Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated - The Naughty Early Years, Set One (1969-1971)

Rating:
Summary: FINALLY BENNY THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE!!!
Review: As a longtime fan of The Benny Hill Show and author of a book about Benny called "Benny Hill, This Life of Laughter" currently in production. I can happily say the A&E new DVD release of Benny Hill Naughty Years set one..is fantastic. The transfers are clean and fantastic. It the way Benny should be seen. Naturally the way Ron Gold and DL Tafner brought Benny to America was indeed the right way by giving us the half hour edited down versions for speed and removing the regional jokes and musical numbers...but NOW after 20 years since Benny burst on the American tv scene, this is what hardcore Hill fans have been waiting for. The complete unedited hour long shows. They attention to detail is terrific. Let's hope that A&E means it when they say "Set one" and look for many more sets to follow. I know the fans will not be disapointed in this at all, not like the lukewarm Golden great series. These deliver, nicely package. I have been watching mine since yesterday!

Definatley worth the full price!

Thomas Amo

Rating:
Summary: British brilliance
Review: But he transcends the Euro-feel. He is truly the master of laughter. And I mean gut-wrenching laughter. I first saw Benny (Alfie) Hill in the early eighties syndicated in the U.S.

I often wondered why he was'nt as popular as Monty Python in the states. It's because the shows were edited to 1/2 hours...stripping nearly 1/2 the content.

As I watch the shows now, as they were meant, a clear narrative comes through. Take the amazing "European Song Contest" where he plays about 10 characters. Or the hilarious "Wrestler" sequence.

Yes, there are some anomolies as previously stated but they are of very short duration...certainly bearable.

Rating:
Summary: Comic genius, but some sketches flat.
Review: I bought this DVD set having not seen Benny Hill since the eighties. I remembered the sexual humor (maybe I should say "humour" in honour of the British), but I had forgotten how much of a comic genius Mr. Hill really was. I actually got the biggest laughs from some of his non-sexual skits, like the "European Song Contest." One scene in which Hill plays an amateur interviewer talking to a guest who barely says a word had me laughing out loud. Hill was also quite talented in making use of music in his sketches. Not just his comic ditties, but his ability to play with music and sound is brilliant.
It's also nice to see some of the musical numbers, including two Spanish groups that you've probably never heard of and will never hear anywhere else. The Ladybirds, Hill's female in-house musical trio, are as fun to watch as they are to hear. They're such nice change from the female singers you see today--huge glossy smiles, usually well-dressed, almost always shot in stationary poses, seldom moving. (Side note: I wonder if the girl who always wears dark glasses is blind? Could explain why you never see the group walking on or off stage.)
Despite my respect for Mr. Hill, like any comedy series, this one is really hit or miss. A number of the sketches fall flat. Nearly every show features an interview with his character Mr. Scuttle, which Hill himself finds so hilarious he often laughs at his own jokes. I never found Scuttle funny, and thought the character got tiresome. (The great thing about Monty Python was that they almost never repeated a single character over and over. SNL does this. I mean, how many times could the "Church Lady" say "maybe it was Satan?" and people still find it funny?!) A couple of bits contain either topical humor that is not relevant today, or may only be comprehensible to the British. And, he did a few scenes in such a thick accent that I'm not sure many Americans could understand him.
Still, overall, I'd recommend this DVD set.

Rating:
Summary: About time!!
Review: I'm so pleased to see this set come out. I was so tired of all the lame best of discs that came out. I did notice a few transfer flaws as mentioned by others. The yellow band and some audio drops and wobbles. Also did anyone notice a little white box in the upper corners on a few episodes? I'm still happy with the set and cant wait for the rest!!

