Customer Reviews

The Patty Duke Show: Season Two [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Right on the heels of the DVD release of "The Patty Duke Show-Season 1" comes word that "The Patty Duke Show-Season 2" hits store shelves in February, 2010. I couldn't be more happier! Shout! Factory, who is releasing the classic 1960's series, has proven again that they are dedicated in bringing back pure, family television from a decade long ago for new viewers to enjoy. Although not as popular as season 1 (the show fell out of the Top 20 shows in its second year), "The Patty Duke Show" continued its reign as one of network TV's most well-written and well-acted sitcoms. The second year began on September 16th, 1964 with the opener entitled "The Green Eyed Monster" in which poor Patty is torn between two boys at school. Other highlights this season are the episode called "Practice Makes Perfect" where Patty decides to take up the tuba much to the chagrin of her family. In "Patty and The Peace Corps" Patty wants more out of life and joins the Peace Corps. Finally, in "High Society" Patty battles her old nemesis Sue Ellen for the attention of the new boy at school. All 36 episodes of "The Patty Duke Show-Season 2" are included in this set and are remastered from the original United Artists prints. So far no special features have been announced. I am sure, however, season 3 is not far behind. Thank you Shout!

Thanks to Shout Factory, the followup to the first set of "The Patty Duke Show" is set for release in Feb. 2010. Season Two brought a slightly revised intro and a different version of the theme song (but with the same lyrics) as well as Patty's new interest in the music of the day; namely the British Invasion. Brits Chad and Jeremy play Nigel and Patrick, a duo Patty discovers. Patty sings this season, including an episode where she is backed by The Shindogs, the house band for the teen music show "Shindig" which followed "The Patty Duke Show" on ABC back in 1964. Lots more fun from Brooklyn Heights with Patty Duke and company. The first set proved to be a delight, and no doubt this followup will prove a worthy successor.

I enjoyed the First Season of this set and the quality is very good. It's great to see the entire episodes at their full length of about 25 minutes. I was hoping for the bumper advertisements ("the Patty Duke Show is brought to you by... Breck", and other stuff like that), like they did on that 8 episode Laser Disc set released years ago, which I still have. That set had Patty and Cathy doing a couple of the Breck commercials. Oh well, we're lucky to finally get The Patty Duke Show on DVD at all. Beggars can't be choosers. The best TV shows are always released last. The junk always comes first.

I have watched all 6 discs of Season Two. Discs 1, 5 and 6 have no problems, but discs 2, 3 and 4 have a minor glitch. I have this same problem on another DVD player so it must be these 3 discs. At the menu on disc 3 there is a choice of PLAY ALL or EPISODES. If PLAY ALL is selected, that will take you to the intro teaser and beginning credits of "Best Date In Town". Then it goes directly to the intro teaser and beginning credits of "Can Do Patty", then the episode ("Best Date In Town" is skipped). On disc 4, if PLAY ALL is selected the first title, "Patty Meets A Celebrity" is played out correctly, but the second title, "The Raffle" goes through the intro teaser and beginning credits, then jumps to "The Newspaper Game" intro teaser and beginning credits then the episode ("The Raffle" is skipped). This also applies to Disc 2 on "The Greatest Psychologist In The World". That episode is skipped if PLAY ALL is selected.

This problem for discs 2,3 and 4 can be solved by selecting "EPISODES" and select the first one. When the episode is finished, it goes back to the episode menu, highlights the next one to be played and you just press enter on your remote. No big deal, but this could be a sign of a quality control problem that I hope does not get worse on the Third Season set, assuming Shout Factory does release the last season. Hey, Shout Factory. Please release Season Three with extra extras!

I would love to see bloopers and outtakes of Patty Duke on the set talking to her Director or the other actors and smoking a cigarette while in her Cathy or Patty digs. What a sight that would be! She was eighteen in the middle of Season Two. She was almost twenty when the Third Season ended.

The Patty Duke Show has always been one of my favorite 60's comfort sitcoms. It's so damn wholesome and well done. And dig that music. The situational and background music is perfectly suited to the show. Good job, Sid Ramin. And by the way, has anyone noticed that Patty danced like nobody else? I think they call it Patty Duke dancing.
Byeeee!

I loved the last season of the Patty Duke Show that was released in 2009. I can't wait to get Season Two, and I was born 11 years after the show went off the air.
That being said, I am giving this show a five out of five rating for its wholesome stories and great acting.
One thing that I was disappointed about with this set is the false advertising of the unaired Pilot that the advertisment states.
I was on You Tube a week or so ago and I found that unaired Pilot. It starts out kind of slow, and it takes place in San Fransisco rather than Brooklyn, but if you want the beginnings of this loved show, I would check it out.
Maybe Shout Factory will be able to release the Pilot in the Third Season of the DVD collection, or release a special edition with it. That would make us early collectors mad though.
Thanks.

who needs trash to have fun? who needs an evil twin when your good-natured cousin who looks just like you can move in with your family and make life doubly exciting? who wouldn't want a classic tv star like william schallert for your dad or the lovely jean byron for your mom? throw in a geeky but not smart-alecky younger brother and you have a season full of family entertainment provided by you! great viewing. i highly recommend season 2 of this series for anyone who is sick of the current fare offered by the networks.

