The real treat here is the episode featuring Ricky Nelson performing 'Hello Mary Lou.'
4) "The Man without a Familiy" (Season 6, 10-9-57). Oz can't get a minute's rest because Rick and his friends have been using the Nelson home as a hangout to listen to music and such, but it's even more disturbing when they go somewhere else.
5) "Road Race" (Season 6, 1-8-58). Cute variation on the tortoise and the hare has a race that doesn't come close to Greased Lightning.
6) "The Picture in Rick's Notebook" (Season 6, 1-22-58). When a photo of a great-looking girl falls out of Rick's school notebook, rumors fly, and Rick has to pretend she's his girlfriend to save face. Ricky sings "Waiting in School," "Just Because," and the smash hit "Stood Up."
7) "Who is Betty?" (Season 6, 2-19-58). A Sadie Hawkins' dance somehow results in Rick having three dates for the same event. The heartthrob sings "I'm Confessin'" and "Boppin' the Blues."
8) "Rick Gets Even" (Season 8, 12-16-59). When an attractive college girl (Tuesday Weld) seems disinterested, Rick gets the upper hand after a fender-bender . . . that happens to Dave's car.
9) "Dave and the Schoolteacher" (Season 8, 5-4-60). Dave is surprised when he visits his old elementary school that a favorite teacher is now very beautiful, and in need of some help. Ricky sings "Right by My Side" and "Young Emotions."
10) "A Sweater for Rick" (Season 9, 11-9-60). Rick's girlfriend knits a surprise sweater for him, but the surprise is that Rick starts to think she's dating someone else after she turns him down a bunch of times to keep the project on-schedule.
11) "Dave's Golf Story" (Season 9, 3-8-61). Dave and Wally (Skip Young) set their sights on the same girl, who edits the campus newspaper. Wally tries to catch her eye with a news scoop, but it turns out that Dave is the real story. Ricky sings "That's All."
12) "Rick's Broken Arm" (Season 9, 3-15-61). Rick pretends to have a broken arm in order to get Wally off the hook, and sings "You'll Never Know What You're Missing."
13) "Selling Rick's Drums" (Season 9, 4-19-61). An old drum set of Rick's factors into another competition for a girl between the two brothers. Rick sings his smash hit "Hello Mary Lou" with full band at the end of the episode.
14) "Rick's 21st Birthday" (Season 9, 5-3-61). Not at all like the day a fresh 21 year old spends these days. Rick and the family get all worked up over a letter left by a long-deceased uncle.
15) "Rick Grades a Test" (Season 10, 11-8-61). Rick tries to get a girl he's interested in to put off studying for his English exam, which, the next day the professor asks Rick to correct.
16) "Rick and the Maid of Honor" (Season 11, 9-27-62). Jimmy (Jimmy Hawkins) is getting married, and Best Man Rick learns how contagious the idea of marriage can be to a maid of honor.
17) "Ricky, the Host" (Season 11, 11-22-62). Rick tries to ditch his fraternity brothers, who keep getting in the way of his latest dating attempts.
18) "David and the Teenager" (Season 11, 2-7-63). When a cute teen moves into Dave and June's apartment building and gets a crush on Dave, life takes a few comic turns.
19) "Dave and the Fraternity Lease" (Season 11, 4-18-63). Rick goes to his big brother for legal advice when he and his frat brothers learn their lease is up and the landlady wants them out.
20) "Ozzie, Joe, and the Fashion Models" (Season 12, 10-2-63). Ozzie and Joe's idyllic fishing trip is interrupted by good-looking models who are in the middle of a magazine photo shoot.
21) "Rick's Wedding Ring" (Season 12, 10-9-63). When Rick forgets to wear his wedding ring and unwittingly agrees to go to a dance with another girl, it takes all of his friends and family to help ease him out of his predicament. Ricky sings "Fools Rush In."
22) "Blue Moose" (Season 12, 10-23-63). Ricky, Wally and their frat brothers come up with a scheme involving a taxidermy moosehead mount to get another fraternity to paint their house. But somehow, Ozzie gets involved, and you know what that means.
23) "The Tangled Web" (Season 14, 9-15-65). Harriet's friend Clara tells a fib that Oz goes along with, and a chain of dominoes leads to a number of complications.
24) "Ozzie the Babysitter" (Season 14, 3-19-66). Harriet volunteers Ozzie to babysit for the neighbors, but Oz gets in trouble when his curiosity gets the best of him and he opens a hidden birthday present. Ricky sings "Fire Breathing Dragon."
Obviously, fans will wish for complete-season sets, because a lot happens between the episodes included on this set. But the quality is good, and this collection includes enough of the episodes featuring Ricky and his music that it should be a hit with fans.
Video:
The box doesn't say so, but these episodes look as if they've been cleaned up a bit. They're old and they show their age, with not as deep contrast as the better B&W videos from this time period, and there are several episodes of noise and squiggles that appear to be the result of compression artifacting. But overall, the 1.33:1 picture looks very good. You won't get the commercials that introduced and concluded the shows, but the episodes themselves are clean enough so that the picture quality isn't a distraction as it is with some releases. All of the episodes except for the last two in this collection are in black and white. The color episodes are a little faded and the grain is more apparent, but fans will enjoy seeing the colors that were only described in previous episodes.
Audio:
The audio is (big surprise) a no-frills Mono that at least is mostly free of hiss, pop, crackling, and other distortion. You get some of it in several episodes--after all, this set spans a number of years--but overall the sound is also solid enough to keep from being an intrusion.
Extras:
The bonus features are mostly options to play the songs Ricky sings without having to wade through the episodes. These are not extended cuts, but the same material featured in the shows. Disc 1 features Ricky singing three songs, Disc 2 has him singing six songs, Disc 3 has one song, and Disc 4 features two. "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" was a radio show before television came along, and it's a nice bonus to have a radio episode included on each disc: "David Sells Ozzie's Suit," "David Fights," "Apartment Building Next Door," and "Jury Duty." The final extra is a trivia quiz that appears on the fourth disc.
Bottom Line:
With Harriet Nelson's blessings, Shout! Factory has put out some very respectable collections of the old "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" show that was an American TV staple for so many years. The production values are decent, there's a nice booklet to tell you what you're watching, and there's a nice cross-section of episodes. The real treat here is the episode featuring Ricky Nelson performing "Hello Mary Lou."
5) "Road Race" (Season 6, 1-8-58). Cute variation on the tortoise and the hare has a race that doesn't come close to Greased Lightning.
6) "The Picture in Rick's Notebook" (Season 6, 1-22-58). When a photo of a great-looking girl falls out of Rick's school notebook, rumors fly, and Rick has to pretend she's his girlfriend to save face. Ricky sings "Waiting in School," "Just Because," and the smash hit "Stood Up."
7) "Who is Betty?" (Season 6, 2-19-58). A Sadie Hawkins' dance somehow results in Rick having three dates for the same event. The heartthrob sings "I'm Confessin'" and "Boppin' the Blues."
8) "Rick Gets Even" (Season 8, 12-16-59). When an attractive college girl (Tuesday Weld) seems disinterested, Rick gets the upper hand after a fender-bender . . . that happens to Dave's car.
9) "Dave and the Schoolteacher" (Season 8, 5-4-60). Dave is surprised when he visits his old elementary school that a favorite teacher is now very beautiful, and in need of some help. Ricky sings "Right by My Side" and "Young Emotions."
10) "A Sweater for Rick" (Season 9, 11-9-60). Rick's girlfriend knits a surprise sweater for him, but the surprise is that Rick starts to think she's dating someone else after she turns him down a bunch of times to keep the project on-schedule.
11) "Dave's Golf Story" (Season 9, 3-8-61). Dave and Wally (Skip Young) set their sights on the same girl, who edits the campus newspaper. Wally tries to catch her eye with a news scoop, but it turns out that Dave is the real story. Ricky sings "That's All."
12) "Rick's Broken Arm" (Season 9, 3-15-61). Rick pretends to have a broken arm in order to get Wally off the hook, and sings "You'll Never Know What You're Missing."
13) "Selling Rick's Drums" (Season 9, 4-19-61). An old drum set of Rick's factors into another competition for a girl between the two brothers. Rick sings his smash hit "Hello Mary Lou" with full band at the end of the episode.
