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Remember watching this silly little comedy from your childhood? It may not have aged all that well, but is still goofy, good fun. Okay, so you can spot the stunt double, and Don Knotts's twitches are a little more obvious. Still, fans of his familiar routines will be comforted in knowing they can again watch their skinny underdog hero solve the ghost story while winning the prettiest girl in town. Knotts plays a trembling typesetter hoping to become a reporter by cracking the mystery of the local haunted house. To do so, he must spend a night there. Good-hearted, non-threatening, and completely gooey, this is the equivalent of light-weight cinematic junk food.-- Rochelle O'Gorman ... Read more

Reviews (64)

FUN IN AN OLD, DARK HOUSE
My kids love this movie and they watch it on sleep-overs with their friends. Don Knotts plays Luther Hegg, a timid typesetter in a small town in the mid-west (Rachel, Kansas). The supporting actors are first rate: Skip Homeier, Dick Sargent, Ellen Corby etc. Joan Staley, who plays Alma, was the centerfold for PLAYBOY in 1958! Vivian Vance's ex hubby Phil Ober plays the murderer and the old women in the boarding house are hilarious. Reta Shaw is very funny as the head of the Psychic Society and Vic Muzzy's musical score is cornily creepy. When this picture was first released in theatres in l965, it was a huge hit in small towns across the U.S. and it is very representitive of 1960's small town Americana. Fun!

Incredibly fun and funny...now where's the DVD?
I first saw this Don Knotts comedy back in the late Sixties...and it stuck with me. (Especially the tune the organ plays.) The scenes of nervous, bungling, bug-eyed Don Knotts made me laugh out loud then -- and they still do now. So I was really pleased when this movie was finally released on video a few years ago. My only gripe now is that I wish it were out on DVD because I'm sure I'll wear out my video before too long!

Of course, I'm a big fan of the Andy Griffith Show. So that probably explains why I like this movie so much. Don Knotts was largely responsible for making that show the huge hit that it was. And, if you like his schtick on Griffith, you'll like this movie.

In fact, there are about a half dozen or more actors who appear in the movie -- most just briefly -- who also worked with Knotts on the Andy Griffth Show. Hal Smith, Ellen Corby, Hope Summers, Burt Mustin and Rita Shaw to name just five. So it was fun to pick out the familiar faces. The movie was even written by two of the Andy Griffith Show's most prolific writers!

Knotts has the nervous man character down so well that some scenes in the film are almost painful to watch (like when he's giving his speech -- "I've been called brave. What is brave? Let me clarify this" -- before the picnic crowd gathered in his honor), but I can't help myself. He's funny.

I won't go into the plot because so many others have already reviewed it. I just wanted to add my two cents (and Five Stars) to the other reviews.

The bottom line: this is a fun movie, great for the whole family. If you haven't seen it, please do so. Sure it's corny. Sure it looks dated. But it's not supposed to be Citizen Kane. It's just a great popcorn movie to share with friends and family.

wonderful, one of my all time favorites
i was primarily a don knotts fan due to his lovable role as barny phife on the andy griffeth show. when i saw this movie at the video rental store starring my favorite tv personality next to lucielle ball and the gang, i immdediatly rented it. that was when i was twelve, now fourteen i still enjoy this comedy and love the DVD version of this classic. it's enjoyable for people of all ages as i found out growing up with this wonderful movie. give it a try, i know you'll love it!!!!

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
A classic Don Knotts film of the highest degree. I love the surprise appearance of the actor that played Ottis the town drunk in Andy Griffin show playing a town drunk in the start of the film. Don Knotts plays a guy who wishes to be a real reporter more than anything. When he writers a story about the town murder house it will take all his strength to survive being the town laughing stalk and surviving the night of laughs alive.

Makers of This "Spooky" Comic Mystery Were Simply Clueless
Fresh from his highly popular and Emmy-winning stint as Barney Fife on TV's THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, and after moderate success starring in the earlier Warner Brothers film THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET (1964), Don Knotts convinced execs at Universal Pictures that they could capitalize on his celebrity by starring him in a series of comedy flicks. The first of these was 1966's THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, a sort of slapstick thriller that was tailored to Knotts' style of humor.

Knotts stars as Luther Heggs, an aspiring journalist who works in the typesetting room of a newspaper in the small town of Rachel, Kansas. A bumbling, nerdy milquetoast--for Knotts, what other role is there?--Heggs badgers the editor of his paper into letting him do a feature on the goings-on at a local long-abandoned house that is purportedly haunted. Rumor has it that the previous occupant and his wife were murdered, and most of the rubes in this Kansan town now believe the spirits of those unfortunate two still occupy the house during the wee hours of the night. Heggs' editor agrees to let the nerdy typesetter do the story, but only if he agrees to sleep in the house for a full night and use this experience as the foundation for the article. With a great degree of trepidation, Heggs accepts the editor's challenge, but really only because he wants to impress a girl he has a crush on. Although his bravery is only a front, Heggs does manage to uncover more about the strange doings at the house than anyone ever suspected.

