Rating: 
Summary: Finally!!
Review: Finally they brought the MTM Show out on DVD! This is without a doubt some of the finest television ever produced. Excellent writing, excellent acting, and characters you come to truly know and love. The MTM Show has been a favorite of mine for many years and was so thrilled when I saw they were bringing it out on DVD without commercials and without "trimming" minutes to fit more ads into the time slot. The quality is excellent and this is a MUST HAVE collection for any MTM fan. If you're not a fan, you just haven't spent much time watching this delightful series. I understand Season 2 is due out in March '03. I hope so and hope they bring all 7 seasons to us.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Comedy
Review: First, in response to the reviewer from Houston, TX: Mary Tyler Moore does not have a "laugh track" - it was RECORDED IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE IN HOLLYWOOD, CA. Says so right at the end of each episode's credits, as well as in the accompanying documentary. To accuse MTM of something so heinous as having a laugh track is downright wrong!This is a must-have for classic TV fans. The first season is just as special and funny as the other six, and further evidence that this is the 2nd best TV comedy next to I Love Lucy. The writing is witty, realistic, and hilarious. The look of the show is bright, colorful, and crisp. The cast are like old dear friends. I was so happy to discover this DVD set. You will not be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Classic TV at It's Best!!!!
Review: On a cold winter's night, when you don't feel like going out, what could be more enjoyable then getting under the covers and watching an episode or two (or a marathon) of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"! Now you can do just that, because the entire first season of one of the best TV sitcoms of the '70s (with apologies to "All in the Family") has been released in a four DVD box set. We get to see the first embryonic episodes, where a wide eyed Mary Richards (in go-go boots, fur coat and a very short skirt) comes to cold Minneapolis to make a new life for herself. The TV viewer sees her move into the famous apartment with the big M and gets hired to work at WJM-TV, which produces the most (unintentionally) hilarious news broadcasts in town. And who can forget about Mary's gang of friends and co-workers who would eventually become her pseudo family? We get to see episode after episode, where Mr.Grant, Ted, Murray, Rhoda and of course Phyllis somehow gets the gal, "who can turn the world on with her smile", into some very hilarious and embarassing social situations!In all seriousness, this is the ground breaking TV show that launched the ideal that a single, independent women, could make it in the working world and not have to depend on a husband or boyfriend.It was done with wit, good writing and one of the best ensemble casts in the business. The DVD set is wonderful! The picture is crip & clear with color that practically pops. The sound quality is reasonable, considering it comes from a 1970 TV show.Also included is commentary (Ed Asner, Jay Sandrich etc.) for some episodes and a documentry on the fourth disc. If you want hours of some very funny, classic TV, then buy this box set!
Rating: 
Summary: Forced Laughs
Review: The Laugh Track CANNOT be turned off. For me this is a major annoyance. For an example of what it's like to view a series with the laugh track turned off, see the DVD set of the TV series MASH, which allows you to leave it on or turn it off. As of this date, almost anywhere you can buy these sets, the MASH set is a lot cheaper than the MTMS set. Both are made by Fox Home Video. Personal Commentary Follows. A laugh track is the portion of the audio where prerecorded laughter by a group of people is arbitrarily played at times when 'someone thinks' something is 'supposed' to be funny. Imagine having a conversation with a close personal friend and someone you don't know, off to the side, continously laughs at things said during your conversation, whether or not you find what was said funny. Annoying is what it is. Lucky for me the store stuck a security label on the cover of the inside box, which means I can now return the Mary Tyler Moore Show DVD set, along with its laugh track. Too bad. It would have been nice to own this set. I grew up watching this show. For me, no series is worth putting up with the laugh track. I guess my tastes have changed. The best way to 'vote' in our commercial society is by boycotting with our pocketbooks. Be strong. Save your money. Don't buy this set.
Rating:
Summary: It's Crystal Clear: This Is A First-Rate DVD Set!
Review: This is my favorite TV DVD set. Fantastic is every respect!
