Customer Reviews

Emily of New Moon: The Complete First Season

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Aired from 1998-2000 and spanning four seasons
Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's Novel, Emily of New Moon is the brilliant story of a free-spirited orphaned girl who's vivid imagination, passion to write, and romantic nature clash with her strict adoptive family.
I am an avid fan of period TV and movies so, when I stumbled on this show on cable while in my teens it was almost a given that I was going to enjoy it. But I had know idea then what a deep impression it would leave on me. I had heard of L.M. Montgomery and read Anne of Green Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea but had never heard of the Emily books so the series was completely new to me. and I was hooked, I watched as often as I could but the trouble was that the show's time slot Kept changing with the result that I often missed out, which was annoying because the show quickly became my favorite. Everything about it was wonderful, the casting/acting, the costumes and sets, the music especially the music. in short for me it was TV bliss. It wasn't all bad really, withdrawl symtoms from missing the show lead me to read the books Emily of New Moon (Emily Novels) Emily Climbs (Emily Novels) and Emily's Quest (Emily Novels) which to this day are at the top of my list of The Best Books Ever. Eventually I lost track of the show completely, and never got to see the last episodes, but I never forgot about it. If you've seen and enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables movies Anne of Green Gables: The Collection or perhaps the long running Avonlea series Road to Avonlea Season 1 Road to Avonlea Season 2 Road to Avonlea Season 3 - Spin-off from Anne of Green Gables Road to Avonlea Season 4 Road to Avonlea Season 5 - Spin-off from Anne of Green Gables Road to Avonlea Season 6 - Spin-off from Anne of Green Gables Road to Avonlea: The Complete Seventh Volume Emily is along the same lines but darker in tone with a slightly gothic feel. Season one chronicles the first year of Emily's life at New Moon Farm, after the death of her father. As she battles and begins to win over spartan Aunt Elisabeth, brings light and laughter into the sheltered life of fragile, sweet Aunt Laura and finds a kindred spirit in cousin Jimmy who is anything but simple minded. Emily also finds out where the gift of her second sight comes from. We meet llse Burnley, Perry Miller, and Teddy Kent. who will play important roles in the rest of Emily's life, each in their own way.

Like all book to screen adeptations the series has it's detractors. some think that to many liberties were taken and that as the show went on it drifted further and further from the books. This is true, there where a lot of changes and additions not in the original meterial, but in my opinion these did not hurt the series but improved it. If the books had been followed exactly, I don't think the series would have survived long.

Over the years, I had lost hope that this wonderful but little known show would be released on dvd, so I'm overjoyed that Echo Bridge Entertainment has done so, and I can only hope that there are plans to release the next three season's. I can't recommend this series highly enough.

I loved Anne of Green Gables. When I found a series other reviewers recommended so highly I jumped at the chance to introduce my children to another of LM Montgomery's worlds. Perhaps I did not read enough of the reviews. As I re-read the reviews I find one that hints at what I wish had been more clear to me before my investment into watching this series. There are some huge themes parents should be aware are in this TV series (1st season).

1) Emily sees ghosts. They call it 'second sight' in the book, but just about every episode has her interacting with ghosts that want her to solve a mystery, to right an injustice or enable them to rest. As a Christian I find this disturbing, and have approached it with my children as 'pretend' or 'like fairies.' The occult is not something kid-friendly, or 'cute'.

2) Real life issues. Emily deals with: death of mother, death of father (death is symbolized by a black horseman crashing through the wall of her house), rejection by her only relations, verbal abuse. She encounters others dealing with premaritial pregnancy, their own illigitimacy, drunkenness, adultery, idolatry, broken engagement due to unfaithfulness, hatred, prejudice, unforgiveness, loose-women, a murderer is hanged in one scene, an American Indian boy is beaten, she is beaten. There are several cases of severe child neglect, emotional trauma, child abandonment, she and her friends try to discover "where babies come from" and get pretty close to finding out.... (to name a few).

One reviewer said the series is 'not for children.' With a sigh I say it has brought some issues about life to my innocent children's minds that they didn't need to know about. Not yet.

But I watch it with my children. And I have been able to explain some things about life to them, as a case-study of sin and deception. It has some light-hearted scenes. But for the most part I would say it is a dark series, where Anne is light and joy.

In Anne of Green Gables, Anne says, "Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?"

This series is quite the opposite. The message of Emily is, "Isn't life full of sadness and grief? I need to help put these ghosts to rest because humans are just so full of unkindness and broken dreams."

So, if you are willing to put in the time to introduce your children to all the confusing things about life, go for it. If you can help them structure their understanding of the world around these new ideas, watch it.

I am enjoying it myself, from a creative point of view it is an interesting series. But parents beware, there be ghosts ahead!

My wife and I stumbled onto the Emily of New Moon television series on Georgia Public Television and loved it instantly. I'm not sure that we were able to catch every episode during its entire run but even if we had I would never regret buying every episode of every season again. Since that initial exposure to Emily, we've already bought almost every book L. M. Montgomery wrote. And, when Amazon sent me an e-mail about the DVD of Season One, I couldn't order or get it fast enough. It was as if a long lost friend had been found again. We're now on our second viewing of it in a week. Casting of the central characters couldn't have been better and the story lines are superb. While some have lamented the spirits who often visited Emily, they miss the point that, above all, this is a character study of a young, imaginative, and creative mind. When I was Emily's age, I must confess that thoughts of such mysterious beings were within the fold of my imagination as well. Today, as a 68 year old retired judge and having lost the capacity myself, I delight now in reviving such lucidity of imagination, albeit if only vicariously through Emily's eyes. If you love good, clean, family entertainment and can give yourself up to enjoying this as an enchanting period piece of life on Prince Edward Island at or about the turn of the last century, this DVD set will be a treasured jewel. And, at the offered price, you won't find so much quality entertainment anywhere at multiples of the price.

