Search - Make Room For Daddy - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD

Are you out of your Mesopotamian minds?

J. Earles | Mooresville, INDIANA United States | 11/05/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Well - as other reviewers here have pointed out, there are serious problems with this release.

"Make Room for Daddy" was an important and popular television series. It was THE Desilu product that inherited the coveted Monday night at 9 p.m. slot vacated by "I Love Lucy" when it switched to an hour-long/once a month format starting in the fall of 1957.

Danny Thomas starring as Danny Williams moved from ABC with his two children Terry (Sherry Jackson) and Rusty (Rusty Hamer). He had been raising them since the death of his wife (played in earlier seasons by Jean Hagen). Along with the kids, Danny brought a new wife Kathryn Daley O'Hara Williams (Marjorie Lord) and her daughter Linda (Angela Cartwright).

This is the complete 5th season. There is also the final episode of the 4th season - where Danny proposes to Kathy. And as an extra, the 1960 episode that served as a sort of pilot for what became "The Andy Griffith Show."

All of the humor and love among the characters that you might fondly remember is here. Danny sings some terrific songs, and there are some great guest stars. Jackson, Hamer, and Cartwright each have moments to shine and take advantage of them. Lord is one of the most lovely TV "moms" of the 1950's. Her clothes by Emeson's of Studio City are au courant for the time. Also featured in many episodes is Amanda Randolph as Louise, the maid.

Danny does some great spit takes - he was the master. And there is the familiar gesture he made: a quickly upturned palm with a grunt that Hamer can imitate to perfection.

There is no list of the episodes except on the disks themselves, but they seem to be in chronological order. The transfer is very soft and there doesn't seem to have been a lot of digital enhancement on them. Certainly for the SRP for the 34 + 2 episodes, they might have spent some time on them.

The original opening credits are shown at the beginning of each disk but NOT at the beginning of each episode. When you choose an episode, it begins with the first scene. The ending credits are complete. And each episode runs about 23 minutes. This means we are getting the syndicated versions of the episodes. Chunks of dialog are missing. And it's not even cleverly done as it was with "I Love Lucy." Many times there is a fade out and fade in the MIDDLE of a scene. You can tell a fade to commercial because these are usually accompanied by a musical tag.

Disgraceful that this pioneering series - sort of a bridge between "I Love Lucy" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" - has been given such a short shrift.

It is wonderful to have it. I am glad it has been released. But if the subsequent seasons are going to be released - let's let Questar know that we won't accept such a cheat!

If you are a fan of the show - buy this set. It will be fun to watch. But it will leave you unsatisfied, and might even make those seeing it for the first time wonder why we thought it was so great!

"

NOT Complete Episodes!

Gerry Orlando | Syracuse, New York USA | 10/24/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I was anxiously awaiting the release of this DVD set, and was very disappointed when I finally bought and watched it. This set gives us syndicated versions of "Make Room For Daddy" episodes which are VERY heavily edited! Many times the edits are abrupt fade out/fade ins, and the missing portions of the episodes make some of the stories difficult or confusing to follow. Putting edited syndicated versions of these "Make Room For Daddy" episodes on DVD is unforgivable and certainly not worth the money for this DVD set!"

No opening credits???

D. Hall | Fairfax, VA United States | 08/17/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I cannot believe they LOPPED OFF THE OPENING CREDITS! The opening credits are a *major* part of the appeal of any 1950s sitcom. (And actually the main reason I bought this set.) Presenting each episode without the intro and theme music is like selling a book with the cover ripped off. I was very disappointed. Also the navigation is practically nonexistent. The box set comes out to about a dollar per episode, so I guess you get what you pay for."

This DVD Fails the Audience

jkbuster2 | Virginia | 12/07/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I love the Make room for Daddy show and I am glad that at least one DVD is available for the series. However, Questar did a horrible job of creating the DVD. There are NO chapters on the disc and therefore, if you have a multi-disc player, you cannot mark the spot on the disc to return to later. There is not even a "Top" menu.

Like other reviewers, I noted that parts of the shows were cut (it is very obvious). When all is said and done though, it was Great seeing this old show again. To bad the producers of the video did such a poor job!"