Comedy DVDs for 2006

[neveragain]

That's exactly how I'd describe the series.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

While we're loosely on topic, have Whitehouse and/or Higson ever fessed up to robbing 'suits you sir' from 'nudge nudge wink wink'?

[neveragain]

Well, I doubt they assume they did since it was to all accounts inspired by (if you'll pardon the phrase) something completely different. This being a gay hotel porter.

[The Mumbler]

Darrell was absolutely right about that Fast Show comp a few posts ago:

2 October 2006
Trigger Happy TV S2 £19.99

9 October 2006
Respectable £19.99

23 October 2006
A Fast Show Threesome: Swiss Toni S1 & S2/Grass/Ted & Ralph £34.99
The Dick Cavett Show: Comic Legends [4 Discs] £24.99

13 November 2006
The Fast Show: Live Box Set £19.99

Also, play look as if they're doing seasons of Friends at £12.99 each from 2 October.  If you're interested...

[Darrell]

Bizarrely, and for an audience of seemingly nine people, the complete first series of QI comes out in November.

[Brutus Beefcake]

I'll probably buy it when it gets reduced because I'm fascinated by useless facts.

[weekender]

Speaking of reductions, Play currently have Fry & Laurie series 1 for £8 and series 2 for £7, which seems quite reasonable.

[Brutus Beefcake]

Fucking awesome!  Good thing I've been so slow to order them.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

23 October 2006
The Dick Cavett Show: Comic Legends [4 Discs] £24.99

Bah, I missed this and ordered it on R1 earlier this week. Still, only £18 for 14 hours of comics chatting. The Groucho and Woody Allen appearances are wonderful.

[waste of chops]

Bizarrely, and for an audience of seemingly nine people, the complete first series of QI comes out in November.

According to a post on the offical QI forum:

The DVD will contain some fantastic never-seen-before extras and an enormous treat - namely the show's pilot, which has never been broadcast. It features a HUGE British comedy star, who, I think I'm right in saying, has not been seen on a British comedy show for about 5 years.

Rumour has it that the "HUGE British comedy star" is Eddie Izzard. While the inclusion of  a pilot is always welcome, I'm roughly 1/10th as excited about Izzard's appearance as I would have been 10 years ago.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Someone told me they thought it was Michael Palin.

John Lloyd's mates, though... Rowan Atkinson? If you don't count Comic Relief. And who does, eh? Eh? Ah? Oh.

[Brutus Beefcake]

Bizarrely, and for an audience of seemingly nine people, the complete first series of QI comes out in November.

According to a post on the offical QI forum:

The DVD will contain some fantastic never-seen-before extras and an enormous treat - namely the show's pilot, which has never been broadcast. It features a HUGE British comedy star, who, I think I'm right in saying, has not been seen on a British comedy show for about 5 years.

Rumour has it that the "HUGE British comedy star" is Eddie Izzard. While the inclusion of  a pilot is always welcome, I'm roughly 1/10th as excited about Izzard's appearance as I would have been 10 years ago.

I genuinely have trouble understanding why QI has trouble getting a variety of decent guests on, perhaps it's to do with the fact that nowadays it's fashionable to be ignorant?

[benthalo]

23 October 2006
The Dick Cavett Show: Comic Legends [4 Discs] £24.99

Bah, I missed this and ordered it on R1 earlier this week. Still, only £18 for 14 hours of comics chatting. The Groucho and Woody Allen appearances are wonderful.

Seen the Bob Hope one yet? I was grinning from ear to ear on Saturday night when I finally settled down to it. One of the best Cavett shows I've seen.

He did a revival edition last week to tie in with some Hollywood Legends promotional repeats on US TV. The guest was Mel Brooks. It got a terrible slagging though I'm sure it wasn't that bad, even if Dick does tend to waffle nowadays.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

I watched the Hope one last night, whilst doing the ironing. Very, very relaxed - Hope's the type who would normally go for the laugh at every opportunity, and although he does it a few times he's generally just being nice and chatty about his past. I did get the feeling that Cavett was floundering towards the end - just flinging any question out rather than taking the conversation somewhere. Oh, and the film they show looked *dreadful*.