Rating:
Summary: For hardcore Benny Hill fans...
Review: It should probably get five stars for allowing us to view the original programs, but this collection is a bit disappointing in that there are flaws (that white box in the upper left corner, some specks looking like water droplets, etc.). Hardcore fans will want this to add to their set, and I look forward to the remainder of the collections. You will see some B&W versions of skits later broadcast in color (but I did not time them to see if the color ones are edited). Benny Hill was a comic genius and he is listed as the only writer which is a tribute to his vast range. If you are not a hardcore fan, you will probably be satisfied with the 'Golden' series, which contain just the skits. If you are a fan of Benny Hill, then this set has the shows as they were presented in England. I am basing the three star rating on value to the ordinary Benny Hill fan. As a comic, Benny Hill is clearly five stars.

Rating:
Summary: 'Golden Era Of Benny Hill!'
Review: The A&E Collection Of 'Benny Hill Complete And Unadulterated - The Naughty Early Years, Set One (1969 - 1971) is an absolute treasure to fans of this beloved, chubby, moon-faced comedian!

These are the very first episodes American TV audiences viewed of Benny Hill, when he was at the peak of his comic genius. Benny Hill is young, surprisingly slender in these shows and full of vitality, and energy missing from his twilight shows some twenty years later.

Here we can see the entire 'Benny Hill Show' special as it appeared on Thames Television in Great Britain, completely unedited. The shows boast first-rate musical numbers usually performed by Benny's in-house quartet of female singers, the Ladybirds, and Hill's brilliant comedy. American viewers will recognize some of the sketches, but be astonished as to how much material was edited out for American syndication, primarily for time considerations.

I always loved the delightful, and hilarious sketch, 'The European Song Of The Year Contest', which is in the very first special of the 11 included on this three-disc set. Here the sketch has several more contestants added, and a finale that was always deleted from the USA version. Even the order of the scenes in the sketches was juggled by the American editor! There are really only a few moments where a skit or gag was dropped because of raciness or poor taste.

There are also three black & white specials included on this set that were never broadcast in any form to American television, as USA audiences are generally loathe to watch anything not in color!

What is also remarkable about these broadcasts is that the beautiful women on the show clearly take a backseat to comedy and music! There are still no "Hill's Angels" as of yet, just lovely ladies appearing in the hilarious comedy skits.

This is the very best of Benny Hill, and the sharp clear copies of his shows, are truly 'old gold' to fans of the great comedian!




Rating:
Summary: Great stuff
Review: The cost of this set is some of the best money I've spent recently. It's wonderful to see these shows in their original format, with lots of material that was never spliced into the US half-hour shows. For example, the first episode has a brilliant sendup of the Eurovision song contest which I don't recall having seen before - they probably left it off the US shows thinking that we wouldn't get the joke.

Also, most of the songs and recitations from the hilarious "Words and Music" LP are featured in these shows, including Benny's only hit single, "Ernie," which debuted on one of the black and white episodes.

Fans of the great BBC radio game show "Just a Minute" will be interested that chairman Nicholas Parsons appears as Benny's straight man in the early shows- the role later taken over by Henry McGee.

I'm putting in my order now for volume two.

Rating:
Summary: not such a great transfer after all
Review: The show does look better than it should (after all these years) but, after watching just the first episode, there are clearly some flaws. Sound goes in and out on a couple of sketches and there are some weird visual hits such as, in one instance, a yellow band across the screen. This shouldn't put fans off - or even casual buyers - but be warned it's not as perfect as some would say. The content is, of course though, pure classic Hill, so ultimately you do get what you pay for!

Rating:
Summary: A great collection for a Benny Hill fan! :)
Review: Wow!

This is a great package that shows the Benny Hill Shows in their original format with the neat bonus of 3 b/w episodes that contains some of his best work. It's a real treat to see these 11 shows as well as sketches never seen on American TV. The picture quality is beautiful as one would expect from DVDs and worth it.

Concerning the yellow band across the screen mentioned in the review below by Halo Jones- it's not a flaw at all in the DVD process since that was also present in his show when it aired on television. I always thought it was to try to make the effect of Henry McGee's face of him "glowing". I might be wrong, but with Benny Hill being a master in visual gigs I just always thought that was why that "weird visual hit" occurred. :) In that time, he was experimenting with visual gigs and in today's standard it might be weird, but in that time it was a big thing.

I really hope more sets are released from "The Benny Hill Show"! :)