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Jeff*H

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I have received both volumes of Bizarre and am halfway through Vol. 1, which features 10 uncensored episodes from the first 2 seasons. I do not remember it well enough to know if these are cut-up or not; they seem to be complete judging by the running time which is 20-22 minutes. Almost every episode features a Super Dave stunt which are almost always hysterical, particularly the one with Simba the Elephant at the Super Dave training camp. The other sketches are hit and miss, not to mention tame by today's raunchier Howard Stern-type standards. Overall, it's still great fun, and John Byner remains an appealing and funny host.

The quality of the discs is good. Picture looks a little fuzzy, probably because it was a product of 80's videotape, but the DVD authors have managed to make it look as good as possible. Menus are great-in addition to episode menus, they also have sketch menus so you can go straight to whatever you want. One minor quibble: they have cut the end credits of each episode and replaced it with a simple and short tag. There is an overall credits section on the disc for the people who worked on the show.

For those of you wondering how I got my discs, I ordered them from one of the Amazon vendors. They took a little while to get to me, but I attribute that to the holiday mail slowdown, despite the expedited shipping I requested.

These discs are definitely worth the $14.99 price. There are 3 more volumes scheduled to be released, which should complete the series if they continue to do 10-episode volumes. It's definitely a good one to own, although many of the sketches haven't aged well. For those of you like me who remember it on Showtime in the early 80s when you were a t*t-obsessed teenager, it won't disappoint!
 

PeterTHX

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I thought the Super Dave segments were funnier with the bleeps.

"HOLY ***BEEEEEP***!!!"

Vote for both versions when possible.
 

Jon Martin

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For those of you wondering how I got my discs, I ordered them from one of the Amazon vendors. They took a little while to get to me, but I attribute that to the holiday mail slowdown, despite the expedited shipping I requested.
I ordered both volumes from an Amazon seller, that said they would upgrade to first class. Got the shipment emails but, almost three weeks later, no DVDs. I emailed them, they said they'd issue a refund (none yet and it has been several days). Judgins from their recent feedback (most of it very negative), looks like they never shipped it in the first place.

Very frustrating. May just have to go to Amazon.ca.

EDIT: Ok, what is going on with these DVDs? There are no Amazon marketplace sellers and Amazon.ca is saying it ships in 3-6 weeks.

Is it really popular or did they make so few copies that they sold out entirely?
 

Jeff*H

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I ordered around Dec. 14th from Amazon from one of the 3rd party vendors. At that time they showed copies in stock of both volumes. This was around the time TVShowsonDVD.com mentioned the volumes had been issued on DVD. A few days later, I checked and my order on vol. 1 had shipped but not vol. 2. A quick check of the site on Amazon showed they had no copies for sale from any vendor and to check back. I called the vendor and they told me they were out of stock before my vol.2 order was processed. I decided to wait a couple weeks before requesting a refund, as they had more on order. Indeed, vol. 2 shipped around 12/22 and I received it on 12/27.

I think there was such a huge rush on Bizarre DVDs after the mention on TVShowsonDVD that the sellers couldn't keep up with demand, and perhaps ultimately the manufacturer as well. I'm sure more are in production to meet demand. The upside of this is it bodes well for Vol.3-5 to come out in 2006. I have yet to see Vol.1 and 2 in U.S. stores anywhere, so hopefully distribution improves here so that more fans can have access to them.
 

Jeff*H

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Attention, fans of Bizarre. VEI has quietly released 2 more volumes of the Best of Bizarre series, Vol. 5 and 6. Vol. 5 features several more Super Dave sketches along with Willie Tyler & Lester, while Vol. 6 features Victoria Jackson. As with the previous volumes, they are only available in Canada and on Canadian websites such as amazon.ca.

I have the first 4 volumes and definitely recommend them if you were a fan of the show growing up as I was. While it's not quite as funny as I remembered, it's still entertaining and Super Dave is always a hoot, and the gratuitous nudity never fails to entertain.
 

Jeff#

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I can't imagine why images of nudity would offend anyone.
What's even more bizarre is why Bizarre is only available in Canada. What's to stop Americans from purchasing it when we use the same electrical system as Canadians? :)
 

AndyMcKinney

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Thanks, Jeff H!
To those of you having problems ordering these:
For all of the previous volumes, I've ordered the DVDs from a Canadian retailer called CDPlus.com. They have free shipping (yes, free to the USA, too), low prices (about $15.50 CAN each) and you can often find $1.00-off-per-title coupon codes online with a minimum of searching (okay, I'll give it to you: JUN13099).
All my discs were shipped from a Stateside warehouse address, so didn't take long at all, and probably explains how they can offer free US shipping.
 

handley

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I fondly remember this show growing up. My cousin had Showtime and we always made a point of watching it. Anyway, I just got the 10-DVD set last week and I must say, although somewhat dated, the show is still pretty funny. In the 2nd show on Volume One, there was a Dick Van Dyke golf sketch that was taken directly from the Van Dyke & Company variety show pilot episode from 1975 (which I just watched a couple of weeks ago)!
 

