Saturday, May 12, 2012
Digital Digest: Benson DVD Update; The Dean Martin Variety Show - Uncut DVD Review
So, what is the deal with Benson - The Complete Second Season? After it was suddenly pulled last month and rescheduled for May 1, we reported to you last month that the title was pulled due to the set being defective, missing the first episode of the season, containing two episodes of the third season, and the episodes on the third disc all being out of order. Well, now, we have received our review copy (look for our review soon), and can report that the set has improved. The first episode of the season has been added to the beginning of Disc 1 on the "improved" version. Disc 3 is still the same, but it actually isn't a mistake that the episodes are out of order. Apparently, airdate and production order was the same for all of the episodes on the first two discs, but for the episodes on Disc 3, those were aired in a different order than the order in which they were produced... so really, it isn't a mistake, but rather just confusion (although we think most fans do prefer airdate order). And the first two episodes of the third season are still on the end of Disc 3, but that isn't exactly a bad thing, but rather a nice little accidental bonus. The important thing here is that we do have all of the second season episodes in the set now. We'll have a review of this "new and improved" set very soon.
Several releases of clips of episodes have been released over the years, including some which resulted in lawsuits from NBCUniversal against another company which released the series. All of these releases have had one thing in common, though. They were all releases with essentially the best clips of the series. That is, until now. Because now, Time Life has licensed... legally and authentically... from NBCUniversal six complete (or technically, almost complete) episodes of the series for their release of The Dean Martin Variety Show - Uncut.
As we've already mentioned, the set contains six episodes of the series on six discs. Among the episodes included here, we have one episode from each of seasons 1, 2, and 5, and three episodes from season 3. In these episodes, you'll primarily find the typical staples of a variety show of the era, a series with a lot of singing and dancing, along with a few skits and often a stand up comedian performance along the way. The singing and dancing is especially prominent in the first episode, where we get to see a West Side Story medley from The Lettermen, and a (somewhat disturbing) "Strongman Act" performance by David & Goliath, two guys giving an onstage performance wearing nothing but a pair of gold briefs and gold slippers. The second episode shows a few performances from Leslie Uggams, who would later have her own variety series. On the third episode, we get to see a few comedy bits from Buddy Ebsen and Dom DeLuise. Bob Newhart makes one of his earliest appearances in the fourth episode, although it isn't his first. In fact, he is joined by two of his co-stars from the TV series The Entertainers in this episode: Caterina Valente and Dom DeLuise. In the fifth episode, Orson Welles stops by to give us a reading from a Shakespeare play and a magic act which he entertained U.S. troops with during World War II. Finally, in the sixth episode, Broadway star Zero Mostel and Tommy Tune stop by to give a dance routine.
So, it was mentioned a bit earlier that the episodes were "almost" complete. What do we mean by that? Well, Time Life made a bit of a blunder in calling this set uncut, because by their own admission, one of the episodes (January 25, 1968) is missing a song from Dean Martin and Buck Owens because the original master was destroyed. I honestly believe that is the reason which the song is missing. The other performances from Buck Owens are included in the episode. Still, I think that perhaps the episode should have been changed to make this a truly unedited set, because everything else looks unedited. Each episode even has original NBC "in color" bumpers, original NBC closing logos, and even commercial bumpers... although the names of the sponsors in the bumpers are removed and we get a somewhat strange 30 second instrumental interlude of "Everybody Loves Somebody" with a photo of Martin smoking a cigarette in the background. Episodes included, along the runtimes and guest stars, are as follows.
