Product Details

• Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Passport
• DVD Release Date: September 5, 2006
• Run Time: 775 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000GDH7Q6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,485 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Abbott & Costello Show: 100th Anniversary Collection Season 1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Who's on first? You'll be on Cloud 9 with this rare and riotous collection honoring the 100th birthday of Lou Costello and featuring the landmark Abbott & Costello Show that Jerry Seinfeld calls the inspiration for his own hit series!

This remarkable 5-disc collection contains all 26 episodes of the first season (1952-1953), complete and unedited, digitally remastered and looking better than ever. In addition to Bud and Lou, there's the unforgettable supporting cast: Sid Fields, Hillary Brooke, Joe "Stinky" Besser and Gordon "Mike the Cop" Jones.

PLUS: Never-before-seen home movies of Lou Costello and his family from the 1940s and '50s - many in full color with sound! (Even Bud manages to make a few "guest appearances.") And, for the first time anywhere, the recently restored short 10,000 Kids and a Cop made in 1948, featuring Bud and Lou, as well as Jimmy Stewart and William Bendix. To round things out, Lou's daughters, Paddy and Chris, share warm and wonderful anecdotes about their father in exclusive interviews. A treasure for Abbott & Costello fans everywhere!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passport out does themselves with this excellent DVD release!, October 2, 2006

By 

Paul J. Mular (San Carlos, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Abbott & Costello Show: 100th Anniversary Collection Season 1 (DVD)

Do not be put off by the Passport label for this release, this is unlike all other Passport releases, it is excellent! And no logo branded on screen durning the shows.

These are the same restored quality 35mm film transfers that were on the SHANACHIE individual 4 episoded DVDs, but at a fraction of the price. Better yet, disc 5 is almost all bonus material supplied by the Costello Family. Their involvement in this DVD release is the reason for the high quality.

I already had the older releases and almost passed this up. But the 107 minutes of bonus material not available anywhere else was enough for me to invest the money again. Lou's Daughters supply interviews & narration over the home movies that adds insight to the Lou Costello persona. There is also footage of Lou & Bud promoting Lou's Boys Club.

Season one was, without question, the better season for The Abbott & Costello show. In addition to vaudeville veteran Sid Fields, the boys are joined by lovely Hillary Brook and soon-to-be stooge Joe Besser as Stinky. Mike the Cop also makes regular appearances to try and keep Lou in line.
Season one also features all of Bud & Lou's classic routines from their stage appearances & movies. You will see "Who's On First" in the "Old Actors Home" episode. These routines were all used up by the time the second season went into production.

If you never bought the older release, this is a MUST BUY. If you own the previous set, you may want to get this to learn more about the boys.

FYI, the 100th Anniversary is not for the television show, it is only 50 years old. The 100th Anniversary is actually for Lou Costello's day of birth.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Most Respected Teams in Comedy History ... Abbott & Costello (2006) ... Passport Video", October 13, 2006

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Abbott & Costello Show: 100th Anniversary Collection Season 1 (DVD)

Passport Video presents "The Abbott & Costello Show: 100th Anniversary Collection Season One" (1952-1953) (26 episodes of 30 mins shows), --- (Dolby digitally remastered)... Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo whose work in radio, film, and television made them one of the most popular and respected teams in comedy history --- Their "Who's on First?" routine, developed during their years in burlesque, is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedy sketches of all time --- The two comedians first worked together in 1935 at the Eltinge burlesque theater on 42nd Street in New York. Costello became a burlesque comic in 1928 after failing to break into films as an actor and working as a stunt double and extra --- Abbott had been in burlesque since about 1914, as a ticket seller, producer, and finally a performer --- Abbott and Costello made their partnership formal in 1936, building an act by adapting and improving numerous old burlesque sketches into their own style --- Abbott was the arch, often scheming straight man and Costello the confused, always the fall guy.

By 1951, the twosome had moved to television--first as one of the rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour (Eddie Cantor and Bob Hope were among the others) and then, the following year, in their own situation comedy --- The Abbott and Costello Show, the half-hour series was loosely adapted from their radio show, but cast the duo as unemployed citizens --- One of the show's running gags involved Abbott perpetually nagging Costello to get a job to pay their rent, while Abbott barely lifted a finger himself in that direction --- as a regular Sidney Fields as their landlord and Hillary Brooke as a friendly neighbor who sometimes got involved in the duos schemes --- while semi-regular was Joe Besser, who played Stinky, a 40-year-old sissy dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit was good for a laugh or two --- "The Abbott and Costello Show" ran from 1952 to 1954, but the show found a new life in syndicated rerun broadcast in the late 1960s and early-to-mid 1970s, and the episodes were probably seen by more viewers this time around than when the show was actually produced --- the recently restored short "10,000 Kids and a Cop" from 1948, and appears in this collection --- this is a must have for fans around the world of this classic comedy team.

BIOS:
1. Bud Abbott (aka: William Alexander Abbott)
Date of birth: 2 October 1895 - Asbury Park, New Jersey
Date of death: 24 April 1974 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Lou Costello (aka: Louis Francis Cristillo)
Date of birth: 6 March 1906 - Paterson, New Jersey
Date of death: 3 March 1959 - East Los Angeles, California
3. Sid Fields
Date of birth: 5 February 1898 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of death: 28 September 1975 - Las Vegas, Nevada
4. Hillary Brooke (aka: Beatrice Peterson)
Date of birth: 8 September 1914 - Astoria, New York
Date of death: 25 May 1999 - Bonsall, California
5. Gordon Jones
Date of birth:5 April 1911 - Alden, Iowa
Date of death: 20 June 1963 - Tarzana, California
6. Joe Besser
Date of birth: 12 August 1907 - St. Louis, Missouri
Date of death: 1 March 1988 - North Hollywood, California

This collection of the comedy duo still has the magic that we remember from those bygone years --- but as long as we have the labels and networks who play and show these wonderful films of yesteryear, they will never be forgotten --- hats off to Steve Stoliar (Producer) and Dante J. Pugliese (Executive Producer), Henry Stephens (Writer), Kent Hagen (Film Editor) and a great job by Passport Video for this release --- looking forward to more of the same from the '50s and '60s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or Passport Video, stay tuned once again for more remarkable shows from the vaults of classic television and Hollywood --- exclusive interviews with Chris and Paddy Costello-Humphreys --- watch Lou Costello's rare home movies and capture the behind the scenes of these great comics that started it all --- Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.

Total Time: 840 mins on DVD ~ Passport Video #5030 ~ (9/05/2006)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A&C at their best!, June 12, 2007

By 

HardyBoys.us (Long Island USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Abbott & Costello Show: 100th Anniversary Collection Season 1 (DVD)

The Abbott & Costello Show's first season features the boys doing the best of all their routines, with a gossamer-thin plot holding it all together.
This set is absolutely hysterical - laugh out loud funny!
The supporting characters - Hillary, Mike the cop, Sid Fields, Mr. Bacciagalupe and the surreal Stinky (I'll harm you!) - are all along for the ride and manage to keep up with the boys.
Good prints were used as masters and the transfer to video is excellent.
This set is a "must have" for all Abbott & Costello fans!