Great show...crappy DVD.

Ever since I was a child I have always loved "Donny & Marie" -- both the TV show and the people. When I heard the show was finally coming to DVD I can't express how excited I was, and how much I was looking forward to being able to see the show again after more than twenty-five years. All the time I waited for the DVD to come out ended up being a waste of time -- what a MAJOR disappointment! I suppose it is better than nothing at all but still what a major disappointment this DVD set turned out to be.

First, the box says it includes four shows shows (it doesn't say portions of four shows -- it says four shows!) What you actually get is 1/2 hr. of four different shows. I fail to understand why Donny could not even put the full episodes shown on the set. We all know that an hour show was approximately 47 minutes of material back when the show was in production once you account for the commercials. Since this is the case, where are the other approximately 17 minutes of each of the four episodes included in the set?

Second, as for Bonus features there really aren't any. It is such a shame. I figured that because the D&M DVD sets were put out by the same company that did the "Sonny & Cher", "Captain & Tennille", and "Tony Orlando & Dawn" shows that the D&M set would follow the same format as those. They have at least nine full hours of material on them which includes not only full shows, but wonderful bonus features as well. Those DVD sets cost significantly more than the approximately $30 (CDN) that I spent on this set, but I would gladly have paid more for the set if it were more like the other sets I mentioned.

I just don't understand why such a poor quality set was put out. It isn't like the set was rushed as Donny would talk on his website about his working on it and that has been for a couple of years now. Surely with all of the episodes of "Donny & Marie" that were done over the years and their various appearances on other shows like "The Mike Douglas Show","The Andy Williams Shows", etc. Donny could have come up with an abundance of Bonus material. There isn't even a current interview with him and Marie talking about doing the show or anything. Donny could have included clips from other shows, music videos, concert footage, publicity photos, photos of D&M merchandise that came out over the years, even commentary, but what did us loyal viewers get .... Virtually nothing -- some photos of the episodes we just watched, and even with that if you pick the sliedshow option the music stops and starts with the change of each photo -- it is extrememly irritating.

I just hope that if there is another DVD set of "Donny & Marie" that it is a lot better than this one because quite frankly I feel quite ripped off with this set.

Out of curiosity which four episodes are included? I'd really like the episode from September 23rd, 1977 which features a Star Wars skit - any chance that's on there?

I LOVE the volume one dvd, but I too was put off by 20 minutes missing per episode.


Donny & Marie's version of the 1972 classic Paul Mcartney & Wings"Bluebird" was AWESOME!!! I ad never seen that before!

I can understand everyone's frustration, but it's a gross misunderstanding to simply issue a blanket "Donny owns the rights." First off I'm sure that's untrue. Many people were involved in the creation of D&M: ABC, D&M, The Osmonds, Sid & Marty Krofft, and more. All of those teams have lawyers and contracts issuing lots of conditions about future use of the footage.

But the main thing you misunderstand is that a variety show is inherently difficult to reissue. That's because every song, every recording, and every face that appears in the show needs to be dealt with and that's usually going to mean that some money has to get paid. At the least the legal team involved with the DVD reissue has to go through a lot of work to uncover the old contracts and then contact the people or corporations involved and cut a new deal with them. The expense in all of that is crippling and that's why many shows will never get reissued on DVD, because the sales projections would not cover the expenses.

Besides that, many segments are not worth watching. Much of D&M is probably not that great. I just saw one last night that featured Tony Martin (never heard of him before) singing a few songs. It wasn't very good. The same episode featured a dance number from a "should have stopped dancing about a decade ago" Cyd Charrise and a balding partner with a bad toupee. Donny has to make the decision whether such segments really have enough historical value to go to the trouble of putting on the DVD, and he's probably correct in cutting such mediocre segments. By doing so he's able to give you the "best of" 4 episodes rather than only 2 episodes with some "too painful to watch" segments.

Also, as noted here on IMDB, some segments were simply commercials promoting other ABC shows. Can you imagine Donny trying to renegotiate with the agents for 8 "Brady Bunch" actors simply to put a "walk on" segment on the DVD?

Finally, Donny's team may not be able to contact some of the former stars for many reasons. People die and the various stake holders (or wanna be stake holders) start legal infighting over the rights. Lawyers don't return phone calls. People may insist on unreasonable compensation. The Brady Bunch is trying to negotiate a reissue DVD of their own and doesn't want competition. On so on. The entertainment world is run by lawyers, not by artists or historians.