TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
Saturday Live - The Best Of Series 1
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £7.67 (subject to change)
The Best Of "Saturday Live", But Not Exactly The "Best"
Review date: 2008-03-02 Rating: 8 out of 10
Network DVD in my opinion is possibly the most realiable DVD company in the UK. Well that is what I thought until I bought this DVD, I still have the original recordings of the programme from it's first airing in 1986.
From what I read this DVD was titled The Best Of Saturday Live becuase it's only missing the musical acts, I bought the disc still (most music acts on the programme were novelty acts). When I started on disc 1 I found that the archive of the programme came from the repeats titled "Almost Saturday Live", this didn't bother me one bit because I knew that it was exactly the same. After 15 minutes I noticed a quick jump, I then noticed that the advert break boards were missing. I started to get a bit bored after a while (most of those unfunny novelty acts were intact).
The DVD is also missing the original end credits, and are replaced with some ghastly editing. The I discovered that most of the French & Saunders sketches are missing from the DVD, then Stavros was gone for a couple of episodes!
But then again a lot of the remaining comedy was funny enough, at least all of Ben Elton's comedy was there.
The second disc was more intact but still with clumsy editing (an original LWT board appears at the end of a sketch!, but still I like that logo).
The rest of the DVD is very funny, but be warned that only one French & Saunders sketch appears and it's not the best one, some of Lenny Henry's material is missing (including a very funny live mistake), and there's a few novelty acts which have somehow kept their way on the disc.
Because the comedy remaining is that funny the programme recieves 4 out of 5 from me, and 2 out of 5 for the disc.
Similar Products
- Saturday Live - The Best Of Series 2
- QI: The B Series
- Spitting Image - Series 1 - Complete
- Stephen Fry Presents - Hysteria
- Kingdom - Series 1 [2007] [2006]
Reviews
Brilliant Nostalgia, but still, brilliant by todays standards.
Review date: 2007-05-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
This DVD brings back some fond memories. Watching this as a kid and thinking you were so anarchic for doing so. The show instantly hit you in the face as soon as Paul Hardcastles theme tune kicked in, with flashy 80's graphics on the opening titles. This show had attitude, was well produced, and was the best programme on TV at the time. Watching it again I realised its not lost that edge. Its still just as funny, just as sophisticated watching it 20 years later. Which is a big testament to just how good the material was from all of its contributors. It has not lost any of its punch and attitude. Some of the gags have dated because they were topical at the time. Apart from that, I was suprised at just how fresh it is to watch 20 years later. Highlights have to be Ben Eltons stand up routines, The Dangerous Brothers (Rik & Ade at their best), The Oblivion Boys (Stephen Frost & Mark Arden), Craig Charles moving and reactionary poems and of course the great Stavros. There are clips of the brilliant Steven Wright and Emo Phillips maybe the best stand ups from across the pond at that time.
My only grumble is that this could of been released as a DVD Box Set of each full episode. So that it included all the bands they had performing, and even including the dross that was admittedly few and far between. There are no extra's on this DVD which is a real shame. Well if there was, I couldnt find them, but I had downed a bottle of vodka whilst watching both discs from start to finish. I couldnt switch it off.
Saturday Live was an era of british comedy that we should all be proud of, something that us thirtysomethings will always remember as the show that shaped our teenage years. It was awesome then, and its still awesome now.
This DVD is a gem and should of been released years ago.
Product Details/Specifications
Artist(s):
Saturday Night Live
Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626266547
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-04-16
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Exempt
Region code: 2
Running time: 300 minutes
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Original Language)