Rating: 
Summary: Good Set
Review: I love the Ed Sullivan Show, and these DVDs bring you the greatest rock acts of all time - all in one place! In this excellent 9-DVD package, you will find Elvis, the Beatles, the Doors, the Rolling Stones and many more. Yes, some songs repeat throughout the set, and yes, the discs are a little too short, but I'm willing to overlook that and enjoy my favorite rock acts again and again. Now it's your turn.
Rating: 
Summary: The Really Big Show Is A Really Big Disappointment!!
Review: I made a tremendous mistake thinking that I could trust Rhino. I've purchased many of their releases in the past and have almost always been quite happy with them. Their two Nuggets box sets are a joy. But this DVD box is just a plain mess and a total disappointment! If there are specific performances that you want, stick to the individual DVD's which are also being released separately. What's wrong with this? Geez, where to begin? First, the entire running length of this nine DVD series is less than nine hours, meaning the discs average less than one hour each. Thus, the entire set could easily have fit on four DVD's. The performances are arranged in a very clumsy way so that bands like The Beatles have their clips scattered across several DVD's. Liner notes are non-existent and the viewer must rely on between performance commentary to pick up info, which sometimes doesn't even include original airdates. And several perforances are repeated in the series, including The Jefferson Airplanes' "Crown of Creation" showing up twice on the same disc! What the hell is that all about?? There are other problems and little annoyances spread throughout, such as box set credits rolling two to three times on per DVD, Ed's endless signoffs and many truncated versions of songs. All in all, I can't remember being so disappointed with something that could have been so great. This set is a plain waste of money. Rhino should be ashamed for foisting this on the public. The ONLY reason that this set deserves one star is because much of the old footage is beautiful to watch and several of the performances are really good. But don't let that fool you into plunking down big bucks for this! It's a very poor value.
Rating:
Summary: Totally unacceptable. This is a HUGE disappointment
Review: I saw this coming a mile away ... I've seen those network "Ed Sullivan" retrospectives and have cringed all the way through as songs were cut in half (or worse). They are so carved up and edited down, it's really a shame. When I saw this set advertised, I was hoping that MAYBE, just maybe, the folks who run the Ed Sullivan estate and the company which puts his footage out had finally "got it." Oh, how wrong I was. Oh, yeah, there are about 144 performances, but not one song is complete. Adding insult to injury, each DVD runs a scant 60 mins. Meaning this 9 DVD set could easily have fit on 4 disks - and cost the consumer a lot less money. One day - hopefully in my lifetime - the powers that be will come to their senses and release "Ed Sullivan: The COMPLETE Beatles Performances" and a similar volume contining FULL LENGTH versions of the Doors, Rolling Stones, and other essential groups of the 60s. Until then, we will continue to get very little value for our money. This box set is a perfect example of consumers being taken. Don't you find it strange that the edited songs or 60 minute running time per disk are nowhere to be found in the official description of this item? I'd think that would be rather pertinent information. This is a set for casual TV viewers only. There are some historic moments... but for the price being charged, one would expect to see/hear the songs in their entirety. That's not too much to ask for, and once the word gets out about this set, should prove to be the "deal breaker."
Rating: 
Summary: This could have been ten times better...
Review: I'd seen the original Ed Sullivan Shows from the mid-60's to the end, the syndicated versions during the early 90's and the "Ed Sullivan Rock and Roll Classics" episodes on VH-1, so I was ready for a real treat. I wasn't sure what I was getting because the outside box gives very little information concerning any kind of track listing, something you'd expect for a 9-volume set, but I took a gamble anyway. Man was I shocked to find out that this is just a collection of the syndicated "Rock and Roll Classics" episodes, minus commercials. No DVD runs longer than 65 minutes, so I agree that the whole 9 DVD set (which runs less than 9 hours) could have fit on no more than 4 DVDs. There is also no reason why several identical performances are repeated. Each DVD has two or three episodes with the same repeated openings/closings, and all kind of really useless newsreel footage clogging up the set. The performances are sharp and sound crisp, and probably will be a lot of fun if you've never seen Sullivan's show or haven't seen it in a long while. There were so many performances that could have been included in this set from the Bee Gees "Words" to Ike and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" to Tiny Tim's fascinating rendition of "Earth Angel", but this skimpy, padded box set is just ... If you can rent this, or buy it used it's worth a peep, otherwise don't shell out big bucks for it
Rating: 
Summary: A DREAM COME TRUE! WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Review: If you grew up watching the Ed Sullivan Show like myself, I've been waiting for years for a compilation like this to come along. You'll savor the remixed 5.1 sound (also includes the original unenhanced soundtrack) and also the excellent digital video transfers. You've never seen the video clarity and sharpness of these performances until you have viewed these DVDs. In a rebuttal to a couple of the other reviews on this page, all of the performances are included in their entirety as they originally aired. These shows are from the original series that were aired on the VH1 cable TV network. Nothing has been cut from these shows, as far as I can tell. A couple songs were not performed in their entirety by the artists themselves, but that's how they were originally broadcasted. For example, on disc 1, Sonny & Cher sing "I Got You Babe", but watch Sonny Bono as he ends the song half way through (perhaps shortened to save time??; only Ed Sullivan or his producers would know why). On another song, the Mamas & the Papas sing "Monday, Monday", and the song seems to miss the last verse or two, but the group ended the song at that point, as was broadcast. All songs are complete as the artists chose to perform them on the show. As for the high price of the set, one must consider that for each and every song on this set, Rhino Video has to pay the producers of the program, who in turn had to pay copyright royalties to the owners of the Ed Sullivan Show; also, music royalties had to be paid for each and every song. And this adds up to be a lot when you've got mostly hit songs on this set. With 144 performances, you've got 144 different music publishing royalties and copyrights to pay. This is much different than simply releasing an entire season of a TV series (for example, a box set of "Friends", "The Sopranos", etc.), which is less costly to release because you don't have so many artist royalties and music publishing songwriter's royalties to pay as you do on the Sullivan set.
