Mister Ed (TV Series) (DVD)

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The Sixties are known as the decade of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. But it was also the decade of silly novelty sitcoms. There were shows about flying nuns, talking cars, hillbillies in Beverly Hills, Manhattanites in the country, a real estate agent with a family of chimps, monster families, martian houseguests, housewife witches, and beautiful genies. And while this sitcom about a talking horse didn't earn any Emmy nominations or crack the Nielsen Top-30, "Mister Ed" did win a Golden Globe for Best TV Show-Comedy in 1963. It's also become a minor classic, especially in reruns.

During it's hey-day (or rather, hay-day), "Mister Ed" was a silly as sitcoms get, right from the get-go. In the opening episode we're introduced to two newlyweds: Architect Wilbur Post (Alan Young) and his stay-at-home wife, Carol (Connie Hines). They buy a home in the country at which a horse was left behind by previous renters who "had to leave in a hurry," explains neighbor Roger Addison (Larry Keating). But there's no explaining the talking horse, or the fact that Ed (the name the horse gives himself) chooses to talk only to Wilbur because he says Wilbur's the only human worth talking to. While early episodes had Wilbur trying to get others to hear his horse speak, the show soon settled into an equine version of a private joke, with Mister Ed and Wilbur functioning as a comedy team as they traded asides while the rest of their sitcom world was clueless. Most of the early plots involved situations in which Wilbur's interest in his horse appeared to the outside world as a kind of strange obsession or fetish, with Ed always put in some minor jeopardy and Wilbur feeling guilty or pained. But as the season wore on, the writers focused more on Ed, with the titles telling it all: Ed does this and Ed does that. The horse was the star, and whatever could happen to a talking horse DID . . . for six seasons, in fact--143 episodes.

Shout! Factory really did a nice job of packaging the first complete season for fans. Though the company's boilerplate intro rolls across the screen with all the subtlety of screams in a theater (come on guys, turn down the volume), and though the sound varies throughout--usually softer than you'd wish--the production values are generally quite good, and fans and newcomers to the show will find that nothing gets in the way of the show itself. The menu animated menu screens are well-designed, with little insets from each episode presented in an oval that's framed by two horseshoes. So it's a pleasant experience in every aspect. The situational comedy is typical of the period, with much of it centered on gender roles (now considered sexist) and the type of mild humor that depended on cuteness for its laughs.

Keep your eyes peeled as you watch this, and not just because the golden Palomino who played Mister Ed (voiced by B-movie western star "Rocky" Lane) really could answer the telephone and open and close doors. This show is full of recognizable TV faces, like Donna Douglas, who a year later would play the buxom Elly May Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies"; Richard Deacon, who'd turn up a few years later as Mel Cooley on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," or Jack Albertson, who would become best known for playing opposite Freddie Prinze in "Chico and the Man."

Here's a rundown on the 26 episodes, which are presented on four single-sided discs and housed in two slim clear-plastic keep cases. To give some idea of the extent of annotation, I'll use descriptions from the four-color 11-page booklet that lists complete information for each episode:

1) "The First Meeting." Wilbur Post and his wife Carol move into their new home and find that the barn out back is still being occupied by a horse. Carol wants to sell the horse, while Wilbur wants to keep him--but everyone, including his wife, thinks he's gone bonkers when he claims that "Mister Ed" can talk.

2) "The Ventriloquist." When Mr. Addison overhears Wilbur and Mister Ed talking, Wilbur tells him he's a ventriloquist. Now Mr. Addison wants Wilbur to help him win a bet by using his "skill" of throwing his voice.

3) "Busy Wife." Carol joins the Women's Committee for Civic Improvement, and Wilbur starts to feel neglected. To win back her attention and make her jealous, he decides to hire a beautiful model to stage a painting of Lady Godiva. Donna Douglas guests.

4) "Kiddy Park." Mister Ed runs away on his birthday when Wilbur won't take him along on a fishing trip with Mr. Addison and the wives.

5) "Stable for Three." Ed, Wilbur, and Mr. Addison all end up in the dog house--actually, the stable--when they get in trouble with Carol and Kay (Edna Skinner).

6) "Sorority House." Mr. Addison asks Wilbur to loan Ed to his old fraternity, Sigma Nu Delta, and while Ed is there he is horse-napped by a rival university.

7) "Ed the Lover." Ed gets a job as an extra on a western directed by one of Wilbur's clients. The film's star, a horse named Daphne, falls in love with Mister Ed.

8) "The Pageant Show." Ed won't stop listening in on the phone extension in the office, so Wilbur takes it out. Ed decides to get back at him by not participating in a pageant.

9) "The Aunt." Aunt Martha comes to visit with her parrot Tootsie--but can two talking animals coexist in one household?

10) "The Missing Statue." Carol buys a statue for $50, which leads to a game of "musical statues" and a major headache for one shop owner.

11) "Ed the Witness." When Wilbur, Carol, Ed and the Addisons get lost on a trip to Ensenada, they end up stuck in a small town. Wilbur gets put in jail when his car is involved in an accident, but Ed is the only witness.

12) "Ed's Mother." When Wilbur and Ed find Ed's mother working as a plow horse on a local farm, Ed wants Wilbur to buy her out of servitude.