AndyMcKinney

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handley said:
I fondly remember this show growing up. My cousin had Showtime and we always made a point of watching it. Anyway, I just got the 10-DVD set last week and I must say, although somewhat dated, the show is still pretty funny. In the 2nd show on Volume One, there was a Dick Van Dyke golf sketch that was taken directly from the Van Dyke & Company variety show pilot episode from 1975 (which I just watched a couple of weeks ago)!
Bob Einstein was a writer for both shows, so maybe the sketch was "his" property and this being a Canadian show, it was within his rights to re-use the material? He also probably felt that since Van Dyke and Company was a ratings failure for CBS, that few (if any) viewers would have remembered the material.
By the way, for those who may not be aware, as far as I can tell, the only way to get an error-free version of Volume 7 is to purchase one of the "complete" sets (either the two "split" sets of 1-5 and 6-10, or the one with all 10 volumes together). I have seen no evidence that an individual release of Volume 7 ever emerged on its own (that one single volume is no longer listed for sale on CDPlus, for example). The complete sets are so cheap, anyway, that if anyone out there still has the individuals, you could buy the complete sets, sell off your individuals on eBay, and likely come out making a profit (I certainly did when I sold all my individual volumes at the time, about 4-5 years ago). The error, by the way, is on the disc's second layer, rendering the second half of that volumes and unwatchable, blocky mess.
The complete sets are also the only way to get Volume 10 at all, as it was never released on its own.
 

handley

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I almost started purchasing the individual volumes years ago, glad I held off until I saw the 10-DVD set for cheap. I forgot that Billy Van was a regular...he's one of my all-time favorites.
 

AndyMcKinney

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I wish that VEI would put out the remaining episodes (one online count put the number of original episodes around 150, which would be five more volumes worth), but as it's been quite some time since the release of volume 10, I'm not holding my breath. I guess I'll just be thankful for what we have (but still disappointed that the episode with the "adult" version of Cinderella never got released).
 

handley

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Thanks, Andy. I thought that the 100 episodes were pretty much the entire run of the series. I'll second the vote for getting the rest of them released. I'd also like to see a detailed episode guide someday (if such a thing even exists).
 

Jeff*H

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I don't think many of these 100 DVD episodes are featured as they originally aired. I recorded many episodes from the 1982-84 years on beta back in the day when I got my first VCR, and I can distinctly remember some sketches in certain episodes that aren't featured on the DVDs (i.e. the Michael Jackson opening back during the 1983 season premiere (or maybe it was 1984, I forget). The erratic, inconsistent run times and what appear to be edited cutaways on some of the DVD shows support the notion that many of these shows have been heavily edited, or sketches from several episodes have been re-edited together into some of these DVD episodes (Byner's shaggy hair from the first season will appear in one sketch, then he has the shorter hair in other sketches all within one episode).
I know Showtime ran compilations called "The Best of Bizarre" each week prior to the start of a new season of episodes each year. Maybe some of these were being used for the DVDs, which would explain some of the edits. It's also possible that some of the re-edited broadcast television syndication versions (which were cleaned up and featured alternate takes without nudity in some of the sketches) have been used intact on these DVDs (especially given that several DVD sketches have had the nudity omitted).
That all said, I am thrilled that we have 100 installments of this great show on DVD, a feat that I never ever anticipated happening (in fact, when my old tapes were eventually thrown out after I moved from home, I didn't expect to ever see "Bizarre" again). I'm thrilled that VEI released so many of them, and if the other 50 never see the light of day, I'm fine with that. I'm sure music clearances, celebrity cameos and other licensing headaches will make the release of the other 50 difficult anyway.
In fact, writing about the show tonight has made me decide to give the DVDs another look!
 

handley

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I'm currently enjoying the 10 DVD set. I'm not a big fan of the jumping around from one season to another and back again, but it's great to be able to see these again. I love how they always manage to get the nudity in each episode. Some day I hope we see a complete series set, in chronological order, with any missing footage restored. Might never happen, so I'm happy with what we've got.
 

Ruz-El

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I totally missed that these were out. how are the vol 1-5, 6-10 sets packaged? Are they just a bundle of the individual cases, or streamlined?
 

handley

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Russell G said:
I totally missed that these were out. how are the vol 1-5, 6-10 sets packaged? Are they just a bundle of the individual cases, or streamlined?
They are a bundle of the individual cases.
 

Ruz-El

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Originally Posted by handley
They are a bundle of the individual cases.
Thanks for the info. I'm still on the fence, I don't really have room for 10 cases of Bizarre. I know it's a dumb reason to not purchase
 

Jeff*H

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I upgraded my individual volume releases to the 10-volume collected set, which consists of 2 slim cases with a slipcover. Slim Case 1 features discs 1-5, and Slim Case 2 features discs 6-10. I definitely recommend going this route, as it takes up MUCH less space on the shelf, and you get the 10th volume that's exclusive to the set, along with a corrected disc for Vol. 7 (I believe that was the volume with an authoring error on the second layer in its original release, corrected here).
 

Ruz-El

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Originally Posted by Jeff*H
I upgraded my individual volume releases to the 10-volume collected set, which consists of 2 slim cases with a slipcover. Slim Case 1 features discs 1-5, and Slim Case 2 features discs 6-10. I definitely recommend going this route, as it takes up MUCH less space on the shelf, and you get the 10th volume that's exclusive to the set, along with a corrected disc for Vol. 7 (I believe that was the volume with an authoring error on the second layer in its original release, corrected here).
Thanks for the heads up Jeff. Looking on amazon.ca it looked like this one was sold out. amazon.com has it for under $40 so I'm going to grab it up. The slim packs are much more appealing then all that shelf space needed for the five volume packs.
 

Jeff*H

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Russell G said:
Thanks for the heads up Jeff. Looking on amazon.ca it looked like this one was sold out. amazon.com has it for under $40 so I'm going to grab it up. The slim packs are much more appealing then all that shelf space needed for the five volume packs.
Definitely grab it if you're a fan of the show (or even just Super Dave). It will eventually go out of print and the price will rise on the collector market. Plus, you're getting 100 episodes (a few sketches are duplicated among them, but not very many) for $40, a great deal. Well worth it in my opinion. Even though 150 episodes were filmed, I've found that 100 is more than enough to satisfy me. Not to mention it takes up relatively little space on the shelf with the 2 slim cases housed inside a slipcover.
 

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