The Abbott & Costello Show, Vol. 1 (1952-53)

Rating:
Summary: An opportunity lost
Review: A&C's classic "Who's On First" routine and Sid Fields' brilliance earn most of the four stars I've given volume 1. However, it's a shame the greedy distributers have shafted A&C fans by: 1)Including only four episodes per disc when DVD's bandwidth provides room for at least seven. Thus the entire series could have fit on eight DVDs with considerable room left for extras. 2)Every A&C fan I've ever met considers the 1952 first season vastly superior to the disappointing 1953 second season. As is done routinely with TV series, the two seasons should have been issued separately on four discs each. That would, of course, have greatly diminished the producers' profits as second season sales would have been relatively meager. A&C fans be damned! 3)The outrageously high price compared to other popular TV series. The 13 volumes cost nearly $200 even after allowing for discounts offered by online sellers or retailers. Two seasons of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" sells for about half that. Also, sellers like deepdiscountdvd.com offer much lower discounts on A&C discs than is their norm, which leads me to believe that the producers have set an unusually high wholesale price, which would preclude sellers from offering the usual discounts. Ironically, the producers' greed has probably cut their profits while concommitently denying many young people a chance to view A&C's brilliance. When browsing for DVDs I often see potential customers pick up A&C discs, visibly recoil when they see the prices, and quickly replace them in their bins. Had the series producers offered the 1st and 2nd seasons separately, on fewer discs, and at more reasonable prices, I believe the set would have sold untold thousands more copies. Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Sid Fields, Joe Kirk, Hillary Brooke, Gordon Jones, Joe Besser, et al, all gone, deserved better.

Rating:
Summary: ONLY a 4 show-DVD---like the identical 13 tapes(* * * * )?
Review: The 52 Abbott & Costello TV episodes are a rarity. Must be: with only 4 of them to a DVD that'd easily hold six or seven. These are lovingly-transfered from the original 35mm masters owned by Lou's daughter-- Chris Costello, authoress of the excellent book "LOU'S ON FIRST!". In the "olden days" [before VHS], Bud and Lou insisted upon owning the "home-theatrical rights" of their 36 movies, and 52 TV shows on ACTUAL film. MOST television programs from the 1950s no longer even exist beause filming broadcasts was quite expensive...I LOVE LUCY comes to mind as another survivor (who knew the reruns would build Desi & Lucy-- DesiLu-- their own studios with the first TV program to use multiple cameras? In the early 1940s, when the Abbott & Costello COULD've owned Univeral Studios, outright-- and DID save them from bankruptsy-- one of the biggies in their contracts was "home movie rights". Bud and Lou were competative, and enjoyed watching 16mm films, at liesure, IN their own home-screening rooms at a time when watching movies at home wasn't possible to the average "Joe" who probably didn't even own a television yet...or a horse, a pool, restaurants, a nice car. The comedy team, even in their advancing years, really WERE "the boys!" Everyone knows that "Boys like toys." Good enough reason that ALL of these programs-- like Bud and Lou-- STILL survive. In many cases, these, almost plot-less excuses for repeating "old chestnuts" are the ONLY surviving representations of famous vaudeville skits honed and sharpened by A & C-- also my favorite VITAMINS. (My review COULD have rated a "5" if there were five episodes on this DVD-- a "6" if there were six.) => YOU do the math. <= 13 DVDs or 13 VHS tapes!? The only way I'd replace my VHS tapes is if there were LESS "little-video-boxes" to fall off my fairly-full video shelves. The covers on the DVD and VHS tape of "#1 of 13" are identical, and I doubt the DVD-transfer is more pristine than the EXCELLENT tapes in the series. ATTENTION: I do NOT own the DVD-- this review is based on the VHS copy of the same program material. Buy it. WHICH version is up to your wallet-- and shelf!

Rating:
Summary: ONLY a 4 show-DVD---like the identical 13 tapes(* * * * )?
Review: The 52 Abbott & Costello TV episodes are a rarity. Must be: with only 4 of them to a DVD that'd easily hold six or seven. These are lovingly-transfered from the original 35mm masters owned by Lou's daughter-- Chris Costello, authoress of the excellent book "LOU'S ON FIRST!". In the "olden days" [before VHS], Bud and Lou insisted upon owning the "home-theatrical rights" of their 36 movies, and 52 TV shows on ACTUAL film. MOST television programs from the 1950s no longer even exist beause filming broadcasts was quite expensive...I LOVE LUCY comes to mind as another survivor (who knew the reruns would build Desi & Lucy-- DesiLu-- their own studios with the first TV program to use multiple cameras? In the early 1940s, when the Abbott & Costello COULD've owned Univeral Studios, outright-- and DID save them from bankruptsy-- one of the biggies in their contracts was "home movie rights". Bud and Lou were competative, and enjoyed watching 16mm films, at liesure, IN their own home-screening rooms at a time when watching movies at home wasn't possible to the average "Joe" who probably didn't even own a television yet...or a horse, a pool, restaurants, a nice car. The comedy team, even in their advancing years, really WERE "the boys!" Everyone knows that "Boys like toys." Good enough reason that ALL of these programs-- like Bud and Lou-- STILL survive. In many cases, these, almost plot-less <read SIENFIELD here> excuses for repeating "old chestnuts" are the ONLY surviving representations of famous vaudeville skits honed and sharpened by A & C-- also my favorite VITAMINS. (My review COULD have rated a "5" if there were five episodes on this DVD-- a "6" if there were six.) => YOU do the math. <= 13 DVDs or 13 VHS tapes!? The only way I'd replace my VHS tapes is if there were LESS "little-video-boxes" to fall off my fairly-full video shelves. The covers on the DVD and VHS tape of "#1 of 13" are identical, and I doubt the DVD-transfer is more pristine than the EXCELLENT tapes in the series. ATTENTION: I do NOT own the DVD-- this review is based on the VHS copy of the same program material. Buy it. WHICH version is up to your wallet-- and shelf!

Rating:
Summary: The routines are still as fresh as ever in great DVD quality
Review: Watching this DVD video is like sitting in front of your television in the 50s. No difference. The routines are as fresh as ever and the DVD quality gives it that first run appearance.

I can't wait to buy volume two of this series. This series is a must have for any Abbott and Costello fan and DVD enthusiast. What a great combination!

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