For adult filmgoers, THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN offers little more than a modicum of entertainment or literary value, though the pre-teen crowd will likely find it to be thoroughly enjoyable. Part of the film's inability to capture the interest of a truly discerning audience is due to the performance of star Don Knotts. Knotts was nothing short of sublime as Deputy Barney Fife during the 5+ years that he was with THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, but he simply doesn't have the comedic range to carry an entire feature film. His rubbery facial expressions, gangly and awkward body movements, and adeptness at portraying ineptness can be downright hilarious--but only in small doses. On TV, Knotts' performance was buffered because his screen time was interspersed with that of co-star Griffith and other comedy actors of varying styles. But in a 90-minute movie where nearly every scene centers around Knotts, his one-note comedic style rapidly wears thin.

In spite of a few genuinely humorous moments, the overall script is fairly cliché and formulaic. In the scenes that take place in the haunted house, every trite bump-in-the-night gag is resurrected and used as a springboard for Knotts' bug-eyed and rubbery scared-of-the-dark routine. And the filler between non-spook segments is rather dull, too, consisting of mainly shopworn jabs at easy targets like small-town drunks, neighborhood gossips, henpecking wives and their henpecked husbands, spiritualism and the occult, and small-town life in general.

All of the primary characters in the film are little more than cardboard cut-outs with crystal-clear motivations and transparent personalities. It goes without saying--especially now, with 40 years of cinematic retrospection--that Knotts' Luther Heggs will be a bumbling nerd with a heart of gold. In step with the syrupy early-60s family-film formula, Heggs' love interest, Alma (Joan Staley), is the small-town beauty who seems not the least bit aware of her ravishing assests, and she acts like it's totally natural for her to be attracted to a homely, inept gent like Heggs. And newspaperman Ollie Weaver (Skip Homeier), Heggs' rival both professionally and personally, exudes that smarmy machismo typical of the muscle-bound jerk who is likely to spend his Sunday afternoons at the beach kicking sand into the faces of the proverbial 98-pound weaklings. Most of the peripheral characters are also perfunctory to the extreme, serving mainly as background props and contributing little, if anything, of significance to the actual plot.

To be fair, it must be pointed out that THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN is not without its share of assets. The greatest of these is Joan Staley, who plays Luther's love interest, Alma. A mere 8 years prior to appearing in this film, the comely Ms. Staley appeared in Playboy as the centerfold Playmate for November 1958. Not only pretty, Ms. Staley is also a fine actress and brings a bit of thespian respectability to this film. Also notable is the appearance of Dick Sargent in the role of Heggs' editor. Genre fans will recognize Sargent from his role as the "Second Darrin" on TV's BEWITCHED. And it's fun to watch for the other well-known comedy and character actors--actors such as Reta Shaw, Philip Ober, Charles Lane, Ellen Corby, James Millhollin, and Sandra Gould, among others--in minor supporting roles.

In 1948, Universal Pictures started what would become a long string of entertaining and successful horror-themed comedy films with the release of the excellent ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. But that winning streak ultimately ended in 1966 with THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN. It is a mediocre film that, in spite of a few laughs, ultimately fails. It can easily be argued that the reason for this failure is twofold: One, star Don Knotts has a limited comedic repertoire that is just not capable of sustaining a feature-length film; and two, in their attempt to create what they perceive as a family film, the filmmakers use an excess of cinematic and literary clichés that effectively dumbs down the script and thereby vitiates the charm of the comedy-horror hybrid.

Universal's DVD offers a nearly pristine anamorphic widescreen digital transfer of the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. However, with no extras other than the film's theatrical trailer, only hardcore fans of Don Knotts are likely to want to purchase this disc. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Worth it just for the outtakes
The first part of the tape could be better. I thought the Mary Hart interview was pretty hokey back when it was broadcast. Also, they left out some of the funniest highlights of the series.
The "bloopers" and outtakes are hilarious though and make this tape worth buying. What I'd really like to see is this wonderful TV series in a DVD box set!

