5/5 About Time
  by Vinny (New York, New York USA)
Finally! While so much crap is coming out on DVD the best show of all time is finally getting it's due. Thank you Fox for having the good sense to release a TV classic. It was during this time [1970's] that sitcoms made the change to reflect what was going on in America. Always funny and sometimes controversial, Mr. Grant got divorced, Mary was a liberated women etc. The cast was perfect for their roles. This show is very tame by todays standards, but still original and hillarious. No need to go into details of the show because we all know about the show. I watched this show when I was a kid in the 70's and liked it then. Fans please buy this DVD so Fox will release the rest of the seasons, before they use up their supply of DVDs for more releases of American Idol or some other crap show.




5/5 Classic season of "MTMS" finally available on DVD
  by Wayne Klein (My Little Blue Window, USA)
She had spunk. As Lou Grant (Ed Asner) noted in the first episode, he hated that. Luckily, the rest of the nation loved it. Mary Tyler Moore lit up "The Dick Van Dyke Show" during its run and after a string of movie disasters returned to the small screen with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" a series that was pitch perfect for her small screen persona. I always think of Mary Tyler Moore as a single, hipper Samantha Stevens without the magic. She had her comic foils but she didn't have to go home with them and deal with their ranting and ravings about all the mistakes she had made during the episode. Moore's show created by writer/director/producer James L. Brooks ("Broadcast News") and Allan Burns poked fun at everything from the nosy next door neighbor (Phyllis expertly played by Cloris Leachman soon to get her own show) to the goofy, uncertain best friend ( Rhoda played by Valerie Harper and soon to get her own show as well). She had the clueless but big hearted boss (Ed Asner as Lou Grant soon to get his own show- I see a trend here...) and the stuffy news anchor (expertly played by the funny, diverse Ted Knight so well that for many years nobody could see him as anything but the stuffy "you fill in the blanks" character on a number of shows).

After a two year wait the second season FINALLY comes to DVD. It seems that Fox was disappointed by the sales of the first season which came with many of the same bells and whistles as this one does. What Fox failed to factor they had priced the first season way too high. So the lesson learned here is that when you price any series or movie too high smart buyers are going to rent it or, better yet, wait until you finally drop the price to purchase it. So it really wasn't due to any fault in the quality of the boxed set but the idiocy and greed of the marketing department. This ain't "The X-Files" folks (and that series would have sold much, much better if it had also been priced more affordably like Fox has been doing lately with retailers). So this set has been languishing (along with extras) in DVD purgatory until this year two and a half years after the initial release of this series.

The second season of "MTMS" looks as sharp and colorful as the first. While some of the episodes are a bit dark, the colors are much richer and more vibrant than any syndicated version of the series I've ever seen. It's hard to compare to the original broadcast episodes because it's been so long and the quality of color TVs just can't compare (and neither can memory) to that of the current crop of HDTV ready TVs. The images are clean of analog artifacts for the most part and look crisper than Mary's 70's era disco inspired outfits. There's only so much that you can do to improve mono sound. "MTMS" sounds really good with clear dialog and music cues.

I was afraid with the lower price for this set that Fox might skimp on the extras but seeing as how they already had them lined up, they've kept them in tact for this release. Future releases, on the other hand, may not have much of anything. Fox has included the Mad magazine parody "The Mary Tailor-Made Show" with each panel presented in a large enough format to read. We get the first season and season two through seven openings with their dizzy pop zoom shots in karaoke format. The re-recorded theme with different opening lyrics and a more easy listening arrangement misses the energy of the later season opening theme. It sounds as if the opening was re-recorded and then edited together with the earlier theme song. We get clips from the Emmy Awards for Ed Asner and Valerie Harper for the second season of the series. Asner's acceptance speech is a crack up. Harper tied with Sally Struthers ("All in the Family") in a unique situation that hasn't occurred since. We get Struthers and Harper both giving their acceptance speeches. Struthers is a crack up.

