Customer Reviews

Mister Ed: Season One

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

How odd that we're suddenly getting such an avalanche of old TV shows in complete seasons - "One Step Beyond", "Bonanza", and now "Mr. Ed" all due out in coming months. These are old favorites that were always either in the public domain or in incomplete collections or both. Maybe people are tired of having half of every channel's schedule filled with either paid programming (Internet Millions! Homes for three hundred dollars! etc.) in which you know you're being lied to or reality TV (Bridezillas - young women dressed in flowing traditional garb and acting like rutting pigs) in which you hope you're being lied to. You'd hate to think humanity has come to this.

To fill the gap many of us have turned to old favorite TV shows on DVD from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Mr. Ed is one of those shows. Following a storyline similar to the "Francis the Talking Mule" series of films, the animal in question (the horse, Mr. Ed) will only speak to one person - his owner Wilbur, an architect who has an office in the barn where Mr. Ed lives. Mr. Ed doesn't limit himself just to giving advice to Wilbur. Mr. Ed has definite ideas of how he wants to run his own life. He might fancy himself an author or a potential star of the screen, or he might take off on a humane mission to buy his mother when he learns she is a plow horse. As a result, Wilbur is often left in a ridiculous position and not in the good graces of his wife, Carol or his neighbors.

The whole thing is good clean silly fun in the tradition of Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Petticoat Junction. Believe it or not there are still many of us who enjoy such entertainment.

So disappointed!! Complete??, my "horses butt!!"
Did they think we wouldn't notice??!!

We waited all these years through VHS and the best of on DVD's all the while wanting Complete Uncut Episodes Season by Season, and now this.
For me it's unthinkable heresy!!

8 episodes are only 22 minutes long!!! Which means that almost one third of the episodes in this season one set are cheating the viewer out of over 3 minutes of footage. Footage that ties scenes together, and without such makes one wonder what is missing... Funny moments, tender moments, great comedy, great acting, and they're missing.

Wonderful words laid down by talented writers, making one think, what did the great Larry Keating do in those missing minutes, how about Alan Young, Connie Hines, and Edna Skinner, not to forget Allan (Rocky) Lane??!! Incredible on screen chemistry left out because they couldn't take the time to find or put together a complete episode.

Don't give me extras, don't give me great audio and video quality, don't give me great packaging, but do give me "complete uncut original length" episodes!!

The edited episodes are...
"Busy Wife"
"Kiddy Park"
"Stable for Three"
"Ed the Lover"
"The Pageant Show"
"The Aunt"
"Little Boy"
"The Contest"

Season one episodes should run about 25:30 in length or longer including opening and closing credits and Filmways tag.

I'm giving this a two instead of a one because everything else is nicely done.
Quality is good, and audio commentary track during first episode with Alan Young and Connie Hines is wonderful. (Sad to hear she recently passed December 18)

I understand, and hopefully it's true, that Season Two has no such issues with cut versions of episodes!!.......
"the second season set of Mister Ed will be the complete version of each episode, as originally broadcast."

Just about anyone that was alive and old enough to watch TV in the 1960's loved this show. If you have never seen Mister Ed it has humor on two levels both for kids and adults. Kids will love Mister Ed and adults will also. It is very funny and spoofs just about everything. Season 1 has 26 episodes and the previously released Best of Mister Ed Volume 1 only has four shows from Season 1 with the Best of Mister Ed Volume 2 having none indicating 22 of the 26 shows will be new to DVD.

The Season 1 shows on the previously released Best of Mister Ed Volume 1 DVD are:
1) The First Meeting,
2) Ed, the Songwriter,
3) Psychoanalyst Show, and
4) Wilbur Sells Ed

Season 1 ran from January to July 1961. The entire six year Mister Ed series was filmed in Black and White. The quality on the Best of Mister Ed DVD's was very high and is assumed that it will be on the Complete Season 1 DVD also. These shows are timeless, as good and funny today as they were when originally broadcast.

Wilbur: "What kind of a name is Ed for a horse?"
Mister Ed: "What kind of a name is Wilbur for a man?"


