Home :: DVD :: Television :: General  

A&E Home Video
BBC
Classic TV
Discovery Channel
Fox TV
General

HBO
History Channel
Miniseries
MTV
National Geographic
Nickelodeon
PBS
Star Trek
TV Series
WGBH Boston
Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 3

Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 3

List Price: $49.98
Your Price: $37.49
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't Let the Poor Reviews Fool You!
Review: No, do not let the poor reviews fool you. I am talking about the audio/video quality, cut scenes, and episodes out of order.
(1) the master tapes are twenty years old -- tapes break down and distengrate due to dust mites. Not even putting them in cannisters can entirely protect them -- thank God for DVD. If your old VHS movies sound worse and worse, look worse and worse, from year to year -- you know now why. Some scenes may have been totally destroyed and puting them on the DVD sets would make the quality actually worse causing even more unfavorable and unfair reviews. They did the right thing leaving them out and were lucky to find away to do it so you can still follow the story. Complaning about it is stupid -- they did you a favor. As for the picture quality, digital technology has only come so far. Fixing something that old is difficult without the fake colorization you see the old black and white movies in -- it looks awful. I'll take the faded but yet still decent older copy anytime as long as it can't get worse on a DVD and it can't.
(2) the episodes are in order that they were made, not originally broadcast. They did mislead you into thinking that they were in broadcast order by listing air dates. This is the studio's only fault. They should've been listed in order they were made, not shown. People believe what they see on television is the order they were made in. That's not true. They buy this set and think the studio screwed up (and they kind of did by listing air dates -- they should have listed completeion dates), but nonetheless they are in some sort of chronoligical order, just not the preffered order. They film in the spring and summer and take the fall off. They don't film all in the fall and winter -- that's when stations are showing new episodes. Not all shows are like that, but "Little House" was.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Watch this episode first!
Review: On the second CD of the third season they have 2 episodes reversed. You need to watch "Bunny" BEFORE you watch "The Race". Otherwise you may have questions if your not familiar with with the series and have been watching them in order.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: POOR TREATMENT OF A WONDERFUL SERIES
Review: Series three of 'Little House on the Prairie' is one of my favorites, possibly because this is the first that I watched all the way through on its original airing, being a bit slow to catch on, and having missed most of the episodes in the earlier series.

Although there have been several opportunities to record them on VHS from broadcasts here in the UK over the years, I never actually kept any of them. I wish I had now as this DVD set, aside from the beautiful packaging, is not exactly a labor of love is it? Like many reviewers have pointed out, quite a few of the episodes are either of poor quality and/or are edited.

Take episodes in this set like "I'll Ride the Wind", "Journey in the Spring" or "Little Girl Lost" which are top quality, and compare them with "Fred", which is very washed out and has two scenes missing, where the goat is discovered eating Mary's essay in the schoolhouse for example.

Some episodes are out of order. "Bunny" is obviously an earlier story than "The Race". If I remember correctly, "Bunny" was the first episode of series three that was broadcast on Thames TV in the UK. Is the DVD order what was broadcast in the US? If so then it needs to be looked into, as viewers of a continuing series like this do tend to watch the episodes in the order that they are presented on the DVDs and will become confused if there are lapses in continuity.

These episodes do not appear to have been remastered from the original film negatives. Instead they look like straight copies from analogue ex broadcast television station tapes. The good copies included in these boxsets look identical to what was broadcast on the UKs Channel 4 network around 1992. I work in television broadcasting in the UK and certainly in times of old, poor technical quality would have been rejected immediately. But it seems that these days anything goes!

So who is to blame? Worldvision are the distributors of 'Little House' and would probably have supplied the DVD/video company with these poor masters. Would it be right though to say that the DVD/video company is ultimately responsible for what reaches the retailer?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Little House On The Prairie
Review: This is prehaps one of the best seasons of little house on the prairie.A lot of my favorites are in this season.This will be a six disc collection and it will include the following episodes:

