Customer Reviews

The Best of Mister Ed - Volume One

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember lovingly watching Mr Ed when I was a kid, although not a small child, in the 60's, so I thought I would buy this DVD when I heard it was coming out. I was expecting to find something perhaps childish and a little corny, but to my surprise, it's very funny--in fact, it holds up very well and is quite entertaining for everyone, not just the kids. Actually Ed can be quite frisky. The comedy is great for all the family, but I have to admit the show is always at it's best when Mr Ed is in the scene. It loses something when there is too much human interaction and Ed is out of the picture. Mr Ed was truly one of a kind and that voice fit him perfectly. A still delightful and charming show.

I've watched many of the episodes on the new DVD release and can definitely recommend it. The visual quality was much better than I expected, given that all 21 episodes are packed on 2 disks. They look at least as good, if not better, than what is shown on TV Land. (Though not up to the standard of the Dick Van Dyke transfers). I don't think many people will be dissappointed by the picture quality. I also thought the episode selection was pretty good. Naturally, some good ones were left off, but the 21 on this set are, without question, some of the better episodes. All of these are on the VHS tapes released by Columbia House a few years ago.

For those of you who think extras are so important, forget about it. There aren't any. Just the 21 shows, complete from start to finish. Oh, by the way, it's a great show. But you already knew that, didn't you!

This is a great DVD set. I wish they had it as "FIRST SEASON" form. The first episode, "The first meeting" was aired on January 5th 1961 and aired on WNBC on Thursday night at 7:30 in New York. As a matter of fact, the first 26 episodes of the actual series aired only in New York. It wasn't until October 1st, 1961 with the episode "My son, My son" did the show go to CBS on Sunday at 6:30 for everyone to see.
This set has some great episodes. I like the ones that had famous people as guest star. This set has the episodes with George Burns, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Clint Eastwood. They are missing the episode with Mae West as a guest, hope it'll be on the next set. And soon, that was a favorite of mine.
The set is worth buying and is truly a delight to watch. It brings back great memories of my childhood, and how great and creative the shows were back in the sixties.
For those who are fans of old classics, great times and great tv, you need this set. Buy it and enjoy it, it's worth every penny. And remember, the only thing you have to remember is never, never lay a rake on the ground to step on. A clean and wholesome show for all to see.
THE BEST OF MR. ED
disc one-
#1."The first meeting" 1/5/1961
#2."Ed the song writer" 4/6/1961
#3."Psychoanalyst show" 4/20/1961
#4."Wilbur sells ed" 7/2/1961
#5."The horsetronaut" 10/8/1961
#6."Ed's ancestors" 10/15/1961
#7."Mister Ed's blues" 11/19/1961
#8."Zsa Zsa" 1/28/1962
#9."Ed, the beneficiary" 1/21/1962
#10."Ed's bed" 1/14/1962
#11."Horse wash" 2/4/1962
#12."Ed the beachcomber" 4/1/1962
#13."George Burns meets Mr. Ed" 2/18/1962

disc two-
#14."Clint Eastwood meets Mr. Ed" 4/22/1962
#15."Horse sense" 11/1/1962
#16."Wilbur the masher" 12/13/1962
#17."Ed the emancipator" 3/24/1963
#18."The price of apples" 3/7/1963
#19."Doctor Ed" 3/31/1963
#20."Ed the zebra" 3/21/1964
#21."Wilbur Post, honorary horse" 10/6/1963

I loved Mr. Ed as a child and I haven't seen any re-runs since. I watched the pilot episode on this DVD set last night. It was still funny after all these years, and it looked awesome compared with the way it looked on the vacuum-tube round-screen televisions of the 1960's.

The problems are:

1. Double sided DVDs. I hate that! These are much easier to damage than single sided ones. I can't even tell one side from the other. Hold them up to a bright light and each side looks the same. Fine print in the center doesn't even tell me which side is which. And they are much more vulnerable to finger prints getting on the data medium. This is bad.

2. Overview of three years instead of just doing seasons in order like some of the other great sit-coms of that era. Let's just have seasons one through three in turn and let ME decide what the best episodes are! I would gladly pay the price of this set three times to get the entire series. Us baby-boomers have the extra cash, remember?

