Customer Reviews

The Real McCoys - Season 2

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered The Real McCoys first season as soon as I saw it come out. What fun, I guess I am dating myself but who cares!. I just got season two and its even better, By the second season they really got off the ground, good story lines and great acting by everyone. I have always loved Walter Brennan, and Richard Crenna. Buy these, you will not be disappointed. Just so much fun watching.

This copy of The Real McCoys - Season 2 has been very good for viewing. I have not finished watching every episode yet, but my wife and myself have enjoyed each episode thus far. The quality of the DVD is great. Couldn't ask for anything better.

bjstre

Thanks for Season 2 of one of the greatest TV shows ever.....4 more season's to go and I'll have all of them...Thanks Infinity!

The 224 half-hour episodes (all in B&W) of the situation comedy "The Real McCoys" ran from 1957-1963 on ABC and CBS. The show's creators/producers were Irving and Norman Pincus, a pair of brothers with little other claims to fame.

But they left quite a legacy with "The Real McCoys" as the series literally changed the direction of network situation comedy. Early sitcoms like "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Make Room for Daddy", and "The Goldbergs" were urban in tone and set in downtown apartments in big east coast cities; urban families were the first buyers of televisions. By the mid-fifties suburbia was getting a lot play ("Life of Riley", "Leave It to Beaver") as Americans began moving out to the suburbs. But network executives were resistant to the idea of rural characters in rural setting. Rural families were unlikely to own televisions (or have television stations within broadcast range) and urban sophisticates could not be expected to tune into a show featuring rural rubes.

When "The Real McCoys" proved the suits wrong it set the stage for Andy of Mayberry, Jed in Beverly Hills, Kate and the Shady Rest, and Oliver and Lisa in Hooterville. Danny Thomas and Paul Henning who would launch those shows were both involved in "The Real McCoys".

The premise of the show is the move of the legendary West Virginia McCoys to a farm in the San Fernando Valley they inherit from their uncle. Given the current value of valley real estate it is amusing that one of the central conflicts of the series is the family's precarious financial position (insert lack of money here).

The McCoy family is a bit unusual as it skips an entire generation. Grandpa Amos (Walter Brennan) lives with his grandson Luke (Richard Crenna), Luke's new wife Kate (Kathy Nolan), and Luke's little brother and sister (Michael Winkleman and Lydia Reed). Apparently Luke's parents mysteriously died.

Like "The Beverly Hillbillies", the comedy comes from watching the family adapt to their new environment and seeing things we take for granted from a fresh perspective. And like Granny on that series, Amos is stubborn and irascible. The beauty of the series is that it finds satirical humor in the unsophisticated way of country folk while demonstrating that their backwoods wisdom often puts them ahead of the curve.

Luke and Kate join Oliver and Lisa Douglas of "Green Acres" as television's all-time most "in-love" couples and this dynamic is the shows underlying strength. Crenna and Nolan deliver fine performances throughout the series. Brennan is likewise excellent, managing to make a basically annoying character lovable. Amos is nicely overplayed as a cantankerous old coot full of rural aphorisms and blustering exasperations yet fully repentant when he goes too far.

Also notable is Tony Martinez as Pepino Garcia, a Mexican farmhand who just came with the farm. Pepino is a frequent foil for Grandpa, as his more laid-back approach to life often riles up the old guy. They do a nice job of avoiding what could have been a negative stereotype as Pepino is the best adjusted character on the series and second only to Kate in the wisdom department. Martinez leaves the cast after the 3rd Season and Kate after the 5th. Both were missed.