Excellent for Coach fans
The video has excellent out takes at the end, and is a very good retrospective of the entire series. It is slightly dated sine much has happened in the series since this was made, but the clips are very good and span he key elements that made Coach an xcellent show. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

More in common w/Joseph Campbell than Bob Hope
It's easy to overlook the societal importance of "Shakiest". Most academics consider it a vapid re-make of a "superior" Bob Hope film. However my consensus is that Hope's movie simply Overemphasized the comedic aspects of the story and downplayed the sociological importance and mythical underpinnings of it. I don't fault Hope since his comedic talents are such that only his fully grasping of the genre and paradigm in its epistomological sense would allow him the proper frame/reference to "dim" his comedic talents enough to let the nuances of the story's deeper meanings emerge. Not so with Don Knotts. His performance is neo-subtle in the sense that he draws attention to the pre-Scorsesian templates of story entwined with yet seperated from, meaning, by overexagerating Hope's performance to a Vonnegutian level. Example; his performance as Painless Jesse in the film's opening sequences underscore the relationship of Man the Creator with Man the Destroyer and Man the Dentist. In Barb Rhoades we see an equal but lesser voice representing tenets of Post-modern imperialism as well as Proto-Schwarzeneggerian grandiosity. Yet, it is Knotts, initially passive who redeems himself in the end, triumphing over Rhoades and all she symbolizes as well as echoing the pan-universal theme of the hero transformed by "plumbing" his own depths. This is shown particularily in the mine scene, where we read "mine" as "Subconscious Id". Simply put, not sense "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" has Knotts blended Transformational Mythology with Wellesian Cinematography and Jerrylewisian slapstick. BRAVO!

The Shakiest Gun In The West is classic Don Knotts comedy.
No one can shake like Don Knotts and he is at his shaky best in this movie. For those of us that like his brand of slapstick ( and there are many of us) this movie about a ninny dentist gone West is a real treat. The scene with the line "hands run in my family" makes this movie worth the price. Yeah it's corny...I say bring on the corn !!

Great re-make of Bob Hope film Paleface!
Re-makes are not always good, this one is great! First Bob Hope did this in Paleface, now Don Knotts takes over the roll with his own slant on the character.

Unless you own the Laserdisc or saw it at the theaters, this will be your first experience of the full impact of this WIDESCREEN movie. Pans and cuts seen on television, or the previous VHS tape, will be replaced with single shots that include everything from side to side.

THE GHOST AND MR.CHICKEN was Don's only other WIDESCREEN movie for Universal.

Great slap stick humor
I think this is a great Don Knotts film. He acts so utterly stupid and pathetic in this film but it's done in a way that's so utterly hillarious. I had lots of laughs all through the movie. Barbara Rhoades is the straight one in the pair and she does a great job as well. The looks on her face during the times she has to deal with Knotts are funny in themselves.

If you like silly slap stick humor I think you'll enjoy this movie.

Shakiest Gun in the West
Very funny and wholesome.
This is a must see for commedy and/or Don Knotts fans! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The birth of Jeannie!
Jeannie comes to live with her master in these two episodes,that debuted Jeannie's series!

In 'The Lady In The Bottle', Anthony finds Jeannie's bottle and releases the glamorous girl for the first time!

'My Hero?' has Jeannie sending Anthony back to her old Arabian village to marry him. Anthony is more than a little taken aback!

The pilot has also made an appearance on video in a ghastly colorised version, which omits Jeannie's subtitles on the island and changes the opening credits to not include the supporting player's names. Pure sacrilage!

Two Great Episodes including the Pilot!
In the pilot episode, "The Lady In The Bottle", Captain Tony Nelson's spaceship crashes on a deserted desert island. He finds a bottle on the beach and a beautiful Genie (Jeannie) comes out of it!

In the second episode, "My Hero",Jeannie "blinks" Captain Nelson back to ancient Persia where he meets another Genie. This one is a huge, nasty, male Genie named Ali and he doesn't care too much for Captain Nelson. Jeannie also comes to the mistaken conclusion that she and Captain Nelson will be getting married! When Captain Nelson tells her that his plans are different, she leaves him at the mercy of Ali!

This is a must see and have for any IDOJ fan!!
In glorious black and white film, captured for the ages by the magic of video tape, is the pilot episode of I Dream of Jeannie. Conceived, written and produced by famed author Sidney Sheldon, the pilot episode sets the stage for what was to become a five season run on NBC. In the pilot, Captain Anthony Nelson finds himself stranded on a deserted island in the South Pacific after his space mission is aborted. While trying to spell out the distress signal SOS with shells and beach debris, he stumbles upon an odd shaped, old bottle and upon opening it forever changes his life when in a burst of smoke suddenly appears our beloved Barbara Eden. The episode follows a comic and rapid pace from this point after Captain Nelson is rescued and returns home to Coco Beach. Little does he realize that the genie he had said goodbye to on the beach cunningly becomes a stowaway in his duffle bag. What is very interesting about this episode is that the viewer walks away knowing that the two main characters (Jeannie and Cpt. Nelson) will build a very interesting relationship. To what degree, the viewer won't know...they'll just need to tune in to other espisodes. Also interesting to note is that IDOJ appears to be the first show that deals with a male and a female co-habitating outside of wedlock. (very progressive for 1965 society). I highly reccommend this video for any fan or anyone who has never seen the show, or anyone who likes a lady running around in a red velvet bolero jacket and sheer harem pants!!! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

