The Best of the Burns and Allen Show, Vol. 1 and 2
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DVD details
Actor: George BurnsDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 513 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Good Times Video
DVD Reviews of The Best of the Burns and Allen Show, Vol. 1 and 2
DVD Review: Say Goodnight, Gracie
Summary: 5 Stars
After some of the other comments, I feel I must begin with a word about picture quality. As another reviewer pointed out, many of these episodes were broadcast live and preserved only on kinescope, a device that filmed the live image directly off a television screen. In the very early days of Burns & Allen, TV screens were still round, which is why it often appears the camera-man is chopping off the tops of people's heads, as much of the image is lost in converting a round picture into a square one. Given this crude manner of preserving the show, the picture quality on this set is probably as well as can be achieved given the source material, and certainly it is at least as clear as the image television audiences saw back in 1950.
Having addressed that issue, the show itself is nearly flawless. If you are a fan of quirky, screwball comedy, this is it at its zenith. The earlier episodes of this series in particular are some of the best written television comedy ever to be aired, coming to you courtesy of writer Paul Henning, who would later bring us The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres (all three of which, ironically, also featured George and Gracie's next door neighbor Blanche, Bea Benadarette, who would later play Aunt Pearl, Kate Bradley, and the voice of Betty Rubble in The Flintstones). The incorporation of the Carnation Milk commercials into the story is in keeping the George's constant violation of the fourth wall, aside from his running monologue he often breaks character to address the audience directly.
While the episodes on this set are out of order (why??) it will be evident to the novice viewer that the show was of higher quality in the earlier seasons. After a couple of years, it was filmed instead of performed live before an audience, and there is a distinct element of the formula missing in these episodes. Nonetheless, Burns and Allen remains one of my favorite TV shows of all time from ANY era; for the reasonable price and given the scarcity of TV shows of this time period that are even available on DVD, this one is worth a watch.
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