The first series ever to debut as a midseason replacement (1961), Mister Ed's first season proved so successful in first-run syndication, it was picked up for its remaining 5 seasons by CBS (1961-1966) where it won a 'Best TV Show, Comedy' Golden Globe in 1963. Go back to the beginning and see how it all started with Shout! Factory's Mister Ed - The Complete First Season.

Prior to this Mister Ed - Season One release from Shout! Factory, fans were teased with the following (out-of-print) Mister Ed DVD titles from MGM Home Entertainment: The Best of Mister Ed - Volume One (released on January 13, 2004) featuring 21 episodes from Seasons 1-4 on 2 dual-sided DVDs, The Best of Mister Ed - Volume Two (March 8, 2005) featuring 20 episodes from Seasons 3-6 on 2 DVDs (1 single-sided & 1 dual-sided), and Mister Ed: Barnyard Favorites (July 26, 2005) featuring 8 episodes from The Best of Mister Ed - Volume One (Disc 1).

Mister Ed - The Complete First Season is a 4-disc (single-sided) set featuring all 26 episodes in Full Frame (1.33:1) video and English mono audio. The discs are housed in slimcases all inside a slim outer box. Special Features include Interviews and Commentary on the Pilot Episode with stars Alan Young and Connie Hines, plus a booklet with episode descriptions and trivia. The picture and sound quality is decent, given the age of the show. Though there are no scene selections, there are chapter breaks for the episodes which you can skip thru using your remote.

*Unfortunately, due to reasons privy only to Shout! Factory, 8 of the episodes are edited from the original broadcast versions. Despite this, I still recommend this Season One set to devoted fans of series. The humor within the episodes of Mister Ed (thanks to the show's writers and a great cast including Allan "Rocky" Lane as the voice of Mister Ed) remains timeless and still connects with TV viewers of all ages on several levels. Also, know that following season sets contain nothing but unedited episodes, plus more great extras. Here are the episodes and how the discs will be configured, plus approximate runtimes:

Disc 1:
The First Meeting (25:56)
The Ventriloquist (25:38)
Busy Wife (22:02)*
Kiddy Park (22:03)*
Stable for Three (22:04)*
Sorority House (25:34)
Ed the Lover (22:05)*
The Pageant Show (22:17)*

Disc 2:
The Aunt (22:04)*
The Missing Statue (25:36)
Ed the Witness (25:30)
Ed's Mother (25:33)
Ed the Tout (25:31)
Ed the Songwriter (25:05)
Ed the Stoolpigeon (25:30)
Psychoanalyst Show (25:32)

Disc 3:
A Man for Velma (25:31)
Ed's New Shoes (25:32)
Little Boy (22:04)*
Ed Agrees to Talk (25:34)
The Mustache (25:30)
The Other Woman (25:33)
Ed Cries Wolf (25:31)
The Contest (22:03)*

Disc 4:
Pine Lake Lodge (25:31)
Wilbur Sells Ed (25:31)

I am very pleased and excited that they has finally decided to release this wonderful sitcom.

The studio released a "best of" series that was canceled after two volumes due to poor sales. The poor sales were obviously because they did not release full season sets. It is about time they got the message and released it they way they should have originally.

This sitcom is very funny and and the humor is clean enough for all ages.

I've already pre-ordered this and hope the studio releases every season.

At last, the first season of Mister Ed is on DVD. The show began in January 1961 in Syndication, then was picked by CBS for the rest of its run. This four disk set has 26 episodes that made up season 1. The transfers look good, and the sound is good. Extras include commentary from the show's stars, Alan Young and Connie Hines on the pilot episode. And a half hour feature where Alan Young and Connie Hines talk about the show. Young and Hines talk about how they got their parts, how the show got a sponsor in syndication, how CBS eventually picked up the show, about how Allan Lane came to be the voice of Ed, and how Ed was made to talk. Overall a great set.

As for the edited episodes, that does not bother me a bit. Life is too short to be bothered by such trivial things. A similar situation occured with Father Knows Best Season 1. Thankfully Shout has continued to release that show, and its following seasons have been complete. If this release tanks, it is possible NO MORE SEASONS WILL BE RELEASED!!! We would never get to see the episodes with Clint Eastwood, Mae West, and the one where Ed bats against Sandy Kofax and hits a homerun. The shot of Ed sliding into home plate is the single funniest moment of the series. So, Shout Factory, please continue to release the entire series.