You are invited to the wedding of Jeannie and Tony Nelson
If you do not know what episode you get with "I Dream of Jeannie: Jeannie Ties the Knot," then you must have given up on this classic Sixties sitcom before it went from black & white to color. The show debuted on September 18, 1965 when astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) first landed his space capsule on a desert island and game across a bottle containing a 2,000-year-old genie named Jeannie (Barbara Eden). She promptly proclaimed him to be her master and went to work serving him faithfully and making his life a mess. Of course Jeannie was in love with Tony and while their relationship was platonic for the first couple of seasons, during which she sabotaged his dates, eventually they confessed their love for each other and on December 1, 1969, the two tied the knot in the two consecutive episodes collected on this videotape.

Episode #124 "The Wedding" starts with Jeannie so busy daydreaming about her wedding that she almost misses the real one. Meanwhile, Tony has his own problem. As a famous astronaut his wedding is news which means photographers will be taking pictures and it seems genies do not show up on film (although strangely enough the show has been preserved on videotape for us to view today). The big surprise, beyond the appearance of Tony's parents, is that this really is a rather touching little wedding and Jeannie's wedding gown is very nice. If you are a romantic this one might get to you, even if you are not a fan of the show. For fans of the show, this one has to be a keeper.

Episode #125, "My Sister the Home Wrecker" finds the honeymoon might be over quicker than anyone things because Jeannie's sister Jeannie (Barbara Eden in a dark wig) is in town to break up the happily married couple. Jeannie (dark hair) pretends to be Jeannie (blonde hair) and makes a move on Tony's fellow astronaut, the debonair Biff Jellico (Michael Ansara). This has Roger Healy (Bill Daily), Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke), and Amanda Bellows (Emmaline Henry) all in shock at Jeannie's public displays. But the great twist here is that Biff falls for Jeannie (dark hair) and comes clean to Tony. Television fans will also be pointing their fingers at Roger's girlfriend Cindy, who is played by Farrah Fawcett. So in addition to the wedding episode, "Jeannie Ties the Knot" has one of the better double Jeannie episodes making it one of the better vidoes available in the limited collection of "I Dream of Jeannie" tapes.

Here comes the bride!
Jeannie finally lands her master in this classic comedy!

'The Wedding' does not go smoothly as Jeannie cannot be photographed (she IS a genie, after all!) Anthony is not very impressed and nor is Bellows and his wife Amanda (Emmaline Henry).

'My Sister The Homewrecker' has Jeannie's evil twin try to break up the marriage, and she has a few crafty tricks up her sleeve!

It was the perfect end and beginning for a brilliant show .
I love this episode of Jeannie . It has been seen by millions of people around the world . I think that Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman did a great job of portraying their characters and making them seem real . . . ... Read more

Description

As a stand-up comedian, a comedy album recording artist and the star of six television series, Bob Newhart has been bringing his unique and subtle brand of deadpan humor to American audiences for four decades.Most agree, however, that he did his greates ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Needs Complete Season DVD Boxsets!
The Bob Newhart Show is one of my favorite classic shows and I remember watching this show when I was a kid and I also watched reruns on Nick at Nite and TV Land but they are always either changing the schedule or not showing it at all for long periods of time. I really want this show to be released in complete season DVD boxsets and can't believe they haven't done it already. The tape is fine and has good episodes but they would be better on DVD.

includes Episode 81 : Who is Mr. X?
includes epsiode 81 : Who is Mr. X? Bob accepts a seemingly innocent invitation to appear as the guest on a TV discussion program. He winds up in the jaws of a dilemma when the show host turns out to have the disposition of a shark.

Bob Newhart never tires out!!
Once again,Bob shows that his character lives on forever. Makes you want to have a friend like him in real life. All the episodes are great. I have seen them all too.The ceiling hits Bob is very good. Jerry,Howard and Carol, are excellent support for Bob. Not to mention his patient like Mr. Carlin. It would be nice to have a peeper series. Bobs old school friend. That would be awesome. I would buy that in a minute. Tom Poston is brillant in that too. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Misadventures of Opie
I bought it because it claimed to be uncut, but the episodes were cut. It was nice, however, to not have to fast forward through commercials. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Must See Superb Andy Griffith Collection of Barney Fife!!
In this classic 3 show Andy Griffith Collection starring 5 time Emmy winner Don Knotts as Barney Fife is as follows,1.The first show has Barney fixing up Andy with the fun girls that ends with hilarious results,2.This show has Barney becoming jealous of Opies affections with his girlfriend Thelma Lou again with hilarious results3.This show has Barney jealous of Gomer courting Thelma Lou and ofcourse agin resulting with hilarious results which makes this video overall a must see,superb Andy Griffith Collection of Barney Fife!! ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Nearing the end of the line
This work of Don Knotts' doesn't hold a candle to "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" or "The Reluctant Astronaut". One of the most disappointing aspects is that Knotts is not the bumbler he was in the other movies, but place second fiddle in that aspect to a young unknown (to this day) actor playing a city garbage collector.

