Customer Reviews

My Favorite Martian - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Okay, first, I have to admit that I haven't made it through all 37 shows in this set, so all I can say about the transfers is....so far, they are excellent. Other non-studio companies packaging television programs would learn a lot to follow the lead of Rhino. They include all intro and outro sequences, and are the full program, as originally broadcast.

The one thing that distracts from this being a 5 star set is the packaging. This is the worst packaging job I have seen yet of a season set. The single DVD plastic keep-case, with a hinged 2-DVD insert is just plain cheap. Not only that, it promotes the damage of the discs...including the fact that one of the dual-sided discs rests on the mount for the third disk (which is stored on the back flap of the case).

The insert is a simple cardboard one....no booklet detailing the different episodes, or giving any additional information. Just a list of the shows.

Also, a menu of the episode selections would have been greatly appreciated. The only choices on the main menu are "Play All" and "Scene Selections". In order to choose an episode, you must page through the "Scene Selections" and choose the beginning scene of the desired episode.

Another note....when an episode concludes, the viewer is not sent back to the menu, but instead, the next episode starts playing.

Rhino really gets an "A" for releasing this show, and for it's video transfers (not only the quality, but that they are in their entirety).

Unfortunately, they are prevented from getting 5 stars by their poor menu programming, and the packaging which doesn't protect the disks.

Still, if you are a fan of classic TV, this set is still well recommended.

Before Mork (Orkan) and ALF (Melmacian) came to Earth and moved in with their humans, L.A. Sun reporter Tim O'Hara (Bill Bixby) took in a Martian (Ray Walston) as his "Uncle Martin". The series ranks up there with Mr. Ed on the laugh-o-meter. Viewers who only know Bill Bixby from his more dramatic role as Dr. David Banner from TV's The Incredible Hulk will be floored by Bixby's incredible sense of comedic timing. The show also received solid support from Pamela Britton as Tim's befuddled landlady Mrs. Lorelei Brown and Alan Hewitt as L.A. cop Bill Brennan. Unlike previous Rhino "Martian" DVDs, this Rhino Home Video release of My Favorite Martian: Season 1, features all 37 original, uncut episodes on 3 discs. Rhino was even able to track down the uncut pilot for the set. Here's a list of the season 1 episodes:

My Favorite Martin
The Matchmakers
There Is No Cure for the Common Martin
Russians "R" in Season
Man or Amoeba
The Man on the Couch
A Loaf of Bread, a Jug of Wine and Peaches
The Awful Truth
Rocket to Mars
Raffles No. 2
The Atom Misers
That Little Old Matchmaker, Martin
How to Be a Hero Without Really Trying
Blood is Thicker than the Martian
Poor Little Rich Cat
Rx for Martian
Going, Going, Gone
Who Am I?
Now You See It, Now You Don't
My Nephew the Artist
Hitchhike to Mars
Uncle Martin's Broadcast
An Old, Old Friend of the Family
Super-Duper Snooper
The Sinkable Mrs. Brown
Martin and the Eternal Triangle
Danger! High Voltage!
If You Can't Lick Them
Unidentified Flying Uncle Martin
How Are You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Pharmacy?
Miss Jekyll and Hyde
Who's Got the Power?
Oh, My Aching Antenna
The Disastro-nauts
Shake Well and Don't Use
A Nose for News
Uncle Martin's Wisdom Tooth

Rhino did a great job with this black and white 1963 show. (The third season was in color). It's on two two-sided discs and one one- sided disc in a single width DVD package. Given deluxe packaging like Futurama and The Simpsons, it could have been five one-sided discs in a slipcase. But no one thinks retro TV will sell, so it's packaged less expensively to appeal to a lower market niche. That's why shows like Burns and Allen, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Petticoat Junction are hard to find except in budget, no-frills versions, often without the original themes (since the DVD manufacturer didn't license them).

Enter Rhino, one of the few companies with any sense of how to make good DVDs and with any interest in black and white TV. Rhino gets what TV execs don't: we really aren't watching their highly- rated new shows. We really don't care about the Nielsen ratings. Many of us don't have cable, and we really are buying these retro DVDs. And we do want deluxe packaging and well-done transfers. Thanks to Rhino for preserving TV history. They even have the pilot, which got this show off to a good start. However, it immediately sinks to same old sitcom fare, only slowly beginning to develop the show from the characters, and only later hit its stride. But this was arguably the first fantasy sitcom (Unless you count Topper), preceding Jeanie and Bewitched. Like so much of the memorable TV of the time, it was filmed at Desilu Studios, produced by Sheldon Leonard and bankrolled by Danny Thomas and Andy Griffith.

