Customer Reviews

Make Room For Daddy - The Complete Fifth Season

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Well - as other reviewers here have pointed out, there are serious problems with this release.

"Make Room for Daddy" was an important and popular television series. It was THE Desilu product that inherited the coveted Monday night at 9 p.m. slot vacated by "I Love Lucy" when it switched to an hour-long/once a month format starting in the fall of 1957.

Danny Thomas starring as Danny Williams moved from ABC with his two children Terry (Sherry Jackson) and Rusty (Rusty Hamer). He had been raising them since the death of his wife (played in earlier seasons by Jean Hagen). Along with the kids, Danny brought a new wife Kathryn Daley O'Hara Williams (Marjorie Lord) and her daughter Linda (Angela Cartwright).

This is the complete 5th season. There is also the final episode of the 4th season - where Danny proposes to Kathy. And as an extra, the 1960 episode that served as a sort of pilot for what became "The Andy Griffith Show."

All of the humor and love among the characters that you might fondly remember is here. Danny sings some terrific songs, and there are some great guest stars. Jackson, Hamer, and Cartwright each have moments to shine and take advantage of them. Lord is one of the most lovely TV "moms" of the 1950's. Her clothes by Emeson's of Studio City are au courant for the time. Also featured in many episodes is Amanda Randolph as Louise, the maid.

Danny does some great spit takes - he was the master. And there is the familiar gesture he made: a quickly upturned palm with a grunt that Hamer can imitate to perfection.

There is no list of the episodes except on the disks themselves, but they seem to be in chronological order. The transfer is very soft and there doesn't seem to have been a lot of digital enhancement on them. Certainly for the SRP for the 34 + 2 episodes, they might have spent some time on them.

The original opening credits are shown at the beginning of each disk but NOT at the beginning of each episode. When you choose an episode, it begins with the first scene. The ending credits are complete. And each episode runs about 23 minutes. This means we are getting the syndicated versions of the episodes. Chunks of dialog are missing. And it's not even cleverly done as it was with "I Love Lucy." Many times there is a fade out and fade in the MIDDLE of a scene. You can tell a fade to commercial because these are usually accompanied by a musical tag.

Disgraceful that this pioneering series - sort of a bridge between "I Love Lucy" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" - has been given such a short shrift.

It is wonderful to have it. I am glad it has been released. But if the subsequent seasons are going to be released - let's let Questar know that we won't accept such a cheat!

If you are a fan of the show - buy this set. It will be fun to watch. But it will leave you unsatisfied, and might even make those seeing it for the first time wonder why we thought it was so great!

I was anxiously awaiting the release of this DVD set, and was very disappointed when I finally bought and watched it. This set gives us syndicated versions of "Make Room For Daddy" episodes which are VERY heavily edited! Many times the edits are abrupt fade out/fade ins, and the missing portions of the episodes make some of the stories difficult or confusing to follow. Putting edited syndicated versions of these "Make Room For Daddy" episodes on DVD is unforgivable and certainly not worth the money for this DVD set!

I cannot believe they LOPPED OFF THE OPENING CREDITS! The opening credits are a *major* part of the appeal of any 1950s sitcom. (And actually the main reason I bought this set.) Presenting each episode without the intro and theme music is like selling a book with the cover ripped off. I was very disappointed. Also the navigation is practically nonexistent. The box set comes out to about a dollar per episode, so I guess you get what you pay for.

I anxiously awaited the release of this set. How disappointing to find that, like Questar's release of "The Joey Bishop Show", this set truncates the opening credits from each episode. Sorry, Questar....the shows should be in their entirety.

Fortunately, I read of this atrocity before purchasing this set. Until I find out that Questar has changed its ways, they will be added to my list of companies from which to NEVER buy.

I love the Make room for Daddy show and I am glad that at least one DVD is available for the series. However, Questar did a horrible job of creating the DVD. There are NO chapters on the disc and therefore, if you have a multi-disc player, you cannot mark the spot on the disc to return to later. There is not even a "Top" menu.