The Season Two episodes with their original air dates are: (The New Car: 2 October 1958, Grampa Learns About Teenagers: 9 October 1958, Blow the House Down: 16 October 1958, The Dancin' Fool: 23 October 1958, The New Well: 30 October 1958, The New Dog: 6 November 1958, Sing for Your Supper: 13 November 1958, Do Kiss Your Wife: 20 November 1958, The Perfect Swine: 27 November 1958, Leave It to the Girls: 4 December 1958, The Gift: 11 December 1958, The New Hired Hand: 18 December 1958, The New Neighbors: 25 December 1958, Luke Gets a Job: 1 January 1959, The McCoys Visit Hollywood: 8 January 1959, The Great Discovery: 22 January 1959, Son of the Mystic Nile: 29 January 1959, Kate Learns to Drive: 15 February 1959, Grampa's Private War: 12 February 1959, The Rainmaker: 19 February 1959, The Perfect Houseguest: 26 February 1959, The Wedding: 5 March 1959, Kate's Diet: 12 March 1959, What's Family For?: 19 March 1959, Grampa Takes the Primrose Path: 26 March 1959, Batter Up: 2 April 1959, Sweet Fifteen: 9 April 1957, Go Fight City Hall: 16 April 1959, Two's Company: 23 April 1959, The Mrs. Homemaker Contest: 7 May 1959, The Tax Man Cometh: 30 April 1959, The Insurance Policy: 14 May 1959, How to Paint a House: 21 May 1959, The Great Woodsman: 28 May 1959, The Skeet shoot: 4 June 1959, Grandpa's New Job: 11 June 1959, The Actor: 18 June 1959, Fire When Ready, Grandpa: 25 June 1959).

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I remember watching this series on TV as a very young boy in the 1950's. It was a great sitcom back then, and it still is a great sitcom. Walter Brennan was the star of the show, but the other cast members were perfect for their roles.

And the good news is that it was just announced that Season Three is being released on June 17, 2008. That makes three more seasons to go!

Thanks for fixing the audio.
Season two was great.
I'll be looking for season 3 to release.

I love to watch the REAL McCOYS on dvd. Brings back the good old days.

The Real McCoys was the first of the great rural comedies that aired on network television until the early 1970s, when Fred Silverman killed them all. If you like one of its successors, The Andy Griffith Show, you will love The Real McCoys. Those two series shared several of the same writers, including the great Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, and both had great acting.
Real McCoys star Walter Brennan is quite arguably one of the top five actors of the 20th century--he is still one of only four actors or actresses to win at least three Oscars (the others are Katherine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman and Jack Nicholson--pretty good company).
And unlike The Andy Griffith Show, The Real McCoys' episodes will seem new to you because they have not been rerun much since 1966. Though The Real McCoys started more than 50 years ago, the picture quality and sound are great. I hope Infinity will soon release Season Four, which was the highest rated of the series (finishing in Nielsen's top five that year, the highest for any ABC comedy to that point).
I also hope that errors in some other reviews (including one that incorrectly says Pepino left the cast after the third season when he actually appeared in all six seasons) have not contributed to the delay in releasing season four.
There were some big-name guest stars on The Real McCoys too before they became big stars. This season includes Irene Ryan, later of The Beverly Hillbillies, barely recognizable without her Granny costume, though the voice sounds the same (Season one included a guest spot by Raymond Bailey, later Mr. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, though he was barely recognizable without his toupee).
In short, this is one of the greatest shows of all time, and I hope the rest of the seasons will be released soon.

Could there be anything in this turbulent world we now live in
than to sit down and watch the Real McCoys. It is so wonderful
and relaxing to the soul. The truth of truths is they truly
don't make TV shows or movies like this anymore. Maybe some of
the Hallmark shows come close, but its nice to sit there and just
allow your mind to wonder back to a time when life was a litte
more settled. No 24/7 news to keep you wondering what is next.
Yes, the Real McCoy is just that. The name says it all. Great
picture and sound. You'll love it.

The first season is pretty good, but this show got better with seasons two and three. This show is as good as you remember. If you are too young to remember it, you have something to look forward to. Good, clean fun. I am so glad that these are available. If you like this, I would also recommend the Ma and Pa Kettle movies.