As for the transfer of this movie, however, all I can say is...it's too bad some of the movie companies don't put this kind of care into some of the classics....it's beautiful.

While I can't really recommend the film on its own merits, I will say that if you are a fan of the movie, you will be thrilled with the job MGM has done with putting it on DVD.

Film and trailer are both anamorphic.

A Very Entertaining Don Knotts Film
Alan Rafkin (1928-2001, who mostly directed television shows and was nominated for four Emmies and won one in 1982) directed his last bit-screen film with "How To Frame A Figg" in 1971. Taking place in a small fictional town, a bungling city accountant, Hollis Alexander Figg (Don Knotts), becomes the unwitting patsy of the town's mayor (Mayor Chisholm played by Edward Andrews), the town's wealthiet man (Old Charley Spaulding played by Parker Fennelly) as well as several other high-ranking city officials who have been embezzling the town's money. To prevent from being caught, the embezzlers fire all of the town's accountants, except for Hollis so that he can operate their newly purchased (but used), room-filling computer known as LEO. While demonstrating the computer to his friend Prentiss Gates (Frank Welker), Hollis stumbles upon a questionable city contract that Prentiss (who works for the city's sanitation department) has in his waste collection cart. To keep Hollis from finding any other questionable financial statements, Mayor Chisholm appoints Hollis to be a commissioner with his own private secretary, Glorianna Hastings (Yvonne Craig, who is better known as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon in the 1966-1968 TV series "Batman") to the chagrin Hollis' girlfriend, Ema Letha Kusic (Elaine Joyce), who works as a diner waitress. Hollis remains oblivious to being used until Old Charley Spaulding is ready to lower the boom upon him and is forced to find a way to prove his innocence.

"How To Frame A Figg" isn't known as well as some of his previous films ("The Incredible Mr. Limpet" in 1964, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" in 1966, etc.) due to its somewhat weak plot, but it's still a very funny film that can entertain both children and adults alike. Memorable scenes in the film include Hollis' fingers getting stuck in a bowling ball, Old Charlie Spaulding using his cane in city hall meetings, the ketchup scene at the diner, the garbage truck delivery, and the search for extension cords. Overall, I rate "How To Frame a Figg" with 4 out of 5 stars. Other memorable characters in the film include Kermit Sanderson (Joe Flynn, 1925-1974), Commissioner Henderson (Bill Zuckert, 1915-1997) and Dr. Schmidt (Pitt Herbert, 1914-1989).

Don has done it again. Very entertaining.
Made in 1970, this was Don's final film for several years until making a comeback in Disney's 'The Apple Dumpling Gang' in 1975.
The theme stays with you long after the DVD player has been switched off. A slew of great supporting actors such as Joe Flynn, Edward Andrews and voice artist Frank Welker, make this a highly enjoyable romp, especially with the addition of sexy Yvonne Craig and wholesome Elaine Joyce as Don's female interest.
The rare trailer featuring Yvonne and Don is a must see.

Most Hilarious Don Knotts Movie Ever!!
This Movie has got to be the most hilarious Don Knotts Movie ever,where Knott's is an honest,humble townworker being framed by the good ol' boy corrupt, elite Town Council.You've got to see it to believe it!!

Message received and noted!!
This a a great fun film for the family. I remember seeing it as a kid as well as The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Both are great films. Towards the end of this film it has shades of Ghost and Mr. Chicken. I am telling you, take notes and like Prentice in the film (Knotts sidekick who is dummer than Knots in this film) says "Message received and noted". See it and you will know. Knotts works for the City and gets framed for all the crooked doings which were really done by several town officials. He ends up going to the graveyard to dig up some help in proving he was not guilty. Thats all I will say so as not to spoil it for you. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Three episodes from near the end of "I Dream of Jeannie"
The three episodes collected on "Jeannie's Seeing Stars" come from late in the run of the classic television sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie." By this point Jeannie (Barbara Eden) is married to her master, Major Anthony Nelson (Larry Hagman), with best friend Major Roger Healy (Bill Daily) still in on the secret, which is more than can be said for Dr. Alfred Bellows (Hayden Rorke). None of these episodes would really be considered classics, but they are all certainly representative of the show:

"The Biggest Star in Hollywood" (Episode #106) finds Tony heading for Hollywood, so Jeannie prepares a goodbye that shows up in a mirror. The producers of "Laugh-In" are impressed by the trick and just have to have her on the show. Seeing yet another opportunity to become rich and famous, Roger becomes the manager for the Princess Armena, and promises to have her on the show. "Laugh-In" regulars Arte Johnson, Judy Carne, and Gary Owens appear in this average outing.

