My Mother The Car: The Series

Often called the worst sitcom of all time, these DVDs set the record straight once and for all. While certainly not the best TV of the 60's, viewed in the context of its peers it's perfectly good entertainment. Fantasy comedy was rampant in the mid 60's. While a couple shows survived the decade (Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie) most came and went quickly. Even "classics" like The Addams Family, The Munsters and Gilligan's Island only lasted 2 or 3 seasons. That this show lasted a full season and is still a topic of discussion 50 years later is a testament to it not being as bad as legend would have you believe. Anybody remember Mr. Terrific? How about Captain Nice? I didn't think so. Jerry Van Dyke alone is worth the price of admission....a talented, funny actor. Comparisons are often made to his brother Dick and I think Jerry is at least as good. Remember, his sitcom career (Coach) outlasted Dick's, depending on how amusing you found Diagnosis Murder. Anyway, on to the particulars. The 5 disc set comes in 2 standard DVD multi-cases, with both of those inside a sturdy cardboard box. The artwork is, well, odd. It depicts Dave Crabtree (Van Dyke) in a completely open car (no roof OR windshield) with Sonny Tufts riding shotgun. I only know this because Mr. Tufts appears in an episode as himself. This scene never appears in the show and I have no idea why it was chosen. Actually there is no decent picture of Mother anywhere on the box or cases. Strange. The shows themselves are gorgeous. I've never seen a vintage TV show reproduced as well as these. Sound quality is great as well. Kudos to MGM and TGG Direct for such wonderfully remastered and reproduced shows. Kudos as well for stripping out the laugh tracks. The 2 episodes that still have it (no idea why they were missed) only serve to prove how bad those thing were. If there's a negative here it's only that there's no special features. Understandably, little would have survived this long, but Jerry is still around and commentary or an interview would have been great. Still, for under $20 for 30 episodes on 5 discs, this piece of classic TV history should be in any '60s TV fans collection.

While I vaguely remember watching this show during its first run back in the 1960's I had only seen a couple of the episodes since then and that was when TVLand first started. Of course TVLand has now veered way off course from it's original intent (as have all of the Viacom channels). I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when I saw the original episodes were now available on dvd. While the premise of the show is rather silly (weren't Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie equally as silly?) it is a fun show to watch. The quality of the transfers is excellent! Now that silly theme song is etched in my mind. If you were a fan of the show or just curious about it I don't think you'll be sorry if you purchase this set. It must be a rather big seller since I see it has been sold out at least twice so far on Amazon.

Thank goodness for companies like TGG Direct and others that keep digging through the dusty vaults of pop culture and keep unearthing treasures like the notorious 1965 fantasy-based TV sitcom "My Mother the Car."As TV historians Gary Gerani and Paul Schulman noted in their book Fantastic Television, "My Mother the Car" added a whole new meaning to the term "reinCARnation."Even though the series has not been seen on American television in well over 40 years, it has incurred the scorn of some critics, often from those who have never seen it. "My Mother the Car" did receive some criticism during its initial broadcast, but the show had its share of fans, too.Considering the wide array of fantasy-based sitcoms that were populating network television schedules in the 1960's, "My Mother the Car" fits easily along side such series as "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie," "It's About Time", "My Favorite Martian," and even "The Patty Duke Show" with its premise of "identical cousins" who often created quirky situations bordering on the surreal.For those who have heard that "My Mother the Car" is television's worst sitcom, I can only suggest watching some episodes and judging for yourself.As a teenager in 1965, I was glued to the tube and watched everything, including "My Mother the Car." In fact, it was one of my favorite shows, and I sorely missed it when it was canceled after one season.Through the years, I've often thought about "My Mother the Car," but never got to see it on television in syndication due to the limited number of episodes that were filmed. Thankfully, in this modern age of cable TV, the Hulu Network is showing "My Mother the Car" and is generating a whole new fan base for the show.I've always been a Jerry Van Dyke fan and loved seeing him in guest appearances in various TV series and doing his stand-up comedy on variety shows. In "My Mother the Car," Jerry plays L.A. attorney David Crabtree who lives in a sunny, well-manicured neighborhood with his beautiful wife Barbara, played by Maggie Pierce, and their two small children.Before being selected for the role of Barbara Crabtree, Maggie Pierce was a fashion model and character actor who appeared in many TV series. In the pilot episode, Barbara sends husband David on a mission to find an affordable station wagon that will accommodate their growing family. Instead, David discovers an old, dilapidated 1928 Porter car on a used car lot, promptly forgets about the station wagon, and decides to bring the old Porter home with hopes of restoring it into a family "fun car."But even while the antique car is still on the used car lot, David discovers that the voice coming out of its radio speaker is not that of a local DJ, but that of his dearly, departed mother (voiced by film legend Ann Sothern) who died 16 years earlier. She matter-of-factly informs him that she has returned to Earth reincarnated... as a car! She also tells him that "we don't have any choice in how we come back."And it's this thread of fantasy that ties together the crazy patchwork quilt known as "My Mother the Car." In some ways, this series is similar to "Mr. Ed." Ed, the horse, talks to Wilbur when no one else is around, and the 1928 Porter talks to David when... well, you get the picture."My Mother the Car" appeared on NBC during the 1965-66 television season. It was in color with a total of 30 episodes. The new DVD box set will contain all 30 color episodes, but, according to the TGG Direct website, will contain no "extras." That's okay, a TV series this rare is great to have, with or without extras.Aside from the fully remastered, beautiful transfers (they must have been taken from the original camera negatives), bright colors, and crystal clear sound, the original laugh tracks have been removed. This greatly adds to the viewing enjoyment of the series.By buying DVD sets of old TV series made available from companies such as TGG Direct, Shout! Factory, Timeless Media, TV Time Machine/Lightyear, and others, we provide the support needed to insure that more series will be released for our enjoyment and for the enjoyment of future generations of fans.