David P. Mikelberg

I was not expecting Season 6 so soon; being truly surprised when Amazon revised this product page to reveal cover artwork and a release date. I immediately browsed to Amazon with the intention of ordering it. I stopped short after I got a good look at the cover artwork and seven reviews. I thought to myself, “Seven reviews for a product that hasn’t come out yet?” Each one is a Five Star review, no less.” OK, I admit I was wrong. It was only six reviews; one was a plea to add the curtain calls at the end of The Last Show. I may not know show business but, as Mary Richards says, “I’ve been…nearby.” Maybe someone got an advance copy of the DVD set. So, let’s see what is available here.

In my review of the MTM Season 5 DVD, I compared the artwork for that set to something you might see on a street corner bootleg. This one is no better, with a pretty unflattering picture on the front. Has anyone noticed that Ms. Moore’s head is a few centimeters off her neck? It hurts just to look at it. And don’t try it at home, kids. I’ve already had to make an appointment with my chiropractor after trying to duplicate the pose. Why is she looking up, and to what? I have a few theories.

This could be an outtake from the episode, Mary Moves Out. In the scene right before this, Mary has just hung her letter “M” in her new apartment before declaring, “I don’t like it” (Oh dear, I have actual MTM dialogue in my head. I have watched too much television!). Now outside the building, Jay Sandrich, the Director suggests she look up at the apartment as if to see if she likes it any better. The tight little smile you see was simply Ms. Moore’s way to cover up the incredible pain she felt after hurting her neck and spine. This could also be an unused picture from a Season 6 photo shoot. Ms. Moore was instructed to look up and smile, perhaps to suggest she really did “make it after all”. She made it all right, but only to the nearest emergency room. I have one more theory, this being my favorite. In an effort by FOX to subliminally suggest that Rhoda is not gone (to her own series), they Photoshopped Mary’s head on to Valerie Harper’s body. This puts up a big “red light” for me; the artwork, along with the suggestion that this set will be in the same kind of packaging as Season 5. In my opinion it does not look promising. I will wait for some real reviews before I buy this.

As for the reviews themselves, have any of the reviewers actually seen the Season 6 DVDs? There is no mention of picture quality or the presence of any extras. There was mention that this release could be the result of the MTM cast appearing on Oprah. I have seen first hand the results of the “Oprah Effect”. This isn’t it! When Oprah has an effect on something the response time is usually measured in days, not months. I speculate that for Ms. Winfrey, they probably rebuilt the entire MTM set, allowing her to star (as Rhoda) in a remake of the episode “Rhoda the Beautiful.” Think about it while I take a moment to apologize to Ms. Winfrey. (Oprah, Rhoda the Beautiful was the first episode I thought of that would mirror your own life. It is certainly the episode that I most relate to. It has its poignancy, though. Don’t you think so? And we’d have to wait for 2011 for you to appear in a remake of The Last Show.)

I’m not trying to put anyone down here. Those of us waiting for these releases have done so for the last three years. That’s plenty of time to write reviews containing every known fact about the MTM Show. Some of us may even know the inside story of Hazel Frederick’s life. After having seen the Season 5 set and the cover of Season 6, I believe that the MTM Show is in the hands of a company that doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about how its released. Unfortunately, this is the case for many past home video releases of the MTM Show. That’s too bad.

On the right side of my computer screen there is a sidebar in which Amazon has suggestions for what makes a good review. In it there is a question asking what I want to know prior to purchasing this product. Amazon’s Review Guidelines state that a review “should focus on specific features of a product”. Thus far, every review here refers to the content and NOT the product. Before I purchase anything, I want to know about the product itself. I do not need to be pre-sold on the content. I think we all know how remarkable the content is. I’ve lost count of how many times I have seen every episode of MTM. It remains as funny and fresh as the first time I saw it. In many cases I can actually quote it. I’ve got Cloris Leachman’s monologue from The Lars Affair playing in my head right now. “You know, just the other day I was reading this wonderful book called, The Life of The Bee. Perhaps you’ve read it.” Perhaps FOX Home Video could “assume” the role of the “male bee” from that monologue.

