Saturday, December 13, 2008

Blog DVD Review: Mr. Bean - The Ultimate Collection (12/16)

Welcome to another edition of Blog DVD Reviews. This week we take a look at A&E Home Video's Mr. Bean - The Ultimate Collection. Mr. Bean is of course the hit British comedy that is known worldwide and has spawned two feature films and an animated series even. See my blog DVD review of Mr. Bean - The Ultimate Collection:

Mr. Bean - The Ultimate Collection (A&E, $69.95) brings us everything Mr. Bean! This is the ultimate fan collection, as we get every episode of the hit TV series, both feature films, the animated series and all the bonus features we have gotten in the past all in one complete collection!
Based on a character developed by Rowan Atkinson at university, the series followed the exploits of Mr. Bean, in solving various problems presented by everyday tasks and often causing disruption in the process. The series lasted five seasons in the United Kingdom and is one of the most famous British series known worldwide. Mr. Bean didn't as a regular series in the UK, it aired as a series of stand-along specials, lasting 14 episodes in five years.
Mr. Bean: The Movie is a 1997 feature film based on the television series Mr. Bean. It stars Rowan Atkinson, as Mr. Bean of course, and also Peter MacNicol. The movie was about Mr. Bean coming to America, as he conquers Los Angeles by storm.
The second feature film, Mr. Bean's Holiday, came out 10 years later in 2007. The film is about Bean taking a holiday to France.
And finally we get two volumes of the animated series. For some reason we are not getting all 26 episodes of the animated series, which doesn't make sense. We get 9 of the 26. Characters from the original live action series included Mr. Bean, Irma Gobb, Mr. Bean's teddy bear, and the mysterious driver of the Reliant Supervan, with the addition of Mrs. Wicket, Bean's landlady, and her evil cat Scrapper. The series aired in 2002-2003 in the United Kingdom.
Packaging has a nice box holding seven slimcases. The cover of the box is yellow-orange color with five different shots of Mr. Bean. My his facial expressions were priceless! A New York Times quote is also on the box art. On the back of the box we have a series description and info on the set along with credits for every series/movie. We also have a box listing all of the bonus features.
Menus are the same as how they were on the original sets for the series and animated series. Now, A&E has never released the two movies, but Universal Home Video has. So I don't have those movies from Universal, so I cannot compare.
As with the menus, audio and video are the same as the individual releases. The video is OK at best, but it could be better. The movies look way better obviously. And the animated series might be just as good in terms of audio and video. The original series might be the worst looking, but of course it is the oldest, too. The original series usually had episodes around 25 minutes or so, while the animated series is around 22...so nothing is edited. The movies are about 90 minutes each.
Special features are all over the place! Though, there is nothing actually new, since these sets have all came out individually before, but I will list them all for you. For the original series, everything is on the third slimcase (Volume 3), we have "The Story of Mr. Bean," a 40-minute documentary giving us the inside scoop on the series and how it was born. Then we have "never before seen on TV" sketches titled "Bus Stop" (approx. 6 min.) and "Library" (approx. 9 min.) Funny stuff! Then we have two sketches from the UK series "Comic Relief" titled "Blind Date" (approx. 14 min.) and "Torvill & Bean" (approx. 7 min.). Then we have a trailer for the animated series, just like on the third volume when it was released originally. We also have a nice text biography and filmography of Rowan Atkinson.
For Bean: The Movie, we get the music video "I Love L.A." running about 3 minutes. We also have more biographies, this time the entire main cast of the movie.
For Mr. Bean's Holiday, we have a lot of extras. We have lots of deleted scenes totaling about a quarter of an hour! We also have some behind the scenes features, "French Bean" (about 11 min.), "Bean in Cannes" (about 6 min.), and "The Human Bean" (about 6 min. also). We learn a lot from these three features. You can watch this movie in French, too.
Finally, the last two discs are for the animated series. Once again I will reiterate, we do NOT have every episode of this series. Just the first 9 of the 26 for some reason. As far as extras go, the first disc for the animated series has trailers for the animated series and some photos in a photo gallery. The second disc is much better and has a nice 20 minute or so documentary about this animated series. We find out really how and why Mr. Bean was brought back, but this time in animation.
This is a wonderful set. Any fan of Mr. Bean will want this. I never got a chance to get or review "The Whole Bean" DVD, but this set is good. The only major fault for this set is that there are not every episode of the animated series. Not even half, but oh well. I personally liked the series and movies WAY better, especially the series. A&E did a good job by acquiring the two movies for this set, as those were Universal products. Well, we are nearing Christmas, and what better way to spend Christmas with Mr. Bean. He is perfect to watch with the family, especially during the holidays. So get your teddy bear out and get into your pajamas and watch BEAN! I'm Bean!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, March 30

Young Sheldon - "A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Missy steals her dad’s truck and hits the road with her friend Paige (Mckenna Grace).

Ghosts - "Alberta's Descendant" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Alberta is thrilled when a living relative, Alicia (Ashley D. Kelley), visits Woodstone to learn more about her, but things take a turn when she hits it off with Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez Stoll), Sam’s podcast co-host. Also, Nigel uses his knowledge of Trevor and Hetty’s secret tryst to try to blackmail Hetty.

Animal Control - "Peacocks and Pumas" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria stake out a squawking peacock; Emily and Patel attend to Shred.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me Not Okurrr" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
In the heat of the moment, Zoey kisses Kat at karaoke night; when Randi discovers a secret hideaway in the condo, she hides it from Carter and makes it a place for her to unwind.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 27)

Thursday, March 30

  • Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) - Catch Brett on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred sits-in with the 8G Band​ on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra and Kevin Bacon are guests on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. Kyra will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan (check your local listings) and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Animal Practice/Better with You/Reba) and Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - JoAnna and Morris guest co-host The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
  • Ike Barinholtz (History of the World, Part II/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - Julie is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Method Man (Method & Red) - Method Man will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Larenz Tate (South Central/The Royal Family) - Larenz appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Ghosts - Season One Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Ten Growing Pains - The Complete Series

11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


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