Saturday, September 23, 2006
Mini-DVD Reviews: The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest and The Benny Hill Show Set 5 (Sept. 26)
The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest (Universal, $19.98) brings the classic TV series as feature movies. America's first family of fright make their way to DVD in this very special release. Following their highly popular TV series (which is still going strong in reruns on cable -- TV Land), original cast members Fred Gwynne (Herman), Yvonne DeCarlo (Lily) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) reunited in two movies -- giving us the Munsters as they were never before seen -- in color! In 1966's "Munster, Go Home!" (1 hr. 37 mins), Herman moves the family to an English estate he inherited. Starring in this are Gwynne, DeCarlo, Lewis and original cast member Butch Patrick (Eddie). Red-headed Debbie Watson portrays Marilyn. Guest stars include Bernard Fox ("Bewitched") and Richard Dawson ("Hogan's Heroes"). In 1981's "The Munsters Revenge" (1 hr. 37 mins), Sid Caesar stars as Dr. Diablo, who concots a plan to create robot "Munsters" to pull off a series of art heists. Starring in this are Gwynne, DeCarlo and Lewis. KC Martell portrays Eddie while Marilyn is recast again, this time with blonde Jo McDonnell. The cover art is neat in that the case is like a regular movie release case (a snap-case), but the cover you can slide off. The cover is a spider web that covers the main box. On the main cover is the original cast (Gwynne, DeCarlo, Lewis and Patrick) along with Debbie Watson (Marilyn in "Munster, Go Home!"), who's now blonde! The menu is simple. It features a spider-web and the two movies are listed that you can pick from. Both selections take you to a sub-menu that allows you to choose English or Spanish subtitles. Closed captioning is available.
The video is presented in both Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) or Full Frame (1.33:1) -- and in color (although personally, I turned the color all the way to black and white -- it really brings back the feel of the show doing so). To get the movies in wide-screen, you're TV should already either be wide-screen or you might have a menu selection that allows you to pick wide-screen. I did and it does make the movie wide-screen. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono. And on a side-note, the movies are clearly remastered. The color is vibrant and dust and debris free. There are chapter skips available during the movies so you can jump around to different parts.
So in closing, I was very happy to get both of these on DVD; they are a must have for any Munsters fan! It's nice both movies are on the same disc. No special features are included but regardless of that, these movies haven't been in print for a while (although I did find both in a cheap bin at Best Buy a few years prior) so you should definitely shell out the 20 bucks to get these -- two movies for the price of one. You can't beat that!
-- Reviewed by Shawn Eaton
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The Benny Hill Show, Complete And Unadulterated: The Hill's Angels Years - Set 5 (A&E, $49.95) brings the next 9 episodes from the classic British series to DVD. This set is available on a three-disc set that contains 9 classic hours from 1982-1985. Hill's Angels join the cast and my they are so good. Benny got even naughtier when they arrived! Each episode runs about 50-52 minutes. Packaging is very similar to the first four sets. The set even has special features. "Hill's Angels Off the Record" runs 11:56 and is produced by A&E and has interviews with some of the Hill's Angels--they share a lot and it is very interesting to watch. Then there is the little trivia game you can play titled "The Benny Hill Cheeky Challenge Trivia Quiz #5." The menu screen has video clips to start off then the main menu comes, and the art is like the cover art. Episode numbers are on each main menu then when selected, you get to a skit selection screen, or you can just play the episode straight through. Chapter skips are also there, if you need them. Now, if my calculations are correct, we should have one more final set with about 8 episodes. Let's hope we get those episodes very soon on DVD. I liked Benny Hill even better in the 1980s years, so I'm sure many others do, too, and this DVD is great to watch because you'll die of laughing. Don't show this to little kids, because Benny is very naughty!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Benny Hill Show TV.com Page
Stay tuned tomorrow for our first week ratings blog for the 2006-07 season and on Monday a review for the new sitcom Help Me Help You, premiering this Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Saturday, December 9
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 4)
Friday, December 8
- Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- John Caponera (The Good Life) - John is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Robert Smigel (Let's Be Real) - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog aka Robert Smigel chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Noah Galvin (The Real O'Neals) and Molly Gordon (Ramy) - Noah and Molly talk about Theater Camp on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Eric Stonestreet (The Santa Clauses/Modern Family) - Eric talks about The Santa Clauses on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan sits down with Sherri to talk about his new book, When I Was Your Age, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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