'60s-style emotional stimulus plan

October 2, 9:27 AMTV on DVD ExaminerJohn Stahl

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No, the '60s-style emotional stimulus plan that I am advocating does not involve licking the back of happy face stickers or moving to a commune in Vermont. It simply consists of watching the same fantasy programs that helped TV viewers in the 1960s cope with the Vietnam War, which has many simiilarities to the war in which the United States is involved currently, and other "downers." The constant economic crises also presents a need for the type of "genie" therapy that has helped me get over many low points.

The basic idea is to shut out the real world for awhile for a great combination of pure escapism, bright colors, and the screwball comedy that I Dream of Jeannie (Jeannie) seems to do a little better than comparable programs. The numerous advantages to buying these programs on DVD are that the picture quality is almost always much better than you get over television or even through a computer, you usually get a non-syndicated version that is a little longer than other available versions, and you also do not have to contend with commercials or a cable channel's logo and ads super-imposed over the picture. Additionally, you can easily watch as many episodes of these programs as you want pretty much any time that you want. These advantages are definitely worth the fifty cents or less that I pay per episode of these programs.

I own most seasons of the DVDs of Jeannie and Bewitched that Sony has produced and have found the ones that I have watched to be of good quality. I also think that Sony did a great job colorizing the first two seasons of Bewitched and a slightly less good job with the first season of Jeannie. (Purists can buy the original black and white versions of these seasons.)

I have also found that I enjoy the Sony set of The Flying Nun more than I thought that I would. This was never a favorite of mine, but Sally Field's perkiness and the great bright colors and spectacular scenery really help put me in a good mood. The occasional preachiness is a small price to pay for this, especially because Sony seems to discount each of the two seasons of this program rather sharply.

Readers of my first entry know that I am also a big fan of My Favorite Martian (MFM), but the Rhino division of Warner Brothers did not do a very good job with the first two seasons of the show. The biggest flaws are that there are no extras or episode synposes, most of the discs are double-side, and the sets are priced a little more steeply than most '60s comedies. This may well be why the owners of the rights to the program looked to Umbrella Entertainment in Australia to produce the DVD set of the third season show, which is also a bit pricey.

I want to assure you folks that my interest in DVD runs well beyond '60s fantasy sitcoms. It just is that I do think that the third season set of MFM is the best produced of the 1000s of sets that I own and that I have looked to "genie" therapy to help with my distress over the current state of the world. My plans include regular articles on "New Release Tuesday," which will discuss DVDs that are just coming out.

I encourage you to attach any thoughts that you have on this subject to this entry. You can also e-mail me at tvdvdguy@gmail.com.