Product Details

• Actors: Rock Hudson, Susan Saint James, John Schuck, Nancy Walker
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: August 9, 2005
• Run Time: 624 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JNHS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,533 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "McMillan & Wife - Season One" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

They were the happening '70s answer to Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies, and when McMillan & Wife premiered as part of the "NBC Mystery Movie" lineup (in three-way rotation with McCloud and Columbo) on September 17, 1971, they were an instant hit with both critics and viewers. The two-hour pilot "Once Upon a Dead Man" set the serio-comic tone for the series: San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan (Rock Hudson, his film career in decline) and the goofy doofus Sgt. Enright (John Schuck) frequently found themselves in the midst of a mystery, typically beginning when McMillan's cute and kooky wife Sally (Susan Saint James) stumbled onto telltale evidence or a murder scene. The McMillans were the perfect image of '70s California cool, attending trendy parties and charity benefits while solving robberies, murders, and other malicious goings-on, sporting the latest fashions (Hudson's handlebar moustache and longish hair perfectly complementing Saint James's bellbottoms and shag hairdo) and verbally sparring with some of the goofiest dialogue this side of Hope & Crosby's Road movies. Schuck provided additional comic relief while Nancy Walker, as the McMillans' nosy maid Mildred, made brief but memorable appearances before her role was expanded in subsequent seasons.

By latter-day standards the plots are simplistic but cleverly engaging, especially given that the entire series was something of a lark. The first regular series episode "Murder by the Barrel" (9/29/71) is indicative of the series' entertainment value, and "Death is a Seven Point Favorite" (12/8/71) was a season highlight, with '70s stalwart Don Stroud as a pro football quarterback targeted for murder in a bookie scheme gone awry. And while Hudson's macho image was certainly appealing to viewers unaware of his off-screen homosexuality (several episodes end with Stewart and Sally under the sheets), there's no denying that Saint James (whose irresistible charm was previously established on Robert Wagner's caper series It Takes a Thief) was the ideal costar, a perfect Nixon-era combination of looks, humor, and flighty, non-threatening intelligence, adorable to men and acceptable to women's-lib activists. Drawing upon Universal's reliable stable of TV directors including Hy Averback and Addams Family alumnus John Astin, writers including future TV mogul Steven Bochco, and a bevy of guest stars including Andrew Duggan, Jackie Coogan, Wally Cox, Herb Edelman, Peter Bonerz, June Havoc, Rene Auberjonois, Tyne Daly and many others, the debut season of McMillan & Wife (totaling 10 hours and 25 minutes of viewing time) provided a strong start for the series, which lasted (ultimately without Saint James) until 1977. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

MCMILLAN & WIFE:SEASON ONE - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More NBC Mystery Movies on DVD...finally!, July 14, 2005

By 

Lulu "lulu_in_hollywood" (The Rat's Mouth, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: McMillan & Wife - Season One (DVD)

In August 2005, Universal will finally release some long-overdue programs of that '70s mainstay, the NBC Mystery Movie. Tell me you can't hear that whistling theme song in your mind as you read those words!

In March 2005, season one of the most famous Mystery Movie, Columbo, was released. Clearly, Columbo is still popular, as this release was quickly followed with season two. In August, season three of Columbo makes it to DVD, along with (finally!) season one of both McCloud and McMillan and Wife. For the first time in DECADES, we can see these detective shows UNCUT and COMMERCIAL-FREE. This is great news for fans of terrific '70s TV!

Season one of McMillan and Wife consists of one two-hour pilot, ONCE UPON A DEAD MAN, and seven episodes, each 90 minutes long (73 minutes sans commercials). The episodes originally aired from Sep. '71 - Mar. '72, and their titles are:

MURDER BY THE BARREL (directed by John "Gomez Addams" Astin!)
A barrel contains dishes, then a body, then the body disappears.

THE EASY SUNDAY MURDER CASE
A woman's husband and dog are both kidnapped.

HUSBANDS, WIVES, AND KILLERS
Mac and Sally go to a masquerade, where a necklace is stolen.

DEATH IS A SEVEN POINT FAVORITE
A mysterious note is discovered inside a football.

THE FACE OF MURDER
Sally is targeted for murder by a jewel thief.

TIL DEATH DO US PART
Mac and Sally are sealed in their home to be fumigated to death.

AN ELEMENTARY CASE OF MURDER
An old flame of Mac's comes back into his life.

Support '70s detective shows on DVD by picking up all of these babies that you can. Maybe Streets of San Francisco will be next!

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally on DVD - My favorite show from the 70's, November 2, 2005

By 

Kathleen Crouch "Attorney at Law" (Ventura, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: McMillan & Wife - Season One (DVD)

I was still in grade school when the Sunday Night Mystery Series came out but watched it every weekend with my mom. McMillian and Wife was always my favorite. Watching the show brings back fond memories of watching with mom, but also of the effervescent Susan St. James, the bitingly funny Nancy Walker, endearing John Schuck and of course the ultra-cool and patient Rock Hudson as the commissioner.

I'll have to echo the comments already aired here about the lack of any special features or inserts. What gives here? Also, the dual layer DVD's are a real drag. How about a little more substance for the season two set, Universal? Don't be so cheap!

Finally, you've got to add in the Mystery Movie whistle theme...

Love the show, so glad to see the DVD's. Let's go Season Two!

PS: Having watched the entire season now, I found a hidden episode with Claude Akins. It's not documented on the DVD packaging, probably because the last 20 minutes are riddled with DVD skips. This episode has Mac and Sally visiting Palm Springs to play golf with Mac's old buddy played by Claude. On the way back in the private plane they're in, the pilot gets shot and Mac has to land the plane in the middle of nowhere. No explanation of how they find a phone, but hey, that's okay. It's still cute, if you can stand the skips at the end. I found it by selecting "play all" on disc 2 side B.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars BEWARE OF UNIVERSAL COMPILATIONS!, October 27, 2005

By 

Jennifer Cole (Dallas Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: McMillan & Wife - Season One (DVD)

If my review were based solely on the merits of "McMillian & Wife", it would easily score five stars. This modern interpretation of Dashelle Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles from "The Thin Man" is, to its fans, almost flawless television. It was my favorite of the NBC Mystery Movie entries, and today I enjoy it even more than I did then. How delightful to slip back into the more innocent, gaudy, fun times of the 1970's with Mac and Sally.

However, one must beware of DVD compilations released by Universal Studios. Like all of my other Universal sets, skips and sticks beset this one. Two of the eight episodes are ruined, one has a gap of about 90 seconds that is lost to a sticking problem, and another loses almost ten minutes in this same fashion. There are similar comments all over Amazon reviews by others who have had these same problems with Universal sets. We also own the Dragnet set, which skips, sticks, and has a totally jacked menu. We recently purchased the Adam-12 set, and it not only skips and sticks, it appears to have actually damaged our DVD player. Now the machine makes a loud whirring sound, and has begun to skip and stick on ALL DVD's.

I can't imagine what is wrong with those people at Universal, but they are putting out some seriously botched product. Buy any set from them with caution.