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TITLE: THE BEST OF MISTER ED - VOLUME TWO
Info:
DVD Release Date: March 8, 2005 (MGM Home Video)
Black & White
MSRP: $29.98
Number of Discs: 2
Number of Episodes: 20
Running Time: 8 hours and 27 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English; No
Subtitles; Closed captioned
Special Features: None
Introduction:
Mister Ed rides again in the second volume of America's best-loved sitcom - featuring television's smoothest-talking
steed! Full of hilarious horseplay, this wild and wacky collection features Mister Ed up to his tail in trouble as he flies
a plane, drives a truck, rides a surfboard - and generally gets his poor owner Wilbur Post into one fine mess after
another. It's four-footed fun for the whole family, so saddle up, take the reins, and hit the trail with Mister Ed!
Episodes Included / Notable Guest Stars:
The Best of Mister Ed - Volume Two includes 20 episodes from the series. With the 21
episodes on volume one, 41 of the 143 episodes produced from 1961-1966 are now on DVD. There are
2 discs in this set with one disc having episodes on both sides. Disc 1 - Side 1 contains
Ed Gets the Mumps (01/05/64); Ed Visits a Gypsy (03/01/64); Ed, the Chauffeur (04/12/64);
Ed, The Donkey (02/23/64); Mae West Meets Mister Ed (03/22/64); Mister Ed Writes Dear
Abby (10/18/64); Like Father, Like Horse (02/10/65); Ed, The Race Horse (01/27/65).
Disc 1 - Side 2 contains Ed, The Pilot (01/06/65); Ed, The Stowaway (02/17/65);
Animal Jury (01/13/65); Ed's Juice Stand (02/03/65). Disc 2 - Side 1 contains
Ed's Contact Lenses (03/24/65); The Bank Robbery (04/14/65); My Horse, The Mailman
(04/28/65); Robin Hood Ed (05/12/65); Ed, The Artist (05/19/65); Ed A Go-Go (09/19/65);
Coldfinder (aka Ed Sniffs Out a Clue) (09/26/65); Ed Breaks the Hip Code (aka Spies Strike
Back) (10/03/65). Notable guest stars in episodes included on this set are
George Petrie, Mae West, and Eleanor Audley.
Packaging:
This set has an outer box that has a window pane that displays a photo of
Alan Young and Mister Ed. There is a crate of apples
in the lower right of the box. The back of the outer box features a photo
of Alan Young and Connie Hines in a giant horseshoe with Mister Ed
in the background. The main box which looks like your standard movie dvd case slides out
from the top or bottom of the outer box. Episode titles broken down by disc are listed on
the back on the box. Another photo of Wilbur and Mister Ed is on
the back. There is an 8 page booklet inside the case
that lists the episode titles, original airdats, and fairly detailed summaries for all the episodes. There are small
photos for each of the 20 episodes along with the writing and directing credits.
The discs are just plain
with no photos or logos on them as one of the discs contains episodes on both sides.
Disc 1 - Side 1 contains 8 episodes, Disc 1 - Side 2 has 4 episodes, and Disc 2 - Side 1 has
8 episodes. I would say the volume one digipak packing was nicer with more photos then
what they used for volume two.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus have the same blue/green theme as the box. There is some instrumental music playing
in the background that sort of sounds like the theme music. I think it would have been better
if they had included the memorable theme song on the menus. The main menu has an animated
Mister Ed talking with Wilbur on the left hand side of the screen. They are shown
in different clothing items in the animation type sequence. The menu loops
after 30 seconds. There is an "Episode Selections" and "Play All" button. When you
select the episode selections option, it takes
you to a sub-menu. The sub-menus have a lot of the same photos which are in the booklet and
list the same episode summaries. There are no chapter stops within the episodes.
Video and Audio Quality:
The episodes are in black & white in full frame. These episodes have held
up quite nicely, I don't think the dust and debris is as evident in black & white
episodes as in color episodes. I would say the episodes look as good or better
then what you currently see on TV Land. The audio is in mono which is typical
of 1960's sitcoms. The theme song sounds great. Whatever happened to the great
theme songs with catchy lyrics that you could learn and sing?
There are no subtitles,
but closed captioning is available. All episodes appear
to be unedited, running around 25 to 25 1/2 minutes. These are various episodes
from 1964 and 1965, and they aren't in any particular order.
Special Features:
There are no special features on this set much like the volume one release. It would
be nice to see interviews with the cast or bloopers if they exist. Alan Young
and Connie Hines are both living and I know they've made many appearances over the
years.
Final Comments:
While some Mister Ed is better than no Mister Ed, where are the season sets? I wonder
what criteria they used in selecting episodes for a "Best of" set.
The first volume seemed to contain many episodes with memorable guest stars, while the second
volume almost seems they were chosen at random. Mister Ed has experienced a surge
in popularity recently and the series is currently shown on TV Land, so I'm sure
there would be interest in full season sets. Although this set contains only 20 episodes
compared to 30 on the Green Acres - Season 2 set for the same price, there are still 10
good hours of Mister Ed entertainment to watch and enjoy and this set is priced reasonably...
of course.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Video Quality: 4.1/5
Audio Quality: 4.0/5
Special Features: NA
Menu Design/Navigation: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.0/5
-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller on 03/06/2005.
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