Customer Reviews

My Favorite Martian: The Complete Second Season

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

 

 

Why does RHINO not go back to the masters on a classic series like this? The simple answer is...they don't care about the fans or the series...they just want your $. When the first set was being put together, my friend offered RHINO a print of the MY FAVORITE MARTIAN Un-aired PILOT (Which was not included on the first set). RHINO said they would get back to him...they never did. This set has episodes which are the CUT Syndicated versions of the episodes??? Why? COLUMBIA HOUSE had some of the same episodes transferred from the masters un-cut. When RHINO issued the GUMBY series on DVD...they didn't want to pay to use the original CAPITAL music, so they used this incredibly bad synthesizer music, which was put into the series in the 1980's. Fans of classic TV are wise to RHINO, especially when shows like the ANDY GRIFFITH show are coming out on DVD from the NEGATIVES with sponsor spots and shows like NAKED CITY (IMAGE) are coming out with the bumpers and commercials transferred from the negative. If RHINO doesn't care about a series...they shouldn't put it out unless they put it out right.

Enough is Enough! Combat! from Image Time Compressed, NO THANKS! My Favorite Martian the FIRST season, Perfect! But now, M.F.M. The complete (!!??) second season....with 4 episodes of the 38 EDITED! Why?, because Rhino says "After an extensive search, we were un-able to locate the "elements" for these four episodes un-cut". Oh really? Then why was one of the four edited episodes available thru Columbia House Home Video Un-cut?. We are not talking about LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT here Rhino. You call the shows distributor, they tell you where the "elements" are stored and wa la! Did you attempt to ask people/fan/collectors on the internet to supply the "lost" footage. There are hundreds of M.F.M. collectors that I'm sure have these episodes on 16mm. It boils down to simple laziness. Send a LOUD messege to Rhino. Release these beloved shows un-cut to the dvd collecting public or not at all. DO NOT BUY THIS DVD SET. I for one will watch the first season and hope that Rhino releases the 3rd season UN-CUT.

This is one of the better fantasy sitcoms of the 60's. Ray Walston endeared himself to us by playing The Martian with so many quirks, along with his warm insights into human behavior, his constant name-dropping of historical figures, and his occasional human-like outbursts at the foibles his "experiments," or nephew Tim's (Bill Bixby) or landlady Mrs. Brown's (Pamela Britton) interferences cause.

This show was a contemporary of all the other "fish-out-of-water" fantasies of the 60's, including "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie," and even the "Munsters" And "Addams Family" sitcoms. The basic question the first season asks is "what would happen if a 450-year-old Martian anthropologist crash lands on earth and is taken in by an Earthling (who's also a newspaper reporter) who tries to help him get his spaceship repaired and return home?" The second season seems more interested in "how many ways can a Martian find to demonstrate his extraordinary powers while getting himself knocked off kilter by earth's natural and human environment?" Most of the story lines in both seasons are clever, and these episodes offer a showcase of many of the most ubiquitous character actors of 60's primetime TV.

The complaints about Rhino in other comments are valid, but they don't diminish the fact that these are delightful sitcoms for those who enjoy a different standard for family TV than today's fare. Each season is on five sides of three DVD's. Incidentally, ALL the episodes in both seasons are in Black & White on these DVD's, (not Color as indicated by Amazon).

Somehow I just knew Rhino's DVD release of season one "My Favorite Martian" was a complete fluke. The amazing quality found in the season one set is definitely lacking in season two and I'm a little disappointed. Season two is also presented in beautiful black & white and contains all 38 episodes with a noticeable difference in quality. Fans of the show will be disappointed that 5 of the 38 episodes are presented in their shorter "syndicated" television versions. This is clearly stated on the back of the DVD package as Rhino Home Video claims that an extensive search came up empty for the original masters for these episodes. As a fan of the show I was upset to learn that this was the case.

Once again the packaging is pretty cheap compared to other Studios and a booklet listing the episodes in the set hasn't been included. Bonus features would also have been nice this time around like commentaries or bloopers, anything! For fans of these old TV shows we are at the mercy of the Studios to release them, but at what cost to us? While I'm not happy about it I can overlook the shorter versions if it means completing season two. I only hope that the long delay for season three is that Rhino is trying to get it right this time around. Please Rhino give us the final season produced in color to finally complete the series.

DVD Episodes:
Dreaming Can Make It So
The Memory Pill
Three to Make Ready
Nothing but the Truth
Dial M for Martin
Extra! Extra! Sensory Perception!
My Uncle the Folk Singer
The Great Brain Robbery
Double Trouble
Has Anybody Seen My Electro-Magnetic Neutron Converting Gravitator?
Don't Rain on My Parade
Night Life of Uncle Martin
To Make a Rabbit Stew, First Catch a Martian
Won't You Come Home, Uncle Martin, Won't You Come Home?
The Case of the Missing Sleuth
How Are Things in Glocca, Martin?
Gesundheit, Uncle Martin
Martin Report #1
Uncle Martin and the Identified Flying Object
A Martian Fiddles Around
Humbug, Mrs. Brown
Crash Diet
Gone but Not Forgotten
Stop or I'll Scream
The Magnetic Personality and Who Needs It
We Love You, Miss Pringle
Uncle Baby
Once Upon a Martian Mother's Day
Uncle Martin's Bedtime Story
006 3/4
Never Trust a Naked Martian
Martin's Favorite Martian
The Martian's Fair Hobo
A Martian's Sonata in Mrs. B's Flat
The Green Eyed Martian
El Se or From Mars
Time Out for Martin
Portrait in Brown

My Favorite Martian is a great show, but this is one cheap DVD release! The episodes are edited and the package is cheap!

By the way, Amazon, it's not My Favorite Martian:Complete Second, it's My Favorite Martian - The Complete Second Season! TITLE IT PROPERLY!!!

Amazon also incorrectly said it was in Color, it is not, it is in Black & White! GET IT TOGETHER AMAZON!

On a few of the episodes the video images are unstable. At first, I thought the DVD player or the DVD was responsible. However, after viewing someone elses copy on a different player, it is clear that the producers of the DVD are at fault. This should never have gone to market with this problem.

Some of the criticisms made by other reviewers on this page are beyond my knowledge to evaluate. I found the DVD set to have good quality production values. "My Favorite Martian" is a great old time series with lots of gentle humour, not the in-your-face style that is so popular today, a pleasant change.

My first copy of My Favorite Martian Season 2 had some 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.

A wonderful series that should have lasted longer than it did. Blazed the trail for the so-called "fantasy comedies" of the 60s.

The third season was produced in Color. How do I know? I own the VHS box set released in the early 90's that contains all 32 third season shows IN COLOR. The first two seasons were produced in black and white.