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BENNY HILL SHOW: complete and unedited! (1 Viewer)

Mark Oates

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 12, 2004
Messages
875
The Ernie video was still in existence in 1992, because it accompanied a re-release of the single as a tribute. The song went straight into the charts, prompting one anally retentive BBC VJ to boycott Top Of The Pops in protest.

Oh, and I may be wrong, but the video would probably be owned by the record company who released it and the single - EMI.
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
quote:Yes, I agree, it'd be nice to have fan input on these things, but I guess it all boils down to:
1. availability
2. sorting out rights/clearances issues
3. cost of the extras versus budget for the release
It was a combination of these latter two things that kept Umbrella Entertainment in Australia from including a Christmas skit on their release of "Man About the House": they desperately wanted to use the sketch as an extra, but clearances and cost made it un-doable.
Oh, here's my idea for something that A&E should do differently (whether they'd want to count it an "extra" or not):
to retain the original ad-break captions on all the episodes, and to retain the ending Thames ident. From what I understand, all the adcaps have been removed and at the end, the vintage Thames ident was replaced. Of course, all these might've been edited out before they even got hold of them (as per foreign syndication packages), but they could request copies with the ad bumpers and endcaps on them...
It may well have made the difference in at least one sketch; I noticed on Episode 10, at the tail end of the "Johnny & Cranny Faddock" sketch, as Johnny (Bob Todd) was collapsing whilst leaning on Cranny (Benny), it cut out before he could finish his falling down; I suppose the bumper music was heard over the last second or two of that segment. That, and the first half-second of "The Movie Shakers" music that came on next may well have come at the tail end of the next bumper.
This may well come to be an issue if A&E comes to putting out Benny's post-1979 shows in future sets; at the very end of the "Irish T.V. Prevents O'Jack" parody from the April 25, 1979 show (Episode 35), they went from Benny (as another character, on the street) freeze-framing before kicking a bomb back to O'Jack, to the bumper which exploded (and breaking glass heard) during the course thereof, in a gag reminiscent of the very end of the 1944 Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoon The Old Grey Hare.
As for the issue of "rights" you mentioned on much of the material I'd cited, all I can say is: One can dream, can't one?
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
quote:Ok here's another issue that occasionally rears its head during the new DVD set.
BENNY_HILL_THE_EARLY_YEARS_VOL_1-6.jpg

Filmed scene from the new DVD set. Notice those two things at the top?
No I'm not referring to the woman's tits. images/smilies/wink.gif
Best_of_Benny_Hill-6.jpg

'Best of' DVD.
The woman herself, was Yvonne Paul who appeared in three more shows (the last of which will be in the upcoming Set 2), and who would go on to run a modeling agency which primarily (but not exclusively) represented "Page 3" girls.
 

GregoryP

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 2, 1998
Messages
590
I've been enjoying the new Benny Hill DVDs. I grew up watching The Benny Hill Show in syndication and have always loved his humor (and the cute girls.) images/smilies/biggrin.gif Seeing these comic segments again has brought back a lot of good memories.
I've learned a lot reading the discussion here.
 

Mark Lx

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 9, 2004
Messages
328
Good news William, "Eddie in August" is on the second set (10 episodes, 72-74).
I've really enjoyed the first set. I know there's a lot of stuff that I wouldn't have seen on North American TV.
I think Ginger Tomkins should be my next username.
On a sort of related note, I wish they'd put The Two Ronnies "By The Sea" shorts on DVD.
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
I had it in the back of my mind that they'd use the color scheme that they ended up doing on the cover shown therein. That red wig is certainly one of my favorites, definitely . . .
And as for "Eddie in August": At least part of my prediction as to what "extra(s)" would be featured on this set came true. The last time I saw it in its "entiretity" (as Fred Scuttle would put it), I was at a Salute to Thames screening at what was then the Museum of Broadcasting (now the Museum of Television and Radio) around 1984, and it was shown in combination with his Jan. 6, 1982 special (Episode #42) -- which the MT&R doesn't even have the original air date info on! (But then, they once passed off his April 26, 1958 BBC show as being from Jan. 5, 1957, so . . . ) I remember certain portions of this one-off special (i.e. the short ones) scattered among the original syndicated episodes that exploded on U.S. screens beginning in 1979. In some ways, "Eddie in August" was to Mr. Hill what the 1962 film Gigot was to Jackie Gleason, in terms of: a) being an "auteur" piece (Mr. Hill's only venture as a director or co-director), and b) the downbeat ending and critical reaction of the time.
 