- March 3, 1966 (51:45) - featuring Sid Caesar, Abbe Lane, George Gobel, Marguerite Piazza, The Letterman, and David & Goliath
- January 12, 1967 (52:10) - featuring Jackie Mason, Leslie Uggams, Eddie Foy Jr., Allen & Rossi, and Pat Boone (in closet)
- November 16, 1967 (51:42) - Buddy Ebsen, Cyd Charisse, Dom DeLuise, Barbara McNair, Albert T. Berry, and Phil Harris
- December 14, 1967 (49:47) - Bob Newhart, Dom DeLuise, Caterina Valente, and Guy Marks
- January 25, 1968 (50:23) - Orson Welles, Joey Heatherton, Buck Owens, Buck Melvin, and Professor Backwards
- February 25, 1971 (51:53) - Zero Mostel, Tommy Tune, Jackie Vernon, Fred Smoot, The Golddigers, The Dingalings, and Robert Wagner (in closet)
The set comes packaged in a standard Viva case. On the cover, there is a large photo of Martin, along with a smaller photo of him. There is another photo of him on the back, along with a brief description of the series. Inside, you'll find the three discs, each containing two episodes. The disc artwork simply has the title logo of the DVD set as featured on the cover on each disc. There is also a nice episode booklet inside, which includes a page for each episode featured on the set. Here, you'll find all of the guest stars, original airdates, a list of skits, and a brief "analysis" of the episode.
There are no special features on the set. Interviews would have been nice, although I'm not sure exactly who they could have interviewed aside from perhaps Bob Newhart or Robert Wagner... everybody else featured on these episodes is either dead or so far away from showbiz these days that it would be a real stretch to bring them in.
The series has a rather large fan base around the world, and there are actually quite a few good websites for the series out there. One of the best ones, though, is Miami Vice Chronicles. The website began in 1996, but actually, the research for this great site dates all the way back to 1988... probably before some of our readers were even born! Quoting the webmaster from the About page, "In 1988, during the final season, I took it upon myself to research the one final iconic piece of the series that was incomplete for us: the music. That research led to me spending almost 2 weeks huddled over microfiche machines in my university’s graduate library, poring through the archives of USA Today’s TV section, carefully copying down the original episode descriptions, air dates, guest stars, and most importantly, the songs used for that episode (a feature that only USA Today provided for the series)."
Needless to say, this website demonstrates a lot of hard work that has been done over the years, and represents a highly valuable website for fans of the series. For example, in the Photo Gallery, you won't just find a bunch of press photos which are reproduced by the masses. Instead, you'll find things such as all of the pages from the official series calendars which were published in the '80s, memorabilia related to the series, books, and magazine covers. The Episode Guide gives very detailed information about the cast and crew for each episode, along with decent descriptions for the episodes. One of the best resources, though, is the Music Guide, where you'll find a listing of every single song from every single episode of the series. There truly is nothing to dislike about this site, our Click of the Week.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Monday, September 25
Son of a Critch - "Particip-action" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mark is forced to participate in the school's Sports Day; Fox fights for her mother's attention and attempts to break the school record for gold medals.
Run the Burbs - "Li Xi" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT)
As they celebrate Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Andrew worries about his parents' relationship; Camille pitches her business to Andrew's mother; the kids get into trouble with their business startup.
Children Ruin Everything - "Dignity" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Following embarrassing run-ins with her boss and co-workers, Astrid feels on the back foot and disconnected from her younger co-workers; Astrid realizes her best move might be to attend a drink night with the rest of her team.
American Dad! - "Productive Panic" (TBS, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Francine becomes an overnight sensation when a famous art dealer discovers her homemade pottery.
Breeders - "No Matter What: Part Two" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Jackie's health is continuing to worsen; Paul helps out a distressed Luke but finds himself in more conflict with Ally; at Baby Jay's naming party, Ava declares her love, and Paul makes an offer that will take him and Ally back in time.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 25)
Monday, September 25
- Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place/Barry) - D'Arcy is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Idris Elba (Turn Up Charlie) - Idris appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Jon Lovitz (Mr. Box Office/NewsRadio/Foley Square) - Jon is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) and Mark Consuelos (Alpha House/Hope & Faith) - E! News has interviews with Kelly and Mark at 11pm on E!.
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Guys with Kids/Entourage) - Jamie-Lynn appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Kerry Washington (Unprisoned) - Kerry talks about her new book Thicker than Water: A Memoir on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Punkie Johnson (After Life) - Punkie talks about her podcast Love Thang with Punkie Johnson on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke talks about her Big Boss album and tour on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (June-October)
06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
07/18 - South Park - Seasons 21-25 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/25 - The Neighborhood - Season Five
07/25 - Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin - Season One
07/25 - Superstore - The Complete Series
08/22 - Back to Life - Season 1 / Season 2
08/29 - Smiling Friends - Season 1 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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
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