Customer Reviews

A Shari Lewis Christmas

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3 star:		(1)
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. . . . . are the best descriptions that come to mind after viewing "A Shari Lewis Christmas" on DVD. This single disc collects three half-hour Christmas themed shows from "The Shari Lewis Show" from 1960, 1961 and 1962. Ms. Lewis and her sock puppets, Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy, and Charlie Horse are a delight to watch and Shari's talent as a ventriloquist comes to the forefront when she sings "duets" with her puppets . . . . it's pretty remarkable to watch the seemingly effortless interaction between her and her puppets. But Shari also dances and tells stories, and her multi-talents are nicely showcased in this DVD release.

The releasing company for "A Shari Lewis Christmas," S'more Entertainment, also includes a bonus episode of a locally produced NBC show in New York titled "Hi Mom" from the late 1950s, which has segments devoted to both children and their mothers. In addition to the expected story-telling and songs from Shari and her puppets, there are segments on healthcare and cooking (Mmmnn, delicious rice pudding!) for Mom. It's interesting to note that none other than Roone Arledge was the producer for "Hi Mom." Arledge would go on to greater fame as the head of ABC's sports division and, later, the network's news division. The disc is rounded out by a color promotional film featuring Shari and Lamb Chop that was shown in theaters and served as a lead-in for the promotion of local businesses.

The three episodes from "The Shari Lewis Show" come from UCLA's Film & Television Archive while "Hi Mom" is from the Peabody Awards collection at the University of Georgia. All four of the black & white episodes are in reasonably good shape considering that they were live shows recorded using the kinescope process; however, the end credits for the 1961 and 1962 episodes are missing.

Outside of some episodes from Ms. Lewis' mid-1970s "The Shari Show," it's been decades since I've had the chance to see Ms. Lewis demonstrate her considerable talents as a ventriloquist. Not only does this DVD reaffirm her as one of America's great ventriloquists, it also demonstrates that she was one of the greatest talents of children's television programming. Recommended.

This is classic Shari Lewis. The quality could be better but all in all it's a good collection. How sad the children of today do not have people like this to look up too.

I bought this video for my 5 year old daughters. They loved the puppets and the singing but it was kind of hard to hear at times. The sound quality is just not good. Also, younger children prefer color on the tv so they lost interest fairly quickly. It would be great the see this remastered and maybe colorized. It is very cute and sentimental to watch but not as attractive as it could be to new audiences.

This is a wonderful holiday dvd both for children... and for us adults who grew up with good memories of this talented young woman (venquilotist, singer and dancer) and her charming cast: Lamb Chops, Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and others... I first really remember Shari from her appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and the Mike Douglas Show in the late 60's and 70's so it was fun to find this dvd of three of her children's Christmas shows from the early 60's when I was only 3,4 and 5 years of age! While I agree the B/W could be sharper, the shows are just so delightful... and there is also one bonus show of "Hi Mom" a mother's show which Shari was a co-host(ess?) of. Well-worth purchasing IMHO.