The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete First Season
by Bob Sweeney, Don Weis, Gene Reynolds, Sheldon Leonard
List Price:
Our Price: $13.50
You Save: $9.48 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.72 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Elinor Donahue, Frances Bavier, Ron HowardDirector: Bob Sweeney, Don Weis, Gene Reynolds, Sheldon Leonard
Brand: Paramount
Writer: Arthur Stander
Writer: Ben Gershman
Writer: Benedict Freedman
Writer: Charles Stewart
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Box set, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 915 minutes
Published: 2004-11-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-16
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete First Season
Movie Review: I Doubt If Aunt Bee Herself Could Have Polished Up These Episodes Any Better Than This!
Summary: 5 Stars
Andy, Barney, Opie, Aunt Bee, Thelma Lou, Otis, Floyd, and the rest of the Mayberry gang have arrived on DVD in style, and with very vivid picture quality, in this first-season boxed set. The 4-Disc set contains all 32 episodes of the rookie season of one of the most beloved programs in television history: "The Andy Griffith Show".
Beginning with the pilot episode, "The New Housekeeper" (which originally aired on CBS-TV on Monday night, October 3, 1960), "The Andy Griffith Show" settled into a comfortable eight-year run, encompassing a total of 249 episodes.
I can just about guarantee this -- The debut season of "Andy" has never, ever looked better than on the video we find encoded on these 4 DVDs. Some episodes do have quite a bit of grain "noise" dancing around the screen, but overall these black-and-white shows look very sharp and clear. In fact, even during the "grainier" programs, the underlying filmed image still looks sharp and undistorted (to my eyes at any rate). My hat is off to whoever was responsible for cleaning up these shows for this DVD release.
An example of the outstanding video quality that I found here --- In several close-up scenes, you can literally read the tiny print on Andy Taylor's sheriff's badge. "Sheriff -- Mayberry" can be seen right on his badge in many shots; and the little "star" in the middle of the badge is clearly discernible as well. Plus, each individual CRACK in the Mayberry sidewalks can be seen with ease. Stunning quality, especially for a show of this age. The audio sounds excellent as well, via the 2-channel Dolby Mono tracks. And the audio is elevated to a good (decent) level, too. It's not too "low". Very nice.
The initial season of this sitcom has always been one of my favorite years during the show's 1960-1968 lifespan. We're introduced to the Taylors in the very funny debut episode, which features an incredibly-cute, 6-year-old Ronny Howard (as Opie Taylor) stealing every scene he's in. Ronny's tearful appeal to his father at the end of the show is hilarious .... "But, pa, if she [Aunt Bee] leaves, what'll happen to her? She doesn't know how to do anything -- play ball, catch fish, or hunt frogs! She'll be helpless!!" :)
Following the pilot episode, many more merry Mayberry escapades from the first season await us. Such as some of my personal faves: "A Feud Is A Feud", "Stranger In Town", "Andy And Opie, Housekeepers", "Quiet Sam", "The New Doctor", "The Manhunt", "Opie's Charity", "The Inspector", "Barney Gets His Man", "Bringing Up Opie", and perhaps the single best (and most touching) Christmas episode ever made for any TV show before or since, entitled simply "Christmas Story" -- in which crusty old town curmudgeon Ben Weaver (ideally played by 66-year-old veteran character actor Will Wright) surprises everyone by desperately wanting to be included in the gang's Christmas party at the Courthouse. That episode demands to be viewed each and every December.
There are no chopped-up, edited episodes here. These programs have been fully restored to their original length, approximately 25-and-a-half minutes each (with some eps. running closer to a full 26 minutes), including the complete "epilogue" scenes at the end of each show. These epilogues are rarely included on syndicated prints shown on commercial television.
The original "whistling" theme music is also included here during the opening credits. (However, it does sound to me as if the closing credits have been "dubbed" (for some reason), using a slightly-different-sounding variation of the theme music; but it's mighty close to the original though.)
The voice-overs at the beginning of the shows are also intact here. Even the original CBS-TV "opening and closing eye" logo is included at the end of each of these episodes.
These 32 episodes are arranged on the DVDs in "Air Date" order. There are exactly eight episodes on each of the discs.
There are no bonus features included in this set, which is a bit disappointing, but not overly so. Just getting all the full-length episodes from Season One in this kind of jaw-dropping superb quality is the most important thing here, to be sure.
