Customer Reviews

The Best of Donny and Marie: Volume 1

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Growing up as a kid in the 1970s, my siblings and I always looked forward to Sunday nights when we would gather in front of our TV set and watch our favorite foreign shows on Channel 7 one after the other. It started with The Muppet Show at 6pm, Donny and Marie, Mork and Mindy, Charlie's Angels and, finally, Three's Company.
Having complete sets of Three's Company and Charlie's Angels, it was, therefore, such a joy to finally learn that Donny and Marie would finally be released on DVD. Inspite of the fact that this DVD set was advertised as "Volume 1" I still bought the DVD because, for me, owning this set was still better than none. Viewing the 4 select episodes with my mom last weekend (like we did 30 years ago) was a nostalgic event. We enjoyed seeing Donny and Marie all over again at their prime singing, acting and dancing their hearts out. I also still clearly recall their wonderful performance of "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" which was thankfully included in Episode 2 of this set so seeing this performance all over again was pure joy. After viewing the 4 episodes on 2 discs, (I got this DVD together with Season 6 of Golden Girls), I wanted more! I felt really disappointed that for 4 episodes, I had to pay $20.00+ which, when compared to the $27.99 cost of the Golden Girls Season 6 containing 21 episodes, was really a rip-off. It would have been such a great buy if this set was called "Donny and Marie: The Complete First Season" containing ALL episodes. When will we see that day? I am sure the manufacturers of this set had their reasons for releasing such an incomplete set but to fans like us, there is just no excuse for depriving us of the joy in seeing the complete first season and the next 3 seasons! I appeal to the people behind this set to please release the complete 4 seasons because I assure you of our complete support in purchasing the sets. The Donny and Marie Show deserves to be seen again and again by our generation and future generations as well because this show was simply brilliant and is a shining example of what great entertainment is all about. I would rate this 5-stars if it was the complete first season but due to incompleteness, I rate it only 3-stars.

Must admit to being an Osmond since the early 70s, and as I am now living in China, I jumped at any chance to Donny and Marie perform. After a 30 year wait, what one gets is hardly a best of collection, but 2 sample discs of 4 incomplete Donny and Marie shows. I realise that Donny experienced royalty and cost issues when he tried to create a compilation disc set. This compromise leaves fans wondering if the full collection of 72 episodes will ever be released on dvd. All this aside, am glad to have a high quality reproduction on DVD, as the sound and the images are awesome!

Donny and Marie Osmond became the youngest brother and sister duo to have a television show.

Every week we laughed and we were entertained by the comedy and music of Donny and Marie and often the Osmond family.

Every week we listened to some country songs and to some good old rock and roll!!!

Every week we were blessed by words written by Alan Osmond and sung by Donny and Marie.........
"May tomorrow be a perfect day.........."

Get this DVD and travel down memory lane!

I'm a bit disappointed with this "Best Of" DVD release. These are edited episodes and not the entire episodes. The packaging, on the back, says "4 full episodes". That's a LIE! The number one thing that I hate about any DVD release is being LIED TOO! Or being "MISLEAD". The running time says 120 minutes. That's 30 minutes per episode. The shows back in the 60's and 70's were about 50 minutes long for a 1 hour show (minus the commercials). You do the math. What's with this 2 DVD's for 120 minutes. That's 60 minutes for each disc. What a waist. The price is way to high. You can buy some TV shows (complete seasons) for a few more dollars. Check out the Waltons season sets, they're around $20.00 to $30.00 per season. Also, check out The Partridge Family season sets. They're around $20.00 per full season. I'll leave this review with a positive side. The DVD quality is superb!

I have been a long time fan of Donny & Marie, so was anxiously awaiting this release and whilst I am so pleased to have the shows in such good quality sound and picture, I have to agree with many fellow reviewers and ask the same question.... 'why was this compliation set so heavily edited?'
All the shows seemed incomplete and kind of stuck in a half way house, between the best of and a compilation set.
The scenes that are there are wonderful and really capture the energy, talent and enthusiasm of D & M, but the editing didn't really capture the spirit, pace and esscence of the original airings of the show.
For example, I was so looking forward to that wonderful duet Donny did with Cheryl Ladd on season 3 ' I Just Want To Be Your Everything' and D & M's fab duet 'You Bring Me Sunshine' from season 4. Also, the guest stars duets would have captured the spirit of what the show was all about: showcasing the current talent of the day. Those are just 2 examples of typical 'Donny & Marie' classic scenes that were missed out.
I would like to se a COMPLETE set of the shows released. The times are right for this. I would be prepared to pay a higher price for complete unedited shows as that's what I remember and loved about the show. It was variety at its BEST!

