill your new screen's vertical space while maintaining their correct 4:3 aspect ratio.

And even if you're willing to replace it when it dies or develops problems that hinder your viewing experience, the pickings on things like Craigslist are getting pretty slim and many of the options you'll see listed haven't spent the HD age just sitting idle and are getting quite weary themselves from many years of regular use. I've been able to score a few nice CRT's for storage over the past 8 months, but it took a lot of patience and a fair bit of driving when I located a good candidate in order to do.

The days of people giving away great CRT's with low miles on them like was so commonplace back in the late 2000's, is now well in the past at this point.

 

[Gary OS]

I'm a CRT fan and still watch DVD's on my Trinitrons here and there (Although they're more so for classic videogames at this point), but even I think you're making too much of this.

Not only is it quite possibly fixable in your settings, but let's be realistic here. Come 3 or 4 years from now, we'll be 20 years out from the end of quality consumer CRT television production. How long do you think you'll go with a CRT as your day to day television set? Once you make that switch, these will automatically fill your new screen's vertical space while maintaining their correct 4:3 aspect ratio.

And even if you're willing to replace it when it dies or develops problems that hinder your viewing experience, the pickings on things like Craigslist are getting pretty slim and many of the options you'll see listed haven't spent the HD age just sitting idle and are getting quite weary themselves from many years of regular use. I've been able to score a few nice CRT's for storage over the past 8 months, but it took a lot of patience and a fair bit of driving when I located a good candidate in order to do.

The days of people giving away great CRT's with low miles on them like was so commonplace back in the late 2000's, is now well in the past at this point.

Bingo, Lou!!! To complain about this DVD set because you own a 20+-year-old TV, is really a low point on this discussion board. Instead you ought to be complaining about your TV, not the DVDs. Look, we are hoping and praying that all of the sets get released. The last thing this thread needs is someone downing the DVDs, and saying they won’t buy any more of them. Just not a good look.

 

[Flashgear]

My Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet seasons one and two were shipped from Amazon last Tuesday, the street date, and I received them on Thursday! Completely unexpected, as I've never had any package from the states arrive that quickly (I'm in Western Canada). These are truly outstanding DVD sets, and must represent a painfully meticulous and gargantuan effort in recovering this classic series from a previously chaotic state and the cumulative damage of neglect over many decades.

Some damage is still evident, of course, but the video and audio quality is greatly improved over what a lot of us have in our previously held collections. From what I can tell, the running times vary from approx. 25:15 to 27:01 or so, with six to nine chapter stops depending on the network commercials (Listerine and Hotpoint). The chapter stops are properly placed at commercial breaks, and before opening and closing credits. I love Ozzie's PSA for the Armed Forces blood drive for soldiers wounded on the fighting front in Korea, very evocative in the fall and winter of 1952-53 as American and United Nations forces (including the Canadian Army) were going into the bloody stretch run toward the eventual cease-fire in July 1953.

I took some screen caps from the season one set:

From The Traffic Signal (Feb. 20, 1953) with Janet Waldo (as the secretary) and Frank Jenks (as the cop)...Ozzie discovers that you CAN fight city hall...although Thorny, bombastic as always, is no help at all...

Check out Ozzie's very real newspaper...

 

[Jeff Flugel]

My Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet seasons one and two were shipped from Amazon last Tuesday, the street date, and I received them on Thursday! Completely unexpected, as I've never had any package from the states arrive that quickly (I'm in Western Canada). These are truly outstanding DVD sets, and must represent a painfully meticulous and gargantuan effort in recovering this classic series from a previously chaotic state and the cumulative damage of neglect over many decades.

Some damage is still evident, of course, but the video and audio quality is greatly improved over what a lot of us have in our previously held collections. From what I can tell, the running times vary from approx. 25:15 to 27:01 or so, with six to nine chapter stops depending on the network commercials (Listerine and Hotpoint). The chapter stops are properly placed at commercial breaks, and before opening and closing credits. I love Ozzie's PSA for the Armed Forces blood drive for soldiers wounded on the fighting front in Korea, very evocative in the fall and winter of 1952-53 as American and United Nations forces (including the Canadian Army) were going into the bloody stretch run toward the eventual cease-fire in July 1953.

I took some screen caps from the season one set:

Thank you VERY much for taking the time to post some screencaps from the new S1 set, Randall - much appreciated! The transfers look very good indeed. I also like the added touch of listing the airdates next to the episode titles on the DVD menu screen.

My two sets should've landed in Tokyo by now, as they shipped out Thursday morning from LAX (though the Amazon tracking info has not been updated since then). So still on target for delivery by the middle of next week.

 

[BobO'Link]

Mine arrived last night and I've been watching the first disc since then. While the episodes are not "pristine" they're far, far, better than those PD releases we've had up until now. One can make argument that *some* scenes have a bit of washed out look. And it's just not that significant. The image itself is rock steady with generally good whites and blacks - good overall contrast. *Some* of the pre-show cast commercials have audio that's a bit overdriven/distorted - it's not too bad and settles down with the episode proper (possibly indicating those segments are from a different source). Once the episodes start, audio is overall quite good with little to no noise and good dynamic range. You can hear what's being said quite easily. And there are subtitles via SDH (even on the pre-show sponsor bits)!

