Product Description

Love, American Style was an hour-long television anthology which originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974. For the 1971 and 1972 seasons it was a part of an ABC Friday prime-time lineup that also included Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and The Odd Couple. Each week, the show featured different stories of romance, usually with a comedic spin. All episodes were unrelated, featuring different characters, stories and locations. The show often featured the same actors playing different characters in many episodes. In addition a large and ornate brass bed was a recurring prop in many episodes. Charles Fox's delicate yet hip music score, featuring flutes, harp, and flugelhorn set to a contemporary pop beat, provided the "love" ambiance which tied the stories together as a multifaceted romantic comedy each week.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12728 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-11-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .55 pounds

Amazon.com
No "I Love the '70s" party will be complete without this blast from the groovy past, when women were "chicks," beaded door curtains were cool, and Carl Betz got top billing over Harrison Ford. Love American Style was an anthology series of comedic playlets about modern love, some sweet (two shy ventriloquists let their dummies do the talking in "Love and the Dummies"), some silly (a greeting-card writer's romance is threatened by his penchant for practical jokes in "Love and the Joker"), and some mildly risqué (In "Love and a Couple of Couples," a man regards his ex-wife's posterior as she asks of their former marital bed, "Is it still firm?"). A more apt title for this series could be, "Comedy, Neil Simon-style." One of the more interesting segments is "Love and the Good Deal," co-written by Garry Marshall, and which plays like a deleted act from Barefoot in the Park in which newlyweds Paul and Corie look for a new bed for their cramped apartment.

Love American Style debuted in 1969, a year in which the networks started to reach out to "modern people living in a modern world" with shows such as Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Mod Squad, and The Music Scene (which anticipated Saturday Night Live with its mix of satirical sketches and contemporary music). Love American Style was hip enough to feature a story called "Love and the Pill" and to refer to Philip Roth's novel Goodbye, Columbus. But traditional values invariably triumphed. In "Pill," a young man tells his girlfriend's overwrought parents that they have abstained from you-know. "That's the way we happen to feel about it," he reassures them. But what we truly love about American Style are the casts. You'd have to sail The Love Boat or visit Fantasy Island to find such a stellar gathering of Hollywood greats, comic legends, TV Land faves, future stars, and unsung character actors with the indelible and unforgettable faces. To name a few: Bill Bixby, Sid Caesar, Hans "Uncle Tonoose" Conreid, Broderick Crawford, Dwayne "Dobie Gillis" Hickman, David Ketchum (Agent 13 on Get Smart), Shari Lewis, Regis Philbin, Connie Stevens, Larry Storch, Paul "Tigger" Winchell, Joe Flynn and Carl Ballentine from McHale's Navy, and Mr. Ford, who shows up as Roger, the boyfriend, in "Love and the Former Marriage." Stuart Margolin (The Rockford Files) is the most recognizable face of the show's stock company who appear in Laugh-In-style blackouts that link the stories. These are hit and miss, but some are blink-twice bizarre, as the one in which a black man reassures his reluctant fiancée, "Okay, we'll raise the kids Jewish." So cue the Cowsills ("Love American Style/Truer than the red, white and blue….") and ignite the fireworks. It's dated, yes, but Love will never go out of style. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

The Next Best Thing To The Love Boat!
"Love American Style" (1969-1974), best known for its classic theme song and for airing the pilot (Season Three segment "Love and the Happy Days") that ultimately launched the hit series Happy Days, was a comedy anthology series about love and romance (a rarity) featuring a combo of guest stars in comedy vignettes. A product of its time, "Love American Style" looked naughty on the outside, but was actually a humorous yet quaint look at the rituals of dating and mating. Though ABC revived the series [as "New Love American Style"] in 1985, only The Love Boat (1977-1986) was successful in following the format of the original classic series which after decades since its debut finally comes to DVD! Love American Style - Season One, Volume One is a 3-disc (619 min.) set featuring all 37 segments from the show's first 12 [of 24] hour-long Season One episodes; Full Frame (1.33:1) video. Here is a list of the segments contained in this volume, plus original airdates:

1. Love and the Pill (9/29/1969)
2. Love and the Hustler (9/29/1969)
3. Love and a Couple of Couples (9/29/1969)
4. Love and the Joker (10/6/1969)
5. Love and the Letter (10/6/1969)
6. Love and the Living Doll (10/6/1969)
7. Love and the Unlikely Couple (10/6/1969)
8. Love and the Phone Booth (10/13/1969)
9. Love and the Doorknob (10/13/1969)
10. Love and the Militant (10/20/1969)
11. Love and the Legal Agreement (10/20/1969)
12. Love and Who? (10/20/1969)
13. Love and the Single Couple (10/27/1969)
14. Love and the Phonies (10/27/1969)
15. Love and the Modern Wife (10/27/1969)
16. Love and the Busy Husband (11/3/1969)
17. Love and the Watchdog (11/3/1969)
18. Love and the Dating Computer (11/3/1969)
19. Love and Take Me Along (11/10/1969)
20. Love and the Geisha (11/10/1969)
21. Love and the Advice Givers (11/10/1969)
22. Love and the Roommate (11/17/1969)
23. Love and the Burglar (11/17/1969)
24. Love and the Wild Party (11/17/1969)
25. Love and the Big Leap (11/24/1969)
26. Love and the Former Marriage (11/24/1969)
27. Love and the Good Deal (11/24/1969)
28. Love and the Shower (12/1/1969)
29. Love and Mother (12/1/1969)
30. Love and the Athlete (12/1/1969)
31. Love and the Dummies (12/1/1969)
32. Love and the Comedy Team (12/8/1969)
33. Love and the Mountain Cabin (12/8/1969)
34. Love and the Divorce Sale (12/8/1969)
35. Love and the Bachelor (12/22/1969)
36. Love and the Positive Man (12/22/1969)
37. Love and the Other Love (12/22/1969)


First Fantasy Island, and now Love American Style followed by The Love Boat.
Bring on Hotel!

Release full seasons as one....
I really wanted to buy this when i heard it was being released but then i found out that that they are breaking one season into two separate sets. I see that as a way to just charge more money. I know there were 24 hour long episodes but so what? They release other dramas with 24 or more episodes in one set. My favorite stars are also in volume 2 (if that is ever released) such as Bob Denver, Vivian Vance, Joan Van Ark, and Jim Backus. I will wait for season 2. I do remember the show being a lot of fun and i would buy if it was one full set.

Splitting seasons into two volumes is a VERY bad idea!
Great series. Bad idea to release the seasons split into two volumes.

The studio will find out the hard way that splitting a season into two volumes will cause them to LOSE money in the end, not make more. Many will not purchase HALF a season unless the price is VERY reasonable, which it isn't in this case. Also, when a title is overpriced, you can expect to see more "used" sets for sale than normal (at lower prices). Every time a title is sold "used", the studio loses more money.

In the end, they will make fans angry for having to pay extra (The total price for a complete two volume season) and also for having to wait (for the release of the second volume). We already have to wait long enough, in most cases, for follow-up SEASONS (sometimes years), and now they are making us wait for the second half of a SINGLE season.

Pathetic marketing technique that will make fans angry and lose money for the studio.

Don't believe any comments about "keeping costs down". It's all about keeping profits UP and consumers dangling at the end of a line.

I say, keep consumers HAPPY, by releasing full seasons at reasonable prices, and you'll make the most profits. No need for silly games.

JM