Do Not Adjust Your Set
by Adrian Cooper (II)
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DVD details
Actor: David Jason, Denise Coffey, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry JonesDirector: Adrian Cooper (II)
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 280 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-07-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Tango Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Do Not Adjust Your Set
DVD Review: Great early stuff, but US viewers, the blackface is startling!
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed the sketches of the 1948 show-- good early stuff, including one of my fav Brit actors, David Jason!! Its great to see him doing silly comedy different from 'Fools and Horses', or 'Open All Hours'...
That said, I'm not enthralled with the Bonzos... I know the UK hasn't excised the "minstral show" as here in the US, but sheesh! I wasn't ready for that, and am still forwarding through those scenes.
Four stars for the sketches, but the blackface is just too shocking for me to even put in the rating.
DVD Review: Do Not Adjust Your Expectations
Summary: 4 Stars
Maybe my title is a bit off. On second thought, you may have to adjust your expectations ever so slightly. The problem here is that the show is being marketed as "the classic series that lead to the creation of 'Monty Python.'" (Of course so is "At Last The 1948 Show," which actually is more prototypical of "Python.") If you are expecting the level of sustained cleverness or wit found in "Python," you may be somewhat disappointed; if you view this for what it is, you will be pleased.
"Do Not Adjust Your Set" began as a children's show, but with elements that would become trademarks of "Python" such as sketches with non-linear elements, no conclusions, absurdist twists, etc. The show began to gather a wide adult audience as well and it is obvious that over time the show became more geared toward subtle adult humor. The three proto-Pythons (Palin, Idle, and Jones) are the standouts here (of course) while David Jason (a British actor who is best remembered from the "Captain Fantastic" segments in every episode, and who later went on to become the voice of a toad in a television production of "Doctor at Large" in 1971) is middling. He has some good lines, but falls short of the other three guys. Denise Coffey is the token female cast member, and is by far the weakest of the five, though nowhere near as bad as Aimi MacDonald on "At Last The 1948 Show."
The other big feature of the show is the musical presence of the mysterious "Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band," who are extremely odd performers. Although they never perform my favorite of their songs, "Canyons of Your Mind," they do perform some amazingly unusual musical numbers, including "Love is a Cylindrical Piano," "Death Cab for Cutie," "Tubas in Moonlight" (which features and early musical adaptation of silly string,) and their notorious musical intro, this time adapted to have Terry Jones performing with toast. (You'll just have to see it.) Overall the Bonzo's are a mixed bag, some of their numbers are merely boring, but some of the more unusual ones are worth their weight in gold. Speaking of music, I found the "Captain Fantastic" segments (a spoof of older serials) to drag and not be that amusing, though I did like the concept of a "horrible handbag" that could end the world, and was greatly amused by the walking tree. The one thing that I can't forget is the theme song to the segments: I warn you, if you watch "Captain Fantastic" you will almost assuredly get the theme song stuck in your head for an extended period of time.
The show is definitely worth watching, especially if you are interested in the early careers of Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Eric Idle, just realize that you aren't buying "Monty Python," you are buying proto-Python for kids with a pit band. For those that may be animation fans, the box claims it is "featuring original animation by Terry Gilliam." While I know that Gilliam did work on the show, I never noticed it in these episodes, and if it is here, it is certainly in extremely insignificant quantities.
I recommend this without reservation to fans of "Monty Python" or other fans of period British comedies, but outside of that group, this set will have fairly limited appeal. As for me, I love "Python," and I enjoyed it: four stars.
