Customer Reviews

Sid Caesar's Writers - A Reunion of Writers From Your Show Of Shows and Caesar's Hour [VHS]

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In late 1996, the Writers Guild of America invited Sid Caesar to reunite with the writers from the 50's show "Caesar's Hour." This just under two hour tape is almost the entire evening, which featured Sid with Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil and Danny Simon, Larry Gelbart (M*A*S*H, Tootsie), Mel Tolkin, Sheldon Keller, Aaron Ruben and Gary Belkin. Not only do they remember many of the sketches they wrote for Sid, but Sid recreates some of them--and does the material better today than he did in the fifties. Brooks proves to be irrepressible. Gelbart is incredibly fast (Mel used to show up late with a Wall Street Journal and a bagel. -pause- He wanted to be a rich Jew.) And when Carl Reiner does the magician as well as an excerpt from La Bicycleta, the audience of 600 goes nuts. Anyone who puts down "talking head" television as being boring has not considered what can happen when you have the right talking heads. In this case, comedic chaos. For anyone who remembers Sid's shows, or wants to see what a writing room with minds like these must have been like, this tape is a must. A much shorter version of it aired as a PBS pledge show, hosted by Billy Crystal. This video was the pledge premium..which you could get with a donation of $80 to $125, depending on which station you were watching. At amazon.com it's a bargain.And it would make a great Holiday gift.

I was the host of this evening, as it was my privilege to share the stage with these legendary writers. For months leading up to the event, I was buried in research, pre-interviews, and all sorts of planning, all of which paid off handsomely in a wonderfully memorable evening. Forget the horribly edited version you may have had the misfortune of seeing on PBS... this is very close to what that magical night was actually like at the Writers Guild Theater. Sorry you couldn't have been there, but this makes it possible for you to enjoy it regardless.

I picked this up at the Salvation Army. Best buck I ever spent. Carl Reiner is describing a bit they did 50 years ago and Sid says, Well let's just do it. And they do it. Brilliantly. To watch comic genius Neil Simon wipe his eyes from laughing so much is mind blowing. How do you make Neil Simon laugh? Put him in a room with Caesar's writers.

The best and the brightest writers for Sid Caeser share their insanity for 2 fun filled hours.

A must for anyone who adores Mel Brooks as well