The Beverly Hillbillies
Collection (Passport)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: C+
If you have been keeping your eye on TV shows on DVD, two
things are apparent: some of the great TV series of all-time are still overdue
and other popular shows are sadly out in many generic releases that make you
wonder what happened to their rights.
One infamous example, despite a feature film made not that long ago
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) is The Beverly Hillbillies. Since Filmways produced the show, MGM (who
owns that catalog via their Orion acquisition a few years back) should be
issuing the shows the way they delivered Green Acres and Mr. Ed. Instead, any video companies with old black
and white copies of the show have issued sets and Passport has now issued their
own 5 DVD Collection.
As was the case with their bizarre Christmas DVD (also
covered on this site), the famous theme song is missing form the beginning and
end credits, which kills half the point of watching the shows to begin with. The episodes here are:
1) Jethro
Goes To School
2) Pygmalion
& Elly
3) Elly
Races Jethrine
4) Home For
Christmas
5) Jed
Rescues Pearl
6) Back To
Californy
7) Jed
Saves Drysdale’s Marriage
8) Jed
Plays Solomon
9) Duke
Steals A Wife
10) Jed Buys The Freeway
11) Jed becomes A Banker
12) Granny’s Spring Tonic
13) The Clampetts & The Dodgers
14) The Clampetts Get Psychoanalyzed
15) The Psychiatrists Get Clampetted
16) Jethro’s First Love
17) Chickadee Returns
18) The Giant Jackrabbit
This was always a one-joke show and remains one of the
highest rated series of all time, with the proliferation of new channels and
networks in the last decade or so being beside the point. Fans often like the older shows, but the
color shows are relatively better because they got crazier and had more money
to play with. A little of this series
goes a long way, though having so many sets that overlap is confusing and sad.
If buyers knew the theme song was only in the episodes
without vocal that could not be removed, they would skip purchases. Unless you are in that minority where you
like the show and care less about the theme, you’ll want to skip this set. The very average, several generations down
1.33 X 1 monochrome image and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound only cement the need
to skip this one.
- Nicholas Sheffo
