DATE: Thursday, August 3, 2006
VINTAGE SITCOMS ON DVD
VARIOUS SEASONS OF 'HAZEL,' 'FLYING NUN,' 'GOOD TIMES' AVAILABLE
BY STEVE MARINUCCI
Mercury News
While nowadays many sitcoms are rooted in realism or at least realistic situations, that wasn't the case in the '50s, '60s and '70s, when sitcoms like ''Hazel,'' ''The Flying Nun'' and ''Good Times'' were popular.
'Hazel'
This show was based on a comic strip by Ted Key and starred veteran actress Shirley Booth as the title character. In the show's household, it wasn't the father who knew best; it was Hazel, the family's maid.
The DVD of the first season, which ran 1961-62, was released Aug. 1. The three-disc set contains 34 black-and-white episodes and one in color that was used to showcase a story line about, not surprisingly, color TV.
In the 35 episodes of the first season, she shows she knew how to cook, teach kids how to play sports, get the local kids a new playground, win a bowling tournament, catch shoplifters and swindlers and publish a cookbook.
The supporting cast included Don DeFore (the neighbor of the Nelson family on ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'') as George Baxter, Whitney Blake as his wife and Bobby Buntrock as son Harold.
Booth, who won both Tony and Oscar awards before coming to television, was advised by Burt Lancaster not to take the role on the sitcom, which became a big success.
'The Flying Nun'
The second season of ''The Flying Nun'' (1968-69), which comes out on DVD Aug. 15, proves that shows with goofy premises can be entertaining.
Sally Field played novice nun Sister Bertrille (real name: Elsie Ethrington), who flies around (thanks to her aerodynamic cornet) and helps others.
What's funny was that the show actually worked and still has some charm today. In the previously released first-season set, Field says in an interview that she came close to not taking the role. But as Sister Bertrille, she manages to give an earnest effort and display the beginnings of the talent that would be more evident later in her career.
The second season features guest appearances by Paul Lynde, Jamie Farr, Rich Little and others.
'Good Times'
The good times were fast disappearing from ''Good Times'' as the sixth season began in 1978. The show lasted only one more season before its final airings in August 1979.
That season, released on DVD Aug. 1, begins with a four-episode story in which Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis) marries a football player.
Esther Rolle, who played matriarch Florida of the Evans clan in the series, isn't seen in the opening episode until the final moments because of a contract dispute that had kept her out of the series the year before. She objected to the way J.J. (Jimmie Walker) had been developed into a stereotypical buffoon.
The dispute had caused John Amos, who played her husband, James, to also leave the show in 1976.
But Walker's antics, punctuated by his ''dy-no-mite'' trademark line, still played a big part in each week's story lines, and fans of the series won't find this season very satisfying, especially if they are annoyed by Walker's antics, which seemed to dominate each week's plots. The show's cast members include comic Johnny Brown and a very young Janet Jackson as an adopted neighbor.
The three-disc set includes guest appearances from Gary Coleman (''Diff'rent Strokes'') and Kim Fields (''The Facts of Life'').
None of the three sets include any special features such as bonus interviews or outtakes.
CAPTION: PHOTO: SONY HOME ENTERTAINMENT
''Hazel''
PHOTO: SONY HOME ENTERTAINMENT
''The Flying Nun''
PHOTO: SONY HOME ENTERTAINMENT
''Good Times''