DVD Review: The Bonzo's in all their Absurd Magnificence
Summary: 5 Stars
I gave this video five stars because it is the only thing I've seen yet that has actual moving pictures of the Bonzo Dog Band. Being that they weren't on TV in the US at all during the 60's, it is quite amazing to be able to see them here in all their original glory. I was completely open mouthed amazed with all of them. Vivian of course was a major howl, but the rest of the lads were right up there with him. Roger Ruskin Spear in particular was a major scream. Rodney Slater was a real oddity as well and Legs Larry was hilarious. So was Neil. It was just so amazingly great to come upon this. Like coming upon a time capsule. There is quite a bit of the Bonzos throughout these shows. Unfortunately, most of it is not done live, however it is fascinating to hear a lot of their songs in developmental stages. There is almost an hour and a half of Bonzo material on these disks. There are no chapter stops except for the beginning of each show. There is no copy guard either, so it is possible to assemble all the Bonzo clips on your own disc. This is what I did using a hard disc DVD recorder. It all worked out beautifully and made the purchase of these DVD's very much worth it. As for the comedy bits with all the others on the show, well, there are a few things but it really is truly amazing how much improved things got when the Pythons became the Pythons. I bought this for the Bonzos and it did not disappoint.DVD Review: Worth watching
Summary: 4 Stars
With Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Eric Idle in the cast, Do Not Adjust Your Set is worth watching. But it's not as good as Monty Python's Flying Circus. This was originally a kid's show, became a cultish hit with adults and helped bolster Palin, Jones and Idle's reputations as writers and actors. But the grainy black-and-white sketches are hit and miss and some of the stuff here is simply awful (latter-day TV detective David Jason's Captain Fantastic is a waste of time and Denise Coffey is nothing special). As well, Terry Gilliam, later the animator for Python, is credited with some writing but is nowhere to be found, either in person or in cartoon form.
For Python completists, this is a must-have. Same goes for the John Cleese-Graham Chapman show from this same time, At Last The 1948 Show.
DVD Review: Please Do Adjust Your Set To This
Summary: 4 Stars
The Please Adjust Your Set DVD Set is a worthwhile purchase on several levels. Watching the episodes that comprise the set, you can see what Idle, Jones & Palin brought to Monty Python. In fact, when I was watching the sketchs, many of them seemed like dry runs for later Monty Python sketches. The other worthwhile aspect to this set is seeing the Bonzo Dog Band w/Viv Stanshall in their 1960's glory. Although I have heard that the Bonzos have recently got back together & are touring England w/worthies such as Stephen Fry, there is nothing that can quite replace the absurd brilliance of Vivian Stanshall. To me watching the Bonzos perform on video on this set is like finding video footage of ancient Egyptians walking around the Pyramids. You get glimpses of what the Bonzos would have been like when they played live. The fact that this set is in glorious black & white instead of dull drab color gives it an almost Victorian patina from a time which is as distant from today as the 1920's were in the 1960's. This is a very entertaining set, especially for fans of British rubbish, erm humor (or should I say "humour"?)
Description of Do Not Adjust Your Set
Teatime 1968. In millions of homes in England something strange was happening and TV comedy around the world would never be the same again - 'Do Not Adjust Your Set'. Hitting audiences like a wet fish in the face it was weird, wonderful and above all hilarious. 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' combined the writing and performing skills of Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, added a dash of David Jason, a dollop of the legendary Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and a hint of Terry Gilliam. Feast your eyes on the madness And discover how something completely different began....This 2 DVD set features the recently rediscovered episodes of the classic Do Not Adjust Your Set series.Monty Python completists will especially appreciate Do Not Adjust Your Set, a precursor to Monty Python's Flying Circus starring Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Eric Idle, along with fellow writer-performers David Jason and Denise Coffey. Ostensibly a children's show, Do Not Adjust Your Set also includes the then-future Python Terry Gilliam lurking off-camera as an occasional animator, and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band with Neil Innes, an important collaborator on several Idle projects that lay ahead. A freewheeling sketch show from the late 1960s, originally broadcast on the Rediffusion network before switching to Thames Television, it's impossible not to see Do Not Adjust Your Set as a blueprint for Flying Circus. The two hours' worth of material in this DVD set includes early versions of Palin's familiar role as an incompetent shopkeeper, in one instance selling shoe polish to a man who asks for bananas. The entire cast stars in a vignette about a classical music quartet whose instruments produce the sounds of an auto accident and an air raid. Terry Jones plays an insurance agent who wrecks Palin's house, and Idle essays his soon-to-be signature performance as a pleasant-sounding, BBC news reader spouting surreal headlines. This is a gold mine of Pythonesque comedy in an embryonic state, plus the Bonzo Dog Band performing "Death Cab for Cutie." --Tom Keogh
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