The addition of the original air date at the end of the title name on the disc menu is a very nice touch. Those are also included on the episode list on the inside of the case cover art. The single S1 episode that's a "rebroadcast version" is indicated on this list along with its air date - a nice touch. The only negative here is the episodes are not broken down by disc. However, there's plenty of room for that to be added with a pen/marker/sticker if desired. The discs are on 2 pages inside the case with a disc per page side meaning there's no disc stored on the inside/outside disc case obscuring the text. I'd call it very good packaging.

My *only* complaint is that selecting a single episode doesn't play that episode followed by a return to the menu like expected. It's authored in that manner which makes the selected episode the starting point for a "play all to the end of the disc." It's a minor annoyance. IIRC this is how all the other MPI TV series are authored so it's not unexpected.

I'm quite pleased with the overall AV quality, as well as the packaging, and am very much looking forward to watching these first 2 seasons and the arrival of S3 & S4.

 

[BobO'Link]

I just watched the episode "The Halloween Party" which has a 4yo Jerry Mathers playing one of the kids who trick or treat Ozzie's house... If you *know* who he is you can see him under the makeup during a closeup of the two kids. He also has a short line. The scene is ~16:20 in... It's his first credited TV appearance.

 

[smithbrad]

My *only* complaint is that selecting a single episode doesn't play that episode followed by a return to the menu like expected. It's authored in that manner which makes the selected episode the starting point for a "play all to the end of the disc." It's a minor annoyance. IIRC this is how all the other MPI TV series are authored so it's not unexpected.

That's one of those aspects that's either going to be an annoyance or a welcome feature depending on the individual. Personally, I prefer it this way, especially for 30 minutes shows.

 

[RobertMG]

My Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet seasons one and two were shipped from Amazon last Tuesday, the street date, and I received them on Thursday! Completely unexpected, as I've never had any package from the states arrive that quickly (I'm in Western Canada). These are truly outstanding DVD sets, and must represent a painfully meticulous and gargantuan effort in recovering this classic series from a previously chaotic state and the cumulative damage of neglect over many decades.

Some damage is still evident, of course, but the video and audio quality is greatly improved over what a lot of us have in our previously held collections. From what I can tell, the running times vary from approx. 25:15 to 27:01 or so, with six to nine chapter stops depending on the network commercials (Listerine and Hotpoint). The chapter stops are properly placed at commercial breaks, and before opening and closing credits. I love Ozzie's PSA for the Armed Forces blood drive for soldiers wounded on the fighting front in Korea, very evocative in the fall and winter of 1952-53 as American and United Nations forces (including the Canadian Army) were going into the bloody stretch run toward the eventual cease-fire in July 1953.

I took some screen caps from the season one set:
View attachment 142759

From The Traffic Signal (Feb. 20, 1953) with Janet Waldo (as the secretary) and Frank Jenks (as the cop)...Ozzie discovers that you CAN fight city hall...although Thorny, bombastic as always, is no help at all...
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Check out Ozzie's very real newspaper...
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Considering the condition the originals were in the cuts for syndication etc they should all be thanked including Sam Nelson - he saved his families legacy. Ozzie was a talented genuis but he did not seem to care about his work after the series went off the air

 

[RobertMG]

Considering the condition the originals were in the cuts for syndication etc they should all be thanked including Sam Nelson - he saved his families legacy. Ozzie was a talented genuis but he did not seem to care about his work after the series went off the air

deep discount has them 20.99 plus till monday 10 percent off free shipping about 41.00 total

 

[mark-edk]

On the subject of rebroadcast versions, the 'Boxing Matches' episode is not marked as one but it was from a rebroadcast or syndication print, at least in part. They added back the intros, audio, and sequences cut from the altered version, but they made a mistake. In the scene transition to where Ozzie goes out and talks to Thorny they left in the music from the altered version instead of replacing it with the original Buzz Adlam scoring. (This is also another episode where the audio is sub-standard.)

 

[RobertMG]

On the subject of rebroadcast versions, the 'Boxing Matches' episode is not marked as one but it was from a rebroadcast or syndication print, at least in part. They added back the intros, audio, and sequences cut from the altered version, but they made a mistake. In the scene transition to where Ozzie goes out and talks to Thorny they left in the music from the altered version instead of replacing it with the original Buzz Adlam scoring. (This is also another episode where the audio is sub-standard.)

When they were faced with such a mess it was bound to happen but thumbs up on what was done!

 

[timk1041]

My Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet seasons one and two were shipped from Amazon last Tuesday, the street date, and I received them on Thursday! Completely unexpected, as I've never had any package from the states arrive that quickly (I'm in Western Canada). These are truly outstanding DVD sets, and must represent a painfully meticulous and gargantuan effort in recovering this classic series from a previously chaotic state and the cumulative damage of neglect over many decades.