"Help, Help, a Shark" (Episode #134) features Jim Backus as General Fitzhugh, the longtime rival of General Schaeffer (Vinton Hayworth), who are competing for a spot in the All-Military Pool Championships. When Tony ruins Schaeffer's big game his only chance to avoid being sent to the North Pole is to play Fitzhugh in a rematch. The good news is that with Jeannie on his side, Tony is sure to win. The bad news is that Fitzhugh refuses to play with a woman in the room. Of course a large part of the pleasure here is the guest appearance by Thurston Howell III himself, which makes this the best episode of this particular trio.

"My Master the Chili King" (Episode #139) has Arvel (Gabriel Dell), who is Tony's cousin (twice removed) showing up and convincing Jeannie to invest $1,000 in his great recipe for Texas chili. She buys his story that Tony has agreed to endorse the product and promptly blinks up cans with his picture on them and gets them on the shelves in every grocery store in the area. The only problem is that NASA does not let its astronauts endorse products. A solid outing as far as such things go, the episode also has Dick Van Patten as the clerk at the market.

As is usually the case, the big surprise is noting how good of a comic actor Larry Hagman was on this show, before he made his mark as J.R. Ewing on "Dallas." Just watch how many times he gets to do an over the top reaction to Jeannie's antics in "Help, Help, a Shark." Just do not look for Barbara Eden's navel, because although it did get seen a couple of times, these are not those episodes.

The Best TV Sitcom From The 60's
I love I Dream Of Jeannie.I watch I Dream Of Jeannie on TVLand.I like this first episode in Black & White is when Major Anthony Nelson found Jeannie on the beach.I like it when Jeannie turns into pink smoke to get into her bottle & to get out of her bottle.And also like it when Jeannie blink herself to make herself disappear.Barbara Eden did a good job playing both Jeannie & her sister.And Larry Hagman did a good job playing Major Anthony Nelson.

I Dream of I Dream Of Jeannie on Complete Season DVD Boxsets
I really like this! I Dream of Jeannie first appeared on TV the year that I was born and I'm not sure how many seasons this charming, funny classic had but I do remember watching the show when it went into syndicated reruns when I was a little girl and really enjoying it. Barbara Eden was really charming as the pretty and sweet but mischievous and fun loving Jeannie and a young Larry Hagman was really great too, he was handsome and funny as astronaut Anthony Nelson who rescued Jeannie from her bottle. Also good in this show are Bill Daley as Anthony's best-friend and fellow astronaut Roger Healey and the guy who played Doctor Bellows. (Sorry I can't think of his name right now but I think his first name was Hayden). I would love to see I Dream of Jeannie put on DVD in complete season boxsets!

Jeannie does it again!
In these episodes, Jeannie charms not only the viewers,but famous actors from the 60's,including stars from the hit shows, "Laugh-In"& ""Gilligan's Island." This is truly some of my favorite episodes! A must see! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The best supporting character in television history
Don Knotts' character Barney Fife, as good as the other elements of the show were, made "The Andy Griffith Show" perhaps the best sitcom ever. Any package featuring Barney Fife should be an excellent one. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Of course this video is child appropriate!
The Andy Griffith Show is THE finest T.V. series ever made. And how anyone could even think, mind you, just think anything else is beyond me and mine!

Story Line-Content
I just want to review to see if this video is child appropriat ... Read more

Reviews (1)

I Love this Guy
Jeff is truly a hysterical comic. He's even funnier live, so if you get a chance to see him at club you should check him out. He is the ultimate redneck. ... Read more

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"Diamonds, daisies, snowflakes... sable, popcorn, white wine... is that girl," describes the opening theme music of TV's That Girl about the independent Ann Marie, a young actress trying to make it on her own in New York City in the late 1960s. Before Mary Richards "made it after all" in Minneapolis, Marlo Thomas portrayed the feisty Ann, a seemingly feminist woman (by modern standards, her desire to please her father and her devotion to being the perfect girl for her boyfriend Donald seem less than liberated) who gets herself into scrapes and mishaps of the variety familiar to those who grew up on I Love Lucy as she attempts to become an actress.