The packaging is a cut above, and quite sturdy (similar in style to the Simpsons sets). The gatefold is very clever....with each disc (plus the artwork on the case underneath) spelling out a letter in M-A-R-Y. This really looks quite cool indeed! We get a lot of chapter stops with this set too (unlike the All In The Family set, which has none)! Each of the 24 first-season episodes is broken into TEN chapters! I'm certainly no expert, but it sure seems to me that whoever put this set together did a bang-up job on the transfer! The images look very smooth and clear, and the colors are incredibly vibrant! Color explodes everywhere! ... Take the first episode...very first scene...Phyllis' outfit is alive with gorgeous colors! MTM is a great program for showcasing the psychedelic colors in the clothes worn in that decade. And on DVD they've never looked better! I did a side-by-side comparison with a VHS copy of MTM, and
it's a night-and-day difference! Every little detail stands out vividly on the DVD. Take a look at Mary's couch (you can almost FEEL the fabric)....or Lou's desk (and how the pattern of the wood grain is so clearly evident). These little things, that a person would probably not notice on the VHS, sure stand out on the DVD. It's gonna be like watching all these great MTM episodes for the first time. And the 2.0 mono soundtrack is pretty robust as well. Very clear and distinct. When I first popped in disc 1, I was a bit fearful that the transfer might be a bit on the subpar side (or maybe just "average"). The reason I was concerned initially is because I noted that this MTM set has 8 episodes on each disc! (Disc 4 has extra features only.) Usually we see only 4, 5, or maybe up to 6 per disc. But, fear not....from what I've seen thus far, the video quality is Grade-A indeed! Also included is a nice 16-page booklet, which gives some info about the MTM series and a guide to each episode contained in the 4-disc boxed set (including the titles for each chapter stop). Original air dates are also provided. Other goodies on Disc 4 include ..... Emmy Award clips (from 1971)! ... Original CBS Promos! ... An "All-Star Trivia Challenge" (questions that are posed by the "cast and creative team of the show")! ... A small Photo Gallery (which was a bit of a disappointment to me...but, oh well) ... And an all-new 87-minute "Making of Season 1" documentary! There's also a commentary track for 3 of the episodes [including an Ed Asner commentary for the debut ep.]. And we are to get Season 2 in March 2003 (according to an
insert card included with Season 1)!! Yahoooo! In case you couldn't tell, I highly recommend the purchase of the MTM Season 1 boxed set. For any fan of the MTM show, this set is a certain Must-Buy! IMO, the first episode of MTM ("Love Is All Around"), is about as good as a sitcom episode gets! There's the inevitable humor (natch)....but we also seem to be getting "invited" right on into Mary's home and workplace. It's kinda hard to put your finger on just what quality it contains, but's it's there (for me anyway). A personal experience. The writers are so good at (right off the bat) making us care about each character. From Mary, right down the line, even the pompous Ted Baxter. In the hands of different writers, Ted would be ever-so-easily disliked. But, in TMTMS, he's just the opposite. You can't help but like him, despite his "Look at me--I'm God" attitude! It's an absolutely wonderful show! One of my all-time favorites. And I want to thank Mr. Asner (and everyone else @ the MTM DVD team) for producing these season sets! Having a TV Classic like TMTMS on DVD forever puts a large smile on my face indeed! It'll still be a while yet before we get to see the "Chuckles Bites The Dust" episode in Digital glory. "Chuckles" (an episode regarded by many as the greatest in the series) aired during the 6th MTM season, in October 1975. But it'll be worth the wait...no doubt!
Ted: "If this had been MY funeral, the place would be packed." Another all-time great ep. is where Mary & Rhoda monkey around with the WJM obituary file. When Ted has to read one on the air, as they say, hijinks ensue! A great show! "You've got spunk! ..... I HATE spunk!!"
Rating:
Summary: Love (And Mary) Is All Around
Review: Add me to the list of people who feel that Mary Tyler Moore, and in particular this show, is what makes for great television. I live in New York but in 1974 (August 16th to be exact) was fortunate enough to watch a taping of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. What excitement and how genuinely funny (without being sophmoric) it was. This box set contains the entire first season and watching it brings the same excitement I felt when I sat in the studio audience. The scripts are masterpieces; the cast is nothing short of perfection; and then there is Mary. Whether she's talking with Rhoda, rolling her eyes over what Ted Baxter says, smiling at Murray or about to cry, "Oh Mr. Grant" you can't help but fall in love with her. She is so funny, sweet and a total person. The sound and quality on the DVD is excellent and anyone who is serious about owning a masterpiece should add this boxed set to their collection.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: This is AWESOME!!!! FINALLY!!! on dvd this set is amazing!!! and hopefully they will bring out the rest, I was just a wee lad when this came out on tv! I caught this mostly in reruns and fell in love with it! the 4th or 5th season I remember seeing on Tv with my parents. memories like this are PRICELESS!...
Rating:
Summary: My nothing day suddenly seems worthwhile...
Review: OK, I admit it. I didn't watch the show in the early seventies. I was born during the first season, and somehow as a toddler, Sesame Street seemed more accessible. But this set has allowed me to revel in what others got to see the first time around... one of the best written sitcoms ever. I must admit part of the joy for me is seeing how times have changed. Openly drinking whiskey at work? Hiring someone based on her "nice caboose", and telling her? Those pantsuits? But seventies nostalgia aside, this show holds its own despite changing times and mores. What makes it work is great character development and a focus on relationship rather than cookie-cutter sitcom farce. It's feel-good television at its best, uplifting without being sickly sweet. And who can't like Mary? This boxed set makes a wonderful gift, maybe for someone like me who was to young to enjoy the original broadcast. I watched mine on my computer on a long trip, and it sure beat the in-flight movie. Remember, you're gonna make it after all!
Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: I have always loved the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I cried at the show's end. Ever since the introduction of home video I have longed to own this show. Now with advent of dvd I finally have my wish granted. The transfer to dvd is excellent. The sound is great. This is a dvd fans of Mary's will have to have. I can't wait for the next 6 seasons. The documentary on disc 4 is very informative and told me things I did not know. A perfect addition to your dvd collection.
Rating: 
Summary: No Sequential Playback?
Review: Of course the actual show is great! The picture is fantastic, etc., but I'm upset about one thing: I am unable to play every episode on each disc in sequential order continuously. I have to select a new episode to watch after each episode! This is very irritating and unprofessional.
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