Sitcoms then were not the anything for a laugh shows they later became, and the shows writers ponder profound questions and dabble in drama. Tim and his alien uncle wrestle with the problems of the day, offer the occasional insight, and rebound with unsinkable optimism. Pamela Britton is outstanding as supporting actress, with far better chemistry than the "crackpot neighbor" foils for Bewitched. Early on Bill Bixby and Ray Walston are both stiff and awkward, and we are very much aware that they are acting, but as they settle into their roles, an easy camaraderie develops. Everywhere abounding with joy and good humor, this buoyant show echoes the underlying theme of early '60s sitcoms, in the title of an earlier show by Fulton Sheen, that "life is worth living."

My Favorite Martian is one of my favorite shows even though I am 13! Yet, ever since it went off the air on TVLAND, I haven't seen the show since! Thanks to Rhino, we will finally be able to take this masterpiece to our classic tv collections! My Favorite Martian is perfect for all ages and fits most genres like comedy, family, science-fiction, and much more! When this dvd set comes out in Sept. I will be one of the first people in line to get this! When you buy this, believe me, you will not be dissapointed!!

The Martians are coming! The Martians are coming! well one for sure. I've purchased DVD's from the Rhino label in the past and have been very disappointed with their level of quality. After much deliberation I finally bought season one of "My Favorite Martian on DVD from Rhino. I must admit that Rhino did and excellent job with this one. All 37 season one episodes are presented in beautiful black & white, no colorization here. The video transfer is really clean and crisp and the sound is decent albeit in mono. In my opinion the packaging is really kind of cheap for this 3 disc set and Rhino didn't include any kind of episode booklet to accompany the set. I don't think Ray Walston ever got the recognition he deserved as an actor and season one reminded me of his ability to act. Season one is still funny after all these years and it's a treat to finally own it on DVD. Thanks Rhino!

DVD Episodes:
Episode 1: My Favorite Martin
Episode 2: The Matchmakers
Episode 3: There Is No Cure for the Common Martin
Episode 4: Russians "R" in Season
Episode 5: Man or Amoeba
Episode 6: The Man on the Couch
Episode 7: A Loaf of Bread, a Jug of Wine and Peaches
Episode 8: The Awful Truth
Episode 9: Rocket to Mars
Episode 10: Raffles No. 2
Episode 11: The Atom Misers
Episode 12: That Little Old Matchmaker, Martin
Episode 13: How to Be a Hero without Really Trying
Episode 14: Blood Is Thicker Than the Martian
Episode 15: Poor Little Rich Cat
Episode 16: Rx for Martian
Episode 17: Going, Going, Gone
Episode 18: Who Am I?
Episode 19: Now You See It, Now You Don't
Episode 20: My Nephew the Artist
Episode 21: Hitchhike to Mars
Episode 22: Uncle Martin's Broadcast
Episode 23: An Old, Old Friend of the Family
Episode 24: Super-Duper Snooper
Episode 25: The Sinkable Mrs. Brown
Episode 26: Martin and the Eternal Triangle
Episode 27: Danger! High Voltage!
Episode 28: If You Can't Lick Them
Episode 29: Unidentified Flying Uncle Martin
Episode 30: How Are You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Pharmacy?
Episode 31: Miss Jekyll and Hyde
Episode 32: Who's Got the Power?
Episode 33: Oh, My Aching Antenna
Episode 34: The Disastro-nauts
Episode 35: Shake Well and Don't Use
Episode 36: A Nose for News
Episode 37: Uncle Martin's Wisdom Tooth

Witty, funny, articulate, and usually having a moral message--a tour de force by Ray Walston "as the Martian."
This views even better than I remembered from 1963-64 and is, oh I don't know, maybe 10,000 times better than the trash that passes for "situation comedy" on television today.A pity no one in television land knows how to write humor anymore. Jerry Lewis has always said writing humor is far more difficult that writing drama or tragedy. He's right. Martian is worth the price for the laughs, and the messages of how an "outsider" views America...

If you're a fan of campy 60s comedy as I am, this is for you. Likeable characters, good writing--they don't make 'em like this anymore.

Family based comedies in the 1950's typically featured normal, almost picture perfect nuclear families. Heading into the 1960's this would change radically, as all kinds of whacky permutations of the family unit began to appear on television. The decade would see programs like Bewitched (1964-72), The Addams Family (1964-66), The Munsters (1964-66), and I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70), become hits. But ahead of this group of eclectic shows, was My Favorite Martian (1963-1966).