The three episodes on "Auditions, Auditions, Auditions" deal, not surprisingly, with Ann's endeavors to get on the stage or screen. In the first, "Call of the Wild," Ann, for once, is upset to get a role:she wins the part of "Miss Creamy Girl" in a soap ad because of her lack of sex appeal (she's "like hot dogs, apple pie... the girl scout that stays a girl scout forever"). To spice up her act, she decides try out a striptease routine, only to have her father walk in on her. "Nobody Here but Us Chickens" has Ann going for new lows in the form of "Miss Chicken Big." She takes acting lessons from a chicken, performs a courtship dance in a hideous bright yellow chicken suit, and fends off advances from Chicken Big's big chicken, Major Culpepper (played with hick charm by Slim Pickens). Finally, in "The Snow Must Go On," Ann and Donald need to drop Ann's parents off at Kennedy airport and get Ann back into the city in time for an important Broadway audition. But an incoming blizzard threatens to strand all of them at the airport, and they must cope in the best way they can: Ann tries to audition over the phone, Donald works on a story, and Ann's father hoards sandwiches when the restaurant runs low on food. --Jenny Brown ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Will Ann ever win?
Ann tries her darndest to get acting work in these three episodes.

'Calls Of The Wild' sees Ann to get some 'sex appeal' to further her chances of acting work. Don tries to console our darling heroine.

'Nobody Here But Us Chickens' has Ann getting the job of 'Miss Chicken Big',a mascot in a chicken fast food chain. Unfortunately,the boss has designs on the unsuspecting Ann.

'The Snow Must Go On' has Ann stuck at Kennedy Airport during a blizzard. She must get to an important Broadway audition, but how will she get through? ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Milton Berle and Paul Lynde visit "I Dream of Jeannie"
The guest stars are the big attraction on this pair of episodes from "I Dream of Jeannie" collected under the title "Risky Business." Episode #64, "The Second Greatest Con Artist in the World," has Mr. Television himself, Milton Berle, plays a hustler named Charlie who works for the richest man in the world, Mr. Vanderhaven (Fred Clark). When Charlie sees a picture of Jeannie (Barbara Eden) wearing a King Tut scarab worth a half million dollars, he pretends to be Vanderhaven and tricks Jeannie into trading him the broach for a beach in Hawaii where diamonds just wash upon the shore. Of course, tricking Jeannie is not a smart move. However, the wedding episode of the series made a big deal about how Jeannie cannot be photographed, but apparently she can be in Hawaii.

Episode #68 "Everybody's a Movie Star" has Paul Lynde as the Hollywood movie director Allen Kerr. He has come to Cocoa beach to film a day in the life of an average astronaut, but he thinks Tony (Larry Hagman) could be a big movie star. Tony just wants to be an astronaut, but, of course, Roger (Bill Daily) sees this as being his break. So when Kerr talks to Dr. Bellows (Hayden Roarke) about making Tony a star, Roger thinks the director is talking about him. It is rather surprising this episode is one of the few selected to be on a video tape because it really focuses on Roger and overall both of the guest stars have more to do than the two stars of the show. These are still above average "I Dream of Jeannie" episodes, albeit not classic ones, and of more value to fans of Berle and Lynde.

Jeannie does it again!
That Jeannie is always getting into scrapes,and these two choice episodes prove it!

'The Greatest Con Artists In The World' has Jeannie being taken in by a swindling Milton Berle who cons her into selling her precious scarab pin.

'Everybody's A Movie Star' has Jeannie going Hollywood as Paul Lynde decides that Anthony and Jeannie have 'star power'. ... Read more

Description

The Andy Griffith Show: Great Special Collection contains the following episodes:

The Loaded Goat
The Class Reunion
Rafe Hollister Sings
Aunt Bee's Medicine Man
The Darlings are Coming
Barney's First Car
The Rivals
Dogs Dogs Dogs
Mountain Wedding ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Andy and Barney are always great
Just want to assure you that this is a good video. It does have the silly whistling song, instead of the original Andy Griffith theme, but we didn't really mind that. We quit watching tv because it was just getting too obscene, so this was a real find for us, and truly enjoyable.

Where's the theme song?
I guess the video company that purchased the rights to these episodes decided it would be less expensive to compose their own theme music instead of paying the copyright holder to use the familiar "whistling" tune on the tape. Whatever the reason, it doesn't work.

The episodes are the same great shows we all remember, but the music isn't the same and the visual quality of the tape itself is a little bit shaky. Be aware of this if you're considering a purchase of this cassette.

A great collection of Andy!
We are very pleased with this collection. We are really big Andy fans and this is a very nice collection of episodes. 2 thumbs up!