Gary->dee

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 14, 2003
Messages
1,923
Lorenzo thanks for the link to the pic of Set 2! I was wondering what it might look like. I can't wait for it! I still don't believe we're finally getting all this stuff and wonderfully presented at that.
Hey has anyone checked out Benny Hill's official site?
It's extremely lavish and full of amazing content!
NOT
As Benny's movie spoof Passengers of Love put it via a jump-cut: it really is - pathetic. images/smilies/thumbsdown.gif
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
quote:The Ned Kelley sketch was on one of the old HBO/Thorn-EMI "Best of Benny Hill" tapes (don't remember which volume, think it might've been volume 5 or 6). All of the "Best of" tapes were later re-released under different names, (again, on VHS) such as "Video Follies", "Video Sideshow", etc. though I don't know which reissues correspond to which of the originals.
It was actually originally in Volume 3 which was later repackaged as Video Sideshow -- which unfortunately didn't make the cut of compilations reissued on DVD. That set contained excerpts from Benny Hill Down Under (the Australian-made special from which that sketch emanated), 1/26/77 (Ep. 28), 12/26/78 (Ep. 33) and 2/11/81 (Ep. 40). Other titles (it appears, based on looking at Amazon.com that the Golden Classics and Golden Greats compilations may have been taken out of print in anticipation of the entire Hill series being released by A&E) and the original volumes to which they correspond (and the shows excerpted therein) are as follows (with DVD reissues in asterisk):
- Video Revue (formerly Best of . . . Vol. 1); with excerpts from 3/24/76 (Ep. 27), 5/30/78 (Ep. 32) and 3/5/80 (Ep. 37)
- One Night Video Stand* (formerly Best of . . . Vol. 2); with excerpts from 2/23/77 (Ep. 30), 3/23/77 (Ep. 31) and 4/16/80 (Ep. 38)
- Home Video Drive In* (formerly Best of . . . Vol. 4); with excerpts from 3/14/79 (Ep. 34), 4/25/79 (Ep. 35), 2/6/80 (Ep. 36), 1/7/81 (Ep. 39), 3/25/81 (Ep. 41) and 3/16/83 (Ep. 45)
- Video Follies* (formerly Best of . . . Vol. 5); with excerpts from 1/6/82 (Ep. 42), 2/10/82 (Ep. 43), 1/5/83 (Ep. 44) and 3/16/83 (Ep. 45)
- Video Spotlight* (formerly Best of . . . Vol. 6); with excerpts from the same shows as on Video Follies, plus 2/6/80 (Ep. 36)
Apparently these new titles were christened after the release of the Crazy World video which consisted of excerpts from the 3/12/86 (Ep. 51), 3/31/86 (Ep. 52) and 4/16/86 (Ep. 53) shows -- and which apparently wasn't put out on DVD.
As for the Golden Greats series, they were repackagings of the later years of shows (plus four VHS's not reissued on DVD; the DVD issues are indicated by asterisk)
- Golden Laughs* (orig. aired 1/16/84, Ep. 46)
- Golden Sniggers* (4/25/84, Ep. 47)
- Golden Chortles (1/2/85, Ep. 48)
- Golden Grins (4/8/85, Ep. 49)
- Golden Smiles* (5/27/85, Ep. 50)
- Golden Titters (1/13/88, Ep. 54)
- Golden Yucks* (4/27/88, Ep. 55)
- Golden Chuckles* (2/8/89, Ep. 56)
- Golden Giggles (4/5/89, Ep. 57)
- Golden Guffaws* (5/1/89, Ep. 58)
I.M.H.O., the titles belie the decline in quality that marred the last few years of shows.
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
Another postscript: It appears A&E Video has now seen fit to include as an extra on the upcoming Set 2, its Biography on Mr. Hill instead of his Eddie in August, this per the link here.
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
The official release date for Set 2 should be Jan. 25; on A&E Video's website (as linked above), it should be "available" as early as Jan. 7.
 

Gary->dee

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 14, 2003
Messages
1,923
Ah ok thanks, William. In one video catalog it showed a release date of 1/04 so I thought it came out on Tuesday. Wonder if it got pushed back...anyway it's just around the corner and I'll most likely be getting it from Costco again. That's assuming they'll carry it like they did set 1 for $29.95.
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
In one video catalog it showed a release date of 1/04 so I thought it came out on Tuesday. Wonder if it got pushed back...anyway it's just around the corner and I'll most likely be getting it from Costco again. That's assuming they'll carry it like they did set 1 for $29.95.
No, from the moment Set 2 was announced last fall the designated release date was always Jan. 25. I've suspected that Jan. 4 was more the earliest availability date, which is not necessarily the same as release date. And I'm as much eagerly awaiting as everyone else here . . .
 

William B.

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
101
Just got the Complete & Unadulterated - Set 2 package from Amazon a day ahead of release, and all I have to say is: Wow! (And there is one episode, amongst the ten in this set, which has the original closing Thames slide at the end, for those who have fondness for same - such as myself, for instance. Alas, they still didn't put in copyright notices at that point.)
Funny thing is, on one of the shows Henry McGee starts off with "Ladies and gentlemen, it's . . . " instead of his usual "Yes, it's . . . "; whereas on the last show to feature Nicholas Parsons, the by-then Sale of the Century host used the "Yes, it's . . . " opening. It'll be interesting to see the reaction of others on this forum come tomorrow . . .
 

Randy*S

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 7, 2004
Messages
282
Real Name
Randy
Do you all think that A&E will release any of the episodes from the Hill's Angels era? I'm a big fan of Benny's, but I'm a bigger fan of the Angels. Especially Sue! :D
 

Gary->dee

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 14, 2003
Messages
1,923
Unfortunately I haven't gotten Set 2 yet, but hopefully within the next few days(and hopefully Costco has it for $29.99!).
 

ChrisPearson

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 19, 2004
Messages
287
Snide on Zetaminor reports that Amazon are listing Benny Hill: The Lost Years for release in May. Could this be his BBC shows? The listing says they're in colour and the BBC material was in BW, but it is a Warner release rather than A&E – don't Warner distribute the BBC'c DVDs? I'd be interested in seeing this material as it's considered by many to be his best work.
 

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