1)The Collection
2)I'll Ride The Wind
3)The Race
4)Bunny
5)The Monster Of Walnut Grove-Laura thinks she see's Mr.Olson cut off Mrs.Olsons head.Also the headless horseman is seen at the end of the episode.This is a great show to put on during Halloween and the music in it is scary too.This is another one of my favorite episodes I was wanting to see on dvd.
6)Journey Into Spring Part 1
7)Journey Into Spring Part 2
8)Fred-This is one of the funniest episodes of all the little house shows.Laura trys to get rid of a goat called Fred and can't find anyone to take it.This goat is funny because it butts everybody it sees.
9)The Bully Boys
1O)The Hunters
11)Blizzard-This is actually a Christmas show.A lot of residents of Walnut Grove get trapped in a school during a snowstorm.This was one of my favorite episodes.
12)Little Girl Lost
13)Quarantine
14)Little Women
15)Injun Kid
16)To Live With Fear Part 1
17)To Live With Fear Part 2
18)The Wisdom Of Solomon
19)The Music Box
20)The Election
21)Gold Country

If your a fan of Little House On The Prairie you should pick up
season 3.It's worth it just for the Fred episode which is very funny but it's also got a lot of other great episodes that's frequently shown on wtbs.Shows like this are great to watch because they focus on a time when most people put God first
and they are clean don't have any foul language or adult situations in them.You can let your children watch these without having to worry about them warping there mind.I like these shows because I don't continully have to press the mute button on my remote to mute out the cursing.I also recommend little house on the prairie season 1 and 2 as I have them too and think there pretty good.Imavision says they will release all the seasons of little house on dvd's even the reunion shows. More than likely these will look better than they ever have on cable.Seasons 1 and 2 did except for a small amount of shows that had a lot of grain.Hopefully the small amount of problems with the grain won't be in season 3.Also as with season 1 and 2 season 3's seasons will be uncut.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Welcome Back To Walnut Grove...Relax and Enjoy...
Review: This review refers to "Little House on the Prairie" - The Complete Third Season....

Season Three is filled with about 18 hours of wonderful stories that depict the hardships, the courage, the love and devotion, tests of the human spirit, and a few lighter moments we share with the Ingalls family and the people of Walnut Grove. In such beautiful stories as, "I'll Ride The Wind", young love is tested as John Jr. must decide between a college scholarship and his love for Mary. "Journey In the Spring", a 2 parter, will immediately evoke a lump in your throat, and is one you should definately have the Kleenex handy, as Pa's Pa comes to stay with the family after the loss of Grandma Ingalls. Then for a little comic relief, "Fred", Laura's newly aquirred goat will keep you smiling, as no one, not even the Reverend Alden is safe from this beast!

"Little Girl Lost" is the touching episode that has little Carrie, falling down a mine shaft, and provides an unlikely hero. And one of my favorites, "The Hunters", has Laura and a blind man racing against time, to save Pa from a hunting accident.

There are 22 of these vintage episodes(aired in 1976 and 1977), and all will touch you in some way. Some of these are two parters, or feature length episodes. "To Live With Fear" is one of these 2 parters that you won't be able to tear yourself away from. Mary has an accident that causes her to need an operation, and Charles must come up with the money. Also included is "Gold Country"(also a two-parter), "The Collection", "Blizzard", and "The Monster of Walnut Grove"(Laura thinks Nels chopped off Harriet's head).

Adding their wonderful presence to these stories, are many legendary guest stars, sometimes working for less then they usually make, just to be a part of the show. The list includes, Arthur Hill, Johnny and June Cash, John Ireland, James Shigeta, and Burl Ives.

I know there has been quite a bit said about bits and pieces of scenes missing, and there are even two episodes out of order(lucky for us they are on DVD and we can watch them in any order we want!). I even noticed a scene missing from "To Live With Fear", where Caroline is working at the hospital ironing sheets, and the transition from scene to scene where the commercials have been edited out are not always smooth..But..if you keep in mind that these are nearly 30 year old TV programs, and the best masters available were used for the restoration, I think we can just relax and enjoy them for what they are. Stories of family togetherness, a magnificent documentation of life in the 1800's, and programs that have stood the test of time and may be enjoyed by every generation.

The DVDs(6 discs) have a nice clear picture, with good color and sound. Disc 6 includes some "Behind The Scene" memories from different cast members(in the form of notes). There is now scene selection and we finally have all the major guests stars listed in the opening credits. The Case opens up nicley and stores all 6 discs, and there is a booklet in the back listing the episodes and synopses. There is one thing that the package is lacking, and my reason for only going 4 stars. I neglected to mention in my reviews of Season 1 and 2, but there are no Captions or subtitles, so that this classic and beloved series may be enjoyed by all.