The Packaging ..... This four-disc compilation from Paramount Studios features very nice packaging, including individual ThinPak plastic cases for each of the set's 4 discs. A relatively-strong and substantial outer slipcase box houses the four separate plastic slim cases (which are just half the thickness of a normal keepcase). I very much like this kind of packaging for TV-on-DVD products, where each disc is packed in its own slim plastic case, versus the fold-out "Digipak" type of cases. Some of the "Digipak" cases practically require a table a mile wide to fully extend the various DVD panels. (Just a wee joke there -- "Digis" are OK; but this type of individual-case packaging is much preferred by this writer.)
Each of the slimline cases sports different "T.A.G.S." cover art, along with essential episode information located on the inside of the clear, see-through cases (including episode titles, program descriptions, and original air dates). The disc art is equally impressive. When any disc is removed from its tray, a "Mayberry Fun Fact" is revealed (printed on the case insert underneath each disc).
There are no separate paper enclosures or inserts. But no such added items are really needed here, since all of the info about the shows is available to view right on the clear cases themselves.
The back side of each of the 4 individual cases displays (in a rather clever fashion) the episode titles of the 8 programs that are included on that disc. These titles are listed on what is meant to represent "Official Mayberry Courthouse" stationery -- complete with simulated handwritten memos to Andy and Barney, coffee stains, and dried-on "drink rings". A unique "down home" kind of a touch here, I think.
I really like this good-looking packaging very much. The color photo used for the front of the outer slipcase, depicting Andy and Opie fishing, captures the homespun feeling and spirit of "The Andy Griffith Show" just perfectly.
More Info About This DVD
VIDEO -- Full-Frame (1.33:1 aspect ratio).
AUDIO -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English only).
"PLAY ALL" OPTION? -- Yes.
CHAPTER STOPS? -- Yes. There are 5 chapter/(scene) stops for each episode, including a much-appreciated "break" immediately after the conclusion of the opening credits.
SUBTITLES/CAPTIONS -- No Subtitles; but English "Closed-Captioning" is included.
MENUS -- Simple and static. No music. No long transitions. Beautiful! The Main Menu doubles as an "Episode Selection Menu" as well. No Episode Sub-Menus are included. Appropriately, a "Sheriff's Badge" serves as the Menu indicator/(pointer).
"The Andy Griffith Show" has been loved by millions of people for many decades since it first entered American living rooms in the Fall of 1960. Between its first-run airings and being shown in syndication, it's been said that the show has never been off the air since its inception. And now, thanks to Paramount's deluxe set of the show's complete first season, it's bound to find even more new fans and gain still more "air time", via the DVD format.
Any long-time fan of "The Andy Griffith Show" will want a copy of this sparkling DVD set. You'll then be able to see Barney's debut-episode "jaywalking" tirade as many times as you please, in full Digital splendor, and in pristine clarity.
"Now why did ya do that, Andy?! You know she was guilty. I seen her do it! Now she's gonna go and tell all her friends how she got away with it, and the next thing you know people are gonna be jaywalking all over the place and disregarding 'keep-off-the-grass' signs and everything!! Mayberry's gonna turn into a regular SIN TOWN!!" --- Bernard Fife; TAGS Episode #1 ~LOL~
Summary of The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete First Season
THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW ? THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, a spin-off from "The Danny Thomas Show," is a comedy about a North Carolina widower named Andy Taylor who divides his time between raising his son, Opie (Ron Howard) and being sheriff of the small and virtually crime-free town of Mayberry. With next to no crimes to solve, Andy spends time philosophizing and trying to calm down his cousin, Deputy Barney, played by Don Knotts.Similar DVD Movies
Leave it to Beaver - The Complete First SeasonUniversal Studios; Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $12.92
Price in other shops:
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete First SeasonParamount; Release date: 2006-12-12; DVD
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Final SeasonPARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2006-12-12; DVD
Best price: $16.09
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Seventh SeasonPARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2006-08-29; DVD
Best price: $18.57
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Sixth SeasonParamount; Release date: 2006-05-09; DVD
Best price: $19.05
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Fifth SeasonParamount; Release date: 2006-02-14; DVD
Best price: $16.55
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show 50th Anniversary: Best of MayberryParamount; Release date: 2010-12-21; DVD
Best price: $15.26
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Third SeasonParamount; Release date: 2005-08-16; DVD
Best price: $12.92
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Fourth SeasonParamount; Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $13.44
Price in other shops:
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Second SeasonParamount; Release date: 2005-05-24; DVD
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops: