Vote for the Release of Mr. Belvedere Season 5 DVD!

Shout! Factory needs some more convincing to release Season 5 on DVD! Let's not stop now. Only TWO more seasons to go! Head on over to Shout! Factory's website and vote for Mr. Belvedere at the link below!

http://www.shoutfactory.com/video/wip/13/vote_for_upcoming_tv_show_releases.aspx

Season 4 DVD Appeal from a Mr. Belvedere Fan on YouTube!

From YouTube user http://www.youtube.com/user/vnisanian2001


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJq-9wTBdhw

The video desciption as follows:

Please watch the entire video first before commenting. Note: I am NOT associated with Shout! Factory, nor do I work for them. I am just trying to get the word out about my favorite show that is being released by this company. No copyright infringement intended. Also, please excuse the small watermark on the bottom-left corner. It was because I uploaded the video to YouTube from authorstream. Please keep all comments appropriate and clean.

My Mr. Belvedere Season 4 DVD has finally arrived!

Oh yeah! It was a long time coming, but it's finally here! My Season 4 DVD of Mr. Belvedere! I had no means to buy it directly from Shout! Factory, where it is available (aside from Ebay), so I asked a friend of mine to buy it for me. If you want your own set, you can order this DVD at this link:
http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257099

The earlier seasons you can also buy at Shout! or at other online retailers (links on the left column).

I'm excited to watch these episodes all over again. From the episode list, I remember really liking episodes like "Heather's Monk", "Kevin's Model" and "The Diary".

There are no commentaries or interviews, but I'm nevertheless glad that Shout! still decided to continue releasing Mr. Belvedere in complete season sets in spite of the reduced numbers that bought the subsequent sets.. I hope us Mr. Belvedere fans would support Shout! by buying this DVD so they'll go ahead and release the rest of the series.

I will be posting my thoughts on each episode on this blog eventually.

Mr. Belvedere Needs Help!

Hello guys!

What do you think of the Mr. Belvedere DVDs so far? Me, I just love em! Unfortunately, dwindling sales have caused the online retailers (like Amazon) from carrying Season 4. Right now, you can only buy this DVD set from Shout! Factory directly (or from Ebay).

If you've been holding off buying the DVDs, I do suggest you buy Season 4 from Shout! because they need the encouragement to release the rest of the series. I heard that someone from Shout! had been lamenting about the absence of fans who promised to buy the DVDs when they became available.

Well, here it is! If you want to see the rest of the series on DVD, you can help out by ordering Season 4 from the site here:
http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257099

Pre-Order Mr. Belvedere Season 4 DVD Now!

Let's not make Shout Factory regret buying the rights to this show by showing support for buying from them directly!  Why directly? It seems that the big retailers are no longer ordering for sale at their shops because of the decreased sales after the Season 1-2 Box Set. Where have you guys gone? You can pre-order the DVD HERE. It will be available on January 19, 2010.

Mr. Belvedere DVD Season FOUR! OH YES!

Bad news is, the DVD sets have been selling less and less per season, resulting in flagging interest from retailers to stock the new set. But the DVD will still be available at the Shout! Factory site beginning January 19, 2010.

Read about this bit of news at TV Shows on DVD here.

I gotta say I'm kinda disappointed that there isn't much support from fans for this DVD. Perhaps we're not as many as we thought we were. ha! ha! But if this is sold directly from Shout!, it will most likely mean a larger profit margin for them as they won't have to deal with retailer commissions. (Either that or they lower retail price.) That means the show may prove to be more profitable for Shout! in the long run, and it would allow them to continue producing the DVDs well into the 6th season.

An interesting tidbit in the news in the link is that bonus material in this DVD set includes commentaries from creator and cast. I'm not sure who the "creator" they got to do commentaries, but I'm betting it's Jeff Stein.

Mr. Belvedere Season 4 DVD will soon be made available at this particular page at Shout! Factory's site. Let's make this the most popular page on Shout's site when the time comes!

My Mr. Belvedere Season 3 DVD is HERE!

I wasn't able to pre-order Mr. Belvedere Season 3 right away (sigh. economy), but I placed an order as soon as I could and now it's here! OH YEAH!

The first thing I did was listen to the audio commentary on "DUETS", the episode where George gets electrocuted in the bathtub and decides to be a lounge singer. Robert Goulet guests. I love this episode because of the part where Ilene Graff shows us for the first time (in this show) how awesome she is as a singer. There are plenty of really cool behind the scenes info shared on the audio track like how Ilene often runs into guests of the show in public and how some remember her, and some don't. There's some talk about the technicalities of the show, specially the difficulty of shooting "porch" scenes. Ilene talks about how thrilling it was to record with Robert Goulet, and Brice does an absolutely UNCANNY Robert Goulet. It was amazing.

I've been so busy at work that I managed to watch just that one episode so far, but I'm amazed at how much Brice remembers about the show. He even remembers minutia of set details, and how the Hufnagels never appeared on the show except the maid, which appears in one episode, then the actress appears again in another episode to marry Mr. Belvedere.

Speaking of Brice, some of my recent work involves Brice directly. I'm proud to say that his art will appear in a comic book for the first time in "Where Bold Stars Go To Die", which I am writing. Brice contributes a pinup for this comic book that's just absolutely gorgeous. The comic book is now at the press and I should be getting copies next week. More about this in a future post.

Release of Season 3 DVD Imminent!

The release of the Mr. Belvedere Season 3 DVD is only two days away! Whoo hoo! Have you ordered your copies yet? If you haven't, please reserve your copies at your local store, your favorite online store, or at Amazon!

Watch the Mr. Belvedere DVD Trailer here!

Mr. Belvedere Reunion Photo

This photo comes courtesy of Ilene Graff (watermarks mine). No info came with it, but I assume it was from the cast getting together to record commentaries for the Season 3 DVD.

DVD Commentaries!

Long time Mr. Belvedere fan McFly121 posted on the Sitcoms Online Message board that he spoke with Brice Beckham who says that they have recorded more than one audio commentary, which included Tracy Wells.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=247908

I say awesome!

Season 3 DVD Bonus Feature?

A little birdie told me that there's going to be a cast commentary on the Season 3 DVD. Oh yeah.

Season 3 DVD Package Art

Thanks to TVShowsOnDVD!



I find it interesting that it's the exact same pose/positions/angle as the first DVD cover, but the kids are older.

Mr. Belvedere gets a Season 3 DVD!

I can't tell you how happy I am that Mr. Belvedere Season 1 and 2 sold very well for Shout! Factory, well enough to warrant further DVD releases.

Thanks to all those who posted in the comments section about the news. Boy, you guys are fast! There's obviously quite a bit of excitement about this, if what I feel is any indication.

News on TVShowsonDVD:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mr-Belvedere-Season-3/11989

Mr. Belvedere Season 3 comes out on September 8, 2009 in 4 discs. Bonus material is planned, but nothing specific was mentioned yet.

Mr. Belvedere Season 1 and 2 DVD Review

I've been a fan of this show for a long time. So much of a fan that I created one of the longest running fan sites on Mr. Belvedere on the Internet, online in some form or the other since 1998. That's Eleven Years now. Oh man. I've since carved a sizable career as an artist in another field, but this show still has a pull on me that I can't explain.

I've been waiting for this DVD for a long time, and quite honestly, I really can't be expected to give an objective review. I'll still try and offer my thoughts nevertheless.

I would like to make it clear that for this particular post, I will not make any comment about specific story points, because I will be doing individual reviews of each and every episode.

I like the packaging of this DVD because of it's "home-y" feel. It's feels like a photo album, which is reflected in the opening credits of the first episode, where photos of the cast, as if gathered from a photo album, are shown one after the other.

5 discs containing 29 episodes of the first and second seasons are housed in three thin plastic casings within a sturdy slipcase. I like the packaging because it's not too bulky.

The decision by SHOUT! Factory to release Season 1 and 2, instead of a "best of" set is a very good, and very hopeful indication that they will push through with the rest of the series. The way this first set is packaged, it's only logical to expect that Season 3 and 4 will go in one package, then season 5 and 6 will go in a third set. Fingers crossed!

The picture is better than I remember them being, watching them on cable many years ago. It's not as good as the picture quality of say, Three's Company on DVD, but I suppose these are the best prints that can be found. And they're good enough for me.

There is a pretty good bonus feature with four cast members reminiscing about the show. They give rather illuminating insight into what goes on behind the scenes, specially with regards to Bob Uecker. I wish it were longer, but that's just me.