So, welcome home to Walnut Grove. Spend some quality time, with the Ingalls, Mr. Edwards, Harriet, Nellie, Nels, Willie and "Fred" the drunken goat. You'll have a great time!...Enjoy....Laurie



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great season!
Review: This season had some of the best remembered and fun episodes! The music box drama featuring Laura being forced to turn on her stuttering friend (that Nellie Oleson was such a fun brat!) to Pa mining the liquid dynamite to lil Carrie falling down a well (if only they had left her!). Probably the most famous id the episode dealing with Solomon (Todd Bridges) and his struggle for racial equality. Very much a tear jerker and always good for a self-indulgent catharsis of tears.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Forever a classic, but poor DVD editing
Review: This series will always be one of my favorites and I'm really pleased that they are being released on DVD. The picture quality is amazing and the menu is greatly improved from the previous two releasesas as it is easier to navigate. However, there are some major flaws with this season.

1. The editing between scenes is poor. This is not the fault of the original production, but rests with the creators of the DVD. It is choppy and does not flow together.

2. The episodes of "The Race" and "Bunny" are out of order and I would have thought after all these years, they could have got it right. They also show these episodes out of order on TV.

3. The DVD cover: I would have preferred it if they'd used an original picture instead of one that was digitally created.

4. The "Behind the Scenes" was disappointing and I expected more. It simply had text to read with tid-bits from "behind the scenes" and then played the clip to which the information related.

5. As with the previous releases, you have to play each episode individually. It would be better if there was an option at the beginning to 'play all' episodes, one after another.

Despite my grumblings, it is well worth it to buy and I'm sure you'll love watching it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: correction
Review: to the reviewer whodat, the price for all the sets are the same. Amazon chose to only give a discount of 15% on this set as compared to 25% off on the first two.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Lousy Digital Transfer Quality, Marginal DVD Production
Review: What was this studio thinking? The digital transfer quality on Seasons 1 & 2 is good overall. However, Season 3 is another story. It stinks! Many of the episodes are bleached (color-wise) and blurred. Looks like they confiscated some used video-tapes and did a transfer using a consumer-end VCR with no digital enhancement other than adding chapters (one thing that was nicer than Seasons 1 & 2). And even the transition on some chapters is noticeablely chopped (almost like some one stopped the playback while still recording). My guess is that the studio's greed set in and they decided to accelerate the production timeline for Season 3 and get these out on the market at the sacrifice of quality so they bring in those $$$ faster. For such a wonderful series as this is, it is a crying shame to see such a low quality transfer to DVD as Season 3 is. I purchased Seasons 4 & 5 which I have not yet viewed. Hopefully they are not as pitiful in quality as Season 3.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great series, mediocre DVD
Review: When I pay hard earned money for a Boxed Set of a classic TV series like "Little House" I expect to get what I pay for. This is not the case here. Season One and Two were acceptable but Season III has the flaws described by so many others in previous reviews. Contrary to popular belief this DVD set is NOT REMASTERED OR UNCUT. In almost every episode there are scenes that have been deleted or are edited in some way or another. The video and audio quality is excellent. There are some classic episodes in this season....the best being "Bunny"...the one where Nellie falls off Laura's horse and pretends to be crippled...the payoff here is classic and wonderful! "To Live With Fear"....the two parter where Mary is seriously injured and must have surgery and the Ingalls have no money to pay for the operation. "Fred" the comical episode about an honary Billy Goat.....watch Mrs. Oleson get it in this one!! "The Bully Boys" where Caroline is attacked by a trio of rough men. "Blizzard" where most of the town's children are lost out in a blizzard on Christmas Eve. "The Election" a very touching episode. And my personal favorite of the season "Little Girl Lost" where Carrie falls down a mine shaft. The series is wonderful and evokes wonderful memories. They just don't make them like this anymore. But the DVDs have got to get better. I'd rather not have scene index if they're going to edit out parts of scenes. These DVDs are supposed to be remastered and uncut. This is not the case with this edition. 5 stars for the series but 3 for the DVD. "Little House" deserves better.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates