Customer Reviews

The Mad About You Collection

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what Sony has in mind with this upcoming release. They release season one with a low bit rate, inexpensive 2 disc set, then season two in a better quality 3 disc set and now they're doing a "best of" set that has Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt participating in some of the extras and commentaries. Why weren't they involved from the beginning and then just release the series season by season? Does mean that this new set is the final word on Mad About You and that we will see no more season sets? Will they continue with "best of" collections? It's a perplexing way to treat a classic television show.

Before "Friends" was available in season collections they tried doing "best of" discs. I've noticed that those discs are now in the $5 pile at various electronics stores. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for this kind of format.

I really can't believe Sony did this. I have dutifully bought Seasons 1 and 2 and have been patiently waiting for Season 3. What does Sony go and do? A "Best of.." hodgepodge?

I know that Season 2 sales were very low and they put this product together with Hunt and Reiser in order to draw in the non-cult crowd. Boycotting this set may guarantee there are never any other releases of any seasons. But I'm afraid that ship has already sailed or they wouldn't have done this "Best of..." to start with.

Yes, these episodes are all great but I still don't like it because:

a) It's just stupid, and
2) I want Season 3!

As a long-time fan of Murray and the gang, I was waiting anxiously for Season 3 to be released on DVD. The good old taped copies pale in comparison to professional editing quality. So I'm happy that the series is still being considered for release and isn't dead in the eyes of Sony.

There are some really nice episodes here, like Giblets for Murray, and a blooper reel. So it's not Season 3, but it's a good start. I'll probably cough up the cash to ensure the new releases, then watch it gather dust when the rest of the show is released seasonally.. oh well. It's still one of the funniest comedies to come out of NBC, and the best NYC-based comedy (far better than those Seinfools and their LA eccentricities in my opinion).

Oh, and here are the disc contents if you're curious:

Disc 1
The Pilot (Season 1)
Met Someone (1)
Virtual Reality (2)
Cold Feet (2)
Giblets for Murray (3)
Special Features:
Extra stuff from Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser

Disc 2
Our Fifteen Minutes (3)
The Alan Brady Show (3)
Yoko Said (4)
The Finale (Parts 1, 2, & 3; Season 4)

Disc 3
Citizen Buchman (5)
The Penis (5)
The Birth (Parts 1 & 2; 5)
Letters to Mabel (6)
Moody Blues (6)

Disc 4
Le Sex Show (6)
The Conversation (6)
Paved with Good Intentions (7)
The Final Frontier (series finale)

I am excited to finally see more Mad About You coming out on dvd! I am even more pleased to hear that Helen Hunt & Paul Reiser took part in putting this together. Hopefully there will be at least a couple of episode commentaries & other good Paul/Helen extras.

Since Seasons 1 & 2 are already out on DVD, I wish they would have chosen not to include 4 episodes from those seasons, although they choices they made (particularly "Met Someone") were good ones for those who don't have those DVDs. In general, the episode selection was good. I am pleased they included two of my all-time favorites, the Thanksgiving classic "Giblets for Murray" and the shot in real time outside of the crying baby's room episode "The Conversation."

However, many of my favorites didn't make the cut. Some examples:

* Mad About You, Parts 1&2 (the wedding episode)
* Purseona (Lisa & Jamie accidentily switch purses, & personalities)
* Two Tickets to Paradise (Paul & Jamie vacation & tell lies to strangers about who they really are)
* My Boyfriend's Back (Jamie's comic book writer ex makes her "Queen Talon")
* Ovulation Day (quite possibly the funniest Mad About You episode, where Paul's sister Debbie tells her family that she's gay); they chose "Yoko Said" over this?
* Get Back (Jamie's back goes out during sex on the floor of their apt.; Paul is quite proud of this)

Hopefully Sony will continue releasing full season sets (even better if they include commentaries/extras) after this collection so we can get some of these great episodes on DVD, especially the Mad About You at its peak Season 3...

According to tvshowsondvd.com:

This is described by Sony as "the ultimate collection of the stars' favorite episodes, hand-picked by Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser", and it also features special bonus material with participation from both of those stars. The nature of those extras has not been revealed yet, however. Here are the disc-by-disc contents:

Disc 1
The Pilot (a.k.a. "Romantic Improvisations"; Season 1)
Met Someone (Season 1)
Virtual Reality (Season 2)
Cold Feet (Season 2)
Giblets for Murray (Season 3)
Special Features:
Exclusive extras with participation from Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser
Other Sony Previews

Disc 2
Our Fifteen Minutes (Season 3)
The Alan Brady Show (Season 3)
Yoko Said (Season 4)
The Finale (Parts 1, 2, & 3; Season 4)

Disc 3
Citizen Buchman (Season 5)
The Penis (Season 5)
The Birth (Parts 1 & 2; Season 5)
Letters to Mabel (Season 6)
Moody Blues (Season 6)

Disc 4
Le Sex Show (Season 6)
The Conversation (Season 6)
Paved with Good Intentions (Season 7)
The Final Frontier (double-length series-ending Season 7 episode)

I boycott this because they stop releasing Season 3 and, instead, release a set that includes shows from Seasons 1 and 2 that we fans already bought. They should just release season by season. Many fans are disappointed. I boycott this set to send a message to SONY, Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt that they should not jerk their fans around like that. Fans want to collect seasons by seasons in complete set with complete shows... not season 1, season 2 and highlights. Too bad a good series with talented Helen Hunt ended up like this.

This collection has some good stuff, no question. But this cannot be the last word on Mad About You.

Though I loved this series from start to finish, the show absolutely peaked in season three. If Sony wanted to release only one season of this classic series, it would have to be season three.