How now, brown cow.

I received my MISTER ED, First Season, DVD set over the weekend. While I have only watched a few episodes, I must say it is of excellent quality. A few reviewers here have complained about a few syndicated prints being used that are a minute to a few minutes shorter. This is actually explained in the "bonus" material by Alan Young ("Wilbur") without really trying. For it's entire run, Mister Ed was run in syndication! Once they lost their commercial sponsorship in the first season, they found other ways of funding the show. They were never sponsored or directly supported financially by any of the major networks! I was very surprised to learn this. Six years on the air without a network sponsor. Sounds as if they paid the networks to carry the show.

The sound and video quality here are excellent.

Here's the rest of the seasons being released on DVD ... and soon!

Ray

Well what can one say? "Mr. Ed" is just about the funniest TV show around, and a cult classic. This first set of Season One is really the origin of what the show became in the next few seasons but it is still hilariously funny stuff. I adored the dry wit of Larry Keating, who played Addison the dour next door neighbor of the Posts/Ed. Just to hear Addison declare Ed "an old nag" and see Ed's reaction is worth the price of this DVD set. Truly a clever and original sitcom of the 60's. Read Alan Young's autobiographies, "Mister Ed and Me" and "Mister Ed and Me and More" (also available on Amazon) which are great and good companion books to the series. But of course the star and reason to watch is Ed. His humor and wisdom are timeless, one of the funniest shows was "Ed and the LA Dodgers" (not in this first season) in which he hit a homer, ran the bases and slid home. Check it out on YouTube.
Hilarious every time I watch it!

I appreciate all the reviews others have written here at Amazon as they were a big help in deciding which season to buy first. While I remember seeing Mr. Ed when it first aired and in reruns a little later on I didn't remember which seasons and episodes were the funniest. Although some reviewers here have complained about the edited episodes on disc 1(and rightfully so) this Season 1 is still a big winner and a super deal for less than $20. The picture is clear on a non blue ray dvd player and its super entertaning (that is if you like Mr ED and his great inteligence and personality). I just finished watching all the episodes and I loved just about all of them. There were no playback problems/No one sided discs/ And great case with an individual spot for each disc. Where do I sign ! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was for the edited first episodes (no theme song words) and whatever else was missing. Although while not condoning this type of production all said episodes were still super funny and entertaining to me. I give it 4.5 stars ---I was satisfied with Amazons service and I'd buy it all day long ! ! !

I was disappointed to read a couple other reviews and find out that 8 EPISODES are probably syndicated EDITED versions in Mr. Ed Complete first season. Is this true? If so, WHY, WHY, WHY? Plus the price is $[...] for 26 half hour episodes. That's more than i want to spend on a half hour show with 8 episodes probably being edited on top of that. If 8 episodes are cut, then you CAN NOT truly call this a COMPLETE SEASON ONE SET. You see COMPLETE means the episodes are on there the way they origially aired which includes the music too. Also to find out that the discs 1 thru 3 each have 8 episodes and disc 4 has only 2 episodes makes absolutely no sense. I think there is still plenty of space available to have COMPLETE episodes.

There are some good things to point out about this set.
FIRST, four discs are put in two slim cases which comes in a slip box on the outside (I think that's the best way to package DVD sets). Hey it saves on shelf space too.
SECOND, there are still 18 episodes that are UNCUT in which 4 of them we're already released on the Best of Mr. Ed Vol. 1 set.
THIRD, there is commentary on the very first episode by Alan Young and Connie Hines (the show's stars who played Wilbur and Carol Post) and a documentary which includes interviews with Young & Hines.
FOURTH, the picture quality should look pretty good since it looked good in both of the Mr. Ed best of sets.

Now for half hours show I'd be willing to pay about $1.00 an episode. There are 26 episodes which means $26.00. BUT if there 8 cut episodes, then I would minus $8.00 (CUZ I'M NOT PAYING FOR EDITED CRAP) dropping the total amount that I'm willing to pay down to $18.00 for the 18 UNCUT episodes. Maybe I'm willing to pay $20.00 because of the bonus features.