Like other reviewers, I noted that parts of the shows were cut (it is very obvious). When all is said and done though, it was Great seeing this old show again. To bad the producers of the video did such a poor job!

I, like another reviewer, have not purchased this set. I feel that it's pointless to do so if the versions are syndicated. I think this is a deplorable (wreched) practice. This was a fantastic show and deserves far better than that!!! I certainly hope that this doesn't become a trend, although I fear that it will if they see people will buy them. I'll have to keep watching my already hacked for commercial's sake versions that I taped from Nick at Nite back in '88 and '89. (Yes Jimmy B., Nick at Nite DID run them)

After looking at other reviews, I didnt realize the episodes are edited. I feel kind of cheated! But then again I must've only seen them edited in syndication back in the '80's & early '90's. This was the most popular version & cast lineup & popular of the entire 11 season run & of the final 7 seasons when moved to CBS. (Why did Sherry Jackson have to quit after season 5 or why was Terry written out & why couldn't Miss Jackson come back for Terry's wedding in season 7 instead of unknown Penny Parker thus not being able to show flashback's when Terry was younger. Was Miss Parker's Terry older than Miss Jackson's or did Terry get courted & married at age 18?) It's great to see again after an abscence of 13-14 years after Nick at Nite discontinued showing after Mr. Thomas passed away spring '91. By the way Nick at Nite from what I remember only showed seasons 5-8. I had never seen an episode beyond that until summer '90 when an independent station where I was living at the time continued to season 9 (Angela Cartwright starts to look more & more like Brigita Von Trapp & Penny Robinson instead of 5yo Linda Williams & Rusty Hamer's Rusty Williams has gone through puberty & his voice has changed). I didnt know that the Williams moved into two more apartments or condos & the sets were different for seasons 8 & 9. But partway into season 9 Nick at Nite must've discovered someone else was broadcasting on free antenna tv & bought out all syndicated rights because that channel stopped showing. I had never seen the first version or ABC version until I bought the inexpensive samplers of the first 3 seasons. I always thought of oldest child Terry as a teen & figured from pictures of season 1 that she must've been a younger girl at one time & Rusty Hamer was predessor of Angela Cartwright as the youngest cutest one who gets all the attention. I can see why season 5 was the first to be available to the public because that's also the first season of the CBS years & cast lineup that most people of my generation who grew up watching reruns in the '70's & '80's are familiar with. I didnt know there was an earlier version until about '87 or '88 when I checked out a tv trivia book at a local library & that's when I wondered why is Linda older than Rusty & Rusty so young? Even if each is edited, when are the first four seasons, in a different apartment & set w/Terry & Rusty's birth mother, going to be released? How about also rereleasing season 5 unedited? I'll gladly pay another $50 & sell the edited set even though I'll probably only get $5 for it. Can season 6 at least be released sometime soon & the remaining Marjorie Lord seasons annually afterwards even if edited? You know I wonder if the first 3 seasons were never shown in syndication or on Nick at Nite or not available because the samplers include original footage of tobacco companies presenting & sponsoring in the first season opening credits?
But anyway, I suppose it's recommended if you love this show, even if it's only the first version, or it's your first time & dying to see, to purchase this set. It's better than nothing & it wouldn't suprise me Questar & Mr. Thomas' surviving family decide to soon remove from the market & consider this entire series out-of-print & secured in a vault permanently. By the way, if you love the cast besides "Sound of Music" & "Lost in Space" I also recommend the following: "Singin' in the Rain" (& I thought that was actually the way Miss Hagen talked until I saw a first version episode for the first time) "I'll See You in my Dreams" "The Jazz Singer" (original '40's version if not out of print, not the retarded '80 remake) " "Batman ('66-'68) season 1" and "Charlie's Angels season 4" (when these are released) One last thought: what about releasing two followup reunions? '67's pilot "Make More Room for Daddy" & the short-lived "Make Room for Grandaddy" ('70-'71 w/original CBS cast including Sherry Jackson)