Donny and Marie at their best! When Marie was only 16 and Donny 18, the talented brother and sister duo perform their famous, "I'm a little bit country, I'm a little bit rock and roll" concerts amd slapstick comedy skits. The numerous guest stars that appeared throughout the years (Bob Hope, Carl Reiner, Ruth Buzzi, Paul Lynde and Charo to name a few) make this DVD a treat to watch for all of those wanting a bit of nostalgia from the '70's. The Osmond Brothers and the Ice Vanities also make their appearances and add to the fun of this weekly variety show. Take a trip back in time and enjoy this DVD for the whole family. A Bonus Photo Gallery is included.But please, next time Donny-the whole season's shows and not the heavily edited ones?

i was excited to find out there were a couple of tapes for this show floating around.
i was a huge fan as a kid back in the mid 70s, but i have to agree with the previous reviewer that this 'Best Of...' compilation is curiously disappointing.
while its great to see faces like Paul Lynde, Bob Hope, Ted Knight, and the rest again, most of the skits are quite painful to endure.
That is until Marie inevitabley cracks up.
She and her brother had a tremendous chemistry together, and they almost always looked like they were having a lot of fun.
for me, seeing them just relate to one another, especially in the opening segments, was worth the purchase.
but i would really rather have a good multi-disc DVD set.
wouldn't have to be a full season set, but something patterned after either Shout Factorys Here's Lucy set, or The Sonny & Cher Ultimate Collection.
3 discs, with an assortment of clips spanning the different seasons- hopefully with more representation of the first season, which is not the case with the two VHS tapes.
i wouldn't even go with complete episodes, since as has already been said, the scripted comedy bits (if the ones on these tapes are any indication) are now more cringe worthy than amusing.
If i were producing it, i would dedicate one disc for clips of a good selection of the opening numbers, ice skating, the opening dialouge bit, the closings along with non-skit guest star appearences.
i would use disc two for a selection of complete musical numbers, and disc three could be reserved for solo skits and skits involving guest stars.
at least, thats what i'd like to see.

getting back to these tapes though, the majority of clips on these tapes are NOT from 76/77 but rather from the tail end of the shows run (at which point the show had lost much of its popularity and Marie had a hairstyle that looked like she was 40 years old and running for a seat on the PTA board) .
about a good 60% of all the material is from the shows last season, and only 10 minutes or so, if that much, are from the first (and most popular) season.
i have to wonder if many tapes from that early 76 season actually even exist anymore?
while a disappointment, it was still a kick to see again because afaik, this show has never ever been syndicated and i haven't seen this stuff in almost 30 years.
a truly good collection for the shows remains to be produced though, and hopefully it will show up on DVD in the not too distant future.
D&M and this show were a major pop culture phenomenon of the Bicentennial era, and deserve a good DVD release as much as any other 70s era tv property.

The pro of buying this DVD set is the excellent color/picture compared to your home made recordings with your VCRs or the official "Best Of" VHS released by Donny back in late 90s. But what about the sound/audio you get on this DVD. Well I have no 5.1 DTS sound on disc 1 episode 1. It is 100% silent when choosing that audio feature. Furthermore, as printed somewhere on the box, it are no full episodes but edited versions.

This collection was a little limited. I would have liked to have seen more than just one episode from each of the four seasons "Donny and Marie" was on the air.

Thanks to R2 for finally bringing one of my favorite variety shows from the 1970s to DVD (it's been 30 LONG years since they first aired on ABC)- however, I'm kind of disappointed with the packaging.

There's lots to enjoy here (especially the concert segments which I always looked forward to), but please bring us a FULL SEASON SET in the near future. R2, you owe it to the legions of Donny and Marie fans to deliver next time!!!