Some damage is still evident, of course, but the video and audio quality is greatly improved over what a lot of us have in our previously held collections. From what I can tell, the running times vary from approx. 25:15 to 27:01 or so, with six to nine chapter stops depending on the network commercials (Listerine and Hotpoint). The chapter stops are properly placed at commercial breaks, and before opening and closing credits. I love Ozzie's PSA for the Armed Forces blood drive for soldiers wounded on the fighting front in Korea, very evocative in the fall and winter of 1952-53 as American and United Nations forces (including the Canadian Army) were going into the bloody stretch run toward the eventual cease-fire in July 1953.

I took some screen caps from the season one set:
View attachment 142759

From The Traffic Signal (Feb. 20, 1953) with Janet Waldo (as the secretary) and Frank Jenks (as the cop)...Ozzie discovers that you CAN fight city hall...although Thorny, bombastic as always, is no help at all...
View attachment 142760
View attachment 142761
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Check out Ozzie's very real newspaper...
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Thanks for sharing these. Can't wait to start looking at my sets.

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

Just got S1 of O&H today in the mail from Amazon today.

 

[The 1960's]

Many years ago I purchased the The Essential Ozzie & Harriet from Mill Creek. I watched a few episodes but the picture quality turned me off. Then in 2019 I culled through the hundreds of uploads on the various streaming platforms and ended up downloading 105 episodes from Archive.org that looked watchable. I ended up viewing about 15% of those but then decided to just wait and see if an official release would happen. So for me I’ll be seeing most of these for the very first time. For the silent majority who read here but aren’t members please support this historic MPI Home Video release.

Last week I reached out to Gary and asked him what episodes he thought I might use to present a few clips and caps. He was kind enough to suggest 5 from each season. Please note: Clips do not depict integral portions of storylines. Images are not modified. Today and over the coming days I’ll be posting the rest. Here's the first.

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The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966)

S01E01 The Rivals (Oct.03.1952)
Stars Ozzie Nelson Harriet Nelson David Nelson Ricky Nelson Don DeFore Eilene Janssen Carl Greyson​

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[mark-edk]

I remember at some point noting which season it was where they switched from twin beds to one large bed in the O&H bedroom, which was considered a pioneering moment in US tv....

I've been reading a sample from a book about Ozzie ('The Adventures of Ozzie Nelson') and the author notes that while Ozzie would make this claim and believed it to be true, actually a show from 1947 did it first. 'Mary Kay and Johnny' was a sitcom about a married couple, played by a real-life married couple with the same names. It began on Dumont then went to CBS and NBC. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to put off buying this book as the portions I've read have a lot of fascinating info. You can read a couple chapters on Google books - https://tinyurl.com/mrrv58x5 This part focuses on the early years of the tv show.

 

[RobertMG]

I've been reading a sample from a book about Ozzie ('The Adventures of Ozzie Nelson') and the author notes that while Ozzie would make this claim and believed it to be true, actually a show from 1947 did it first. 'Mary Kay and Johnny' was a sitcom about a married couple, played by a real-life married couple with the same names. It began on Dumont then went to CBS and NBC. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to put off buying this book as the portions I've read have a lot of fascinating info. You can read a couple chapters on Google books - https://tinyurl.com/mrrv58x5 This part focuses on the early years of the tv show.

Check out this article https://mercurie.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-first-couples-to-share-bed-on.html

 

[Bert Greene]

Many years ago I purchased the The Essential Ozzie & Harriet from Mill Creek. I watched a few episodes but the picture quality turned me off. Then in 2019 I culled through the hundreds of uploads on the various streaming platforms and ended up downloading 105 episodes from Archive.org that looked watchable. I ended up viewing about 15% of those but then decided to just wait and see if an official release would happen. So for me I’ll be seeing most of these for the very first time. For the silent majority who read here but aren’t members please support this historic MPI Home Video release.

Last week I reached out to Gary and asked him what episodes he thought I might use to present a few clips and caps. He was kind enough to suggest 5 from each season. Please note: Clips do not depict integral portions of storylines. Images are not modified. Today and over the coming days I’ll be posting the rest. Here's the first.

---

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966)

S01E01 The Rivals (Oct.03.1952)
Stars Ozzie Nelson Harriet Nelson David Nelson Ricky Nelson Don DeFore Eilene Janssen Carl Greyson​

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View attachment 142917​

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View attachment 142910 View attachment 142911 View attachment 142912 View attachment 142913 View attachment 142914 View attachment 142915 View attachment 142916​

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Eilene Janssen had earlier in the year just wrapped up her work in Republic's "Rough Ridin' Kids" series of b-western films. Always enjoy seeing her. A fine child actress who grew to be a lovely lady. And she's luckily still with us!

 

[timk1041]

Still waiting for my set to arrive. Now an update is delivery Wednesday 6/29.