With Christopher Hewett gone, the only remaining cast member not included in the new interviews is Tracy Wells. In an interview with Star 102.5 in Buffalo, Brice Beckham has a possible explanation. Tracy may well have been unable to join the interviews because of a previous commitment. I'm sure we'll hear from her in future DVD releases.

Another extra includes a Saturday Night Live sketch, "The Mr. Belvedere Fan Club" sketch with Tom Hanks. SNL sketches are a hit and miss for me, but this one was actually kind of funny.

There's an unlisted bonus feature here, which is Stewie of Family Guy singing the theme song to Mr. Belvedere. But as it's integrated into the interview section, I suppose they opted not to mention it. But I thought I would, because it's kind of cool.

I'm glad for the features that's there, but it leaves me hoping for other stuff like perhaps a Christopher Hewett tribute. Perhaps interviews with the creators of the show. Jeff Stein has a pretty frank and illuminating interview for Macleans.ca and it would be pretty interesting what more he has to say. I think there is a certain aspect of the show that a lot of people have missed, that of the subversive nature of the writing which would be great to spotlight.

Well, it's wishful thinking, but a commentary track or two would be AWESOME.

Thanks to everyone at SHOUT! Factory for making this DVD happen. It's been a long time coming, but I'm glad it's here!

Detroit News DVD Contest!

Mekeisha Madden Toby of the Detroit News has a contest which will give you the chance to win the DVD!

"Mr. Belvedere" Is Released by Shout!

DVD Review from DVDTown.com

"Mr. Belvedere was designed as a vehicle for Bob Uecker but emerged as an ensemble comedy that was pleasant-enough family fare for an Eighties' Sitcom."

DVD Review by James Plath for DVDTown.com
http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/dvd-mr-belvedere-tv-series/6824

Mr. Belvedere is HERE!

My Mr. Belvedere Season 1 and 2 DVD set is here! Yeah! Am I gonna watch it now? I wish I could, but it's work hours so I have to wait until later. But I am very excited.

I plan on posting extensive episode by episode recap/review/commentary of the entire series right on this blog. Starting very soon!

Early DVD Reviews

From Sitcoms Online:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/mrbelvedereseasons1and2dvdreview.html

"We just might live the good life yet! This set is awesome. Brian Blum has done an excellent job with this set for Shout! The packaging is great, the menus are clever, the episodes are in their original form, and we get all-new interviews with the cast."

More at the link.

From DVD Talk:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/36468/mr-belvedere-seasons-one-two/



"It's probably nowhere to be found on your average "Top 10 Sitcoms" list, but Frank Dungan and Jeff Stein's Mr. Belvedere (1985-1990) managed to entertain enough audiences to last six seasons."

More at the link.

Preview Clips from the DVD!

Video embedded with permission from Shout! Factory






You can download four clips from the show from TVShowsonDVD.com or from Shout! Factory in the links below:

TVShowsonDVD
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mr-Belvedere-Seasons-1-and-2/11358

From Shout! Factory:

Stream Link:
Stream Link 1
Stream Link 2
Stream Link 3

Windows Media for Download:
Clip 2
Clip 3
Clip 4

QuickTime for Download:
Clip 2
Clip 3
Clip 4

DVD Special Features Announced!

From TVShowsonDVD.com:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mr-Belvedere-Seasons-1-and-2/11318

The features for the Mr. Belvedere Season 1 & 2 DVD has been announced! There will be all new cast interviews, as well as the classic Saturday Night Live "Mr. Belvedere Fan Club" skit with Tom Hanks.

New cast interviews include those by Bob Uecker, Ilene Graff, Brice Beckham and Rob Stone.

It's good to know that they've included the SNL skit in this one. It goes to show what sports they are for doing so. After all, the skit does look unkindly towards Mr. Belvedere fans and Mr. Belvedere himself. Of course, it's nice to know the makers of this DVD, and hopefully the fans, would have the sense of humor to just laugh at it, and consider that the show got popular enough to be spoofed at all at the legendary Saturday Night Live.

Wishful thinking made me hope for a few audio commentaries, but I'm perfectly happy with the new interviews... and of course, perfectly happy that these DVDs are coming out at all. Thanks again to Shout! Factory for making all this possible.