The second season of the Patty Duke Show has to be my personal favorite, not that I didn't like the other ones. The second season has some great celebrity guest stars that add a lot to the series. The writing and acting are still tops in my book and the cast works together even better than in the first season. There are a lot of great situations that the cousins work through in this series that isn't quite as evident in the third series. The cousin Betsy episode gives Patty Duke even another outlet in acting skills as she now plays three distinct characters. If you like the Patty Duke Show, you should enjoy the second season. Can't wait for the third season.

I have just watched the first 4 episodes of the second season (1964-65) of The Patty Duke Show in my Shout Factory DVD set. It's great! The quality of the video and the sound are excellent. It would be nice to have an added bonus of seeing and hearing that "The Patty Duke Show is brought to you by Breck" - but even without the commercial promos it's still very much as when I first watched this TV program when I was a kid in the 1960s. The stories for season two are well written and there are several guest stars in season two, such as the very talented vocalist Bobby Vinton and the fine actor Sal Mineo. Two favorite episodes of mine are the sentimental Best Date In Town from December 9, 1964 where Patty is counting on her father to take her to the father & daughter dance but things take an unexpected turn and also the episode It Takes A Heap Of Livin' from February 24, 1965 where the Lane family home may be taken over by the historical society as it was supposedly an important site during the Revolutionary War - you must see this fine episode. The DVD packaging is nice and colorful with authentic Patty Duke Show photos (you'll even notice on the cover of the DVD episode guide that Patty and Richard are listening to an LP on a 1964 Webcor record player) and the graphics are very early-mid 1960s which adds to the authentic feeling. Good show! Well, enjoy and in the words of Patty lane, by-eeeeeeeee!

I'm so happy that The Patty Duke Show has found a home on DVD.
I love this show so much.
I was worried that if Season 1 hadn't sold, that maybe Shout! factory wouldn't release Seasons 2 and 3.
Well blow me down! Season 2 is on the way.
This is fantastic vintage TV.

My mother and I used to watch the Patty Duke Show every week on our black and white TV. I adored both Patty and Cathy and could not believe they were played by one person. Although primitive-looking now, the split-screen photography back then was amazing to me as a kid. The DVD transfer is crisp and clear, better than what you would get if you taped it off the TV. If you are a Baby Boomer like me and grew up in the 1960's and 1970's, you will love this show. It is a real trip down Patty and Cathy Lane....

Wacky gimmicks in television comedy were very common in the 1960's, so the premise of The Patty Duke Show (1963-66), which featured teenager Patty Duke playing dual roles, really wasn't that "far out" compared to the kind of programs that would soon follow. Patty Duke Show creators William Asher and Sidney Sheldon, would later be involved with programs that heavily relied on special effects. Bewitched (1964-72), and The Flying Nun (1967-70), for Asher, while Shelton was the creator of I Dream Of Jeannie (1965-70).

Set in Brooklyn Heights, New York, The Patty Duke Show is a light, fun program that definitely highlights the talents of Patty Duke, who stars as Patty Lane, and her cosmopolitan cousin Cathy Lane. In addition to Duke, the show has a pretty good cast, led by the wonderful William Schallert, as newspaperman Martin"Popo" Lane. Jean Byron is wife and mother Natalie, Paul O'Keefe is Patty's nerdy younger brother Ross, and Eddie Applegate is Patty's boyfriend Richard.

Basing an entire series on the dual role concept, was an innovative idea, but one that clearly put many constraints on what could be done, and required special planning to shoot. The program gets locked into shooting particular angles, where a double is used for either Patty or Cathy. After a while, the novelty wears off, and the limitations of the format, become evident and start to become cliche. There was a lot of pressure on Patty Duke, who was only 16 when the series began, as she had to regularly change her appearance for the dual roles.

Actors playing dual roles, was an interesting idea that many TV programs explored, such as on Bewitched, where Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha Stevens and her wacky cousin Serena. The ploy is fun for a while, but it generally gets played out rather quickly. Given the significant limitations of the central premise, the writers for Patty Duke do a pretty good job. The stories usually center around family, school, and teen romance, and are in line with the typical idealistic view of teenage life in the 60's. The series is entertaining, although rarely laugh out loud funny. Between the two girls, the mildly spoiled Patty, is usually the dominant character. She has issues with her parents, has a regular boyfriend, is more outgoing, and liable to get in trouble. Cathy certainly has a significant role, but she's not in the spotlight as much.

Season Two has 36 black and white episodes on six discs. Image quality is very good. The episodes have chapter stops, but no subtitles. Among the bonus features is a cool six minute featurette from 2009 which features recent interviews with Patty Duke, William Schallert, Paul O'Keefe, and Eddie Applegate. For those that enjoy family based comedies from the 1960's featuring teenage girls, The Patty Duke Show is a fine example, along with Gidget - The Complete Series (1965-66), an excellent series that stars Sally Field and Don Porter.