Created by Jack Chertok, the program was about a Martian scientist, whose spacecraft crash lands on Earth. Marooned, the dazed alien is discovered by Tim O'Hara (Bill Bixby), a newspaper reporter, who takes him into live in his home, under the pretense that the alien is his "Uncle Martin O'Hara". Compared to earthmen, the Martian has strange and unusual powers, including the ability to become invisible, read minds, and levitate objects using his right index finger.

The tone of the program is mostly light-hearted and innocuous as Tim and Uncle Martin learn to live together, and help each other deal with various situations, usually in a humorous way. Reoccurring themes include Tim's romantic adventures, Martin's issues with various Earthly customs and agencies, situations related to Tim's job, Martin's various illnesses and maladies, that often have strange consequences, and Martin's attempts to repair his spacecraft and return home. Semi-regular characters include Pamela Britton as Mrs. Lorelei Brown, Tim's landlady who lives next door, and J. Pat O'Malley as Tim's boss at the newspaper, Mr. Burns. Britton is quite charming, as the ultra-friendly, but slightly daffy neighbor with a heart of gold.

The show features a nice mix of character actors from the period, including a number of budding starlet types, intended to capture the fancy of the handsome Tim O'Hara. Bill Bixby is almost always charming, the kind of guy almost any girl would be interested in, either as a friend or lover. The multitalented Ray Walston, brings just the right amount of mirth to the role, so as to not come off as completely ridiculous. It takes some skill to carry off what is essentially a gag, and Walston does it quite well. Together, Bixby and Walston make a marvelous team.

My Favorite Martian has a relatively low key, adult approach. Although often subjected to stress, Tim and Martin don't do much yelling, or running around like maniacs. They have some bad moments, but are very much a team working for a common goal. This would become more evident in the second season when Bill Brennan (Allan Hewitt), a police detective, joined the cast as Mrs. Brown's boyfriend. The suspicious Brennan, would be a constant threat to Martin and Tim.

The program also featured some special effects and camera tricks, that would later become quite common in programs like Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie. Another cool aspect was the music, including George Greeley's catchy and unorthodox theme, and the strange science fiction inspired sound effects, produced by a device known as the electro-theremin.

Back in the early 60's, the television season was an extremely long grind, and there are 37 black and white episodes in season one. With so many programs, producing high quality stories, particularly in an experimental series such as this, was a major challenge. While most of the episodes are fun and entertaining, it is not unexpected that there are also a few that miss the mark. Although quite silly at times, My Favorite Martian remains a very enjoyable show about a very special friendship. Image quality of the DVD's is soft at times, but not too bad for a program of this age.

The versatile Bixby would later star in the television series The Courtship Of Eddie's Father (1969-72), and also as David Banner in The Incredible Hulk (1978-82). Bixby appeared in several Hulk movies, and also became a director mostly working in television. He was only 59 at the time of his untimely passing due to cancer in 1993, when he was working as a director on the TV series Blossom.

My first copy of My Favorite Martian Season 1 had some major problems with freezing and skipping on one of the double sided discs. Would not play on most of my many DVD players.
Fortunately, I returned them to amazon and the second copy was OK. The show should be 5 stars as it is a beloved classic. Some transfers however have some shaking areas. Still worth buying however as this is the best we will ever see.

I decided to wait and watch the entire season before writing anything, since I don't like reviews of something this size which are done after watching only part of the set.

The Show Quality is superb. Where-ever they got the original tapes from, they were either high quality, or have been cleaned up very well . About the only down-side to this is that you can see the wires fairly clearly at times when Uncle Martin "Levitates" any objects. One would have thought that they could have digitally removed the wires for this package.

Anyways, for what was probably a low budget series, the scripts are what make this show. The Sets are great, and the acting is first rate, with a known Character Actor, Ray Walston , who did TV and films from 1954, and probably stage as well ( I suspect). Bill Bixby was, it seems a relative unknown, starting in 1959, though he did work solidly in TV, and had a definite stage history prior to 1959.
So, it is evident that they worked well together, and the quality of the performances are excellent.
This is a set of 37 original, and mavelously entertaining shows that in my view are timeless. The Packaging could quite easily be improved upon in later releases, but all that is trivial. Just having these shows on crystal clear DVD is great, and brings back many fond memories of a much beloved TV show.