American Dreams - Season 1 (DVD, 2004, 7-Disc Set)

"American Dreams" is a period drama set in 1963-64 Philadelphia, and chronicles the lives of the Pryors, an Irish Catholic working-class family. While the initial focus is on the Pryors' eldest daughter Meg and her desire to dance on American Bandstand, the show eventually follows the lives of the Pryors and their friends and associates, as they all travel through the turbulent period of the mid-1960's.

"American Dreams" ran for three seasons on Sunday nights on NBC, and this first DVD chronicles the show's first season, running from a time period of November 1963 (just before the assassination fo John F. Kennedy) to June 1964 (the Philadelphia race riots). While the show does try to achieve a sense of reality with references to pop culture icons and mnemonics of the time, and tries to create a broad story that spans several years in the making, it tends to get bogged down in sentimentality and wistfulness, which are compounded by the show's notable historical inaccuracies in an attempt to redirect the show's plotlines (i.e., American Bandstand had already left Philadelphia in early 1964; however, on "American Dreams" the show remained in Philadelphia at least until the series conclusion).

One of the notable recurring gimmicks of the show involves contemporary artists singing songs of the 1960's - in essence, recreating the performances of the top pop idols of the past. This DVD features such performers as Michelle Branch (Lesley Gore), Vanessa Carlton (Dusty Springfield), Usher (Marvin Gaye), Wayne Brady (Jackie Wilson), and Nick Carter ("Jay" - either Traynor or Black, they're not specific - of Jay and the Americans). While some of these performances are true to the character recreated - Usher does a mean impression of Marvin Gaye, for example - others are absolutely painful to watch - just because Vanessa Carlton puts on two coats of mascara doesn't make her sound anything like Dusty Springfield).

The DVD itself features a featurette by NBC newscaster Brian Williams, himself a fan of the show; it also contains various clips from the original American Bandstand, those in themselves are fun to watch. Two episodes feature commentaries by the actors, as well as from show producer Jonathan Prince and American Bandstand host Dick Clark.

On occasion, the program is a fine way to spend an hour - as long as you don't mind watching the equivalent of Dawson's Creek in period clothing.

This is my favorite show ever. I remember when my sister was watching it while it was on TV. She would stop everything she was doing Sunday night to watch it. She wanted me to get into it, but I would have been coming in on the 2nd season and would need to catch up. I would watch it later. I DID watch it starting a year and 1/2 ago.
I LOVED it and was able to discuss it with my sister finally. Unfortunately, the 2nd and 3rd seasons never came out on DVD and I was left hanging. My sister tried desperately to find them for me for Christmas that year, but was unable to. My sister passed away right after Christmas.
I continued my search for the show. Amber would have appreciated that. After about 9 months, I finally found someone online that had the episodes burned onto DVDs from when the show was on TV. I was able to complete watching the series my sister had originally recommended.
Not only do I like this show for the sentimental reasons, but also for the history lesson it teaches about the 60's. What a different era that was! I think my sister would have fit right in there and that is probably why she loved it so much.
I want my daughter to watch this series in a couple years. It teaches of President Kennedy's death and it's effect on the typical American family, American Bandstand, Martin Luther King, blacks just started to be accepted into society and the hardships they still faced, the riots in Pittsburgh, the Vietnam war, an age before a vaccination for polio, a time where a wife was expected to stay at home and be a homemaker, NOT educate herself, and the man was the breadwinner.....so much has changed. SUCH a great series.
I will have to admit that the ending was left unfinished. Unsatisfying. The show was cancelled due to lack of viewers. Why? Not enough violence and sex for them?
I wish I would have been able to show my support by watching it while it was on TV so that my person could have been counted as a devoted watcher. Maybe the show would have continued to a finish.
All in all.....STILL worth watching. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Great set. Loved the show. Wonderful music, writing and acting. This is one of the best TV shows on DVD. Waiting anxiously for the season two and season three DVDs.

I loved this show when it was on NBC and never bought the first season because it was at least $90 when it came out. I finally bought it on eBay for $20 and I am so glad I got such a great price. I never got to see the seasons after the first and would like to know what happened besides by word of mouth. NBC execs, put out the remaining seasons on DVD... we fans NEED them!! Easily one of my favorite shows and I would love to see the end... PS Why would the cancel such a great show. :(

So far we have only watched one disc but found the quality was excelent. The reason it was purchased was that we grew up during that period of time and found the story line was very representative of the feeling and atitudes that were prevalent then. We caught most of the shows on television but did miss some and the DVD gives us the opportunity to flow thru the story. I am looking forward to getting the next seasons when they are released. I would recomend this DVD set to any one that lived thru that time.