Some might suggest I am being nit-picky and pedantic. I won’t be surprised if I find a Peter Peanut costume left on my doorstep, along with a ticket to a circus parade. I might be 100% wrong. The releases of The MTM Show Seasons 6 and 7 may very well be something to look forward to. I tend to doubt it. Additionally, I hope that in the future Amazon will follow its own guidelines and wait, posting reviews of actual products.

UPDATE – February 18, 2010

It’s released, and thankfully the episodes look and sound great. There are no extras here, which may be a good thing. There have been two reunion specials, an episode of Biography, the two documentaries featured with the Seasons 1 & 2 sets, a book and Oprah. There may not be any more we could learn about the MTM show. Some of this is available for viewing on You Tube, along with an ending many are clamoring for. Maybe we’ll get extras galore when and if FOX releases the “Complete Series” box.

Thanks to a reviewer from another site, I learned that the flimsy case is now the little Fox-ies default packaging for it’s DVD product. I guess its something we will have to get used to.

Perhaps the most important element here is the condition of the episodes and once again, they look and sound great. For both the long time fan and those seeing it for the first time, we are all in for a treat.
Rating: 4 / 5

  Kal El

I first suspected Fox when I picked up the Season One package. It was overdone and overproduced, with the ridiculous triple-hinge and the M-A-R-Y letters on each flap, and on every disk. I thought, the first season! I hope they keep the enthusiasm going for the great years coming up!

Of course they did not keep it going. Some Business Boy, in his Business Boy Suit, playing Business, realized that the first year was not going to rake in enough bucks to send him to Business Boy Bucks Heaven. So Business Boy had himself a Business Boy Tantrum, kicking the overdone DVD sets around in his Business Boy Play-Office, ranting that our Mary had not served Business Boy well enough.

Business Boy got so Mad, he jumped up and down and said “I just hate Mary!” No more DVDs. And we who loved the show waited, and waited. Eventually Business Boy ate some Hostess Ding Dongs and forgot some of his Anger, and he bowed to pressure and put out another year. Then more waiting, because Business Boy STILL had not made the Bucks he wanted so badly! He whined, “Oh, how I HATE Mary!” and he stamped his little foot. Much later he put out another year, and another, the way mean kids will let Bees go after catching them and hurting them – if the Bees are lucky, that is — but he was still Mad. And then he stopped the DVDs altogether, until his Mommy, Oprah, gently said he might do the public a Favor, and show a little Manners. Then he kicked his shoes and said Maybe.

But Business Boy jumped up and down again, and said how much he HATED her! And he called High School Girl, and said Help me figure out ways to Get Mary! And High School Girl said sure, easy. Put Mary in a nasty box, cheaper than a Kotex box. And Business Boy did! And then High School Girl said, Go find ugly pictures of Mary, only use the Ugliest ones! That was hard, because Mary was SO pretty and photogenic, but if you look long enough, you can always find a Bad picture. And Business Boy used those pictures! And High School Girl finished up by saying, Put hideous little menus on the DVDs! Don’t restore the Sound! Don’t put in a good picture quality! And Business Boy listened, and bowed, and took all of High School Girl’s advice, and then he took her to Lunch at Spago.

Thank you, Business Boy, for doing us a Favor and giving us the last little bit of Mary, The Kitten who Roared. The final two years are superb, and they are too good for you. Thank you, High School Girl, for reminding us just how fabulous Mary looked in her Heyday; those dopey pictures you found are so mean-spirited they are hilarious, and we had almost forgotten that perfect face. It took you to point it out to us again.

Keep your dam episode lists! We don’t care about them at all, and the same goes for the rotten menus, and the Kotex boxes. Nicer Sound and Picture would be sweet. Should Mommy Oprah ask for that for Christmas?

Rating: 4 / 5