3. How about a bonus feature or two? Maybe an interview with someone having something to do with the show? Anything? (Still, a minor concern of mine next to having all the episodes properly packaged.)

So, this set is something good that could have been a lot better. A mediocre treatment of a great show.

Postscript: I wrote this review before I played through all the episodes. One of the episodes on disc one froze on two different DVD players. One of the two was awful and I've since gotten rid of it, but the other is a good Pioneer unit that has played everything else I've got.

Finally, I replaced my bad DVD player with a new Panasonic unit and it laborously slogged through that episode, constantly recycling, buffering etc. but it made it through.

So, there are problems with this DVD, but it's a great way to evaluate your playback equipment. It sold me on Panasonic DVD players.

Mr. Ed was the foundation of Filmways' dynasty of offbeat and hayseed TV shows, with rerun staples like Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and The Addams Family. Of all these shows, Mr. Ed is perhaps the simplest and most charming of all.

This compilation has high production values, from the attractive artwork, fun slipcase and separate program synopsis. Shows are culled from the first three seasons only, to keep some continuity with the characters. After the death of co-star Larry Keating (Roger Addison), new neighbors were introduced and we will likely meet them in further volumes. Oddly, the 21 shows are spread over two disks but three sides-- Disk 1 is a double-sided disk. I completely missed side two of Disk 1 the first time through!! The original source material for the most part is in excellent condition and I only saw one or two episodes with very minor problems. Because of the high resolution of the DVD media, it is fun to watch for interesting clues about how Ed talked. In many shots you can see very thin strings or cables dragging behind Ed or across his coat, and often you can clearly see his bridle being "tugged" as he is cued to talk.

My only disappointment is that the producers failed to present these shows in the order they were originally aired, and the 21 episode are scattered around the first three years of the show. That prevents hardcore TV fans from watching the story and characters develop. It's a very minor point, though, because this disk is a treasure for any Mr. Ed fan and a wonderful value.

I love Mister Ed and remember watching the show as a very small child in the early 1960's. My only complaint is why MGM didn't just release the entire First Season, as they did with Green Acres. As someone else said in their review, this would have given those who had never seen the show or didn't remember much about it a chance to watch the characters and the storyline develop. This is why I only rate these DVDs three stars. The show itself gets five stars from me, otherwise. It is one of my very favorite shows of all-time. They will never be able to do it justice or come anywhere near to recapturing the wonderful flavor of the original show or the innocence and simplicity of it's era, if the rumors of a movie and a new series are true. Besides, to me, the First Season had many of the best episodes, as is often true of most shows. It is strange that it is called Volume One, as well. Especially when it does seem that MGM has basically offered here, just an overview of the series, populated mainly with episodes featuring appearances by well-known stars. A pity, it should have been better. Hopefully, more will be forthcoming. I guess in the meantime that any Mister Ed is better than none. Also wondering why only 21 episodes of Mister Ed when MGM offers the entire First Season of Green Acres (32 episodes) for the same price?? Hmmmm............

Mr. Ed was a fun TV show from televisions roaring past. Simple, good clean, entertaining fun with the next-door neighbors and Mr. Ed the talking horse, getting his owner in all kinds of trouble. This kind of wholesome entertainment is lost in todays TV world. How many times do we talk to our pets and wish they would speak back? Mr. Ed is well-done, with good humor and a bedside manner way of telling the story. Hope you enjoy as I did in my childhood. Always fascinated how they got the horse to appear as if he was really doing the talking. This is a bargain, if you enjoy classic situation comedy between an animal and his human friend. Can you hear the famous song...a horse is a horse of course....?

Ok, I should have been born like 30+ years ago. I hardly watch any TV anymore but i always pop in Mister Ed before i go to sleep. I've probably watched about 50 hours of Mister Ed. I dont mind that the show is in black and white because nothing measures up to the fantastic comedy. One of my favorite episodes on this disk is "The Price of Apples." I would reccomend this DVD to anyone young or old. Mister Ed is a great selection if your looking for something to make u laugh and have a good time.

Wonderful series. My children have thoroughly enjoyed the entire collection. It is interesting to see how well this black and white comedy production holds up against 2006 sit-coms.

These are great transfers and the price is right. However, the series should be issued by SEASON in their original order.

Thanks!