2 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:
One Of The Best Sitcoms EverSunday, April 24, 2005
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is a classic. This is the first season of the show on DVD.
You get the 24 episodes from Season One on Disks 1, 2, and 3. Three of the episodes have commentarys, I can't remember which though.
Disk 4 has plenty of extras, but the best of them all is 'The Making Of The Mary Tyler Moore Show' which is 88 minutes long.
The show is about Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore). The first episode we see her get a job at the WJM-TV news station. From there we see her make new friends (Rhoda, and Phyllis), and manage her job.
Her manager at the station is Lou Grant (Ed Asner), who has no sympathy for people, and keeps a drink in his desk at all times.
Mary also works for the ego-eccentric Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Ted thinks mainly about himself. He believes he is the best news caster out there, but sadly he's far from that.
Murray also works with Mary, and is a little more tolerable. In the first episodes he seems to be mean and cranky. But as the show moves on, Murray changes, and has a big heart.
Mary's best friends Rhoda and Phllis are so different it's amazing. Phyllis is all about following the books, and being in order. Rhoda just comes and gos as she pleases, and has a lot of sarcasm, but Rhoda is just like the most of us.
The first season of this show is different from the later seasons. Each season got better and better starting with this!
I highly recommend this! The money is really worth it!
Also, if you enjoy this, check out: The Mary Tyler Moore Show : The complete Sedond Season! It's released on DVD July 26, 2005.
0 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Looking Back With A Smile On My Face....Saturday, April 23, 2005
I Enjoyed Revisiting This WONDERFUL Show!!! Terrific Cast And Guest Stars, Great Script And A Great Picture & Sound!!! I Can't Wait For Season Two, Three, Four & So On!!!!!!
2 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:
yeah, season two is one the way!Thursday, April 14, 2005
Does mine eyes deceive me? Is season two really on the way? This is great news for the MTM fan like me. Season One is remarkable. We watch little Mary strike it out on her own and gain a family along the way. What promises do Season Two bring? The growth of Mary, and the growth of some amazing relationships.
For all you who haven't seen Mary, this is the greatest show ever to be made. It is beautiful, sophisticated, and it will always leave you with a smile. Mary always seems to be there when you need her. The show is comforting in a way. It is also very funny. A good watch. And watch for season two.
1 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Mary deserves this and so do her fansWednesday, April 13, 2005
When season One was released I celebrated and paid full price. You can imagine when I felt that the other seasons were cancelled.
All I'm asking the "POWERS THAT BE" is that you release the rest of the Mary Tyler Show seasons on DVD. Affordabilty always plays a part in your (and my) decisions.
0 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:
It's Crystal Clear: This Is A First-Rate DVD Set!Tuesday, April 12, 2005
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete First Season" is a fantastic DVD boxed set in every respect! The packaging for this 4-Disc set is a cut above, and quite sturdy. The inner case is very cleverly done, with each disc (plus the artwork on the case underneath) spelling out a letter in M-A-R-Y. Nice, eye-appealing packaging design.
A nice (non-animated) DVD Menu design here as well. We get a lot of chapter stops with this set too. Each of the 24 first-season episodes is broken into TEN chapters!
I'm certainly no expert, but it sure seems to me that whoever put this set together did a bang-up job on the transfer. The images look very smooth and clear, and the colors are incredibly vibrant. Color explodes everywhere! For example, the first episode...very first scene...Phyllis' outfit is alive with gorgeous colors. TMTMS is a great program for showcasing the psychedelic colors in the clothes worn in the decade of the '70s. And on DVD they've never looked better.
Every little detail stands out vividly on the DVD. Take a look at Mary's couch (you can almost FEEL the fabric)....or Lou's desk (and how the pattern of the wood grain is so clearly evident). These little things, that a person would probably not notice on the VHS, sure stand out on the DVD. It's like watching all these great MTM episodes for the first time.
The first episode of MTM ("Love Is All Around") is about as good as a sitcom episode gets! There's the inevitable humor (natch)....but we also seem to be getting "invited" right on into Mary's home and workplace. It's kinda hard to put your finger on just what quality it contains, but it's there (for me anyway). A personal experience. The writers are so good (right off the bat) at making us care about each character. From Mary, right down the line, even the pompous Ted Baxter. In the hands of different writers, Ted would be ever-so-easily disliked. But, in TMTMS, he's just the opposite. You can't help but like him, despite his "Look at me--I'm God" attitude.
Other favorites from MTM-Season 1 include the outstanding Christmas episode (even though a portion of Mary's rendition of "White Christmas" had to be omitted from this DVD release due to [I think] legal rights for the song) and "1040 Or Fight", which has Mary being audited by the IRS. Actor Paul Sand (who is featured in an Audio Commentary Track for this episode) plays the timid and thoroughly likeable "Robert C. Brand" in this ultra-charming program, that warrants repeated viewings.
"Robert C." starts to fall for Mary while performing his auditing tasks -- and who could blame him? There's a nice chemistry between Mary and Paul/Robert in this episode, which ranks as one of my Top 10 MTM eps. in the history of the series.
Just listen to the overwhelming relief in Mary's voice when she discovers at the end of "1040 Or Fight" that she owes only "sixteen ... dollars" on her taxes. A perfect piece of acting as she says those two words in such a "weight-off-my-shoulders" manner that even as viewers we breathe a sigh of relief, right along with Mary. :-)
"1040 Or Fight" is also noteworthy for Rhoda's hilarious line of dialogue --- "I don't know why I bother putting this candy in my mouth; I might just as well apply it directly to my hips." (ROFL!)
Bonus Material on Disc #4 includes:
>> A fabulous 87-minute "Making Of" documentary, featuring lots of great insights into the making of the series via cast and crew interviews.
>> Audio Commentary Tracks for 3 episodes [including an Ed Asner commentary for the debut ep.].
>> Emmy Award clips (from 1971).
>> Original CBS-TV Promos.
>> An "All-Star Trivia Challenge" (questions that are posed by the "cast and creative team of the show").
>> A small Photo Gallery.
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Other stats/data about this DVD boxed set:
VIDEO -- Full Frame (Original TV Ratio of 1.33:1). In color.
AUDIO -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English, French, and Spanish 2.0 Mono tracks are included). *
* = One episode, however, lacks a French audio track ("We Closed In Minneapolis").
SUBTITLES -- English; Spanish.
PACKAGE TYPE -- Multi-panel "Digipak" (with outer slipcase box).
BOOKLET INCLUDED? -- Yes. A 16-page booklet, which gives some info about the MTM series and a guide to each episode contained in this boxed set (including the titles for each chapter stop). Original CBS-TV Air Dates are also provided.
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"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" shall forever remain one of the very best sitcoms in the history of television (IMO). And being able to re-visit Season One time and again via this stellar 4-Disc DVD set is something that every fan of Mary's series should be grateful for.