No Stop Andy!
You can never get enough of those old-time classics. This Andy Griffth tape features 10 episodes that will entertain you for hours. I found this tape and I could not pass up a deal like this. I received this tape 1 week ago and I have already watched every episode atleast 2 times. The quality is great and it has all the best episodes. If you like the Andy Griffth Show Gang, you'll love this Video. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

More in common w/Joseph Campbell than Bob Hope
It's easy to overlook the societal importance of "Shakiest". Most academics consider it a vapid re-make of a "superior" Bob Hope film. However my consensus is that Hope's movie simply Overemphasized the comedic aspects of the story and downplayed the sociological importance and mythical underpinnings of it. I don't fault Hope since his comedic talents are such that only his fully grasping of the genre and paradigm in its epistomological sense would allow him the proper frame/reference to "dim" his comedic talents enough to let the nuances of the story's deeper meanings emerge. Not so with Don Knotts. His performance is neo-subtle in the sense that he draws attention to the pre-Scorsesian templates of story entwined with yet seperated from, meaning, by overexagerating Hope's performance to a Vonnegutian level. Example; his performance as Painless Jesse in the film's opening sequences underscore the relationship of Man the Creator with Man the Destroyer and Man the Dentist. In Barb Rhoades we see an equal but lesser voice representing tenets of Post-modern imperialism as well as Proto-Schwarzeneggerian grandiosity. Yet, it is Knotts, initially passive who redeems himself in the end, triumphing over Rhoades and all she symbolizes as well as echoing the pan-universal theme of the hero transformed by "plumbing" his own depths. This is shown particularily in the mine scene, where we read "mine" as "Subconscious Id". Simply put, not sense "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" has Knotts blended Transformational Mythology with Wellesian Cinematography and Jerrylewisian slapstick. BRAVO!

The Shakiest Gun In The West is classic Don Knotts comedy.
No one can shake like Don Knotts and he is at his shaky best in this movie. For those of us that like his brand of slapstick ( and there are many of us) this movie about a ninny dentist gone West is a real treat. The scene with the line "hands run in my family" makes this movie worth the price. Yeah it's corny...I say bring on the corn !!

Great re-make of Bob Hope film Paleface!
Re-makes are not always good, this one is great! First Bob Hope did this in Paleface, now Don Knotts takes over the roll with his own slant on the character.

Unless you own the Laserdisc or saw it at the theaters, this will be your first experience of the full impact of this WIDESCREEN movie. Pans and cuts seen on television, or the previous VHS tape, will be replaced with single shots that include everything from side to side.

THE GHOST AND MR.CHICKEN was Don's only other WIDESCREEN movie for Universal.

Great slap stick humor
I think this is a great Don Knotts film. He acts so utterly stupid and pathetic in this film but it's done in a way that's so utterly hillarious. I had lots of laughs all through the movie. Barbara Rhoades is the straight one in the pair and she does a great job as well. The looks on her face during the times she has to deal with Knotts are funny in themselves.

If you like silly slap stick humor I think you'll enjoy this movie.

Shakiest Gun in the West
Very funny and wholesome.
This is a must see for commedy and/or Don Knotts fans! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great shows,but very dissapointing video!!!
"The Andy Griffith Show" is perhaps one of the absolute best and very entertaining shows of its time.However,there are 16 episodes of the series,mostly from the 3rd Season,that have end up in the public domain and that means that there are many different companies out there that are releasing the shows often at times with poor picture and sound or even removing the classic original theme music.But this UAV video package is one of those few.This video contains 10 out of the 16 public domain episodes of TAGS and all of the shows contain very innapropriate stock keyboard music,which makes the opening theme look like something off of Saturday Morning TV for Kids and it also ruins the whole atmosphere of the series!! I give this two stars,because both the picture and sound quality are superb,but ZERO for the opening and end credit music.Some years ago,UAV released a series of AUTHORIZED "Andy Griffith Show" episodes such as "A Christmas Story","Haunted House",and many other episodes and yes,all of those releases did contain the original theme music.Unfortunately,these videos are now out-of-print and are often considered collector's items! So I urge the AGS fans to avoid this tape at all costs and I strongly recommnend either the Platinum Disc or Brentwood DVD's of the series as they do outstanding jobs using better quality opening and closing music compared to this version!! I will never buy these shows from either UAV or Madacy or any other crappy distributor that puts out these great shows!! Avoid this and or any other AGS titles from UAV,period!!!

Good except for intro music
The episodes listed are good choices as the episodes are interesting and they span the main cast. The video quality is excellent, as is the sound. This can not be said of all Mayberry videos. The only detraction is that the video producer chose different but similar sounding intro music, presumably to avoid paying royalties on the music. This is practical, but how many of us buy Mayberry video's for practical reasons? My kids think this is the original music - a small but disappointing fact.

Overall, with well-chosen episodes, great quality images and sound, this is a good video for Andy fans and those with kids who want quality entertainment with traditional values. ... Read more