Where is Escape From New York? (Clamenza!!) Where is Purseona? (Lisa's best episode ever) Where is Money Changes Everything? (Cyndi Lauper at her zaniest and Ira at his sweetest) Surely Paul and Helen consider these to be some of their favorites! C'mon...Purseona?!? Hello? Classic!

Yeah, yeah, I'll still buy it. But I want another release with Season 3, Complete!

I'm sorry, but I just can't buy this. I don't have money to just throw around. I have to pick and choose what luxury items I buy. I bought Season 1, bad transfers and all. I bought Season 2, happy to have better quality. Then I waited. And waited. Like all the loyal fans, I waited and watched season after season of Frasier, Seinfeld, and Friends rolled by. But no Mad About You.

Now this. I'm sorry. I will not give Sony more money in hopes that they will somehow "see the light" and put the rest of the show out. Why is this so hard? Every obscure show ever made is being put on DVD these days. How is this show so expensive to produce? They must have skads of production stills and art lying around to compile the box design. It's not like they were putting huge amounts of money into the sets before.

Just give us more of what we got with Season 2 - decent quality, and FULL SEASONS. I'm not paying for something containing episodes I already have, no matter HOW much I love the show.

I have been a Mad About You fan since the beginning. And like so many others, I was thrilled to see the seasons become available on DVD. I can't believe that it's not worth releasing the remaining seasons compared to some of the horrible shows that are for sale right now!

What I find upsetting about this compilation is that it contains episodes from seasons one and two. Hello! I've already bought those seasons! They could have atleast compiled episodes that I don't have access to, especially if Sony is never going to let me have the rest of the seasons!

I think it's truly a shame that the upcoming generations will be denied this classic program about two wonderful characters.

I've seen the complete series on re-runs, taped a lot of episodes and consider myself as a fan of the show. This morning I was amazed when I found the Amazon review of this DVD set, because I bought the complete seasons 1 & 2, and wrote a review complaining because they didn't include extras, commentaries or spanish subtitles (But I stilll loved the DVD's).
THIS IS NOT FOR FANS, because we have been asking for complete seasons and LOT of extras. That's why I don't understand why Sony didn't gave us the widely recognized seasons 3 & 4, considered (by fans and many others) the best seasons of Mad about you (Seasons 6 and 7 truly missed the point on what this show was about, except for a very few and wonderful episodes).
BUT, if you are NOT A FAN and you DON'T WANT THE COMPLETE SEASONS, I strongly recommend this DVD set!! The episode SELECTION IS VERY GOOD (except for the boring episode "The conversation") but missed some of the best episodes (Mad About You, Parts 1&2, Purseona, Two Tickets to Paradise, My Boyfriend's Back, Ovulation Day, Get Back, The grant, How to fall in love, Up in somke, The good the bad and the not so apealing, The glue people, Every good boy deserves fudge, The gym, The recital, Cheating on Sheila)
So... IF YOU JUST WANT THE BEST EPISODES (they work as an acceptable biography of the characters and their relation), here you have a lot of them... but can expect more on a future collection. But IF YOU ARE A FAN, buy seasons 1&2 complete, wait for the complete seasons 3,4&5 and wait for a selection of the best of seasons 6&7 (I don's think it would be a god idea to buy the complete seasons 6&7... we all know they missed the focus). And ASK FOR A LOT OF EXTRAS!!!! (like on Seinfeld DVD box)

Mad About You fans who eagerly snapped up the first two DVD collections of this hit NBC comedy will likely have mixed emotions about this third set, a best-of compilation of 21 episodes from the show's seven-year run "hand-picked by stars Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt" (as the box proclaims). The collection doesn't necessarily focus on the funniest episodes from the series' history ("Bing Bang Boom" is conspicuously absent), but on milestones like the ridiculously overdramatic three-parter where Paul and Jamie flirt with separation, the birth of Mabel, and guest star appearances like Christie Brinkley, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Carol Burnett and Yoko Ono. The good news is that there are a number of great episodes here: "Our Fifteen Minutes" spoofed reality TV before there was reality TV; "The Conversation" was an adventurous one-shot episode filmed continuously without edits or commercial breaks; and "The Final Frontier" series finale reclaimed the charm the series had lost in later years. Other episodes include the "Giblets for Murray" Thanksgiving episode, "Citizen Buchman," "Moody Blues," and "Paved With Good Intentions," some of the show's better episodes as its run wound down.

While the first two DVD collections contained no extras of any kind, this set includes a fantastic collection of bloopers, audio commentary by Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt on the series pilot and finale, and brief introductions to each episode by the pair, interviewed by NYU professor Richard Brown. The introductions are filled with great behind-the-scenes info, but have a stiff, overly formal feel to them, as if everyone's trying too hard to pat themselves on the back. Paul Reiser may be one of the most naturally funny comedians on the planet, and more audio commentaries would have been welcome, but the formal introductions are better than no features at all. It's also interesting to see how far technology has come in just ten years; the series, which looked just fine during its run in the 90's, is already starting to look dated now that we've entered the HDTV era.

It would be nice to think that a Season Three compilation is in the works, with classic episodes like the "The Ride Home" (one story told from the different perspectives of Paul and Jamie), Paul's various birthday disasters in "Cake Fear," and "Mad About You," the two-parter that tells the story of Paul and Jamie's wedding (how could this be left off any series compilation?). The shift to a best-of set, however, (including some episodes already on the Season One and Two DVDs) could signal that the first two sets didn't sell very well, and that this could be the last Mad About You DVD release for a while. It's not a perfect set, but there's some good stuff here, so fans of the series should enjoy it while you can.