The Sid Caesar Collection: The Fan Favorites (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Sid Caesar, et al
Written by Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbert, Carl Reiner, Danny Simon, Neil Simon & Mel Tolkin
Starring Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Nanette Fabray, Howard Morris, Imogene Coca

Features:

• Interview Extras
  
• Original Scripts
  
• Bonus Sketches
  
• Photo Galleries
  
• Writer and Cast Biographies
  
• Audio Commentaries with Sid Caesar
  

Anamorphic: N/A, appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Wait for a better collection to come along.

The writers and cast members of Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour read like a Who’s Who of American comedy. I can’t even begin to think of the number of movies and plays that were produced by these guys, who got their start working together. I mean, when I say Young Frankenstein alone, it should send chills down your spine, not to mention any of Woody Allen's movies; that's me only thinking of two of the writers. They worked so closely and collaboratively that even they weren’t sure whose idea certain sketches were. And they didn’t really care! As long as it was theirs and it was on TV, that was all that mattered. No one was really exempt from their biting satire. The “A Streetcar Named ???” sketch leaps readily to mind as an example, in which they pull no punches in making fun of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece. Watching these sketches you really can see the beginnings of Laugh In, Saturday Night Live!, and even Mad TV. These guys were truly breaking ground in the sketch comedy format.

The information you see in the above paragraph is about all you can get from the collected bonus material in this DVD set. The interviews total probably about 45 minutes across 3 DVDs, and that includes the “bonus interviews.” Each of the ten or so sketches on this DVD are introduced by a little 45-60 second interview montage talking about what you're about to see. The “bonus interviews” last no longer than 2 minutes each and that’s all you get. I have to admit, this really upset me. I would think that the majority of the bonus material would be each of the comedy giants talking about anything they could recall about their tenure with Caesar and preserving those recollections for posterity before, God forbid, these folks just aren’t with us any more. Instead we only get little nuggets of material that leave you aching for more. In their defense, maybe these guys didn’t want to do detailed interviews, or maybe they just weren’t up to it. I’m willing to give the giants the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, I digress.

The audio commentary tracks on these DVDs are Sid Caesar and some interviewer who we really don’t care about talking about stuff over one of the sketches that appear on the DVDs: not all of them, which is as it should be. Nope, we only get one sketch commented on by Mr. Caesar and this other guy, and the other guy just asks really stupid questions and re-states the obvious. Again, see above for possible reasons why there wasn't more of this. But probably the most annoying thing about this collection is the commercial for the more complete Sid Caesar DVD collection after you put the DVD in your player before you get to the menu. Don’t get me wrong, you can skip it, but it’s almost like the put out this set so that people would buy it and get just enough of a fix to get them hooked and then start looking for the more complete set.

But I didn’t get the idea that the more complete set was any different than what I wound up watching in this set. The format is clunky and stops the flow from scene to scene, and the interviews could contain so much more content and last much longer than they do. The rest of the bonus material is there mostly to take up space. The original script is of interest probably to those of us who are writers or performers, but other than that, it doesn’t seem to be something to get all fired up about. And, putting another sketch under the bonus material section, instead of the main sketch menu, seems to me that they are trying to make it look like you are getting more bonus material than you really are. Why not just put the “extra” sketch under the main menu and have more interviews and historical material?

Anyway, despite all of my bitching up top, let me say that the main reason one would pick up the set--the sketches themselves--are choice. Any Sid Caesar completist should grab a hold of this set without a doubt. The rest of us should either rent or wait.