Upfront I should say that I have never read the original books by LM Montgomery so I can't comment on how true or not the adaptation is. Initially, people want to compare this to the Sullivan productions of Anne of Greeen Gables and Avonlea. While I definitely enjoyed those series very much ........I have to say that I have enjoyed Emily of New Moon just as much or maybe even more. Emily of New Moon is definitely darker and edgier than Anne of Green Gables....... but it still has the warmth and moral messages that one wants in this type of series. I will warn you though that this series really is not for young children but more for adults and young adults. I really would not show this to children under the age of 11-12 because there are some scary episodes. I watch a lot of period dramas with my two daughters who are older (1 in college, 1 in high school). I bought Emily of New Moon Seasons 1&2 to watch over the winter with my high school daughter and we have had such fun!!!! All of the characters are colorful and interesting, the scenery of Prince Edward Island is beautiful, and there is some light romance in it. Plus it is quite humorous and I cannot tell you how many times we have laughed and had to rewind a scene to watch it again. Emily is cute and her best friend is hilarious. I really don't understand the negative reviews. For Christmas, I gave Seasons 1&2 to my 77 year old mother who is also an Ann of Green Gables fan, and she loves this series also! We all absolutely cannot wait for Seasons 3 and 4 to be released.

I bought this for my 8 year old because she loved the Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables DVDs. This was a huge disappointment. From my daughter's point of view it alternated between scary (ghosts of dead parents visiting) and boring. She hasn't even seen it all because she doesn't want to, while she has seen the Hallmark LHOP movie and the entire AOGG series dozens of times. From my point of view, the acting was really weak so it was very hard for me to watch with her (which I had to do because she was so frightened by the ghost scenes). DO NOT BUY THIS because your child loves quality books and films about the old days. You will be disappointed.

I have always loved the Emily trilogy, even more than the Anne books if that is possible, and was excited by the possibilities of this adaptation. I had been put off by the disaster of the last two Sullivan productions, which, after reading the appalling reviews, I refused to watch. Outwardly, this looked like it could well be a production where the makers have honoured the original work. Not so.
I watched the first two episodes with a mixture of bewilderment, satisfaction and regret.
In only the first two episiodes, we already have two characters that are completely made up (little first nations boy and Charles Dickens - what the dickens was he doing there?) The actor portraying Jimmy would have made a fabulous Dean Priest but is completely unlike the Jimmy in the book. Even Emily's enigmatic cats, Mike and Saucy Sal, have merged into one very unassuming looking, incongruously named "Pandora".
Emily's father, who dies of tuberculosis in the book, falls off a roof in a completely unnecessary "dramatic turn", and of course Emily's teacher is cruel and her father rebels against him - not in the book. Thus it goes on. In very unsubtle flashbacks, we see Emily's mother rocking in her rocking chair or running next to her in the landscape.
A few of the additions were actually conducive to the story, like Emily keeping her father's cardigan, and, less so, the beach scene in the beginning.
But why the dramatic hunt for the cat in the night? Why the Miss Havisham-like garret full of her mother's stuff? Is Emily eventually going to move up there? I thought it was a normal room her mother lived in an that was locked up since she eloped.
All in all, the makers obviously couldn't rein in their own imagination and thought the story didn't have enough "Umph", so they randomly added some.
What a shame. This could have been a delightful series: the costumes and props are OK, the scenery is grand, and even the actors are quite good. I will watch the rest just because I bought it, but I am not expecting much. Departure from a very successful and rounded book is seldom a good idea, this is no exception.

I like the show and thought it was interesting as a stand alone BUT.....Sorry its just NOT Emily of New Moon and shouldn't be named this at all! It has maybe 15% (and I'm being generous of the story line, its sadly out of order, and it misses many key points). I read the books many times growing up. They miss the point on many of the characters including her Father, Elizabeth & even Emily herself (she was usually not KNOWINGLY naughty she just made mistakes... lots of them lol, in this series she is willfully disobedient and almost a nasty little girl). I also have no idea why they added ghosts in - it isn't needed.
My suggestion don't read the book before you watch these if you haven't already, If you have prepare to be disappointed unless you can understand that it is just not Emily from the book and watch the show as a completely separate entity 85% authored by someone else... Maud Hart Lovelace must be spinning in her grave to have her book name attached to this charming but misguided show.

This is one of the finest productions I've ever seen. The acting is supburb, the historical content accurate encompassing every facet of life. The photography is beautiful and the characters most intriguing. I loved it.

Recently I found this show on "Reg TV",on M-F 9am-10 on the "THIS" station,I started to watch when I noticed it was filmed on Prince Edward Island where my father grew up & the more I watched the more I liked watching it,now that I see only 4 seasons were made I'm kinda SAD,it's done so nice & the cast are very odd at times,Uncle jimmy reminds me of Forrest Gump,I think if you liked little House or adventures you will enjoy this show...

I used to watch this series in Montreal when I was on Christmas Break and always wondered why they never ran it here in the US. Thankfully it is now on DVD and I just received mine today. As usual the writers did not stick to the original written word, however, I like this quirky character Emily Starr and each episode is unique and well PEI has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The entire cast is brilliant, most notably Susan Clark as the tough as nails Aunt Elizabeth and Stephen McHattie as the slightly off but lovable Cousin Jimmy. If you are not familiar with the writings of Lucy Maude Montgomery, do not assume that this is like the Road to Avonlea or Anne of Green Gables. This young heroine is very much into the afterlife and sometimes it does remind me of a Shirley Temple flick with the mean aunt and the oft-misunderstood little girl. Overall I highly recommend this series since IMO the Canadians produce great television and film projects.