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Ray Walston was the star of My Favorite Martian.
I am primarily a freelance legal writer but often watch my large (and growing) collection of television programs on DVD when I am not working.
The collection currently has at least 700 titles. Examiner.com's "best" project is a very good time to discuss what makes a DVD set of a TV program particularly good. This is largely independent of the quality of the program itself, which is highly subjective.
The DVD set of the third season of My Favorite Martian is my favorite because it has all of the features that I want in a DVD set. This set is made in Australia; I have never seen it in a store, but a few online retailers sell it. I ordered my copy directly from Australia.
I do prefer to buy an older program because they provide a better bargain than newer series. Older programs usually have a significantly larger number of episodes, and episodes that are a few minutres longer. The third season set of MFM has 32 episodes, and each lasts approximately 25 minutes.
Clever cover art also catches my eye. The cover of the third season of MFM has an image of the two stars, and the image of the martian disappears as you tilt the book. I also like the Australian use of the British variations of referring to the season as the third series and using the spelling "colour."
Good quality packaging is also a nice feature. The MFM set comes in a heavy plastic case, and each disc is either attached securely to an inner portion of the case or to one of two swinging arms that form the equivalent of pages in a book. Not having any of the six discs touch each other protects them, and they can be removed easily despite being attached securely.
On a similar note, discs that are recorded on only one side seem to provide a better image and avoid getting fingerprints on a side of a disc on which video is recorded. It also allows placing art work on one side of the disc. In the case of MFM, the picture and sound quality are very good. Each disc also has good artwork that includes a photo from a scene from a third-season episode.
MFM season three also does a good job of providing a brief but helpful synopsis of each episode. The listing of each original airdate is fairly common, but the detailed information regarding the guest stars is interesting and not very common.
The special features that are added to a DVD set also add value. The third season of MFM has some interesting home movie footage that was taken on and around the set. Interesting behind-the-scenes commentary accompany these home movies.
Most TV shows on DVD have several of these elements, and there have only been a few that I have regretted buying because of poor picture quality, an episode guide was missing or was very incomplete, or the program itself did not pass the test of time.
My e-mail address is tvdvdguy@gmail.com, and I welcome your questions and comments.
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