Good family entertainment sans spiritism episodes
937313
I enjoyed it very much, especially the lack of bad language, sex, and violence.  The occasional spiritism was not welcome, however, and I would enjoy more Lark Rise without it.
3327150
We enjoy watching this series in the evenings, it's good fun for our family. The quality of these DVDs is very good, especially as the original series was filmed on 35mm. The packaging is also quite nice.
3641258
It's good, wholesome entertainment.  No worries of evil, scary or inappropriate language, behavior or situation with this show.  Great entertainment for the entire family...any time!  Perfect for long car trips too.
3483034
Good clean family show that is fit for the entire family to view. They don't make shows like this anymore. Awesome
entertainment.
2495577
I really enjoy this wholesome family show. Arnold is so cute. It has good lessons for loving families and shows that color means nothing. We can live and love together as a productive family .
2432479
My 3-year-old daughter loves Max & Ruby. The somewhat patient big sister, Ruby, spends her time with friends and Bunny Scouts, while her little brother, Max, spends HIS time finding ways to cause mischief. Based on books by Rosemary Wells, these short stories are fun, sweet, and gentle viewing for small children.

The DVDs have an auto-play function, which is handy to the parents or caregiver with the child. The show starts on its own if the menu is left untouched for more than 30 seconds or so. When the episodes are all played out, it goes back to the menu and restarts.

While TV/DVDs should not be used as alternatives to good parenting, the right ones can be helpful in distracting a child while said parent tries to get things done around the home.

I HIGHLY recommend "Max & Ruby" of any title. They are all wonderful. [My husband even gets a kick out of Max's antics.]

-C.W.
1588423
All the movies in this collection are suitable for family viewing. You have some decent drama, action and a ton of comedy here for a pretty reasonable price. I wouldn't say that they are all "Classics" but they are all watchable and some are enjoyable enough to watch over and over again. I would actually rate this collection a 3.5 but I bumped it up to 4 stars because genuinely good family fare is tough to find. Here's a sample of what you get for your hard earned beans.

AFRICA SCREAMS: Abbott & Costello through a series of hijinx, are mistaken for African explorers and kidnapped by some goons and taken to Africa in search of some legendary lost diamonds. There is some funny slapstick here and appearances by Shemp Howard, lion tamer Clyde Beatty and a hilarious gorilla. The kids thought it was funny.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Robert Conrad plays a former Chicago Bear who is paralyzed during the Viet Nam War. He comes back to the states and decides to coach the football team at team at a juvenile correctional school. The kids lose their first game against a snooty prep school but once they accept Conrad the rally around him, work together and win the rematch. It's a well worn story for anyone over the age of 16 or so, but younger kids might find it inspirational.

 A CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SNOW: This is an old fashioned Christmas movie about a divorced woman who joins a choir and is pushed to her limits by a challenging choir master. It's about faith and family and soul and features John Houseman giving his usual outstanding performance this time in the role of  the demanding but understanding choir master.

THE MAGIC SWORD: A knight vows to rescue a princess from an evil wizard. You can't get more basic than that. It's a little corny and cheesy but also charming and kids will like it. It's also got Basil Rathbone who seems to enjoy his role as the evil wizard Lodac!

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HEIDI:  Modern reworking of the Heidi story, here we have Heidi leaving the  beautiful mountains of Switzerland to live with her cranky pants Grandfather in New York City. It was a nice try guys, but no dice.

THE OVER THE HILL GANG: This is a decent diversion for fans of classic Westerns. A retired Texas Ranger and his three aging pals are hired to clean up a lawless town. It features classic Western character actors like Jack Elam, Chill Wills, Walter Brennan and Edgar Buchanan. It feels more like a TV episode than a movie, but it's good to see this bunch of actors together.

FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND: A young couple is having a baby and the parents and grandparents-to-be squabble about how to raise lil' Junior. It's been done over and over again  but Spencer Tracey makes it worthwhile.

INSPECTOR GENERAL: Through a series of wacky coincidences 3rd rate con artist Danny Kaye is mistaken for a high level government official. He's rolling in clover until the real Inspector General shows up. It's not Kaye's very best, but any Danny Kaye is plenty good.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK: Abbott and Costello tell their version of the classic kid's fairy tale. It's a pretty lavish production and reasonably funny, although the whippersnappers I watched it with thought it was a bit slow.
1759554
This is perfect for the silly, fun loving family.  It is not even, but worth sitting through for the great scenes
3982942
If you're an adult who doesn't really care about how appropriate stuff is for kids, skip this paragraph. If you're a parent who cares, I advise you to read the following sentences: I don't understand the rating for most of the TV-MA episodes. I'd say that besides "Thor," "The Shrimp Incident," and maybe "The Massage" (just because of the massage scene), all of the episodes are okay for any mature 14-year-old to watch. They're mostly just rated that for language, which I've never really found an appropriate sole reason to rate a movie R or a TV episode TV-MA. Sexual content and violence are much more important than the number of F-bombs spoken. If you're a parent with a kid who really wants to see this show, allow him/her to get the first two seasons. And apparently Amazon has season eight listed as TV-14 so maybe that one's appropriate too. I don't know, I haven't seen it. Now on to the review part...

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is one of the most acclaimed shows of the 2000s, and rightfully so. While the first season was refreshing because it was nice to be further reminded that sitcoms were still doing pretty well, this second season takes that and elevates it to an even higher level. The ensemble cast is better in this season. While Cheryl seemed like a minor character in the first season, her character has been developed a little more here and given more of a personality. I also like the addition of Wanda Sykes. She's not on-screen very often at all, but when she is, she's unsurprisingly hilarious. Season two also saw an increase in writing quality. The plots are usually quite unique and bizarre, allowing for more laughs. Take "Thor," in which Larry is threatened by a 250-pound boxer after an unfortunate misunderstanding. Or "Shaq," in which Larry trips Shaq at a basketball game.

Best episodes: "The Doll" and "The Baptism"

Season grade: A-
67920
I enjoy the family charactors of inspector witherspoon and the puzzles. Not too hard but relaxing. Positive attitude of those times as well.
1606932
My family loved this series, but were surprised to find that it lasted more than two seasons.  We were delighted to watch these episodes, which were new to us.  Good fun.
1041140
Great family series for anyone who may long to escape to a simpler life for a while.
2040122
This is good old fashion, simple, family-orientated entertainment.
Simple, and a bit corny at times, but each episode always communicates good values and morals.
Enjoy!
3359813
I've always loved this show and am so happy that they finally re-released season 4 which has been unavailable for a long time.  I love old shows like this that are good, wholesome family TV.  Shows where the parents may not be perfect, but always do their best to teach their kids good values.  Shows where the kids may be occasionally a bit bratty and mischievous but are ultimately good kids who end up doing the right thing.  It's refreshing to watch shows like this after sampling some of the trash that is on TV these days.  Imagine a show that ran 6 seasons with not one murder, not one rape, not one explosion, not one car chase, not one sex scene; nothing that constitutes a "good" TV show these days.  Perhaps if networks aired more shows like this that promote good family values today, this world wouldn't be as screwed up as it is.  But I digress. The only question that remains to be answered is when is SHOUT FACTORY going to finally release seasons 5 & 6 on DVD?
76022
Without filth or depravity, this series is thoughtfully entertaining. You get many episodes for a good price. My teens think it's a little boring, but my college student gets it.
4237692
The Walton's the complete fifth season is great family entertainment, I hightly recommend it. How refreshing it is to watch something without all the sex, violence and bad language found in most movies and tv shows of today.
1518937
This show provides good, clean fun for the whole family. that is hard to find but we are enjoying this series.