The Content:

I cannot begin this review without recommending my fellow DVD Talk reviewer Paul Mavis's writing on this well-liked television series from the early 1960's. Mavis has written quite extensively on each season as it's been released by Shout Factory, the company responsible for bringing other vintage television programs like Street Hawk to home video. You can find his take on this season here, and he provides links to his self-described "extensive" reviews of the first two seasons as well. Trust me, if you want to read up on Mister Ed, check out these web pages!

I probably offer a different perspective on Mister Ed than Mavis does, as I was never a fan of the series - not because I didn't like it per se, but I just don't remember reruns being on regularly in my locale during my childhood. If it were playing sometime on a local station, it must not have been during a time slot I would have been watching TV. And Mister Ed strikes me as the type of program that one would have fallen for during their early years. The show's theme song, credited to Jay Livingston and Ray Evans at the end of each episode, is instantly recognizable, though (a horse is a horse of course of course . . .), and it nicely sets the tone for the whimsical concept of the series.

For the uninitiated, Mister Ed is a talking horse living out his days with architect Wilbur Post (Alan Young) and his wife Carol (the recently deceased Connie Hines). Wilbur and Carol spend much of their free time with an older couple who live next door: the gently sardonic Roger Addison (Larry Keating) and his wife Kay (Edna Skinner). However, the main focus of the program is Wilbur's interactions with Mister Ed. In fact, while it's probably best to check out this series from its inception (and Paul Mavis seems to suggest that earlier seasons were better than this one), the first episode of Season Three isn't a bad place to start in either. The episode, titled "Ed Gets Amnesia," contrives to reinforce the show's concept when the titular character gets banged on the head with a bucket and has what I guess you would describe as an identity confusion. A concerned Wilbur goes out of his way to explain what amounts to the concept of the show to the talking horse. Much of the humor of these episodes relies upon Ed's giving the kind-hearted Wilbur a hard time of some sort, and their dialogue together (Ed only talks to Wilbur) can be clever at times.

However, from an adult perspective without a nostalgic memory of the program, Mister Ed becomes rather one-dimensional in its storytelling fairly quickly. I'm not knocking the show, it's perfectly fine family entertainment. But, like a lot of television on home video, the formula becomes routine when viewed episode after episode back to back. Mister Ed, for instance, feels left out during Thanksgiving (Ed the Pilgrim), Mister Ed then feels left out when everyone goes to the circus (Horse of a Different Color), etc. That Thanksgiving episode (curiously the two episodes that aired during December 20, 1962 and January 3, 1963 don't acknowledge the major holidays in December) may seem a bit culturally insensitive. In it, Mister Ed tells Wilbur the story of a horse's import on the very first Thanksgiving, with Alan Young playing a stumblebum Native American during the flashback tale. While the portrayal of Indians is certainly antiquated, the portrayal of the white Pilgrims is hardly exemplary either, which helps undercut any potential offense. All in all, the humor in this show is inoffensive and certainly suitable for all ages.

Shout Factory groups all 26 episodes of the third season on four single-sided discs. The episodes tend to run roughly 25 minutes each. There aren't a whole lot of extras (more on this in a bit). One minor quibble I have is with the menu system, which seems unnecessarily cluttered in navigation if one wants to view one episode at a time. Each episode has its own menu that you have to click through to access the next. Perhaps a one-screen menu with all episodes listed would have been simpler, but as I said, it's only a quibble.

Mister Ed is a lighthearted, all-ages comedy series from the early 1960s well-remembered by many. The formula gets rather repetitive episode to episode, but it still holds up for what it is and would probably be liked by kids today as well. I'd give Season Three a mild recommendation for novices - but for fans, of course of course, it's recommended.

The DVD

Video:

The 26 episodes of Mister Ed collected in this third season set by Shout Factory are presented in a full-frame aspect ratio that clearly represents its original television exhibition. This was a black and white program and (thankfully as far as I'm concerned) no attempt at colorization has been made. This program looks pretty good given its vintage - the image quality is sharp with few imperfections.

Sound:

The sole audio tracks on these episodes are English language Dolby Digital Mono. No real complaints about this, as dialogue is always clear and representative of the program's initial airings. Neither subtitle nor foreign language tracks appear to be available.

Extras:

The lone extra is an audio interview with Alan Young from Shokus Internet Radio's Stu's Show on the very first disc. It's a lengthy interview (with a running length that approaches two hours). If you choose to listen to it, the track plays to the visual accompaniment of the opening episodes of the season. It would have been nice to have a retrospective of some sort on the third season itself, but this interview has some depth to it.

Final Thoughts:

Shout Factory does a nice job in its delivery of the 1962-1963 season of Mister Ed, though it would have been nice to have had more extras. The show is well-remembered by many to this day, and I'd recommend this season set to nostalgic fans of the series and anyone with little kids.

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