Posted by David Von Pein on 09/10/06 02:54

DIGITAL VIDEO DISC REVIEW:
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The DVD Boxed Set To End All Boxed Sets!

A 25-Disc Collection Containing Every Single Episode Of "The Dick Van
Dyke Show"!

www.amazon.com/Dick-Van-Dyke-Show-Complete/dp/B000H1CV9K

www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=IMA002786

http://dvdondvd.com/allfive.jpg

http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/668261h.jpg

http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/668261bh.jpg

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If you're looking for a super-sensational, tantalizingly-terrific, and
spectacularly-massive DVD set containing some of the greatest comedy
moments in television history, then look no further than "THE DICK VAN
DYKE SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES", a colossal 25-Disc DVD set featuring
every episode ever made of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (the multiple Emmy
Award-winning CBS-TV comedy series which ran from 1961 to 1966).

The Complete-Series DVD collection, which was originally released on
May 24, 2005, holds all five seasons of the perpetually-entertaining
Van Dyke Show -- 158 total episodes -- all restored and remastered by
Image Entertainment and Paul Brownstein Productions, with each episode
exhibiting excellent video and audio quality. And every single program
is complete and unedited. The average running time per episode is a
shade more than 25 minutes.

All 158 shows have been bundled together to form one giant,
money-saving "Complete Series" collection. Each of the twenty-five
single-sided discs gets its own individual slim plastic case. Each case
has unique cover art, featuring a different publicity still photo on
the front.

The 25 discs in this Mega-Set are placed side-by-side inside a large
outer "slipcase" box. You can get a good up-close gander of the
slick-looking packaging by going to the following weblink, previously
linked above as well (once there, you can click on the image itself to
blow up the photo to an even larger size):

http://dvdondvd.com/allfive.jpg

Image Entertainment distributed five separate season-by-season "Dick
Van Dyke Show" DVD boxed sets in 2003 and 2004, with each of those sets
coming with a 5-Disc slipcase box. However, those separate seasonal
slipcases are not included in the Mega-Set.

Gobs and gobs of supplemental bonus features are also included on the
twenty-five DVDs, including: Audio Commentary Tracks on several
episodes (sporting the voices of Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Rose
Marie, and others), along with cast interviews, vintage 1960s TV
commercials, documentaries, featurettes, Emmy Award video clips, photo
galleries, behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, trivia games, CBS-TV
promos, some hidden Easter Eggs to seek out, and lots of other little
interesting extra tidbits besides!

There are even full-length TV-show bonuses included on selected discs,
including a complete episode of "The Danny Thomas Show" (which has
Morey Amsterdam popping up as his Van Dyke Show character, "Buddy
Sorrell").

Other complete TV-show extras include the original Pilot episode for
the Van Dyke series; plus a full-length 46-minute CBS-TV Van Dyke Show
documentary made in the mid-1990s; and an absolutely-outstanding and
ultra-fun-to-watch episode of a 1962 television game show entitled
"Stump The Stars" (aka: "Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz"), which has
several Van Dyke Show cast members playing a lively charades game.
Great, great fun!

A nicely-constructed 12-page booklet, packed with interesting info
about the series, is also a part of this Dick Van Dyke Show DVD-Video
bonanza too. The booklet also includes several photos of the cast and
crew (with some of the pictures being printed in color).

Note Re. Bonus Features --- Rest assured that every bonus item that can
be found on the five individual DVD season sets can also be located
within this "All Five Seasons" monster set as well. The discs in this
mega-collection are identical to those found in the individual sets.

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Additional information & specifications concerning the Van Dyke Show
Mega-Set:

VIDEO -- Full Frame (Original TV Aspect Ratio; 1.33:1).
B&W/COLOR -- B&W.
AUDIO -- English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.
SUBTITLES -- None.
"PLAY-ALL" INCLUDED? -- Yes.
CHAPTER BREAKS INCLUDED? -- Yes.

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Pull out any of these 25 discs and you'll have some great television
entertainment. Via this amazing boxed set, a viewer has instant access
to all of Rob Petrie's inimitable physical comedy bits, along with
every one of Laura Petrie's "crying jags" (Mary Tyler Moore's sobbing
routines are hard to top).

And don't forget about all those "Buddy insults Mel" gags (which must
number in the hundreds over the course of the series) -- not to mention
Dick Van Dyke's uncanny ability to act out a "one-way telephone
conversation" (which always amazes me when I see him do this -- and
there are many such "telephone" moments during the series).

Just suffice it to say that I love this television series. Its humor is
timeless and everlasting. The characters seem "real" and "non-phony".
And the writing is remarkable. And you'll be able to see why when you
pop in any of these wonderfully-restored Digital Versatile Discs.

To sum it all up -- "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES" DVD
collection is, without fear of argument, a "complete treasure".

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