A periodic look at stuff I’ve been consuming recently.
DVD: The Phil Silvers Show 50th anniversary edition
It is a crime against humanity that you are not able to buy all 143 episodes of Sgt. Bilko on DVD, yet you are able to get every single episode of Top Cat, Hanna Barbera’s Bilko rip off. Where is the justice! Why aren’t people rioting in the streets over this issue? Is there no cure for this apathy that plagues our lands?
Still, the 50th anniversary edition DVD is pretty damn good. You get 18 classic episodes of Sgt. Bilko (yes, we all know it was really called The Phil Silver’s show, but I can’t be bothered to be all pedantic about it) and a pretty generous splattering of special features and documentaries. When I saw it was on offer for just £10 I just couldn’t resist.
I would like to know the name of the BBC 2 executive who made the decision to show programs like Bilko and Laurel & Hardy shorts during school holidays in the late eighties/early nineties. That person shaped my sensibility and taste for classic comedy. God only knows what would have happened if he had chosen to show plays by Chekhov and Brecht, I’d probably be typing this in a beret and cravat.
Phil Silvers was, quite frankly, a comedy god and every single episode of Bilko is as fresh today as it was when it was broadcast. Which is more than can be said of a great many of it’s contemporaries, most of which feel dated and kitschy. You really need to buy this DVD, if only to encourage them to release the other 125 episodes.
You can buy The Phil Silvers Show 50th anniversary edition at Amazon.co.uk for £9.98.
I’m young..that shouldn’t be the reason to not know this..but I’m also not from Britain..another senseless reason..I’m ..well unfamiliar with this show but I guess that has changed.
Arjan’s last blog post..The Life Aquatic OST
Arjan - It’s an American TV show from the 1950’s, I myself wouldn’t have ever seen it if it weren’t for that beneficent BBC 2 scheduler.
I love Bilko - especially the man who did the voice for Benny in Top Cat - he always made me smile and I always ended up feeling sorry for Bilko’s boss, how could you line manage a man like Bilko?
I also saw your pic of your recently purchased dvd’s and felt a flicker of jealousy til I saw it was the Jeremy Brett incarnation and then I didn’t feel jealous at all as my Holmes of choice is Basil Rathbone. I know Brett was closet in terms of character and that Holmes never fought nazis and Watson wasn’t that stupid and they weren’t especially close to the stories either but there is something about the Rathbone Holmes that I absolutely love, it has a charm all of its own and he would be one of my ideal back from beyond the grave dinner party guests.
I like the Steve Martin movie, too.
Avitable’s last blog post..Folly of the gods
The Steve Martin film is a crime against humanity, as is his attempt to portray Inspector Clouseau, I propose that he is one of the first against the wall come the revolution comrades…
But Dan, Dan, I can save you man…
I bought all 143 episodes of Bilko on dvd from a very dodgy dealer on eBay last christmas - for £10.
OK, so he’d recorded them all from The Comedy Channel and other sources, but he pleaded in his submissions to eBay that Bilko was now over 50 years old and out of copyright and eBay seemed to believe him because he and others are still selling similar packages on there now .
The quality is never going to be HD anyway as they were all recorded in B&W on poor equipment but the vids are watchable, not grainy, not obvious non-originals (apart from the comedy channel logo in the top corner :) ) and well worth a tenner especially as they are all boxed and printed up nicely.
Worth a search, I also got a collection of Will Hay films from the same source - same deal.
Gary’s last blog post..The Pub in my Family
*Ker-ching*
That was the sound of sarahbrooks86 on ebay receiving my £15 for the Bilko episodes and a set of 17 Sherlock Holmes movies.
Many thanks Gary.
Oh and Steve Martin was a genius during his early career, but like Dan Akroyd seemed to lose all his edge as he grew older. I would spare him the wall.
Gary - I just received my Bilko set from ebay. it didn’t come in any packaging, but it was 33 cheaper than yours and I’m planning on just ripping them to my ipod anyway.
Thanks a lot for the tip, it really made my week. Plus i can palm my box set that I bought off as a present or something. after watching all the special features obviously.