Product Details

• Actors: Judy Garland, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Mickey Rooney
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color, Dolby, 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: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
• DVD Release Date: November 2, 1999
• Run Time: 900 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000K4YX
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,439 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Judy Garland Show Collection" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Destined to remain the single most comprehensive record of Judy Garland's latter-day career, The Judy Garland Show Collection is an astonishing treasure of great lasting value. Preserving 14 complete episodes from Garland's rarely seen CBS-TV variety show from 1963-64, the set also offers a wealth of excerpts, outtakes, performances, and supplements packed onto all 8 sides of four DVDs. Of course Garland's established fans must have this set, which is handsomely boxed in a miniature show-biz trunk (to honor Judy's signature stage prop), and includes a paperback edition of Coyne Steven Sanders's definitive book about the show's one-season glory. Better still is the value this boxed set has for those who are unaware of Judy Garland's amazing talent beyond The Wizard of Oz. For anyone with only a cursory awareness of Garland's skill as an interpreter of great songs, this box will be a dynamic revelation.

Here, after all, is a mature performer at the peak of her song-styling craft, and The Judy Garland Show Collection gathers many of her finest performances. Side One of Disc One is "Just Judy"--28 songs that demonstrate Judy's amazing range and her penchant for melancholy, introspective tunes of loneliness and sorrow, brilliantly combined with such trademark showstoppers as "When You're Smiling" and "Keep Your Sunny Side Up." Elsewhere in the set, Judy shares the stage with such luminaries as Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Lena Horne, Mickey Rooney, and many others, including her 17-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli, who was then on the cusp of her own stardom.

This was not the most stable time in Judy Garland's life, and she makes mistakes here and there--a show-biz great who'd falter occasionally, only to recover in grand style. But what's most evident is the sheer power of Judy Garland's talent, showcased by the finest musical and backstage talent that TV had to offer (including director Norman Jewison prior to his move to feature films). Watching this 15-hour compilation is a joyous reminder that a TV variety show, in the right hands, was the premier source of mainstream American entertainment. The Judy Garland Show had to struggle for ratings (it competed in the same time slot as NBC's popular series Bonanza), but this boxed set restores its timeless value. Pioneer has done a superlative job in presenting what is certainly one of the most impressive DVD packages ever produced. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judy's star shines better than ever on DVD set, November 18, 1999

By 

Robert J. Waters (Fort Lauderdale, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Judy Garland Show Collection (DVD)

This new set of the Judy Garland television series has got to be one of the best things that could happen to a Garland fan. The quality is exceptional. I'll bet the shows didn't look this good on the dates of their initial broadcast in the early 60's! Judy's program still holds up all these years later. As I said to a friend of mine who is not a fan of Miss Garland's, even just to watch the guest roster. Judy had some of the all time greats on her show. From Peggy Lee to Lena Horne to Ethel Merman to Jack Jones. Can't wait for the second set, scheduled as I understand, to be released in the spring. Try it, you'll love it!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, November 21, 1999

By 

David Y. H. Lui (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Judy Garland Show Collection (DVD)

A must have for any fans of great performers. Judy is better than we remember. Over the years everyone has dismissed the series as a disaster. This collection proves the opposite.

Yes, there are moments when things go wrong and there are moments when the support players are simply awful. Through all of this Miss Garland triumphs and is completely mesmerizing.

A wonderful way to relive the season of 1963-64 when these shows were originally broadcast. They truly don't make them like this anymore and we are all the sadder that they don't.

The set is exemplary, especially if you read the book while watching hte programs. This is particularly illuminating.

The set advertises a commmentary by George Schlatter (originaly producer). I could not find it anywhere. Ok Pioneer, own up is this a boo boo in an otherwise perfect set?

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Exceptional Entertainment Package--EVER, March 17, 2000

By 

T. Robin "ausskipper" (Byron Bay, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Judy Garland Show Collection (DVD)

We all have a few defining moments in our lives. Man on themoon. A first kiss. Death of a loved one. Our first puppy. This DVDcollection is one of those such moments. As one who had never seen 'Judy' live, I apprehensively ordered Volume One of the Judy Garland Show. From the second Judy opens with 'I Feel a Song Coming On' I was hooked.Stunned.Overwhelmed. I ordered this boxed set. It's even better. The pictures are astoundingly crisp and sharp, in fact it's hard to believe it's off videotape! The resolution is light years ahead of any VHS tape - in fact it's so good you can pick the (few) slightly out of focus shots better than the camera operator could! The pictures have excellent texture and contrast ratio- there are very few video releases that can come under such scrutiny on an 8 foot screen. This 39 year old release looks better than most stuff shot yesterday! If the pictures are stunning, the audio is simply dazzling! The Dolby digital soundtrack is a masterpiece in audio transfers. But it would all be pointless without the real star of the show. Judy. Isn't it ironic. We spend thousands of dollars on sophisticated home theaters,projectors that can show 2 million colors, Dolby 5.1 sound, the best speakers we can afford......... And this nearly 40 year old black & white boxed set makes it all worthwhile. Finally someone has got it right, congratulations to Pioneer for what is, in my opinion, quite simply the best release, of the best artist, of the century.