We also get a "News Beat" segment from the comedy show. How is that tied into " The Mary Tyler Moore Show"? They go in search of Mary Richards and everywhere she went. "Moore on Sunday" is from a local TV program with behind-the-scenes footage of the shooting of the second season opening title. The color on this extra is quite faded and the picture quality so-so but, hey, it's a piece of history. "8 characters in Search of a Sitcom" features writers-producers-creators Jim Brooks, Alan Burns, director Jay Sandrich Joan Darling actor/teacher/director of the episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" provides some great comments about the various characters in the series. Members of the cast such as Ed Asner, Betty White, Valerie Harper and others appear discussing their characters and the relationships on the show. We also get a photo gallery that includes pictures of scripts from the series all provided by Ed Asner. There are also photos of Gavin MacLeod and director Peter Baldwin at the DVD commentary session, Asner preparing to shoot the Trivia Game for the DVD, Paul Sand and producer David Davis again shot while they were prepping for their commentary tracks. We even get good old Cleveland Armory the TV critic for TV Guide during the 70's with his recap of the Emmy Awards and who won. There's also the "All-Star Trivia Challenge" hosted by Asner. Sadly, the only person missing from all this is Mary Tyler Moore herself.
A classic, classy package from Fox, I'm happy that "The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete 2nd Season" has finally been released from DVD purgatory by Fox. It was worth it guys. With the second season more reasonably priced than the first, I'm hoping this second season will sell better than the first and prompt Fox to release the remaining seasons on DVD. Fox has done a marvelous job of transferring this classic series and providing great extras as well.


5/5 It's about time!
  by James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania)
It is hard to rate an unseen item but if the second season is as nicely remastered and as well packaged as the first season the wait will have been worth it. I don't really understand why it has taken so long to bring out Mary Tyler Moore on DVD, when you can get the complete Dick Van Dyke Show. But, whose to figure the mechanizations of this industry. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was one of the best series to come out of the 70s. It is so great to be able to relive it on DVD in all its glory.

5/5 Season two's coming onto DVD after all
  by Robin Orlowski (United States)
After a very long and uncomfortable wait-and-see period where every other TV show was being guaranteed multiple DVD releases, the Mary Tyler Moore show is back on DVD. 48 episodes in the 1971-1972 season give aficionados of quality classic television something of their own to smile about.

There are less DVD discs included this set than the previous MTM season release, but if it is needed to keep the price down and increase audience purchasing level, so be it. Personally, I would rather have a whole season DVD with extras dispersed throughout the package than pay lots more money for a package with an extras DVD or a really low price for a really limited selection of episodes with not much of anything.

Beginning with this season's opener, a new version of "Love is all around" is used for the show. These new song lyrics are now assuring us that Mary will indeed make it on her own. Mary is a confident independent woman who can and does survive whatever is in her work and personal lives.

Notable episodes from this season include "A girl's mother is not her best friend" because Rhoda's mother Ida Morgenstern (Nancy Walker). Seeing how her daughter's friends get along with their own mothers has encouraged Ida to try some bonding with Rhoda. It does not work as well as she had planned.

"And now, sitting in for Ted Baxter" has the WJM-TV staff ponder their next move after a fill in replacement for anchor Ted Baxter is actually more popular than the person who was being replaced. Ted isn't a bad person, but he just comes across on camera as being full of himself.

Rhoda begins wearing her soon-to-be-trademark headscarf in "The square-shaped room". Lou clashes with Rhoda after recognizing her own designing tastes are thoroughly modern. He had hired her to redecorate his family's living room while wife Edie was out.

Mary gets a personal dose of politics in "The five-minute dress" because she tries to date a Governor's aide. Unfortunately like their boss, governor's aides also have busy schedules. This public-sector reality hinders their relationship because a super-busy work literally prevents him from keeping a date.

Mary takes another dip into the world of politics with "His two right arms". After getting him to agree going on 'Face the People' Mary discovers that City Council member Pete Peterson (Bill Daily) is completely incompetent. She must then work in tandem with his aides in order for Peterson to have a fighting chance on that TV show.

I really like the strong buddy system which Mary, Rhoda, and Phyllis have this season. Although this series is officially called the `Mary Tyler Moore Show', having a member of the trio looking 'outcast' and reduced to a prop would not be appropriate. Each member of this clique shines in their own right.

Hopefully the prolonged (and truly unnecessary) delay of this season's DVD release will remind people that letting the studios know you want a DVD out is important business. Don't underestimate the potential clout of public opinion; we can make the studios produce the shows we want out on DVD.


5/5 This DVD release is one of the highlights of my summer
  by Sinner (cold'n'dreary, michigan)
I'm so excited that the FEEBS at Fox finally wised up and decided to continue their MTM season releases. Sitcoms from the 70s, like MTM, Bob Newhart, Maude & Barney Miller struck a chord in me that others that have aired since have not. So this DVD release will truly be one of the highlights of my summer.

As for the previous message poster's comment about getting his Veal Prince Orloff... do you know what happens to us fans if you leave seasons 3 thru 7 off the sales floor too long?
WE DIE!!!
...Okay, that's an exaggeration. But I couldn't help myself!

Other great MTM shows => Lou Grant, Hill Street Blues, Phyllis, Tony Randall Show, Rhoda, Newhart, WKRP...
Fox, if you're smart you'll get all these buried treasures out for us eager consumers to... well... CONSUME!