14) "Rick's 21st Birthday" (Season 9, 5-3-61). Not at all like the day a fresh 21 year old spends these days. Rick and the family get all worked up over a letter left by a long-deceased uncle.
15) "Rick Grades a Test" (Season 10, 11-8-61). Rick tries to get a girl he's interested in to put off studying for his English exam, which, the next day the professor asks Rick to correct.
16) "Rick and the Maid of Honor" (Season 11, 9-27-62). Jimmy (Jimmy Hawkins) is getting married, and Best Man Rick learns how contagious the idea of marriage can be to a maid of honor.
17) "Ricky, the Host" (Season 11, 11-22-62). Rick tries to ditch his fraternity brothers, who keep getting in the way of his latest dating attempts.
18) "David and the Teenager" (Season 11, 2-7-63). When a cute teen moves into Dave and June's apartment building and gets a crush on Dave, life takes a few comic turns.
19) "Dave and the Fraternity Lease" (Season 11, 4-18-63). Rick goes to his big brother for legal advice when he and his frat brothers learn their lease is up and the landlady wants them out.
20) "Ozzie, Joe, and the Fashion Models" (Season 12, 10-2-63). Ozzie and Joe's idyllic fishing trip is interrupted by good-looking models who are in the middle of a magazine photo shoot.
21) "Rick's Wedding Ring" (Season 12, 10-9-63). When Rick forgets to wear his wedding ring and unwittingly agrees to go to a dance with another girl, it takes all of his friends and family to help ease him out of his predicament. Ricky sings "Fools Rush In."
22) "Blue Moose" (Season 12, 10-23-63). Ricky, Wally and their frat brothers come up with a scheme involving a taxidermy moosehead mount to get another fraternity to paint their house. But somehow, Ozzie gets involved, and you know what that means.
23) "The Tangled Web" (Season 14, 9-15-65). Harriet's friend Clara tells a fib that Oz goes along with, and a chain of dominoes leads to a number of complications.
24) "Ozzie the Babysitter" (Season 14, 3-19-66). Harriet volunteers Ozzie to babysit for the neighbors, but Oz gets in trouble when his curiosity gets the best of him and he opens a hidden birthday present. Ricky sings "Fire Breathing Dragon."
Obviously, fans will wish for complete-season sets, because a lot happens between the episodes included on this set. But the quality is good, and this collection includes enough of the episodes featuring Ricky and his music that it should be a hit with fans.
Video:
The box doesn't say so, but these episodes look as if they've been cleaned up a bit. They're old and they show their age, with not as deep contrast as the better B&W videos from this time period, and there are several episodes of noise and squiggles that appear to be the result of compression artifacting. But overall, the 1.33:1 picture looks very good. You won't get the commercials that introduced and concluded the shows, but the episodes themselves are clean enough so that the picture quality isn't a distraction as it is with some releases. All of the episodes except for the last two in this collection are in black and white. The color episodes are a little faded and the grain is more apparent, but fans will enjoy seeing the colors that were only described in previous episodes.
Audio:
The audio is (big surprise) a no-frills Mono that at least is mostly free of hiss, pop, crackling, and other distortion. You get some of it in several episodes--after all, this set spans a number of years--but overall the sound is also solid enough to keep from being an intrusion.
Extras:
The bonus features are mostly options to play the songs Ricky sings without having to wade through the episodes. These are not extended cuts, but the same material featured in the shows. Disc 1 features Ricky singing three songs, Disc 2 has him singing six songs, Disc 3 has one song, and Disc 4 features two. "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" was a radio show before television came along, and it's a nice bonus to have a radio episode included on each disc: "David Sells Ozzie's Suit," "David Fights," "Apartment Building Next Door," and "Jury Duty." The final extra is a trivia quiz that appears on the fourth disc.
Bottom Line:
With Harriet Nelson's blessings, Shout! Factory has put out some very respectable collections of the old "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" show that was an American TV staple for so many years. The production values are decent, there's a nice booklet to tell you what you're watching, and there's a nice cross-section of episodes. The real treat here is the episode featuring Ricky Nelson performing "Hello Mary Lou."
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[release]24392[/release]