Hazel: The Complete Third Season

So here I am once again singing the praises of Shout Factory--and for good reason. They've managed to do in three months what Sony could not do in nearly six years--release two consecutive seasons of "Hazel" on DVD.

Obviously there IS a market for this 50-year-old TV show when Season 3 is announced weeks before Season 2 hits stores.

Here are the 32 episodes included on this set:

Pot Luck A La Mode (9/19/1963)
An Example For Hazel (9/26/1963)
Dorothy Takes A Trip (10/3/1963)
You Ain't Fully Dressed Without A Smile (10/10/1963)
Cheerin' Up Mr. B. (10/17/1963)
Piccolo Mondo (10/24/1963)
Hazel Scores A Touchdown (10/31/1963) Alan Hale guest stars.
George's 32nd Cousin (11/7/1963) Diane Ladd guest stars.
The Baby Came C. O. D. (11/14/1963) James Stacy guest stars.
All Hazel Is Divided Into Three Parts (11/21/1963)
The Vanishing Hero (11/28/1963)
Call Me Harve (12/5/1963) Ann Jillian guest stars.
The Retiring Milkman (12/12/1963) Sterling Holloway guest stars.
Hazel's Nest Egg (12/19/1963)
Hazel And The Halfback (12/26/1963) Frank Gifford guest stars.
Hazel And The Model T (1/2/1964)
Hot Potato A La Hazel (1/9/1964)
Scheherezade And Her Frying Pan - Part 1 (1/16/1964)
Scheherezade And Her Frying Pan - Part 2 (1/23/1964)
The Fashion Show (1/30/1964)
George's Ordeal (2/6/1964)
The Reluctant Witness (2/13/1964) Mabel Albertson guest stars.
Democracy At Work (2/20/1964)
The Countess (2/27/1964)
Hazel's Midas Touch (3/5/1964)
Everybody's A Comediene (3/12/1964)
All Mixed Up (3/19/1964)
Arrivederci, Mr. B. (3/26/1964) Luciana Paluzzi guest stars.
Such A Nice Little Man (4/2/1964)
Campaign Manager (4/9/1964) Harold Gould guest stars.
Let's Get Away From It All (4/16/1964) Jamie Farr guest stars.
Maid For A Day (4/23/1964) Harvey Korman guest stars.

As with Season Two, the print quality varies with less-than-perfect video on some and excellent picture quality on others, but this time Shout gives consumers a heads-up as the back cover states "Episodes were mastered from the best available video sources". Also, one episode titled "The Campaign Manager" on Disc Four is the syndicated cut version which only runs 22 minutes. These factors are what prevent this from being a Five-Star release IMO.

The Season-premiere features a different opening with the cast preparing for Hazel to take a family portrait; the last episode of the season features yet another alternate opening with Harold pretending to be a toll-booth operator as Hazel is seated in a bright-red Ford convertible. The remainder of the episodes feature the opening with everyone piling into the car with Hazel smiling behind the wheel. Purists will be glad to know the original Screen Gems "dancing sticks" logo appears at the end of the closing credits.

At this rate, we may see the remaining two seasons out by the end of 2012 or early 2013. I certainly hope so, while Season 5 wasn't the best, it features a teenage Ann Jillian as a semi-regular and I rarely saw many of those episodes in syndication. Bring on Season Four!

Shout Factory is my number 1 favourite studio releaser of TVdvds....because they have a track record of issuing ALL the seasons of a TV series. They also often kick out their releases very fast. I hope we can have seasons 4 and 5 of Hazel by Christmas 2012. Anyways, I have my preorder in for Hazel season 3!

Thanks again to Shout! Factory's Brian Blum and Brian Ward for listening to their customers. They know there is a big market for great old shows like Hazel and we can thank them for being diligent enough to get these shows produced to DVD. I've purchased many Shout! Factory DVD releases and they are all of very good quality. Can't wait for season 3 to hit the stores!