Customer Reviews

Reel Values TV Classics, Vol. 7 (The Burns & Allen Show / Blondie)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I picked this "TV Classics" DVD up at Best Buy and loved the comedy of Burns & Allen, made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I had never seen either of these television shows, but I was a fan of George Burns' and have been fortunate enough to hear old radio broadcasts of Burns and Allen at work as a team, so I was excited to get the chance to see recordings of their show. Unfortunately, even the outlandish repartee between George Burns and Gracie Allen could not save this DVD.

There are three episodes of the Burns and Allen Show and three episodes of Blondie on the DVD. From the menu, you can select the episode of your choice, or choose to watch the episodes of one or the other show in order. There are no extra features.

Neither show was much more than an overblown commercial for evaporated milk. Seriously. Each episode might consist of 5 minutes of total talk time that did not make mention of the grand company that sponsored the show.

I forced myself through all three of the Burns and Allen shows, just because I think Gracie Allen was incredibly funny. The episodes included some solo stand-up by Burns and then he would introduce the next skit, which he would walk into at some appropriate time. Each skit apparently hade to make mention of the aforementioned sponsor and between skits guest singers performed. The whole premise behind the first Blondie episode was so ridiculous that I couldn't even believe I would have found it entertaining in the 50s, let alone now. I was not enthralled enough to watch 2 more dramatic commercials, so I returned it without watching the rest. (Luckily, I was just renting it.)

While I know the producers of the DVD couldn't very well go back and change the commercializing aspect of the shows, the DVD might have been improved with more content. Not recommended.