As for some artists not appearing on the set, for example, the Dave Clark Five, sometimes the owners of the Dave Clark Five's music publishing will not grant the rights for the clip to be used, or the cost was too high, or somehow the rights to include the clip couldn't be obtained from the copyright owners.
(A good example of this is the current DVD release of Elvis Presley's "Aloha From Hawaii" concert whereby three songs were deleted from that edition because music publishing clearance rights were up for renewal and an agreement couldn't be reached, so we, the public, are denied viewing these songs because of that legal technicality.) This is a dream set that's worth every penny for the excellent video and audio transfers to DVD and of course, all the hit songs included with complete Ed Sullivan introductions of the artists. Your eyes will pop out and you'll think to yourself, I never knew these performances could look and sound so great! Hopefully, there will be another box set forthcoming in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: In short, the value you get out of this box set is worth rubbish.
Each of the nine DVD's had only 60 minutes on each, which could of easily been cut down to 3 or 4 DVD's. In addition they cut down each song even though they are short enough in the full versions. I'm warning you: do not buy. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: You cannot please all of the people all of the time.
Review: Jeez! I cannot believe some of the overly negative and somewhat paranoid reviews of this amazing set.
I mean,where else can you get so many performances of artists from the 1960's in colour? The picture quality is very good and it's all beautifully packaged in a set looking like a 1960's TV with a 3-dimensional image on the front. The set also has comments and film throughout telling us about the history of the times as well as an interview with Ed Sullivan and his wife.
Now some fans may be disappointed for whatever reason,but for a few to give only one star to this magnificent set,with well over 100 performances by some of the world's best artists,is just over-reacting.
It has nine performaces by Elvis Presley plus many performances by artists such as The 4 Tops,The Supremes(6 performances),The Jackson 5,Stevie Wonder,James Brown,The Beatles(6 performances),The Rolling Stones,The Carpenters,Tom Jones,The Beach Boys,Hermans Hermits,The Association,The Animals,The Mamas and The Papas,Johny Rivers,The 4 Seasons,The Temptations(6 performances),The Rightous Brothers,Smoky Robinson and The Miracles,Jerry Lee Lewis,Buddy Holly,Lou Rawls,Sly And The Family Stone,Jackie Wilson,The 5th Dimension,Gerry And The Pacemakers,The Searchers,Fats Domino,Lulu,Sonny and Cher,Paul Anka,Marvin Gaye,Bo Diddley,The Doors,Jefferson Airplane,Creedence Clearwater Revival,Little Anthony and The Imperials,Bobby Darin Jannis Joplin,Santana and others.
And most of these performances are in colour and this is the only set to have this. The early performances by The Beatles and the 1950's artists are in black and white,but it is very rare to see so many of these artists in full colour.
So those few that are disappointed are entitled to their opinions,but I think that this set is fantastic. To counter one poster's comments,the Hullabaloo set is mostly black and white and has only a few colour performances as the rest of the colour versions were lost. The Ed Sullivan Box Set has many more performances in colour.
Rating:
Summary: A rare trip inside the Sullivan vaults
Review: Just to clear things up: This seems to be 24 half-hour (eg 23 minute) episodes of a TV series prepared for syndication (did it ever air?), showing highlights of the Sullivan show over the years. Each episode has a flashy title sequence, with narration and footage from the period or subject covered. Very VH-1 friendly, in my estimation. The song editing is frustrating, I admit, but skillfully done - in most cases you won't notice the missing verse if you're not listening carefully. And it's understandable - given that they're trying to squeeze all these songs in, together with intros and titles etc. Anyway, this represents a fine value, considering that Sullivan video just never gets released to the public. I doubt Rhino would have edited it all this way given the option, but I'm sure Andrew Solt Productions got a good deal on the footage, and sold the shows to Rhino "as is," so they couldn't really touch them. The mastering of these old clips is breathtaking, and the 5.1 mixes (just some reverb thrown on) keep things up to date. If your "purist" hat isn't glued on, take it off and get ready to be entertained. This is the kind of series that, after seeing a few minutes of it on TV, you'd be scrambling for a blank tape - and struggling (likely in vain) to get all 24 episodes. Here you get great sound and DVD-quality picture, without the hassle. And no commercials.
Rating:
Summary: buyer beware
Review: just wanted to chime in here and say that this box really is a tremendous [disappointment]. steer clear of it. as mentioned the performances are heavily edited. i thought the beatles had deliberately omitted the solo on "from me to you" until i looked at the same performance on the "first visit" dvd. there it was. total misrepresentation. really a disservice to the artists and to the consumer. if that's not enough the whole thing is ridiculously arranged with an annoying theme played throughout. and as everyone's mentioned you're paying for 9 discs when you should be paying for 4 or 5. by all means pass on this box.
Rating:
Summary: buyer beware
Review: just wanted to chime in here and say that this box really is a tremendous [disappointment]. steer clear of it. as mentioned the performances are heavily edited. i thought the beatles had deliberately omitted the solo on "from me to you" until i looked at the same performance on the "first visit" dvd. there it was. total misrepresentation. really a disservice to the artists and to the consumer. if that's not enough the whole thing is ridiculously arranged with an annoying theme played throughout. and as everyone's mentioned you're paying for 9 discs when you should be paying for 4 or 5. by all means pass on this box.
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