Finally, a season set DVD of "Make Room For Daddy", the classic 1953 series starring nightclub singer and comedian Danny Thomas as nightclub singer and comedian Danny Williams will be released on September 28th! A collection which contains all 33 episodes from the fan-favorite 5th season (when the series moved from ABC to CBS as the re-titled "The Danny Thomas Show", and Marjorie Lord joined the cast as Danny's new wife, Kathy), the set also includes (as a special bonus) the heartwarming final episode of the fourth season, in which Danny proposes to Kathy. Not to mention guest appearances by legendary entertainers Jack Benny, Dinah Shore, and Bob Hope. Special Features include the pilot episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" ("Danny Meets Andy Griffith") which aired on the "The Danny Thomas Show" (Season 7); Rare performance footage of Danny Thomas on a Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis telethon; and Danny Thomas' Answered Prayer: The Story of St. Jude's.

Make room for this set in your TV DVD collection!

First, let me say that I have not seen this DVD, so my remarks are basically about WHY from the available information.

I was a BIG fan of this show many years ago, and I agree with the other reviewers that it desperately deserves DVD treatment. But GET REAL, people. If the episodes are not complete -- INCLUDING the commercials that at that time were as much part of the plot as the rest of the action -- then to buy the collection would send TOTALLY the wrong message to the disk's producers. RESPECT THE INTELLIGENCE AND THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR CUSTOMERS. Don't dangle a carrot for us and then hit us with this kind of brick. That's almost as bad as redubbing the music on WKRP in Cincinnati. Oh. Sorry. They did that too

I anxiously await a time when I can get the full episodes.

Hey Folks! It seems like many people are finding BIG PROBLEMS with this DVD collecton. DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THEM! This DVD set is in NO WAY the disappointment that others here have described. They do not know what they are talking about.

Big deal that this collection comes from the syndicated version of the show. The fact is, this show ran in syndication as early as the 60's, long before the commercials were running longer than the show. When you watch these great episodes, occasionally a scene will fade sooner than the original airing to skip past a few seconds of music that came before a commercial break. But when the scene comes back, it is obvious that you are at the same spot in the story and have not missed ANY of the dialogue.

Throughout these episodes in this DVD set, the continuity is all there, all of the lines are there and NOTHING of any importance has been cut out... only a few seconds of music here and there which used to be the longer fades to commercials. For the veiwers convenience, for those who want to watch a Danny Thomas marathion, the theme song is heard only at the beginning of each cd and NOT before every episode.

The picture and sound quality are EXCELLENT and only VERY rarely does a scene miss a split second of sound or part of a word due to a splice in the source material.

DO NOT FEAR when ordering this fantastic collection. For those of you who used to watch this series as a child, tears will come to your eyes during the first episode as you rejoin this wonderful tv family after having been away from them so long... the joy, the tempers, the music, the clowning, the mischief. I had forgotten just how much I loved these characters as well as the actors and actresses who had protrayed them! And the writers are the best! These shows are genuinely funny, promote good morals and sound family values unlike the pure GARBAGE sit com's that air today in prime time, whose writers are as morally bankrupt as the trash they write.

Unless you are a purist fanatic who must hear the last stroke of a violin bow in filler music before the commercial breaks... and unless you desperately fear the picture fading to black once in a great while to end a scene which comes back right where it left off... YOU WILL LOVE this DVD collection! Six DVD's with 6 episodes each, plus great bonus material!

I bought this from a seller here at Amazon for $9.99 plus a few bucks for shipping. If that kind of bargain is not good enough for some cry babies here, that is THEIR problem. Just make sure that they do not keep YOU from enjoying this FANTASTIC DVD collection of this wonderful show!!