Product Details

• Actors: John Byner, Mike Myers, Dave Broadfoot, Donnelly Rhodes, Julie McLeod
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: BCI
• DVD Release Date: October 10, 2006
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BQ7DDA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,439 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Best of Bizarre: The Uncensored, Vol. 1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It's called the wandering Jew and it'll be here in about 5 seconds", April 5, 2007

By 

Brian T "The Coolest Movies" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Best of Bizarre: The Uncensored, Vol. 1 (DVD)

Bizarre has aged much more gracefully than one might expect.

Sure, it dates from a time when names like Bella Abzug, Henry Kissinger, Fred Silverman and Tom Snyder were punchlines in and of themselves (though barely, and more often because they simply sounded funny as punchlines), and sure, host/cast leader John Byner was probably given too many opportunities to run through a surprisingly limitd (for his talents) range of impersonations that had been serving him well since the Sullivan show in the 60's (Paul Lynde, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Marlon Brando, Ed Sullivan, Johnny Mathis and John Wayne to precise, and usually in the form of "audition reel" sketches for famous movie and TV characters like The Godfather and Fantasy Island's Herve Villechaize), but having just transferred several season's worth of old Betamax tapes to DVD-r for safe keeping not long before this DVD series started appearing, I can safely say I still found myself chuckling at regular intervals despite knowing much of this material from heart. As such, this review DOES reference some of the sketches contained within this volume, as well as some that appear on other volumes, or not at all *yet")

The show's writers, directors and cast had a remarkable collective ability to spin old jokes into seemingly fresh full length sketches that would usually feature heavy padding via Byner's antics and asides. Distill just about any sketch down to it's raw elements - minus sets, cast, and the usual digressions for time - and you've got jokes that had been done on any number of variety shows in the decade before this one - Bizarre reformulated the brew in large part by added healthy doses of cynicism, sexism and slapstick violence - and of course the naked women (an earlier poster was right in noticing a thankfully mute Ziggy Lorenc as a piece of furniture, but failed to point out she was wearing a bikini like four other "pieces" placed in a slum apartment rented out by crotchety landlord Byner).

The cast list here fails to give credit to the contributions of many bit players who went on to greater things, most notably Canada's own Mike Myers (as Byner's nephew in a show closer in which Byner reacts to a review that claims he stuffs the audience with relatives, only to learn that all but one audience member is family!), future Crow villain Michael Wincott (look closely at the Mexican Nephew seated beside Luba Goy in the legendary Bigot Family sketches) and Matt Craven (as a thieving bit player). Donnelly Rhodes, another Canadian mainstay who had a memorable run on the U.S. sitcom Soap, plays one of Super Dave Osborne's stunt coordinators in a second-season sketch involving a mechanical bull. There were others, including SCTV's Dave Thomas (whose famous 'dueling evangelist's sketch' with Byner is included on one of these DVDs) and a young standup comedian named Howie Mandel, though guest stand-ups were generally more along the lines of Willie Tyler and Lester.

In the first and, to a lesser extent, the second seasons, Bizarre would include sketches filmed outside of Toronto, including an amusing bit (available on Vol. 2) filmed in an L.A. cemetery in which "priest" Redd Foxx sends bad TV shows to their rightful resting places surrounded by a platoon of Let's Make A Deal contestants), a segment where golfer Dick Van Dyke wades into a pond to try and win the PGA championship, and a peculiar filmed segment where a gorilla holds up a grocery store and speeds off in a stolen Mercedes.

When something clicked on Bizarre, viewers could rest assured the idea would be tweaked and repeated on a future episode. Witness the ever-increasing insanity of the Super Dave Osborne stunts, or the "Byner Originals", in which the host would claim to be introducing some new comedy creation - Boy John, Johnny Jackson - that were blatant ripoffs of actual personalities of the day which would prompt producer Bob Einstein to interrupt the sketch, calmly berate Byner, and then suffer a litany of insults in return ("it's called the wandering Jew and it'll be here in about 5 seconds", went one memorable line from a similar sketch). The Byner originals are mostly absent from these DVDs, most likely due to song rights.

The aforementioned Bigot Family proved popular enough to fill several repeat sketches with well-delivered ethnic humor. And although 90's syndication episodes usually excised the 'watermelon' gag that ended each sketch, they're reinstated for these DVD versions. Other popular returning characters included the Reverend T.V. Seewell, who broadcast from the Enzlo Veal Animal Healing Pavilion (the location of which changed from bit to bit), a Yoga For Health instructor with fake stretchy legs who invariably closed his sketch to Devo's Whip It, and a perennially bottom-rated news team (AWN) featuring a sportscaster who only favored black athletes, a drunken film reviewer (Saul Rubinek in the first sketche) kept on a leash, a clueless weatherman (Don Lake) with an atrocious toupee and a lead anchor (Byner) who took exception to his the bitter digs of co-anchor Deb McGrath by punching her out of her chair.

Another great repeat gag was often played on regular Tom Harvey, who would be whisked from a sketch to correct a makeup problem, only to return to the re-shoot and discover doors nailed shut, breakaway furniture and real booze in the glasses. Audience members were often used to supplant "under whelming" actors, or to heap further indignity on Tom Harvey.

And finally, long before Conan O'Brien thought he came up with the idea, the creators of Bizarre used the process of superimposing real lips over cardboard celebrity cutouts to often delirious effect (politicians of the time singing cheesy love ballads, for example)

Bizarre's peak seasons were probably 1982, 1983, 1984, and certain parts of 1985-86, after which other comedy shows on then burgeoning cable networks (and regular broadcast TV) started to steal their thunder, signaling and end to the sketch comedy format as many had known it throughout the 60's and 70's. Nonetheless, these shows represent one of the last bastions of political incorrectness in broadcast comedy, particularly for something shown on a major Canadian network during early prime time hours!

At long last available on DVD, BIZARRE might not provide the hearty laughs it once did to those of us who were there to witness it during its initial run, but there are still many fondly recalled laughs to be savored in these volumes. And since these discs are uncut, we Canadians can finally see the boobies for the first time!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!!, May 21, 2010

By 

Cold Ethyl (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Best of Bizarre: The Uncensored, Vol. 1 (DVD)

Oh what memories. And it stands the test of time. It's every bit as funny now as it was back then. If you have not seen it before, give it a try. It's funnier than anything Saturday Night Live did. Just a true comedy masterpiece.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny "Lost" Comedy Sketch Series, May 16, 2010

By 

Gruntled "Gruntled" (America) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Best of Bizarre: The Uncensored, Vol. 1 (DVD)

This little gem was formerly shown on Showtime. Funny man John Byner served as both host and actor in this long-running series. The Best Of includes some of their funniest bits, including the Racist Family and Super Dave Osborne. Super Dave's segments are among the funniest in every episode they're shown, calling to mind the late, great Evel Knievel, perhaps on an off day. Bob Einstein is excellent as Super Dave, and as a series of foils and straight men for Byner and others to play off of.

Some of the humor is a bit dated, but thankfully most of the series wears very well. No special features to speak of, which is okay by me. A very small number of the sketches just "miss" somehow, but it's obvious the cast and crew were enjoying themselves, even in the event something wasn't quite working.

This show was syndicated for late night in the 80's. Most of the nudity was left in those episodes, but all of that is present in this collection. There are plenty of female breasts peeking out, regularly, with rear ends making the occasional appearance in a sketch. It's all in good fun, and similar in some ways to the Benny Hill Show, which I also really enjoy.

The Best of Bizarre is definitely for adults, but even if you don't get the small bits of topical humor, the rest of it is definitely worth the price of admission.