The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Complete Fifth Season

Genre : DVD ( DVD )
Release : 2009/10/06
Price : $23.99

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There is comfort television, and there is consummate television. The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the gold standard, and without any Very Special Episodes (but plenty of very special moments), stunt casting, or a season-ending cliffhanger, this multi-Emmy-winning fifth season is a master class of ensemble acting and character-based comedy. So indelible are these characters by now that half the fun is anticipating how they will react in comedically ripe situations. How will Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore), who cries that she never even had to stay after school, adapt to jail after refusing to reveal a source in the Emmy-winning episode "Mary Goes to Prison"? How will old school newsman Lou Grant (Ed Asner, earning his third Emmy) handle Ted (Ted Knight) after Ted endorses a candidate during his broadcast in "You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate"? And how will skinflint Ted react when he learns that Lou has recklessly gambled away their football pool winnings in "The System"?

Valerie Harper is missed as Rhoda, but the show wisely did not try to replace her with another sidekick for Mary. Instead, episodes this season further flesh out these beloved characters. Sue Ellen (Betty White, who was honored with her first Emmy) reveals her vulnerability in "What Are Friends For?" Lou falls for a lounge singer with an active past (guest star Sheree North) in "Lou and That Woman." But Ted, happily, is still clueless, thoughtless, and egotistical, whether spreading gossip that he and Mary are having an affair ("An Affair to Forget"") or proposing to Georgette (Georgia Engel) on the air ("Marriage Minneapolis Style"). Mary Richards is an iconic character, the poster woman for what Cloris Leachman's Phyllis calls "the era of the single girl" in her Emmy-winning turn in "Phyllis Whips Inflation." A character and show of this stature certainly deserve better than this set's bare-bones release. Three years elapsed between the releases of season 4 and season 5. Talk about cliffhangers; "Chuckles Bites the Dust" awaits in season 6. --Donald Liebenson

Five stars for the show and 0 stars on the packaging.
I was so disappoint with the packaging on the 5th and 6th season. It doesn't even match the other seasons. Although the show is great,it's sad what fox did to the packaging. Season five doesn't even list the episodes. I like to see what each episode is on each disc and the original air date. I was looking forward all week for this to arrive and then when I opened the box and saw season 5 and 6 I was so disappointed by the packaging. Thanks to one reviewer I got a season guide for 5. I'll still buy season 7, because I love the show. Shame on whoever decided to do this packaging.

Like so many others I was waiting for season five and was surprised by the announcement that the whole series would be released instead. Even though I'm glad Fox finally decided to release season five, it's sad to see what is an obvious rush job as the packaging is cheap and unworthy of a show like this. The first four seasons were done with beautiful packaging that conatined episode guides, great graphics and creative DVD cases. This one looks like a release for a b-movie you would find in Walmarts dollar bin.
I think this was done on purpose as a way of telling us "Here's your season five now shut up!."

The Mary Tyler Moore Show fans had been waiting for over 3 years for the remaining last 3 seasons and this is what they present us with!!??
The product package is poor and nothing remotely similar to the previous releases, one plastic box for all 3 DVDs with no commentaries of any kind only on the back cover. The hinges that hold the plastic DVD holder came broken from shipment but they wouldn't last longer anyways. Even the quality of the picture is inferior from the previous seasons. I was totally disappointed with the quality of this product.
Is Foxvideo going green or just plain cheap? I am sorry for myself and all the other MTM Show fans out there who waited for so long to complete their collections. They will all see the disrespect in which Foxvideo handled a classic like The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Maybe we should all write to Oprah Winfrey(a tremendous MTM Show fan) to help us out to get a decent 7th and final season release to make up for this atrocious 5th and 6th seasons series releases. The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Sixth Season

There are some really wonderful episodes in Season Five. I waited several years for Season Five to become available and I'm so glad it's here now. Also have to say that I received the usual great service from Amazon!

I loved the Mary Tyler Moore Show so I have purchased several of the seasons. If you're a collector and want all of the seasons on DVD, then this review won't make much difference, but if you're an average fan who maybe just wants a season or two to have as a keepsake of the show, I'd recommend getting a season other than this one. It's good, but not one of the absolute best.

Also, I have to echo what several others have said about the packaging of this season. It really is bad. The case was damaged when it arrived. There is no episode list. I mean, forget about a synopsis and air date of each episode, they couldn't even supply a simple list of the episode titles. Then the menus on the DVDs are pathetic. Instead of the titles being listed straight down, they're all bunched up at the bottom of the screen in such tiny print that you can't begin to read them from across a room. And only a teeny little bullet point lights up next to each one when it's selected so it's really hard to tell which episode you're about to launch. It's pretty much a poster child for awful. I really hope they'll put more thought and love into the packaging of seasons 6 and 7. Mary deserves it.

My 3-star rating takes both the packaging and the fact that it's not the best season from the show into consideration. It's good entertainment, but it's not the best of Mary.