Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series [Blu-Ray]

Cast: Tom Bosley, Joan Gerber, Jack Burns (VOICES)

Release Date: January 28, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 6/10

Synopsis:

The Age of Aquarius dawned. Harry Boyle forgot to set his alarm. Inspired by the era of live-action TV series such as All in The Family comes the Hanna-Barbera generation-gap animated comedy Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. Tom Bosley provides the voice of Harry, an affable 40-something Everyman and suburban father of three whose daily routine is anything but when he faces the provocative questions of the make-love-not-war era. Women’s Lib, civil rights, hippies, sexuality, communes and the Cold War are some of the hot button petals in this series’ flower-powered laugh-fest. They’re all part of Harry’s world, where a man’s home is his hassle. This complete series set of two seasons and 48 episodes, is highlighted by guest voice appearances from Monty Hall, Don Knotts, Phyllis Diller and Rich Little.

‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’ follows the lives of the average American family The Boyles as they attempt to navigate an ever-changing world in the 1970’s. The Boyle family includes father and head of the household Harry and mother Irma, along with their oldest son Chet, youngest son Jamie and their daughter Alice; not to mention their loyal dog Julius. The series follows the various family members as they deal with everyday occurrences and changes in the world and their personal lives, as well as the various happenings in the neighborhood, often instigated by their racist and invasion-fearing neighbor Ralph and his incompetent band of local vigilantes.

‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’ originally made its television debut in the fall of 1972 and ran for three seasons until the fall of 1974 (technically produced as two seasons, yet with a few episodes airing as a shortened third season). The series bravely tackled countless social issues that were prominent in the era that it aired and while many of them may be less relevant or come off as far more racist in today’s environment there’s still a refreshingly honest and down to earth vibe that helps the animated series feel real, not to mention allowing it to fit in nicely with many of the notable sitcoms of the time. The series also stands out for the beautiful manner in which it showcases the love and care that the family members have for one another as it very much champions the importance and reward of family. The animation is simplistic which at first can be slightly jarring, yet it quickly proves to be another helpful element of the show that works splendidly with its tone and vibe as a whole.

Even as someone that’s a massive Hanna-Barbera fan and have been the majority of my life, ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’ is a very different type of show for the animation company and one that I was surprisingly unfamiliar with prior to reviewing this Blu-ray release, but once you get a few episodes in and adapt to its unique style, tone and look it’s hard not to appreciate it for what it offers, and something quite uncommon in 1972 to say the least. Perhaps one of the more noteworthy elements of the series (at least in retrospect) is Tom Bosley who provides the voice of head of the family Harry Boyle, an actor likely more known to most as Howard Cunningham on ‘Happy Days’ which kicked off right around the time that this animated sitcom concluded its run.

‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’ comes to your home on Blu-ray in its entirety for the first time courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection. The 6-disc Blu-ray release of ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series’ features all 48 episodes of the animated sitcom looking and sounding pretty spectacular as a whole and even with a few issues present on the release (some of which were understandably unavoidable) it’s a real treat to see the entire animated series collected on Blu-ray at all. The entirety of season one’s episodes look magnificent and shine at every turn, while some of the second season’s episodes are slightly less consistent due to the sources for most being 35mm while a handful from season two are reportedly sourced from 16mm. The biggest differences in the episode quality for season two are the fact that some episodes are notably grainy and a bit noisier in their appearance, while a few others are almost overly polished to a point that removes the grain and gives a more modern look.

One curious thing I noticed about the Blu-ray release is that there a handful of episodes in the second season that don’t include a laugh track while the majority of episodes do. Some fans may also be disappointed to discover that the archival Featurettes listed on the rear of the case are curiously absent, although that was a mistake on the manufacturing end and word is that a disc replacement program is in the works to correct that glitch. Altogether, this release is still something truly special and fans of the classic animated sitcom should be truly thrilled to see the series on Blu-ray in its entirety and looking and sounding pretty impressive as a whole. If you haven’t yet picked up your copy but are considering a purchase, then this one is certainly recommended.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation on all 48 episodes of the series with the show’s original 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentations look pretty spectacular for the most part, especially the entire first season and much of the second, although the second season’s quality does shift on an episode by episode basis with a few episodes appearing overly grainy and somewhat more noisy with a drop in clarity (see screencap 6 below for a good example) while a few are almost excessively polished and a bit too sharp. The majority of episodes provide clean, sharp and nicely detailed presentations that look better than most fans ever imagined they could, complete with a nice grain structure that retains their original filmic appearance. Overall, these are mostly great high definition presentations and while a few look less marvelous than others, fans should still be utterly thrilled to see them all collected in one place at last and looking as good as they do.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release includes a 2.0 dual mono DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 48 episodes of the animated series. These dual mono DTS-HD MA soundtracks are quite capable in their own right and each deliver clean, crisp and nicely balanced audio presentations that hold up surprisingly well altogether. They adequately juggle the various audio elements within and keep all of the dialogue, music and other effects sounding generally clean and sharp, while never resulting in any simultaneously occurring elements negatively affecting or clashing with one another along the way; with the dialogue and other content sounding consistently sharp and fully audible. Overall, these are solid 2.0 DTS-HD MA soundtracks that do their job well and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series’ lists the inclusion of a couple Featurettes which are noted on the rear of the case, although they are mysteriously absent from the release in reality. A replacement program is reportedly in the works but nothing has been officially revealed as of yet. We’ll be sure to update the review when more information is available.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 6/10

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‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection

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You can Purchase ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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