I can't wait for the Jack Benny one.

[benthalo]

I watched the Hope one last night, whilst doing the ironing. Very, very relaxed - Hope's the type who would normally go for the laugh at every opportunity, and although he does it a few times he's generally just being nice and chatty about his past. I did get the feeling that Cavett was floundering towards the end - just flinging any question out rather than taking the conversation somewhere.

In fairness, that last half hour was beset by 12,000 ad breaks - more than usual - so there was hardly the time or space to get any theme going. Cavett also has the habit of looking like he's ran out of questions too early, but I'm never sure why. Maybe he relies too much on conversation not requiring so much of a prompt after an hour, or believes in the risk of improvisation which his stand up past nurtured. He certainly visibly enjoys the tension of losing his audience during the opening monologue, whenever a joke dies or goes lukewarm - millions of examples - and sometimes just stands there, soaking in the awkwardness. I love him for it.

As for going for the gag, there's a nice moment where Hope pauses mid-answer with "are you wanting a funny answer?" which is really touching, as he's clearly very genuine towards Cavett and is willing to go in whichever direction the show takes him. That's the main charm of Cavett's show - no matter who is on, they tend to be a fan of the show already and are willing to do almost anything. It's an oasis in television.

By the way, isn't the Hope show very close to the time of his disastrous Miss World presentation, which I was hoping to hear mention of? "This is like a training course for Vietnam." I'll fish the date out later but it might just predate it.

[Artemis]

Just noticed that Play has now listed the R2 Police Squad release for 6th November. I think I'll hang on until then, although £14.99 seems a bit much for six episodes. Linky

[Glebe]

Great. I read about an R1 release, and was hoping they'd get an R2 one! I have them on video, actually.

[Ignatius_S]

Good news - School For Scoundrels is being released on 30 Oct.

Bad news - the remake will be getting its American release soon.

http://www.schoolforscoundrels-movie.com/

[Paaaaul]

School For Scoundrels has been available for years on DVD.
It was free with a newspaper earlier this year.

[Darrell]

Mitchell & Webb £19.99 [That Mitchell & Webb Look, perhaps?]

This has been confirmed to be a recording of the Two Faces live tour. It's also being released as an album.

[Ignatius_S]

School For Scoundrels has been available for years on DVD.
It was free with a newspaper earlier this year.

Didn't actually say it was a first-time release, just that a new version is coming out next month.

[waste of chops]

In other Python-related DVD news (courtesy of http://www.zetaminor.com/):

Arrow Films will release a radically re-edited edition of the 1989 adventure film Erik The Viking on October the 9th. Director Terry Jones explains: "When The film came out in 1989 I was not happy at all with it. With the Monty Python movies I'd been a hands-on editor, yet with Erik The Viking I didn't get involved with the process until too late. I've always felt there was a better film in there, waiting to get out, and this new version is it!"

Billed as Erik The Viking - The Director's Son's Cut, the two disc set will feature the theatrical version of the film, and a new version of the film, with new 5.1 audio and "enhanced picture transfer". The new transfer is in 1.85:1 ratio, with anamorphic enhancement. The 5.1 audio is offered at 384kbps.

There have always been two versions of Erik The Viking in circulation. The English cut was about ten minutes shorter than the US edition, because Jones continued to whittle away at it after the American theatrical prints had been struck. The original English version (the version on disc two) is 129'26". The new DVD version runs for a lean 75'15".

The set will feature a director's commentary track; an interview with Terry and his son Bill (7m); the contemporaneous featurette The Making of Erik The Viking (30m); Feature Reports (approx. 20m); Extended Cast Interviews (approx 16m) and a photo gallery. The RRP is £15.99.

[Darrell]

Cor. Two hours and ten minutes? That's longer than any 'theatrical cut' I've seen...

I've a huge soft spot for Erik The Viking. It's as good as Time Bandits, for starters.

[Paaaaul]

20th November

The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You

[Artemis]

Just ordered myself Wonder Showzen's second season which is available through Amazon at the very reasonable rate of £12.64, all in. Came out 10th October.